Commence Operation Forseti!

Consider. Can the universe justifiably be called infinite? Doubtful. It may not have a discernible end, but it had a beginning. And its component parts definitely have a limited cosmological shelf-life. Splitting hairs or not, if history tells us anything it’s that scientists often make very poor poets. We’re all just a ship of fools chasing phantoms, heedless of what really underwrites natural law. These words are the lines that open an anime that truly can be called a masterpiece—a show that I would argue is one of the best of our generation. These words are the lines that open Steins;Gate. It’s an anime based on a visual novel game by 5pb. Inc. and Nitroplus Co., Ltd. The story takes our protagonist, Rintarou Okabe, or Hououin Kyouma as he prefers, through a journey of trials and errors in his quest to reach the titular Steins;Gate, the best possible timeline. How the show brings up interesting ideas in terms of the time-travel concept alongside its generally superb writing with well executed twists and turns around every corner make it a definitely interesting and worthwhile watch.

Steins;Gate’s anime was done by studio White Fox, who beforehand made the anime Tears to Tiara and Katanagatari, but would go on to make more anime such as The Devil is a Part-Timer and Re:ZERO after this. I honestly wouldn’t say much is special about the animation itself, but visually, the best parts of this anime come from it’s spectacular direction and cinematography. As for its audio elements, the soundtracks are done very well, some songs like “Gate of steiner -piano-” and “Observer” sticking out to me at this moment. They play the right OSTs at just the right times and play them so often that you would remember them clearly, but so scarcely that you wouldn’t be numb to hearing them over and over again. The OP “Hacking to the Gate” by Kanako Itou and the ED “Toki Tsukasadoru Juuni no Meiyaku” by Yui Sakakibara are great songs, with the OP having good visuals as well and the ED having that oh-so memorable piano and the scene in episode nine. All the voice actors in the show do a great job at portraying each of their characters, but one thing I do have to add is that this show’s English dub is just as good, if not even slightly better than its Japanese dub. Of course, it’s always an option to watch both.

Rintarou ”Okarin” Okabe, or Hououin Kyouma as he likes to call himself, is a self-proclaimed “mad scientist,” and Lab Member 001 of The Future Gadget Lab. His lab is in reality just an apartment above a CRT shop, and it’s where he and his other two lab members reside, those being Mayuri “Mayushii” Shiina, a cosplayer and Lab Member 002; and Itaru “Daru” Hashida, a super hacker and Lab Member 003. One day, Okarin finds a young scientist by the name of Makise Kurisu dead in a pool of blood, and texts Daru that Kurisu has been found dead. Though, he finds that once he sends the text, everything has changed, and later on, finds that Kurisu is alive. Aside from that, The Future Gadget Lab has developed something known as the PhoneWave, which is a microwave that is able to send things through time. The group eventually discover that they can send messages to the past to change their worldline in what they call D-Mails. Slowly, they change their worldline with D-Mails, but every time they change something they think is for the better, things start to get more and more sinister, with Okarin being the only one aware that their worldline is changing due to his Reading Steiner ability.

This first half is slow-paced and dedicated to introducing out concepts and plotlines, but it’s never too slow to the point of being boring, since each episode is interesting in their own right. I believe it only gets better as you go on, but you can notice little details and foreshadowing that may seem not that important at first, but will grow to appreciate the specific details later on when you fully understand the context. Seemingly small things like Ruka and Future Gadget Number 4, Okarin calling Mr. Tennouji “Mr. Braun,” and Suzuha being interested in the corn are made to be so important later on in the show. The show slowly builds up its cool cast of characters for these first twelve-or-so episodes before reaching a boiling point where things really start to get going. The unique cast is presented at first by their slice of life moments in the show, and they’re expounded on further as the series goes on.

This show’s strongest card in terms of its characters is the protagonist, Hououin Kyouma himself, Rintarou Okabe. Since he’s the only one with the Reading Steiner ability that’s able to see the big changes in worldlines, he gets the most development. His Hououin Kyouma personality is endearing and fun to see, a chuunibyou-type delusional persona of a mad scientist who talks about “The Organization” and uses a lot of foreign words and generally speaks strangely. But over time, we start to see his facade slip and learn more about Rintarou Okabe himself more—see his more vulnerable and caring side. His character feels just so human and real. We can see his strengths in his perseverance, his flaws in his rashness, his pain from having to go through so much so many times, and his deep care for his loved ones. His childhood friend Mayuri is important as well, though. She plays such a big part in the story of Steins;Gate, especially in the latter half, but her personality is strong enough that she’s a character first, plot device second. The other original member, super hacker Daru, is the tech guy of the team; he’s always there to help with the mechanical and technical related things like building and repairing gadgets and hacking into things. Then comes Makise Kurisu, Lab Member 004, who Okarin gives many nicknames such as The Zombie, Celeb-17, Assistant, American Virgin, Perverted Genius Girl, and Christina. She’s a calm, level-headed girl who helps with the development of the time-related gadgets in the lab, and later builds the Time-Leap Machine.

