Steins;Gate - Overall Series Impressions & Total Series Rating

[iceyfw]

man, am i GLAD i waited until it finished airing because there is no way i would be able to keep track of every little foreshadow by watching steins; gate once a week. i haven't seen a great adaptation of a visual novel like this since clannad. the plot being based off around today's time theories and philosophies and the consequences it can have is what drew me into watching this once i read what steins; gate was about.

i just have to give this anime adaptation a 10/10. the pacing, directing, timing of the music, and etc. just made me go "OH, SHIZNUTS" and "BAWWWWWWW" at times. there was even the scene of episode 24 where okabe further injures himself to pour more blood out and it seriously made me cringe in my chair and made my jaw drop at how agonizing and painful it was. the director of that scene makes me give props to the person. a lot of anime adaptations these days barely make me give any facial expressions when watching.

as mentioned earlier about the timing of the music, this is most likely the sole reason which made this adaptation great for me aside from scene executions coming in second place. also in episode 24 right near the end when okabe says "We meet again, Christina." and makise saying her usual my name is not Christina and i am not your assistant (bolded and underlined because this line is important) just made me smile then 'dat music' kicked in at the right moment and made me just feel so satisfied with the ending of steins; gate even more.

great piece of work. this anime easily ranks in my top 5.

[Dark Wing]

I don't know what else I can say about this series that hasn't already been said?

It's jsut solid to the core. It's got memorable characters, suspense, romance, comedy, conspiracy, hardships and struggles.

then manages to wrap it up into a nice package. 10/10 no doubt!

[MyGoddess]

My top 1 just got replaced.

I really like how the time travel was handled as it's really easy to mess it up with these kind of stories. It felt believable. Time traveling really is my cup of tea.
The main points for me were the story, characters and emotional involment.

9.2/10 (My standards are really high :P)

[LawfulNuetral]

The awesomeness of this show can be summed up with two words. Operation Skuld

[sa547]

10/10. I'm sold.


Edit: To those thinking it's overrated, especially the haters, I'll be frank this time: of the shows I cherry-picked, tried to watch and complete in 2011, I thoroughly enjoyed Steins;Gate's storyline, a cocktail of comedy, drama, and suspense... with Dr. Pepper added.

It relied on less fanservice (oh, just the right amount), and more on trying to make an otherwise scientifically esoteric tale very enjoyable. Character design is on the realistic side, perfectly normal. The voices? Mamoru Miyano... damn, gotta give my respect to him, he provided his mad-scientist character a multi-faceted personality, really (one point, he's exuberant; another time, he's down on his knees, gritting his teeth in sorrow).

Okay, what about the story? Slow at first, but then in the middle it finds its feet, before picking up pace and speed until the end, when everything has been resolved, and the time-space equivalent of Pandora's Box is resealed for good.

That's it, Steins;Gate has a place on my shelf. On the top shelf, reserved for the best.

[Beryl Black]

10/10 here as well.


Steins;Gate definitely takes the cake as the best anime I've seen so far.
If you were to compare how lively the characters in this series are, to other animes; you'd label those other anime characters as almost lifeless. I personally love the whole steadily built storyline, and I'm just as impressed with the worldly material used in the series. E.X, John Titor, IBM 5100, Dr.Pepper.

[jonli]

9/10

Maybe I'm a bit late to this show, but I marathon-ed the whole show and I had to express my appreciation for it.

Fantastic...just fantastic. The reason why I wouldn't give it a 10/10 is because although I ended up loving the characters, and genuinely care about their fate the heart tugging moments never forced the manly tears out of my eye sockets. There was just something missing? Maybe the soundtrack didn't really enhance the mood too much for me, or maybe I've seen too much already and not a lot of anime can move me already

OR maybe it's because Mayuri wasn't a charming character at all, she is the most unrealistic member of the cast. Her behavior is just downright...stupid? It's like she has a brain of a hamster...a kind hamster but still a hamster. Sure I'd get attached to my pet hamster but I wouldn't go THAT far for it. This direct the emotions that I have for the events towards Okabe's suffering, instead of BOTH Okabe and Mayuri's fate....which I think would've been more powerful if I cared for her. Everyone else was fantastic though

Anyway the plot is still fantastic and I really liked the writing, it really feels organic (coupled with, imo, Mamoru Miyano's best performance to date) it avoids a lot of awkward anime cliche conversations that plague the industry (and usually forces me to stop watching).

