In 2018, I finally got around to watching "Steins;Gate.""Steins;Gate" was released in 2011, arguably a important turning point for anime industry. Several fan-favorite anime were released this year, namely "Fate-Zero," and "Puella Magi Madoka Magica," both of which are still cited as "gateway" properties for modern fans. Legal online streaming services were becoming more credible, as multiple competing companies tried their luck and anime studios started to learn the financial opportunities in the successor to television broadcast. Physical media, at least in North America, began to shift, largely due to Aniplex USA and their success with premium and exclusive releases (typically costing 3x the price of their competitors with the privilage of owning packaging that looked hand-made, and not in a good way). Two of the three shows mentioned in this paragraph were aquired by Aniplex USA, which left "Steins;Gate" as the affordable alternative, courtesy of lomg-time distributor Funimation, who would release the series twice, the second release collecting the entire 25-episode series for under $60. Aside from the abiltiy to afford the complete show, "Steins;Gate" had some other unique qualities that make it an oft-quoted favorite. From the first episode, one can see the main characters are not high school students (like countless anime in the decade prior), but rather, college students. It's a slight but significant difference: the students are able to attend classes at an irregular schedule, not confined to a 8am-4pm mandatory attendance in a school building. The characters are slightly smarter and more mature, as seen in their attendance to a science lecture in the first episode. The students live alone, which makes sense at this time in their life, unlike many high-school characters who also find themselves without parental supervision. And finally, any sex jokes feel slightly more palatable when featuring characters above 18, wherein anime commonly ignores Western sensibilities with younger characters in cringe-worthy situations. It's funny how many issues that can be attributed to teenage characters in anime are at least improved with a slight change in age bracket, and it also feels more relatable to a huge demographic otherwise ignored: despite never seeing another anime featuring characters in University, most anime fans and clubs seem to flourish at college.Aside from the price and demographic, this is a story heavily rooted in science fiction. Specifically, time-travel. Based on a hit visual novel game of the same name, it follows student and self-proclaimed mad scientist Okabe (insisting he be called by his alias "Hououin Kyouma") messing around with a variety of random experiments in his lab, an old apartment above a appliance store, alongside his partners in crime, two members, one a computer hacker and all-around geek, the second a childishly naive and high-spirited female childhood friend. A few epsiodes in, after a series of strange occurances, Okabe comes to the conclusion that they have invented nothing less than a working time machine. Using a cell-phone and a microwave. And it only seems to be able to send back text messages or bananas. The first half of the series is generally random, introducing a variety of characters and having the lab members slowly test the new-found time machine to its limits. But from the first episode, a keen viewer can immediately pick up on certain details and events and character speech that will most certainly play into the time machine plot (ie: characters will travel back in time to have these particular details have more context). Sure enough, about halfway into the series, Okabe's paranoid fears are realized, and a large-scale secretative company attacks the group to steal the technology, killing one of the lab members in the process. Okabe realizes his misled ambitions and desparately travels back in time, again and again, trying desparately to save the lives of his friends to no avail. Additionally, he finds out from other time travelers that the future of the world is put at serious risk by letting the company get their hands on the technology, further adding pressure.The time-travel logic is important in these types of stories. "Steins;Gate" tries harder than most others in the genre in taking it seriously as a science, carefully explaining the details and the rules they uncover to make it work. Unfortunately, it worsens the experience. If you think too hard about what's happening, there are huge parts of the explainations that don't make sense. When Okabe travels back in time, he travels onto "other world lines," but wouldn't he realize that his actions don't effect other lines? They try to explain that the memories of the world are effectively overwritten rather than Okabe physically traveling back in time, but then why does the time of day and positions of everyone change? Why do multiple versions of a character sometimes exist and sometimes not? Also, several of thoes peculiar moments from early episodes ultimately have absolutely relavence to the time warpping from the plot's climax. It's slightly frustrating.
But "Steins;Gate" succeeds in using this staple of science fiction in a good character-driven and psychologically draining adventure. Okabe's spiral into madness is fascinating, and he genuinely grows in a satisfying way, dennouncing his random novelties ("Steins;Gate isn't real!" he cries to himself when ignoring his tendancies) before accepting them in full as a proper mad scientist. He ultimately finds himself dedicating a full episode to each romantic interest in order to undo the actions that resulted in a bad outcome. This was a visual novel, after all. But both the game and the anime take advantage of the expectations of the genre (1. To have multiple endings, 2. To have many romantic interests for the player to choose between) to the benefit of the plot (constantly reliving time until a good ending is reached). The final ending is a slight letdown, for despite what I expected, it has a perfectly happy conclusion for everyone. But sometimes people want a happy ending, and it warms my heart to see the romance between the leads (Okabe and Kurisu) blossom further than most shows.The visuals and animation are a mixed bag. The character designs are inspired from the game art, which is not well suited for animation, but their attempt is admirable and the environments look nice. The animation itself is stiff, and aside from a couple impressive moments, barely passes as acceptable in anime, but at least it is consistent. On the other hand, the music and sound design is engineered and directed with better style, and it does wonders to enhance the world of the show. The voice acting in Japanese was one prized as among the best of its generation, and I would argue the English dub meets that expertly, with impressive command of both ridiculous and emotion scenes and clever writing to help it come together, even in hard-to-translate moments. As for the home video Bluray release, Funimation's version does contain noticable color banding, likely due to the series being largely in dark indoor spaces, and the dialogue requires a louder volume compared to the opening and ending themes, appropriate since everyone often discusses through whisper, but frustrating nonetheless.Oh, and you might notice that there is a strange semi-colon in the title, and that several other anime have a similar naming scheme ("Chas;Head," "Robotics;Notes," among others). While done by different studios, they are considered to be part of the same universe in a grander umbrella, perhaps similar to "Type Moon" or "CLAMP." Certian science-fiction themes are vaugely similar, but the characters and stories don't effect each other, and you can consider the shows as completely separate from each other. Additionally, "Steins;Gate" is the only widely-praised show from this franchise, so decide to look up the other shows at your own discretion. Ultimately, I enjoyed "Steins;Gate" and understand why it is an easy show to recommed to the average viewer. It's a shame it frustated me in some important elements, and as a whole it really doesn't compare to the best anime has to offer. But good science fiction is hard to come by, and this is a solid recommendation for clubs to watch. And as a fun modern comedy to boot, it is indefinitely quotable. "El Psy Congroo."