Steins;Gate - Episode 17 Discussion / Poll

[DarkWish]

Originally Posted by Riga92

Im so glad i watched this vid...

Regarding this episode, in the ending Feryis said " Kyouma and Feryis fought a gread darkness, as lovers together in a past life!" does this mean she remembers ?

[Malkuth]

As much as I adore Feyris, I agree with a couple of posters that most of the drama was too forced. It's a shame she had so little screen-time in the previous 16 episodes, and probably no more in the remaining 7 :/

Originally Posted by Riga92

This episode also marks the branching point for Feyris' ending in the VN. Here's the video. This ending is also a bit depressing...

Spoiler for Feyris' Ending Summary:

Okarin decides not to send the D-Mail because he did not want to sacrifice anyone else’s happiness after Suzuha. He tries to think of an alternative way to retrieve the IBN5100 and learns that Feyris’ father had sold the retro PC for enough money to start his own business. Perhaps Feyris can send a D-Mail to convince her father to sell the rest of his PC collection instead of the IBN5100.

The D-Mail is sent, Akiba is back to a place filled with Otaku stores. He goes to Suzuha’s home to find the Divergence Meter and discovers the value had decreased. Not only that, the Mirai Gadgets Lab had ceased to exist. He goes to visit the May Queen maid cafe and finds both Mayuri and Daru there but neither of them knew Okarin. Feyris was now his girlfriend. In this timeline, they met in a small Rainet shop where they had a fierce battle together. They decided to join forces for the grand championship and Feyris fell in love with him.

Mirai Gadgets’ existence is erased, Mayuri is saved. Only Feyris knows who Okarin is and they continue to be lovers.

That was depressing? What are you talking about? This is the best outcome possible, since everyone lives and time-travel never gets invented (assuming it was Kyouma's fault). Best part is that he ends up with cutest character, who is also filthy rich, and remembers all other timelines... what more is there to ask... oh! wait! I know the harem ending

Originally Posted by GDB

Oh, you didn't get the innuendo the boss was talking about? They were going to kidnap her and then rape and/or torture her until she broke. Then, they'd keep her as their toy. Well, maybe not "they", but the boss anyway. That's what he meant by corrupting her, filling/covering her with darkness, or whatever words he used.

Hehe, that would make an excellent H-doujinshi :naghty:

[LKK]

Originally Posted by DasDingus

Is it just me or did the boss guy on the phone sound a lot like Daru? He does seem to have an almost stalker-ish fixation on Feyris. Maybe I'm just hearing things and those guys never show up again but it stood out to me.

I thought he sounded like Daru as well. I'd rather not pursue that line of thinking though. I'd rather Daru stay on this side of the pervert line and not turn his thoughts into action.

I wasn't as emotionally invested in this episode as I have been previously. But in a way, it was a relief. This show can be so overwhelmingly engrossing that it's almost becoming hard to watch the next episode for fear of what may come next. However, not knowing what does come next is an even stronger feeling, and so I can't help but watch.

[Kusa-San]

Another sad episode Damn, poor Feyris and poor Okarin. I don't know how Okarin do, to not really become a mad scientist

I'm not surprised by the opening. It was the most evident since they don't cross the 1%. So now everything is clear about the line at least. With the help of Suzuha, they go back to one of the previous line but they are still in the same main line. Which mean than before that, they were always on the same line. No they need to switch again and again until they can find the IBN5100 and then switch between the main line.

But as we can see, it will be really hard for Okarin emotionally.

About Feyris, I don't think she has Reading Steiner. It seems to me that she didn't remember anything at the end of the episode. So it's more that because of what Okarin did, she remembered.

[Kaze]

Originally Posted by Malkuth

That was depressing? What are you talking about? This is the best outcome possible, since everyone lives and time-travel never gets invented (assuming it was Kyouma's fault). Best part is that he ends up with cutest character, who is also filthy rich, and remembers all other timelines... what more is there to ask... oh! wait! I know the harem ending

Well, I'd rather not lose all my friends and get erased from their very existence.
Hell even if you only have Feyris, it would still feel hella lonely.
Everything you remember, never happened, like you were living another life.

Would creep the hell out of me.


*Edit*

On topic of this episode, why the hell doesn't Okarin just ask Feyris's living dad to just BUY another IBM 5100, he's loaded and I'm sure those PC's are still out there.

[Dist]

So what happened to the '' d-mails can't be undone as they weren't even sent in the first place in this timeline '' that people kept saying in the past threads?

Average episode... Lately it seems that with each episode S;G is getting less and less epic, and I don't have this huge feeling and anxiousness for new episode anymore... I can pretty much guess how this is gonna turn out now => 1-2 episodes spent on undoing the d-mails, then acquiring the IBN5100, delete data, stop experimenting with time travel and live happily ever after.