I really want to give a shout out to Okabe's character. He is one of the most relatable and interesting characters for a very very very long time. It's like the first time I watched Haruhi and Kyon stood out to me as the most average-joe-ish character but the most interesting guy as well. They just flesh him out so well. I also really like how his character comes full circle (and we really have to applaud Miyano for being able to bring that out from just the tone of his voice) from acting like a goofy guy avoiding the real world - to fighting against it seriously with a bitter passion - to facing the world once again as Hououin Kyouma. That video that future Okabe sent to past Okabe was such a moving scene, I was literally clenching my fists and shouting out FUCK YEAH!!!!

I hope the movie isn't just a cash in, I'm not entirely sure how Steins Gate can remain Steins Gate without time travelling...and reintroducing it into the story would feel a bit forced. If it's just a massive fan-wank where we just see how the characters are doing at the end then I think a simple OVA would do.

Anyway, I thank you, everyone involved with Steins Gate for giving me such a great experience. For letting me know that anime can still be intelligent and awesome even though the past half decade really demotivated me. I hope more anime like this would appear...not anime about time travel but anime made with heart, patience, and attention to detail.

EL PSY CONGROO!

[ronin myael]

i heard a lot of good things about this series so i decided to watch it. i had a bit of a hard time with the physics and the deal about altering time lines and such but i soon found myself engrossed in the plot. i found okarin to be quite an eccentric character at first but he quickly grew on me and so did the other characters. i was surprised to find a love story amidst all the sci-fi stuff and i must say i was happily surprised by it. i can't say enough about the creativity and imagination of the plot, it's simply brilliant. the voice actors are just superb, my favorite being okabe rintarou's seiyuu. the animation is not perfect but i can't find enough faults in it to consider it mediocre. all in all, steins; gate is an interesting, imaginative and engrossing series that i would definitely recommend to anyone who enjoys anime. i give it a 10/10.

[Yagami Kyo]

With this one being my first post in the forums, I have to make it right.

I have seen many reviews on this anime, much of them 10/10. I can't, unfortunetly do that. For me, Steins;Gate is too good to be in such a scale. My eyes have seen lots of anime. I cannot count them, actually. Even if there are some I can remember, Steins;Gate is too good for me.

I had watched Chaos;Head when Steins;Gate started, and I wasn't really...hapy with the result. It was a kind of inconsistent series. I don't really know about the VN, I'll read it when I have enough time (Summer). But I got in love with Steins;Gate in the first episode. Yes, it is too good of a series. Better than Madoka, better than any 2011 anime (even my beloved Fate/Zero).

The animation is top quality, even if the budget wasn't too high. The story is god-like, and I actually cared about all the characters, even Mayushii. Week after week, I made crazy theories about what would happen in the next episode, but the anime surpased itself time after time.

Because I must give a numerical value, I would give it a 98/100, because for me, a perfect series doesn't exist. But believe me, it's worth watching this series.

[hero147]

10/10. It was a bit slow and tedious to go through the beginning, but nearing the end was amazing.

[LC]

I marathoned this show. Wow. Best cast I've seen in a while. 10/10

[kk2extreme]

10/10 cannot wait for the movie

I just want to know who is (or will be) Daru's wife

[HasuMasu]

^ There's a spin-off manga for that.

[LKK]

Originally Posted by kk2extreme

10/10 cannot wait for the movie

I just want to know who is (or will be) Daru's wife

There are pictures of her in the image thread if I remember right.

[Malintex_Terek]

OK, let's try this one more time.

Steins;Gate is easily the most overrated anime of the year, although what annoys me isn't its popularity, but how people are confusing "good" = "enjoyable". It's enjoyable, but it's enjoyable in the way Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt is - you watch it for kicks, and for deus ex machina plot twists, not because it's thematic, well written or emotionally endearing. Though I didn't really enjoy it either - I went bald pulling out all my head hair, and I come from a long line of thick head hair!

What Steins does best is its pacing. I feel pacing can make a mediocre anime seem good (like Steins), or make a masterpiece just seem great (Muv-Luv Alternative). To a nerd, pacing isn't as big a deal as details, which reflect the creativity and thought process of the author - a lot of Trek movies are poorly paced, but are still liked by "Trekkies" because of the fictional logic behind a lot of the in-universe science. To a casual, pacing is everything because the audience can't be relied on to think critically or have an appreciation for detail, although that doesn't preclude the existence of good details. A truly good story can be critically evaluated after the thrill of a first round view and not be torn to shreds, like movie The Empire Strikes Back. Steins isn't in such esteemed company.