There are many other characters in Steins;Gate who are mainly just side-characters, but play an important role nonetheless. There’s the stoic and mysterious Kiryuu “Shining Finger” Moeka, who mainly communicates by texting; the RaiNet Access Battlers champion, maid-cafe worker, and fellow chuunibyou Rumiho Akiha, who’s also known as Faris Nyannyan; the one that’s delicate as an orchid, fair as a cherry blossom, the personification of feminine grace, and a dude by the name of Ruka Urushibara, or Rukako as he’s sometimes called; the energetic and strange Suzuha Amane, who works at the CRT shop downstairs; then Yuugo Tennouji, or Mr. Braun as Okarin likes to call him, the stern owner of the CRT shop; and Nae Tennouji, Mr. Braun’s daughter who everyone loves. All the characters in Steins;Gate are well-rounded and interesting, and they all have some kind of importance to the plot in one way or another. While most of them just mainly stick to one personality trait, they’re still nice to see on the screen. Obviously, with Okarin being the only one who can really time-travel and remember everything, he gets the most development, but all the characters have their big moments as well.

Steins;Gate shows us the importance of sacrifice and moving forward to reach an end goal. Each D-Mail one of the lab members sends creates ripples through time that affect the worldline deeply in some way. The thing is, each D-Mail they send fulfills the wishes of one of the characters, so undoing the D-Mails means helping reach the greater good, but losing their happiness. Because of D-Mails, you can prevent someone from dying, but have large scale effects on an entire city. Sending any of the D-Mails in the first place is seen as a mistake, and while it kind of was, it’s painful to see the wishes of the characters we like seen that way, no? Some chose to place the value of their own life on someone unreliable, some chose to go through with faulty plans at the cost of failing their mission as a whole, and some just keep trying to save someone over and over and expecting it to be different just this once.

Was creating time-travel a mistake in it of itself? Okarin tries to fix these mistakes he keeps making with the Time-Leap Machine, but the memories of them stay with him forever in his memories. One could see Reading Steiner as a blessing, another as a curse. The mistakes and their effects can never truly be changed. Okarin has to learn to live with that, but at the same time he still has to try and make things right. Mayuri tells Okarin that if she had memories of a conversation they had in one timeline, but never had in the other, she would cry. Not for Okarin, but for herself. The mental toll that time-travelling over and over again has on this one person is immense. At one point, he himself feels like he’s stopped being shocked by what he has to go through in each iteration and worldline. His heart becomes numb to the events taking place, and thought sometimes that he can just redo whatever happens. Someone like Okarin, who created the Future Gadget Lab to make friends and created the Hououin Kyouma persona as a mask to hide his vulnerability and be there for his friends, was given the Reading Steiner ability. Of all people, don’t you think he’s not really the best suited for this? That’s what makes his journey so heavy and compelling.

Okarin is a source of endless determination. He’ll keep going on and try to reach Steins;Gate no matter what it takes. Sure, he’ll give up sometimes; the mere existence of Steins;Gate 0 is proof of that. But in the end, he always has to rise again and keep pursuing Steins;Gate—the best possible timeline there is. He cares for people like Kurisu and Mayuri deeply, and keeping them safe is his primary goal. With that care, he has to reach out for help and help others to reach a worldline where he finally saves himself from the pain. Every person is important. Every person has their own story to tell. Each of the characters has a story of their own that no one would have ever known if it weren't for their interactions. Someone having a secret crush on someone they feel they can’t love, someone feeling empty after the loss of a loved one, someone being so lonely to the point of suicide, someone having an abusive parent yet still wanting their approval, someone living a double life to keep the one they care for safe—all people who seem unassuming and “normal” at first glance. The individual stories kept within the characters of the show all play a larger part in the story, but it may also reflect on the people in the real world.

Seeing the time-loops happen over and over again and how Okarin has to try over and over again, but still struggles with getting anywhere meaningful is just as impactful each time. His struggle seems endless, and may even land him in a spot of despair, but he’s reminded time and time again of the goal he needs to reach, and gets back up to try it once more. It’s a story that shows the meaningful connections between people, the importance that people have to one another and the world, the effects of trying to change the past, the important pain of sacrifice, and the need to keep on going to reach the best possible outcome you can. We can’t deny that we can never truly change the past, but we still keep trying to change the present.

This anime truly is amazing; it does what it tries to do super well. Steins;Gate as a show is rife with good themes, characters, direction, voice acting, and overall good writing. The light parts have dark bits sprinkled in to keep you on your toes, and the darker parts have bits of light in them to not feel too depressing or overbearing. The first half is slow yet not boring, and the second half is engaging and thrilling. This show can go from a science thriller, to a comedy slice of life show, to a dark time-loop, to an emotional rollercoaster and it works. It’s an entertaining show through and through with cards up its sleeve you knew were there all along but will still be surprised you never thought of how they would use them before. I love the timey-wimey stuff in my anime, and this show is pretty much the prime example of one that I might just love the most. Overall, Steins;Gate is far from a disappointment for me, and it doesn’t become one no matter how much I watch it. I highly recommend it to basically anyone. El Psy Congroo.

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