Review of Steins;Gate 0

There comes a time when fans of a franchise should ask themselves if an established franchise deserves a sequel or not. Let’s face it. Steins;Gate made an impact back in 2011 when it became one of the critically acclaimed adaptations that year. Visuals novels aren’t easy to adapt and in fact, most recent series really proved themselves to be a catastrophe in that territory. Steins;Gate is one of those properties that didn’t really need a sequel although fans have been asking for years. And it’s a bit painful for me to say….but Steins;Gate 0 didn’t truly live up to the name it made for itself. Asa true sequel to Steins;Gate, this series is the canonical anime that once again shows us the world of time travel, hypothetical theories, and scientific creativity. It’s essentially a sci-fi adventure that brings back our lovable character cast while also introducing some new ones who really makes their own impact in the story. Rintarou Okabe returns in the Alpha World line without Makise Kurisu after events of the first season. What we see from Okabe’s point of view is how he deals with living in a world without her. It’s a constant everyday struggle as the man is filled with despair. However, an AI (known as the Amaedus) once again reminds Okabe of the memories he tried to bury.

Much of the season takes place in Japan and in the Alpha World line. Fans who have seen the first season will quickly realize that Kurisu is gone but Mayuri remains along with the rest of her friends. Okabe also meets Maho Hiyajou, a researcher from Viktor Chondria University. As an assistant, she works under Professor Leskinen and is the one who introduces Okabe to the Amaedus. What is the Amaedus? It’s designed and developed by Makise Kurisu herself alongside Leskinen and Maho. The program is built based on her likeness that is able to make use of human memory and converts it into digital data. As such, the AI greatly resembles Kurisu not just in her behavior but also personality and mannerism. Obviously, this reminds Okabe of the real Kurisu who no longer exists in his timeline. Steins;Gate 0 features Okabe dealing with his own personal demons, guilt, and trying to overcome his past in order to save the future. The first season capitalized on its sci-fi elements such as time travel and conspiracies. Unfortunately for this sequel, it felt like the show took a step backwards and really didn’t manage take a step forward.

At first, the show took on the approach that I felt familiar with and really embraced in. There’s a bit of dark drama and comedy that takes a realistic approach at human behavior. It’s what I thought the original season did so well when it managed to make every character distinctive from each other. For Steins;Gate 0, there’s not much change for any of the main cast at all. Okabe’s constant self-loathing gets tiresome after watching it so many times. Ok, he feels guilty about what he had to do to save someone but the season overemphasizes on this direction. To me, it felt like the show constantly needs to remind us why Okabe is like this and it’s repetitive storytelling. In the meantime, we do get some fresh faces such as Maho and Leskinen. Both characters are intelligent although contrast greatly with each other’s personalities. Maho seems similar to Makise Kurisu with her tsundere personality and there’s often a recurring joke about others mistaking her as a child. She develops an important relationship with Okabe although I didn’t feel the impact of it as much as I had hoped for; at least compared to Kurisu anyway. On the other hand, Leskinen introduces himself as a lighthearted guy who often jokes with others while demonstrating a degree of intellect. The show also does a fair job at disguising his true intentions but we don’t find out about it until fairly later on. His relationship with Okabe and others often contrasts the mood of the show especially in early episodes. In later episodes, the series gets darker and darker as startling revelations are discovered that once again deals with time travel. It’s a core idea of the franchise after all.

Now I have not played the visual novel for this sequel so this was more of fresh experience to me. The season feels rather moody even with characters like Mayuri and Faris with their roles. Others such as Suzuha also become much more important as they take their own initiative to protect what’s at stake. Still, coming in this as an anime only viewer, I felt the story is a thriller at best and dry storyteller at worst. To me, this franchise really explored everything it needed to and didn’t even need a new season to prove that. The dialogues and character interactions are interesting to listen to but doesn’t truly make this season worthwhile in the end. As a huge fan of the franchise, Steins;Gate 0 feels like it took way too much of its previous ideas and didn't make an upgrade.

White Fox is still in charge of this project and they bought out their talent once again.Thankfully, they earned my trust as the studio proved itself capable of recreating character emotions. That’s important as every character needed to express themselves as credible as they can be. This especially applies to Okabe as we see him drown in despair. Character interactions are captured wisely by the studio’s directive synergy to make them memorable. The design of the characters didn’t evolve much although it’s clear that Okabe has abandoned his lab coat for a more casual wear with his dark shirt to reflect his change in character. Others such as Maho may evoke some lighthearted laughter when certain characters makes jokes about her short height and appearance. The Amaedus is designed in the likeliness of Makise Kurisu so in terms of physical appearance, they look identical.

As a series with sci-fi themes, it’s only fitting that Steins;Gate 0 gets decorated with some colorful soundtrack. Indeed, the sequel combines thrilling theatrics with some emotional OST and melancholy. The OP song “Fatima” by Itou Kanako highlights a bit of character journey for the cast and how they feel in this season. There are several different ED themes too that makes clever usage of its sci-fi elements. On most parts, I think character voices also did a stellar job. Okabe’s personal values are often expressed by his dialogues that are important for his evolving personality. Others such as Maho, Mayuri, and Suzuha made me appreciate their character roles more when they really say what’s on their mind.

At 23 episodes, Steins;Gate 0 became a 2-cour show that could of done a better job at making itself more distinctive. Instead, it tried to rely far too much on its previous established concepts while forging a story that seems too similar to the previous. However, I will say that this sequel will be a treat for diehard fans of the franchise. The episodes in the first half bought back the mood of the original show like yesterday. Even in some of the later episodes, it still has a bit of taste of sci-fi thrilling style of storytelling. The new characters may also be worthwhile for your time if you accept them for who they are. So give it a shot if you want. It may not be perfect but it’s still freaking Steins;Gate.