Note: Needless to say, please avoid any VN spoilers in the comments. The rule here is if it’s appeared in the anime, it’s fair game – if not, it’s 100% banned. And no spoilers disguised as “speculation” either (yes, I can almost always tell). Thank you for your understanding.
The first thing I have to say is – has it really been 7 years since Steins;Gate aired? Damn, time flies – but it really has been, almost to the day. This was a show from pretty early in my anime blogging career, and though it’s hung around in various incarnations since (a movie, some semi-advertisement and legitimate OVAs, and one other thing which we’ll talk about shortly) it really does feel like it comes from a different time both for me and the medium. And, I suppose, that’s only fitting.
The next matter of importance is the issue of timelines. Because in the often indecipherable tangle of plot that is Steins;Gate, timelines are everything. If one remembered enough from the original TV series ending and hadn’t paid any attention since, this premiere would seem very confusing. Indeed, my memory of it is dodgy enough that I was confused myself until I stopped the player halfway through and did a little review. Obviously “0” is operating on a different timeline from the one which concluded the series – a “Beta” timeline, one where Mayuri still lives but Kurisu dies. That, of course, explains Okarin’s depressed state as we rejoin the story (indeed, he’s undergoing hypnotherapy).
What’s interesting to note here is that there was an alternate Episode 23 from the original series – though it came later, first airing when the show was rebroadcast in 2015. Steins;Gate 0 seems to take up directly where that left off, more or less – and that, of course, means things are off to a rather grim and gloomy start. Okabe’s failure to save Kurisu (indeed, he was the one that killed her, albeit by accident) – and just as much, the hell he went through trying to cheat destiny and save both girls he loved – has left him so traumatized that he’s abandoned his old life and dedicated himself to college (he plays tennis, for cripes’ sake), leaving Akiba and the lab behind.
Now, it should be noted that few anime in the modern era are as beloved as Steins;Gate, and (equally importantly from my perspective) few have crossed the divide between artistic and commercial achievement so successfully. As such, I suspect that the general reaction to 0 was going to be overwhelmingly positive, no matter how good a premiere this was, just because so many were so happy to have S:G back. I think it was very good, as it happens, but I’m not yet sold that it needs to exist for any reasons apart from commercial ones. I’d also be very interested in knowing whether I’d love the first series as much now as I did then, with so much more exposure to this industry under my belt. Maybe I would – but since there’s no way I can take the time to re-watch it, it’s one of those things I can only speculate about.
There are some important changes this time, notably that neither of the original series’ directors is back for this trip. Ultra-experienced adapter Hanada Jukki is, though, and this is an instance where that may be just as important. Most of the cast is back, though of course there is one notable exception (for now) and there are some new faces this time – like the (very) diminutive Hiyajo Maho (Yahagi Sayuri), a researcher at the same lab as Kurisu and as assistant to Professor Alexis Leskinen (Ueda Youji – hooe! ) in developing a new A.I. called “Amadeus” that’s based on Kurisu’s research, and seems to be at the nexus of this timeline going all to Hell.
As we re-enter this mythology, the drama seems primarily to stem from Suzuha’s attempts to get Okarin to once more try and change time in order to prevent the dystopia she knows is coming, and his weary refusal to be drawn back into the same horrific cycle. While it’s fair to point out that the mood of this first episode is extremely dark, Steins;Gate has always had a profoundly tragic air about it – especially from Okabe’s perspective, because he’s the one who has to see all these terrible things and carry the memories with him. It’s one of Miyano Mamoru’s finest performances – and far different from the sort of role he seems to have been typecast into in recent years.
I would certainly love it if Steins;Gate 0 is every bit as great as the first one, and I’m still at a place as a fan where I can enjoy it on the same level. I get the impulse to go back and mine immensely profitable franchises for more gold, and it’s understandable – I just feel like the first series ended so perfectly that it might have been best left to stand alone as the franchise’s signature anime statement. But this series has 23 episodes to prove me wrong, and I heartily hope it does.
Insert Song: “Amadeus”
PatchyTesla
April 12, 2018 at 5:52 amHaving played the games, i think S;G plot could exist without S;G 0 but this is one “sequel” that builds upon the first one and deepens our understanding of it. It’s more than “just a sequel”, it’s an exercise in how to weave a sequel that’s both accesory and critical even if this sounds like a contradiction.
If I’m being too vague, it’s because I’m being cautious. It’s hard to talk about it without spoilers, even if I leave blanks, the blanks itself would be one.
Well, this is one series I’ll be following closely, I hope it turns out as well as the first one.
MayuC
April 12, 2018 at 6:00 amThe song that played at the end is actually “Amadeus” (the opening theme song of Steins;Gate 0 visual novel), not “Fatima”.
Guardian Enzo
April 12, 2018 at 6:07 amDuly noted, thank you
JJ
April 12, 2018 at 6:11 amFrom what I can gather, S;G0 is a bit shorter than S;G, so the two-cour length (pleasantly) surprised me. I did have to remind myself of E23B though, I somehow missed that completely first time round and this episode threw me for a loop.
Perhaps we will finally see how Steins’ Gate was opened, rather than just having explained away with Okabe’s audacity and determination.
sonicsenryaku
April 12, 2018 at 7:05 amWhen thinking about what Steins;gate 0 could explore that the series has yet to do, it finally hit me why whoever wrote this sequel felt it was necessary. I want to share my speculations but at the same time i don’t want them to come off as spoilers (I don’t know anything about this sequel) so ill just point to a plot thread this episode to tip you off as to what my realization was: We are in the beta time line where Okabe failed once in saving Kurisu right? (This detail is very important) Think back to the epilogue of ep 23 in the original series; that’s all i need to say to get you to see where I’m coming as to how Steins;gate 0 may justify its existence as the sequel that we needed but didn’t realize sooner. I’ve used this comparison before, but if you’ve seen both diebuster and gunbuster, think about what gunbuster’s ending did for diebuster; this is the angle I’m coming from.
