Review of Steins;Gate 0

Steins;Gate 0 was a great idea, as the episode 23 alternate ending was great. However, it suffers from being way too long and depressing, which ends up making it very boring. However, there is some excitement, and it is worth a watch if you need to feel like you know the complete story of Steins;Gate, and you can do some stuff during the boring parts. Story - 5 This anime definitely would have been better if it was 12 episodes instead. The first few episodes set the scene and help you understand how Okabe is feeling and where everyone else is at right then. The lastfew episodes are super exciting and feel like the old Steins;Gate, with comedy and fun time traveling that makes you have to watch the next episode right away. Everything in the middle... sure, it kinda had to happen for us to get to the great ending, but it was just way too drawn out. It felt like a chore watching this anime in the middle section. I can only take so much depression from Okabe with no actual fun time machine stuff happening or actual decisions being made.

Art - 4
I am not picky with art, and I gave the art for Steins;Gate a 8. However, the art here is just plain bad sometimes. Some of the fighting scenes on the rooftop like they belong as frames in a comic book. It just could have been much more enjoyable to watch.

Sound - 5
I didn't like the opening or the ending. However, I did really like the song that Mayuri sings that the red haired girl recognizes.

Characters - 5
I think the writers made a big mistake making Okabe SO depressed. Part of the reason I loved Steins;Gate was how fun Okabe was and his mad-scientist persona. I understand that in this timeline he would be very depressed, but we just went too long without literally anything funny from Okabe so I got bored. Even some flashbacks to him being fun would have helped. It felt like he didn't just get depressed, but also lost every ounce of personality he had.

Mayuri is pretty good. At the start they don't really do much with her and she doesn't even do her cute Tutturu's much, and the absence of them made the anime 10x more depressing. However I do like what they did with her in the end, it just made me love her more and appreciate her love for her friends.

I don't like the random red head girl that showed up. She has no personality except "I don't remember anything" and "MOMMMYYYY". Now I get that there is reasoning for this, but it felt kind of lame.

The rest of the side characters are pretty normal and still likeable.

Enjoyment - 5
The ending was very enjoyable, but that was about it. I would say as a whole the story is an enjoyable one to try to understand, but it wasn't fun to watch it be drawn out way to long.

Overall - 5
It is shocking how worse Steins;Gate got in Steins;Gate 0, but it is understandable when you realize that Steins;Gate 0 took away a lot of what people loved in Steins;Gate, which was fun time travel, funny characters, and either happiness (first half os Steins;Gate) or excitement for what will happen next (second half of Steins;Gate).