What puzzles me is that why Kyouma is undoing the d-mails one at a time, he should just send one to the past to cancel the whole time travel project. If it never happened then SERN wouldn't have the data on them, now would they?

[GDB]

Originally Posted by Dist

So what happened to the '' d-mails can't be undone as they weren't even sent in the first place in this timeline '' that people kept saying in the past threads?

No one said they can't be undone, just that they can't be undone by sending a D-Mail saying not to send it.

[David_The_Gnome]

Originally Posted by Riga92

This episode also marks the branching point for Feyris' ending in the VN. Here's the video. This ending is also a bit depressing...

Spoiler for Feyris' Ending Summary:

Okarin decides not to send the D-Mail because he did not want to sacrifice anyone else’s happiness after Suzuha. He tries to think of an alternative way to retrieve the IBN5100 and learns that Feyris’ father had sold the retro PC for enough money to start his own business. Perhaps Feyris can send a D-Mail to convince her father to sell the rest of his PC collection instead of the IBN5100.

The D-Mail is sent, Akiba is back to a place filled with Otaku stores. He goes to Suzuha’s home to find the Divergence Meter and discovers the value had decreased. Not only that, the Mirai Gadgets Lab had ceased to exist. He goes to visit the May Queen maid cafe and finds both Mayuri and Daru there but neither of them knew Okarin. Feyris was now his girlfriend. In this timeline, they met in a small Rainet shop where they had a fierce battle together. They decided to join forces for the grand championship and Feyris fell in love with him.

Mirai Gadgets’ existence is erased, Mayuri is saved. Only Feyris knows who Okarin is and they continue to be lovers.

Just had to ask. What's the name of the song around 54:00 in the video (before ending music)?

[Dextro]

Originally Posted by Elestia

I can already see the pattern once Kurisu brought up the theory of canceling out past D-Mails. So next one is gonna be re-trapping Ruka-chan to Ruka-kun? I am conflicted and ambivalent about the matter.

Episode 18: Return of the Trap.

Anyway is it just me or is the fact that Ferris-nyan (damn even I'm doing it now ) remembered everything a bit of a deus ex machina? She just remembers everything conveniently? Really?

You could say that the "Reading Steiner" is a similar overly convenient plot device but I've suspended my disbelief on that one because they've hinted that it might have something to do with that fever Okabe had as a child and given the nature of this show as a time travelling one I've been expecting them to eventually address it. But Ferris-nyan just remembering everything at that time was just way too convenient and completely unexplained for me to accept.

[Raiga]

I was also confused for the longest time before I remembered that sending a D-mail moves you to a timeline where the D-mail was never sent. Time-travelling antics... hurting... brain... graaaahggh

Feyris' dilemma with her dad was pretty heart-wrenching. When she revealed that that's what her D-mail had done I was like, "Oh. Damn." But now looks like Okarin's doing what some people suggested much earlier in the series; undoing all the random world changes that drove the IBM 5100 increasingly far from the Lab.

Looking forward to seeing how it all plays out.

Also when Feyris stopped speaking in nyan-speak I was like "OMG it just got serious."

[Elestia]

It might be more easier to focus on who is receiving the D-Mail, than preventing the D-Mail from being sent.

[Reckoner]

Originally Posted by Dist

So what happened to the '' d-mails can't be undone as they weren't even sent in the first place in this timeline '' that people kept saying in the past threads?

They aren't undoing the dmails. They're sending new D-mails to cancel out the old. For example.

D mail A was "Take a shower at 5:00 pm." World shifts to one where you take a shower at 5:00 p.m.

But D mail B says "Don't take a shower at 5:00 pm, ignore the last message." Now the world shifts back to one where you didn't take a shower.

That's all they're doing.

[GDB]

Originally Posted by Elestia

It might be more easier to focus on who is receiving the D-Mail, than preventing the D-Mail from happening at all.

That's what was done both times.

[Triple_R]

I largely enjoyed this episode, but yeah, I also found the drama in it a bit forced as well.

Here is where I think the VN source material might be causing WhiteFox problems.

It's just a hunch on my part, though, as I haven't played the VN.

Still, this is the first episode of Steins;Gate where I had a heavy sense of that classic eroge feeling coming from it. I mean, it felt like this was a part of the "Okabe/Farris-route", and it can be a bit jarring to have just the two of them together so massively dominate an anime episode when Farris has been nowhere to be seen for ages now. Long story short, this episode had many of the same pros and cons as Kanon 2006 did, only with a sci-fi time traveling edge to it.