For me honestly, I prefer to think that Steins; gate true ending was at ep 22 of the original series, even though I’m was fine with the ending we got in ep 24 since the series had been building up to it since ep 1. For those who especially loved the ending of the original Steins;gate, I feel like this series is just going to make you appreciate that ending even more.
Yukie
April 12, 2018 at 9:02 amPurely anime-viewer here: Overall, I had a less positive experience of this first episode. I guess 7 years is a long time. When I watched Steins; Gate, I had only 1 year of anime-watching experience under my belt. It still remains as one of the few anime out there I really hold in awe.
-This time, the VN elements of this show pop out immediately like a sore thumb, in particular the female characters. I remember feeling fatigued of Mayuri and Feris near the end of the original show, but by the end of this episode, their antics were approaching insufferable (esp. those of Feris). [I guess it just shows how much my tolerance level towards these things has dropped]
-Similar to the above, the new female character…
-And Seki Tomokazu’s (one of my favorite seiyuus btw) voice-acting choice for Daru was so weird that I had to stop the episode and check with the original series to see if he had changed anything. It was the same, and yet I don’t remember his voice being this unnatural for me when I watched it way back. In fact, I remember Daru being quite an enjoyable character.
-Picking up in medias res made it really hard for the emotional parts to really hit.
-Not another show about AIs…
On the plus side, this episode reminded me some of the stuff I really enjoyed in Steins;gate:
-when the sci-fi aspect started kicking in near the end of this episode, my interest was regained.
-Miyano’s serious chops (I agree it’s a shame he’s been largely type-casted in recent years)
-The music: When the ED played, the excitement I had for this show 7 years ago came rushing back.
-Found it funny that Okarin is so depressed he’s become a normie.
-And of course the time-travel plot still remains incredibly unique.
I have no idea where this rendition will go, but I’m definitely intrigued to continue watching. I can’t deny that there’s a part of me that can’t help but wish I could shorten the episode count of S;G0 and move some of those episodes to Golden Kamuy.
Yukie
April 12, 2018 at 9:03 amOh gosh I didn’t realize my post would take up so much space. Sorry about that ><
Guardian Enzo
April 12, 2018 at 2:29 pmHonestly, those are some of my concerns as well – has my tolerance for that sort of thing declined in the past few years?
DauntingOverlord
April 12, 2018 at 2:34 pmI got used to the excellent dub, and everyone basically sounds better in that dub from my experience, especially Daru.
DauntingOverlord
April 12, 2018 at 9:46 amAs a Steins;Gate fan, I’m just here for the ride, crossing my fingers hoping the story is as good as everyone (who’s played the VN) says it is. Not used to your posts getting so much attention in such a short amount of time, I was going to say more but it’d just be redundant now, lol.
Couch Tomato
April 12, 2018 at 10:10 amA big problem for me is that I barely remember all the stuff in the original Steins;Gate, which is especially important given the whole technical aspect of time traveling, etc. It’s going to be hard for me to put the puzzle pieces back together and figure out what exactly’s going on in this sequel…
DauntingOverlord
April 12, 2018 at 10:25 amThere is an alternate episode 23 that Enzo mentioned that could help you with that. But basically if you remember in the original, Okabe failed saving Kurisu once and then got a video from his future self telling him the game plan to episode 24. We just get to see what it was like for that Okabe is all. Nothing too weird (at least to me).
James
April 12, 2018 at 9:31 pmI liked this episode, but it was laughable that they tried to pass of Kurisu’s theory as innovative…memories being created through synaptic communication is a day 1 undergraduate concept.
Stefan
April 13, 2018 at 9:34 amHer theory wasn’t synaptic communication; that was the layman explanation for how memories are created in order to introduce the paper. What the paper actually says is that memories are stored in the temporal lobe like information in a flash memory (e.g flash drive)… Which is what actually made me cringe. The jump from THAT to sentient AIs physically hurt me.
James
April 13, 2018 at 10:37 amEither way the way they presented it was so unscientific it was jarring that her work would be presented in that manner at a conference lol
Guardian Enzo
April 13, 2018 at 4:07 pmTo be fair, I never watched S;G for hard science. I think a lot of dramatic license has always been the entry stamp with this franchise – we’re here for the personal story, not the technobabble.
James
April 13, 2018 at 8:30 pmIt doesn’t affect the story for me at all, just a personal complaint for one small part of the episode.
Stefan
April 13, 2018 at 10:24 pmYeah. Hijayo Maho interested me, but her complete confidence in what she was saying at the conference completely softened the impact of the ending and of Amadeus’ introduction for me. I thought I remembered sciencebabble was more convincing in the first series? Oh well. I’m still interested in her character.
Ronbb
April 12, 2018 at 10:09 pmIt’s through Steins;Gate that I met you on RC. Then when Chihayafuru came along, I became — and will continue to be — a resident here and an occasional visitor of RC. I just paid a visit and read your post of Stein;Gate 0…was that intentional or just by chance? And yes, how time flies…
Guardian Enzo
April 13, 2018 at 1:46 amYes, I remember that well – it was really my intro to RC blogging (little did I know, they wouldn’t all be like that). I actually plan to blog this one over there too.
Ronbb
April 13, 2018 at 5:54 pmThat’s awesome!