It just occurred to me that I haven’t reviewed the original Steins;Gate anime. Why I do not know but I’ll have to fix that sooner rather than later, in the meantime here are my first thoughts on this spin-off/alternative take thing.
Steins;Gate is one of those anime that people tend to fall in love with or forget about fairly quickly. It takes awhile to get going but once it does, it doesn’t stop and the character interactions are really what hold the whole thing together even when you might feel like poking a few holes in the narrative (it is time travel after all and there are always holes). That said, the anime really did leave a mark so with the announcement of a new season that explores an alternative time line, the question had to become whether or not this show could deliver.
And the answer after one episode is yes and no. Where they have certainly set up an interesting narrative for this spin off to explore, looking at a future where Okabe didn’t save Kurisu, stopped going to the lab and took up tennis (though the hypnotism and medication strongly suggests all is not well), what I can’t help but feel is that something of what made the original so gripping has been lost.
It took awhile for me to put my finger on it and that’s because it is something really weird. The dialogue pace has slowed down. I remember struggling to keep up with the subs as the dialogue came thick and fast from multiple characters and so much of the dialogue came in biting jabs between Kurisu and Okabe and this has been lost for the moment. Of course, it is only the first episode.
Realistically, this was pretty solid. I’m not entirely sure we needed this take on the story but the set up was interesting, I’m curious as to where they intend to go, and other than the characters feeling a little bit flat I have really no complaints. The same can’t be said for the person I watched this first episode with (he loved the original Steins;Gate anime and was pretty unimpressed with this).
On that note, I’d love to know your thoughts on this first episode so leave me a comment.
Thanks for reading.
Karandi James
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I played only some of the visual novel so I kinda have an inchling of what happens next. The first episode’s pacing was actually very well…, for lack of better word, paced.
I liked Steins;Gate. But I have to watch Steins;Gate 0. I hope it will be good to watch.
It was an alright first episode. The concept is pretty interesting and I’m interested to see how Okabe plans to deal with this curveball. I agree that the conversation pacing wasn’t what I expected. I’m really used to the fast paced nature of the original that this felt kind of wrong in that respect. I have a feeling for Okabe, that’s more to do with Hououin Kyouma missing from the picture and him trying to leave that personality behind.
And in makes sense that Okabe isn’t as manic as he used to be. But all the other characters seem a little off and slower as well. And we could argue that part of that is the driving force of the group, Kyouma, is missing and so they’ve all kind of settled as well, but it makes for a somewhat flat dynamic in a group that used to be pulsing with energy. Again, it is a first episode and there is an explanation but as a viewer it felt like something was missing.
That’s true. There is a certain flatness within the group that doesn’t feel right. I agree, it does feel like something’s missing. I’m hoping that when things get going, some of that fast paced nature we’re used to returns.
I loved it, as in I got a crush on it. It made me feel as if I was riding a train to go see an old lover I had ever quite gotten over.
I thought it was amazing, but then again I’m easy to please.
It was certainly a solid enough episode. I just think for me it lacked a little bit of the spark that made the first one stick so well and the more I think about it, the more I realise it was the character dialogue that was lacking. Still, there are definitely worse anime out there this season and it was really fun to see these characters again.
I still need to watch steins gate, I’m so bad