I spent a good deal of time on idle stalling before finally starting this post, because I couldn’t think of much to say about this episode. To be honest, I still can’t. It was fine if you’re a fan of the Daru-Yuki subplot I suppose (which I’m not, really). But what it felt like more than anything was yet another shoehorning in of a side story from the VN – fanservice for the VN veterans rather than anything integral to the anime’s storyline. And Steins;Gate 0 has had a few too many of those eps already.
As I’m finding more and more often to be the case, my favorite moments of the episode involved Maho – especially that bit where she “appeared” in Narita, completely hidden by her suitcase. This edition of S;G has a much different composition than the first anime did – there’s a lot more otaku pandering here, a lot more focus on subplots, and a generally less punchy narrative. To be blunt a lot of “0” feels very lethargic when compared to the original series, and Maho (and her boss) proves a nice respite from that. But there wasn’t enough of her.
The plot driver for the episode was Suzu (with the help of Feyris) doctoring a photo of herself and her mother (the story behind the actual photo was a lot more engaging than the one behind the doctored version) to convince Daru that he needed to act fast and win Yuki over. Maho gets dragged into this too, as she attempts to help give Daru the self-confidence to confess to Yuki. None of this is especially compelling, and while Daru has his moments he’s a character I think works best in modest doses. The emotional payoffs in Steins;Gate 0 just don’t pack much of a punch for me – maybe you have to have played the VN to feel differently, but even if that’s true it’s still pretty damning, because that certainly wasn’t the case last time around.
As for Okarin, he’s once more a relative bit player in all this. That said he does have a very good scene with Professor Leskinen, where the latter tells Okabe that his modesty isn’t necessarily a strong point on the academic path he’s chosen to follow. Especially if he goes to America, and this is a salient point. In Japan modestly is very much an innate quality for most people, but in the West sometimes if one has done something outstanding they have to go out of their way to call attention to it if they want to get ahead…
Stefan
July 26, 2018 at 5:55 amI have to say, they really saved up their very best for Suzuha’s backstory sequence, huh? Think they’ve been planning this for long? Must’ve took a lot of effort to organise that effort.
MayuC
July 26, 2018 at 9:30 amYou could have at least bothered to mention the fact that Mayuri has been wanting to spend time with Okabe for a while and Okabe has either flat out refused or was busy with something else. It’s clearly leading up to something, and yet you have made no mention of it. What is the purpose of those tiny moments? What is going to happen?
How about speculating about some other stuff that might happen? What about Kagari? What will Suzuha do now that there’s only a week left?
I honestly feel like you and I weren’t watching the same episode, and I struggle to believe you watched this episode at all. Such a vague, pointless post where the main idea seems to be ‘this isn’t the same like the original Steins;Gate’. There were a tons of things you could have picked up on and decided to write something about, but it seems evident to me that you do not care care (or perhaps you didn’t pay attention, which wouldn’t surprise me because you often overlook many things).
An embarrassing “review”, if I’m being honest. Even an average anime reactor does a better job of analyzing this episode than you do.
Stefan
July 26, 2018 at 10:55 amI’ve noticed the trend that Enzo is starting to watch these animes from more of a past-tense sense, rather than keeping up with the minutia with fresh eyes. I infer that is because of the sheer weariness of the perpetual confrontation with a decaying industry, which nowadays thrives only off its past — so many sequels in the anime world, such an old world and stale air, there is almost no new material circulating when you’ve been in this for as long as Enzo has. The fact that you bother coming to his blog and expect him to be an average anime reactor is no fault of his own. This is the intimate sphere of a person who, if you’ve frequented this place ever before, faces a highly uncertain future and has a persistant craving for self-expression. Otherwise this place wouldn’t exist; there’s too much passion and sorrow put in it. It’s hardly any surprise that he sees anime through past-goggles, given all these circumstances. He simply understands where this stuff will lead, and has resigned to the law of probabilities; it’s less time-wasting. That he has a lot to grow as a reviewer and author is no sad fact, and it’s his decision how to settle these matters. The fact is, small hints dropped meanderingly about this episode are mere breadcrumbs to someone who was seen this all over before. If you want to read someone endeared by these breadcrumbs, walk with the pigeons.
Ronbb
July 27, 2018 at 7:28 pmI’m feeling lukewarm, to say the least, toward S;G 0. With the first season, I used to feel super excited the day when an episode released, and now I’m dragging myself to keep up. This is sad. I don’t know if I have too high an expectation or got stuck in the first season that I have a different expectation. The thing is I find the show has become messy. What is the point of the show? Where is the growth of a character or a relationship? And the questions go on…