Steins Gate. Ive seen this title countless of times on Netflix, and always thought it was some super dry , slow paced boring show that tried to be extremely complex. I honestly dont know why i thought so , it was just the kind of feeling the show invoked in me , just by its title and the picture. And while it certainly is complex ( not that thats a bad thing) , boy i couldnt have been wrong more.
I eventually decided to give this Show a try out of pure boredom , and because i had nothing else to watch. This show thaught me
...
a few things. But most importantly it taught me to give more media a chance, and dont judge an anime by its cover. I before this only watched Shounen , and this show finally helped me to extend my taste and find joy in other genre.
Enough Personal history tho, lets review the Show:
Plot: The Plot of this story is just amazing. It starts off with a very strong first episode and then proceeds to make you get attached to the cast for the first few episodes until eventually Mayuris death changes everything. Suddenly Plotpoint after plotpoint comes up , one more amazing and shocking than the other. The Suzuha/ John Titor Plot was build up so well , on a rewatch i noticed so many small details and foreshadowing: Suzuha ( from episode 23 ) is shown in episode 1, obviously the scream and the dead Kurisu also come from there. Mr Braun trying to get in Okabes way with experiments makes since, because he doesnt want him dead. Suzuha recommending John Titor to him makes since because she ... well is John Titor. Her anxiety of planes and other stuff also makes since, because she has PTSD. There is way more of these details, i really recommend rewatching the series so you can see them foryourself, many of them cant be noticed on the first watch. Also, the time travel concept of Steins Gate is by far the best ive ever seen in media. Its just elegant and makes since, and never even once was its use inconsitent or had a plothole. Also i like how the show actually is about time travelling, its consequences and how its used to deal with those, instead of just time travelling at the beginning and end of a arc like lets say , Doctor Who. Its not a tool to get to a setting, its actually a main aspect of the story , that is used to its full potential , even the process of inventing time travel is shown , and thats just amazing to me. And then of course. The Way Okabe fails over and over again, the feelings during that, but also the amazing way of him finally getting closer to his goal , only to be faced with an even bigger obstacle in Kurisus death is just so well written. Then finally him finding the way out of this... its just so satisfying. Especially because it actually makes since, everything is explained, but never spoonfed to the audience, like i said, a lot is subtile and needs the viewer to pay attention. Besides Code Geass, Steins Gate has the to me best ending in all of anime. Its just so beatifully written, the way Okabe finally regains hope in his iconic scene on the rooftop, finally gets back his resolve and hope after being broken down so many times. Then finally gets his last shot at saving everything he needs to, and finally , suceeding. The way he has to stab himself scares you, will he die , will he be okay ? And then that scene of him wishing himself great luck for the next week... its just too good. Let alone the actual ending scene. I really thought this show would end with him saving her and never seeing her again, on a bittersweet note. But after showing all characters, showing him reestablish the Lab with all the members he learned to cherish so much in the series, out of no where there it is. They meet again, and its even hinted at how she is starting to regain some of her memories. Cant really get better than this. The way this show ended is just perfect. I wouldnt want to end a single thing to it. And thats the point of the ending. "A new, free world noone has ever witnessed, everything can happen , as this meeting shows."
Art: Steins Gate does have beatiful Art and many iconic Shots. My only complaint would be that the action scenes really feel a bit.. off. Namely, the scene of Suzuha defeating Moekas minions , but even this scene makes it up by giving us that iconic shot of their pistol faceoff. However the animation is fluid and the overall Artstyle itself is just beatiful, my favorite scene would probably be the " Event Horizon " and my god did they do this scene justice. The show just has this certain 90years vibe to it , and the Art Style plays a big role in that. Also the character Designs are just amazing and on POINT. Kurisu is probably one of the most iconic female characters just trough her amazing design already. I like how without doing much the designs really just show what kind of character you have. Okabe is this "mad scientist" but hes also a student. Some lazy trousers with a base T-Shirt, and a lab coat for his chunibyo. Daru is also a student, and hes a hacker, so it kinda fits him to not do anything fancy, so he wears a cap to protect his head and a base outfit, but somehow all of this designs deliver by doing not even much.
Sound: Man... Gate of Steiner might be my favorite Song in anime. But there is many more . The soundtrack is just amazing. Only in the action scenes its a little... off , which makes since considering these rarely appear. Also the overall sound design is fantastic and fits the vibe of the show a lot. For example the cicadas sound really relaxes me and fits the atmosphere a lot.
Character: Okabe and Kurisu are both in my top 5 characters of all time. Hes just an amazing protag whos insanely fun to watch, compelling and well written. Also he just has so much development troughout the series. Seeing this man suffer, laugh , build bounds and sacrifice them is just so emotionally engaging. And somehow you can relate to him so much. Hes awkward and uses humor because he cant express what hes really feeling, however troughout the series he learns it bit by bit. Until hes even able to confess his love. Yeah and to who ? To Kurisu Makise, the greatest Female Character of ALL time. Never reduced to being a basic love interest or the " damsel in distress" i just love this character. She has a lot of issues herself, shes awkward around people, barely interacts with her mother and is hated by her dad, an awkward Girl-Prodigy that has always been alone and finally finds a place to belong. Then she has to give up her life and even the memories of so said Place to save a dear friend. The amount of development this character gets is just insane, almost equal to the actual protagonist even. All the other characters are also great, but none of them come close to Okabe and Kurisu, tho Suzuha also really is amazing. The bounds and interactions between all of these awkard loners are just t funny and reletable. Watching them is just fun. Also even the sidecast gets really good sidearcs like Ruka / Feyris with their respective episode ( twice) and Daru and Suzuha who also have one of the best sideplots in the story. Another thing, i love how Okabe loves Kurisu for her personality , and not even once mentions that she has good looks in his confession, thats how you do romance right. Also it has been built up a lot better , and felt way more natural than it normally does in anime.
Enjoyment: I think its pretty clear by now, i enjoyed this show, and i enjoyed it a lot. The interactions are fun , the humor on point, you can relate and the show delivers as a piece of art (sound / visuals) . The emotional scenes hit way too deep and you can relate a lot more than you should with characters that see their dearest friends die over and over again, but also with their awkard shy sides and everything else. I could go and ond , but lets just end this category by saying i rarely enjoy a show in its entirety as much as this one, in fact only two other shows come to my mind rn.
Conclusion: Steins Gate is an amazing masterpiece that i cant praise enough, its really a One of Kind Show, that also happens to resonate a lot with me , i just like shows with this kind of vibe a lot.
Jun 25, 2022
Steins;Gate
(Anime)
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Steins Gate. Ive seen this title countless of times on Netflix, and always thought it was some super dry , slow paced boring show that tried to be extremely complex. I honestly dont know why i thought so , it was just the kind of feeling the show invoked in me , just by its title and the picture. And while it certainly is complex ( not that thats a bad thing) , boy i couldnt have been wrong more.
I eventually decided to give this Show a try out of pure boredom , and because i had nothing else to watch. This show thaught me ... 
Jun 25, 2022
Bleach is my favorite Piece of media .
I didnt grow up with it and watched plenty other shows before it, namly Naruto, Deathnote and Code Geass for example. However Bleach was the first time a show really gave me this feeling of watching something that is made for me. It resonates with me a lot more than i thought a piece of fiction could. Story: For a Shounen, i think Bleachs story is far greater than People would give it credit for. Afterarll you got the entire framework of Urahara and Aizen playing 3D-Chess with everyone, Ichigos power and everything regarding his own inner conflict, ... |