The characters are absolutely terrible. Almost all of them are caricatures or stereotypes with clumsy emotion or profiling. Only Suzuha has anything resembling development, and a lot of it is implied instead of explicit demonstrated, so it's hard to tell if the writer came into it by accident or it was intended. Kyouma in particular is a shining example of how not to design a main character - he's completely one dimensional, flatter than an LCD, and filled with contradictions. How could someone smart enough to invent a time machine be so emotionally charged and completely illogical? Nothing is established in his background to support his impulsive actions, and it's not clear what he learns from his adventures in the world lines at the end of the story. Makise Kurisu isn't much better, a textbook plotdump tsundere with a plot-induced crush on the nerdy main character. I can't say I appreciate her game sprite much either - she has the voice of an angel, but I can't get over her eyes, which look like Christmas Tree lights.

Plot-wise, the story presents an interesting, if inconsistent time travel model. I say inconsistent because the last episode bit the logic of how the series-established time travel works, and too much of the plot revolves around the deus ex machina, like the "Reading Steiner" and the memory thing that happened with a few characters. I credit the pacing with keeping the plot progression fast because people I spoke with at the end of Steins didn't even remember those plot points, so the fact that they weren't brought up again had no impact on the end-of-show evaluation.

Again, not to discredit an anime that masked such weaknesses, but detail and logic problems like this are really evident in a visual novel, so it's kind of surprising Steins has such ferverous recent popularity in spite of the high expectations of writing in VNs. No, a visual novel usually aren't going to be Wuthering Heights but they can be, and on average are a cut above even well written manga and anime.

In any matter, I don't think Steins is worthy of any awards for excellence. 7-8/10 would be the ceiling as it's not that great a story, and I gave it a more conservative 6/10. It's a polarizing show, and not recommended for everyone, unless it's your second anime ever.

[Eragon]

I gave it an 8/10.
Time travel related works are pretty tough to pull off successfully since there are a whole host of problems for them to explain. But Stein's Gate pulled off a decent job mainly because it wasn't relying on that aspect too heavily. Although I still have a problem with episode 24. The good points of Steins;Gate for me are its characters, pacing of the story and the voice actors. Well the characters maybe a bit stereotypical but they are still good enough for me to get attached to them(not all of them obviously). The only character that got on my nerves was Feyris - man did she annoy the heck out of me with that word "nyan'. No amount of praise is enough for the voice actors. Mamoru Miyano did a hell of a job voicing Okabe. Daru(voice by Tomokazu Seki) is the only character that I liked purely because of the voice acting.
The bad points are the Animation - the characters are all pretty plain, the landscape isn't that impressive either. In my opinion Kurisu has suffered the most from lack of animation quality.
The other point is the time travelling aspect of the show. Although Steins;Gate does a good enough job of explaining the time travel mechanism, its still not enough. Plus the fact that they do the very same thing that they should not have done in episode 24 makes it even worse.
All in all its a good show - not the greatest by a long shot. You don't have to be a science-fiction lover to enjoy this.

[lastcrusade101]

Animation Quality: 10
Amazing artwork, seemed to fit the show very well
Voice Actors: 10
Standard Japanese dub, which is almost always GREAT
Script: 10
One of the best stories i've watched for a while
Soundtrack: 8
Good music, and amazing intro, but didn't notice the music during the show itself

Enjoyment: 10
I can watch this for a lifetime
Emotional Involvement: 10
Even though Okarinn was off, i gruadually grew an attachment to all the lab members, and then Mr. Braun, and his kid. Don't think i can hate any one character

[GoddyofAus]

I just finished then (a bit late to the party, I know) and I can sum up my opinions on the show with just three short words:

El Psy Congroo. A fantastic series.

[Bakaizer]

I 'm kind of late as well

I gave it a 10

art was nothing special but wasn't bad

plot-wise it was very interesting. the characters and their development were great. it actually doesn't matter if they are stereotypical, they are well presented and their voice-acting was was awesome

I also liked the music

i should have brought tissue with me
I consider this as one of the top animes that I have seen

[incarnate1]

I'm really late to the party, but it had such a high rating, I was slightly disappointed. I can look past the intrinsic plot holes that usually accompany time travel series, and Steins;Gate did okay trying to explain rationales, but a few things still bothered me: like the way Kurisi wore her jacket, Mayushi's age-personality discrepancy, Faris being 17 and owning a cafe, Kurisu being 18 and giving lectures to people with PhDs, Kurisu's dad trying to murder her - I get the subplot, but it should've been fleshed out a bit more - I mean, jealous scholar turns into homicidal maniac willing to kill daughter. It deserved more backstory to explain how one is pushed over the brink in such a way beyond all reason. His actions weren't believable to me. The identity of FB felt very contrived as well.

A lot of small things I guess, but overall I thought it was good and entertained me 'til the end though I wish it ended two episodes earlier. I loved Okabe's voice actor though.

7/10