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Time travel is one of the most appealing concepts in Science Fiction. It is also one of the most demanding and hardest to implement when it come to making a logical and consistent story, and this is where i think Steins Gate comes short.

Story and Characters >
- What I liked : We follow the progression of some geeks trying to make a time machine for fun until they realize that jumping in time can have disastrous chain reactions. Okame's passionate and excessive character contrasts with all the others. The characters get to discover the adverse effects of time travel. They are tormented and thrown ... into difficult situations where they have to make important choices.
The plot offered some complex elements and twists that kept my attention level while watching the second half of the series.
The ending answers most of the interrogations satisfyingly.

- What i disliked : The first half of the series is very slow paced and the characters are presented as elements of stereotypical harem setting (the tsundere type, the childhood friend, the shy clumsy one, the cool quiet one with glasses etc..) witch made it difficult for me to connect or care about them.
Decisions about changing the course of History are motivated by emotions rather than the common sense that these difficult situations would require. This impacts the credibility and coherence of the plot.
The progression in the second half is mostly predictable.

Animation is good for a TV series and get fluid in the important part of the story. Storyboard and directing were interesting in distilling suspense.

Character Designs are unique to each protagonist and match their personalities. Detailed Background Art is limited to parts of Akihabara streets and the Club room.

The music is discrete and not too memorable. I loved the voice acting work for the main character. It was successful in depicting his insane energy and then his fears when everything goes wrong.

In Conclusion, watching the first half of the series was very hard for me, but after giving up my expectations of a true plot-driven SF, the experience was rewarding at the end and i enjoyed it as a good pop-corn show.