Review of Steins;Gate 0
Okay so, warning: 1- English is not my first language so forgive my errors! 2- This review is spoiler-free and it's mainly for those who've already seen the prequel to this anime because I won't be too detailed on facts you should already know about the main series. Also, I'm an hardcore S;0 fan and I was hyped as heck for this serie, it's my third favorite anime and I gave it a 10 but still... well, what I think about this sequel is on this review so let's move on... Story 5/10 There's a lot to be said about this. I am really, really disappointed about thissequel's story. Let's go straight to the points that I don't like: the plot was just a big mess, there are many facts that hadn't been explained too well and were hard to follow, there are countless plotholes (that mainly focus on characters but that's for the next section), the, let's say, "mastermind" behind all of this was really predicatable and I can say that the only episodes which I actually enjoyed were episodes 1-2-3-4-21-22. Honestly, the episodes in the middle are full of pointless details and feel like fillers. Some twists about the characters were good but other ones didn't make sense, the pacing was awful and again, it really was hard for me to accept this because I LOVED the plot for the first serie but this one... a disappointment. I liked the overall atmosphere and the twists that happened at the end but the experience of the whole season was difficult to digest and overall boring.
Characters: 7/10
So, I'll structure it like this: firstly, I'll give a rating of the characters in the previous season and then those of this one.
Okabe 10/10- S;G0 10/10
Daru 7/10 - S;G0 8/10
Mayuri 7/10 - S;G0 4/10
Kurisu 9/10
Suzuha 8/10 - S;G0 7/10
Maho 8/10
Supporting Ch. 8/10 - S;G0 5/10
I will talk just about the main characters and the supporting characters in general.
Okabe. Okabe is my favorite character of Steins; Gate and there's nothing to say about him if not: he's one of the best written character I've ever met in an anime. In both seasons Okabe shines in his development, his personality and charme even if in this one he radically changes. He's constantly moving, he's pure emotion and he's always fighting between giving up and keep fightning, life and death, changing the past or staying in the present... he's one engaging character that is the main reason why I could still watch S;G0. Seeing his development throughout the Steins;Gate serie is probably the best experience you can get from S;G0.
Daru. Daru is our fellow friendly otaku friend that is also a super hacker and Okarin's best friend. Their relationship feels full of support and understanding each and every time you watch them interact. Daru as a character is essential in S;G and he gets a little more spotlight in S;G0. A very good spotlight.
Mayuri. Let's be blunt. If I didn't like this season as much as the first one it's because of her. I liked her in the first season. She had this friendly,wholesome relationship with Okabe and was such a sweetheart. Her screentime was enough for her character and she was overall likeable, not counting the too-too-roos. IN THIS SEASON instead... there are... things about her character that I didn't appreciate. She got way too much screentime and she became sickingly recurrent. Also, the decision she makes are dumb, she changes completely and becomes whiny and selfish. I like her caring and sweet side but in S;G0 it was overshadowed by her other side of personality that I didn't find appealing at all. She ruined some scenes for me.
Supporting characters. S;G0 liked to add minor characters and give ZERO sense to most of them. The previous supporting characters were well developed and with likeable personalities. Some of them stayed but some others were added but didn't make sense, their backstories, their interruptions to the main story, their personality and role had NO REASON TO EXIST at all.
Artsyle, Vas and Animation: 8/10
I've always liked the art style, vas and animation but S;G0 had some awkward scenes where the animation didn't do its best and was quite lacking, especially in fight scenes, it ruined the mood. The VAs though did an AMAZING job and the expressions really matched it, so thumbs up for this.
Sound: 8/10
I'm pricky about anime soundtrack and the S;G OST has always been great for me but this one OST is basically a copy of that. There are some remixes and original songs, also the OPs and EDs are very good, but they didn't bother adding more original tracks in S;G style.
Enjoyment: 6/10
See above for details.
Overall, I was disappointed but it was still S;G to me and I liked watching the representation of this idea of "the world line in which he failed" but... yeah, the way they put up the story was... see above lol
Overall: 6.5/10 but it's 6
As a fan of Steins Gate I wanted to share my thoughts on this serie to see if some others agreed with me on saying that the original is way better and that this season was surprisingly not as good as it looked like. Also, I really cared about this sequel and I decided basically 6 months ago that I would review it so... yeah, here it is. My long ass review.
Now then, I'm gonna go prepare on my corner for the unpopular opinions to crush me lol jk if you wanna discuss, here to talk!
Favorite character: Okabe Rintaro
Favorite episode: 21/23
Favorite song: Fatima - Kanako Itou