I’ll have to leave it to more experienced heads than mine to say whether the time travel logic of this finale was internally consistent, because I’m sure I don’t know. I can tell you that as someone who’s seen everything the anime has on offer but not played the VN, the overall impression I got was that they were pretty much making stuff up as they went along here. Maybe all this makes sense within the mythology, but even if it does it still felt pretty much cobbled together for plot convenience. And if that was the case, I don’t even think consistency matters all that much.
Rather than try and pick apart that aspect of Steins;Gate 0 (again, I’ll let the anoraks handle that) I think it’s more interesting to discuss the impact of the series as a whole. And fundamentally, I think the question facing this show is the same one facing the sequel to any beloved original series – is there any compelling reason for it to exist? Apart, that is, from making money? Right now, if there is I can’t find it. That’s not to say there aren’t aspects specific to Steins;Gate 0 that I really enjoyed, but is the overall anime mythology better off for it having been produced? Or would it have been better served (as FLCL certainly would have) by leaving a masterpiece standing basically untarnished as the lasting memory of the franchise?
What was good? Well, Maho certainly. I enjoyed her character a lot – she brought quite a different sensibility than any other cast members in the franchise. I liked what she brought with her, too – Professor Leskinen (I knew he was going evil sooner or later, but he was still a lot of fun) and Amadeus. The latter added a sort of pathos that was quite different than the raw, acute agony of what Okabe was going through in the first series. This was more of a dull ache, a persistent melancholy – a constant reminder of the choice he’d made and was forced to live with.
Indeed, that was easily the best stretch of Steins;Gate 0 for me – seeing Okarin trying to transition into a more normal life, only to be forced to confront the most painful elements of his old one because of Amadeus. The first cour of “o” was certainly the better, especially the first eight episodes or so. But that’s when things went pretty seriously off the rails in my opinion, only partially recovering in the final handful of episodes. The focus on Kagari’s arc certainly didn’t help – it was pretty much the worst part of either series. But the problems for Steins;Gate 0 ran deeper than that.
As for what happened in the finale itself, if we’re going to look on the upside it did manage to construct something more like a real ending than I was expecting it to be able to. The downside to that was that it the pacing was pretty rushed in order to make that happen, which really makes me wish some of the rather extraneous fluff in the middle third of the show had been cut and the events of this ep had taken place over two weeks instead of one. There was a certain irony to the arrival of two time machines simultaneously – it really felt like a metaphor for how much had to be crammed into this episode s as to get to a logical stopping point.
It’s fitting, though, that this show should have ended on Episode 23 – and it was really more the ones in the middle that were the problem, as they tied the hands of the series in terms of what it could do at the end. Unfortunately the lasting impression I’m left with is just how much better the original series was than the sequel. It isn’t simply that the events it depicted were more compelling, though they certainly were. It’s also that it managed to feel like a self-contained narrative rather than something cobbled together from multiple VN threads, in a way the sequel couldn’t match. And its emotional high points were earned through patient buildup, rather than pushed a little too hard by push-button theatrics and overwrought BGM.
I’m sure there will be more Steins;Gate to come in some form or another – this franchise is simply too valuable to too many companies to believe otherwise. Whether that will constitute more OVAs (above and beyond the Steins;Gate 0 one we know is coming in December) or something else – maybe another movie – who knows. Maybe “0” would have worked better as an multi-part OVA in fact, rather than a full series – stripped down to its essentials and adding a layer to the original mythology without trying to establish a complete alternative timeline. Maybe it didn’t meet the threshold of justifying its existence, but it had it’s moments – and it was certainly a reminder to me of just how much I loved the original Steins;Gate. El Psy Congroo.
GC
September 28, 2018 at 1:22 amLike you I think this series worked best in the beginning and end and dragged in the middle stages and seemed kinda lost. Overall I’m still glad I watched it and enjoyed it. It ended without a resolution to the series so I am wondering if there will be a 3rd season?
Guardian Enzo
September 28, 2018 at 6:19 amI guess it depends on whether or not there are enough unadapted routes left to squeeze another season out. I think OVAs or a theatrical film are more likely.
Stefan
September 28, 2018 at 1:49 amLots of sound & fury, but not a net loss; I think, in the end, the series cancelled itself out.
Ryan Yeung
September 28, 2018 at 2:43 amSo … should I watch it? Haha. I’m someone who has enjoyed the first series, but has largely forgotten about it, and isn’t wrapped up in the hype of the franchise. Also, I’m trying very hard to trim my list of series to watch every season to a much lower manageable number, and this fell by the wayside. Now that it’s over, would you recommend it?
Guardian Enzo
September 28, 2018 at 6:18 amAlways up to you, depends on how muh time you have. Honestly, for me it adds nothing essential to the overall mythology and the middle third is so weak if I hadn’t been blogging it I’d have been tempted to drop the series at one point. But the first 7-8 eps are very good.
Rasu
September 28, 2018 at 10:36 pmThey never explained why Fubuki got the Reading;Steiner, or if she lost it, or if Leskinen did or didn’t do something to her during those visits to the hospital.
Expect those answers in the OVA?
Also, shouldn’t Moeka shoot Rintaro and Co. since they know about and developed the fundaments to time travel? Mr. Brown too?
daniel wilianto
September 29, 2018 at 12:50 pmYou are right. Steins Gate 0 ruined what the original series has established regarding the series’ time travel mechanic. There are two versions of time travel mechanic in fictions. One with alternate universes and one with only one universe. In first mechanic, an alternate universe was created whenever someone or something traveled to the past. In second mechanic, whenever something altered the past, the the only universe was reconstructed and everybody’s memories are rewritten.
From my understanding, Steins Gate has been using the second mechanic all these time. When they send D-Mail or D-Line, Okabe’s vision was distorted and the world was transformed into a new state. If they used first mechanic, there would be no reason for on-screen-Okabe to experience any distorted feeling and teleportation, because they would simply create another alternate universe with their act, their current condition would be unchanged. Also the way most characters able to remember stuffs show that their memories were swiped and rewritten, and rewriting isn’t perfect somehow. Also when future Suzuha dan Okabe managed to “deceive the world”, they experienced world reconstruction and teleportation when they were still in the time machine. Okabe reappeared in a middle of his town (if I am not mistaken), and future Suzuha were presumeably teleported back to future without the memory of ever traveling to the past or trained as soldier.
This episode ruined it all. Why would there be an alternate version of Suzuha and Mayuri stranded in 12.000 BC? Suzuha should simply be teleported back to the future, and Mayuri should be teleported back to 2011 without the memory of time travel. Instead she remembered she slapped Okabe after getting a call from herself one year ago. Also Okabe who were left behind waiting in 2011 would simply experience world reconstruction. He would be in a bed next to Kurisu. 😀 Probably.
Time travel story isn’t that hard to tell, as long as you are being consistent with which theory that you picked.
Nadavu
September 30, 2018 at 2:38 amI only watched the first three episodes, and nothing I read in your reviews since had made me go back to watch the fourth. I might rewatch the original, though…
Guardian Enzo
September 30, 2018 at 9:49 amI think it was really good for the first eight episodes, so your comment surprises me a bit.
The wild guesser
October 1, 2018 at 6:35 amYou mentioned FCLC briefly in your review, by that I’m guessing you mean Alternative and Progressive. I’ve yet to watch either of those “sequels”(routes? Idk where they sand timeline-wise with the original FLCL), but I’m guessing from your comment in the review they’re not up to par with the original?
Guardian Enzo
October 1, 2018 at 6:50 amThat would be a massive understatement, so yes!