Now, I liked Kanon 2006, so that's certainly not all bad, but on the whole, I'd probably consider Steins;Gate (so far) a slightly more well-written anime than Kanon 2006, so it is perhaps a slight step down.

The animation/art work in this also felt ever so slightly subpar (by Steins;Gate's rather high standards). Nothing major, but I wonder if WhiteFox's budget is starting to tighten as we move deeper and deeper into the second cour. I hope that they've budgeted well for the last few episodes at least.


All of the above being said, Farris is a lovely character, and very easy to like, and her personal story is quite touching. I have mixed feelings over her sacrificing the life of her father to help Okabe and save Mayushi though... really mixed feelings about that. I guess you could say that Farris' father was never meant to survive, but still, the man is her father, and she clearly loves him...

If I was in a position like Farris', I don't think I could have made the same decision to let my father die. Even if it did moe up the place I live in, lol.
And save a friend of course.


That being said, I kind of like how the anime avoided a perfect solution where Farris' father is saved, but the negative effects of the original Farris D-Mail are undone. The idea of changing the past has always struck me as a trade off of sorts, where you can gain something, but something you value will also be lost. I think that to have the best of all timelines may be a bit too idealistic.


Anyway, fascinating series as always, and it remains my favorite anime of Spring 2011, and probably my most anticipated watch during these Summer months as well.

[Reckoner]

Originally Posted by Triple_R

Long story short, this episode had many of the same pros and cons as Kanon 2006 did, only with a sci-fi time traveling edge to it.

Not that I am agreeing or disagreeing with anything you're saying... But I believe Steins;Gate is one linear story that merely has opportunities for branch off points (Though they're not exactly the happiest endings...). So it lends itself overall to being more easily adaptable.

Not the typical, guy gets girl choose your route stuff that you see in things like Kanon2006 where each route is largely irrelevant to the others. That's why kanon2006 feels really awkward.

[Triple_R]

Originally Posted by Reckoner

Not that I am agreeing or disagreeing with anything you're saying... But I believe Steins;Gate is one linear story that merely has opportunities for branch off points (Though they're not exactly the happiest endings...). So it lends itself overall to being more easily adaptable.

Not the typical, guy gets girl choose your route stuff that you see in things like Kanon2006 where each route is largely irrelevant to the others. That's why kanon2006 feels really awkward.

That's probably fair, yeah. I mean, this is the only time an episode of Steins;Gate made me think of Kanon 2006 (Okabe tightly hugging Mayushi from behind several episodes back made me briefly think of Clannad, but that's for entirely different reasons, and besides, Clannad is one of my all-time faves so that's a good thing ), so the two stories are no doubt a lot different. Steins;Gate probably isn't as hard to adapt, yeah.

Basically, I think what me might be seeing here is an adaptation of the part of the Steins;Gate VN that was playing to the eroge fanbase without actually going for an all-out route. Perhaps a branch-off point, as you say.

I'm certainly not worried going forward. In fact, turning the trap male again will likely close off a possible romance route, given that I'm pretty sure Okabe is heterosexual, lol.

[ahelo]

Feyris' story was so awwwwwwww. Also, we can still see the aftermath of last episode. Suzuha keeps crushing my heart. I mean she just got a mention this episode and it almost got me teary-eyed.

[zeth006]

Slightly OT question: Has this series picked up since episode 3? Stopped watching it after a while. Should I revisit it??

[Myssa Rei]

The short answer? Yes. Particularly after episode 12.

[Eater of All]

Not as powerful as last episode, but still very good. I love how smart Kurisu's advices are. Rather, just shorten that as I love Kurisu.

In regards to the lack of attempts for trying to save both the father and the IBN, remember that weird butterfly effects might happen, and in the end Okarin still might not receive the IBN or (as the earlier posted game ending showed) worse.

It's also somewhat... fascinating how his death kinda fits with the logic that nobody can be brought back to life by a worldline change. Feyris's father was brought back to life temporarily, but he was destined to get killed by Okarin again once Okarin reverts the timeline.

Originally Posted by Triple_R

Still, this is the first episode of Steins;Gate where I had a heavy sense of that classic eroge feeling coming from it. I mean, it felt like this was a part of the "Okabe/Farris-route", and it can be a bit jarring to have just the two of them together so massively dominate an anime episode when Farris has been nowhere to be seen for ages now. Long story short, this episode had many of the same pros and cons as Kanon 2006 did, only with a sci-fi time traveling edge to it.

I feel it a little too. Hm... maybe if it had one more episode to develop, it wouldn't have given as much of a "character of the week" feel. Especially since now a pattern can be seen, whereas for Suzuha no such pattern was established yet and the story very naturally transitioned into her story.