Review of Steins;Gate 0
Seven Years. Seven years is the time period between the release of the original Steins;Gate Visual Novel and the release of Steins;Gate 0. This gap made me extremely nervous for the quality of Steins;Gate 0. Often a long period between releases is a bad sign. The more subtle or intricate details of a story are often forgotten or remembered slightly wrong. Sometimes it's an indicator the new media is a corporate cash-grab lacking the heart and soul of the original, successful entry. Please be warned this review will contain spoilers for Steins;Gate, however it will avoid spoilers for Steins;Gate 0 as much as possible. I'm beyond overjoyed tosay neither of those concerns were an issue for this wonderful anime. Steins;Gate 0 picks up the mantle of Steins;Gate perfectly. The story takes place right after the protagonist, Okabe Rintaro's original failed attempt to reach Stein's Gate in the final episode of the original Stein's Gate anime/the end of the VN's True Ending. It explores a worldline where Okabe Rintaro was unable to save Makise Kurisu and is too mentally scarred to try the second time, leaving him stuck in the Beta Worldline, that is the Worldline that hosts the World War III future.
The story picks up from this point featuring a morose Okabe. He's not the character we are used to. A man without hope. A man damaged by countless failures and countless instances of seeing his friends die or robbing them of their happiness in order to try and secure a better overall future. Hououin Kyouma is all but dead. Many events unfold in the Beta Worldline that will not be discussed here in order to avoid spoilers, however the events are simultaneously entirely new, whilst avoiding any and all contradictions against the original series. The storytelling is of equal, if not outright superior, quality to the previous entry. Every character acts consistently with the personality laid out for them, never acting in a way they shouldn't for plot convenience.
The art in this anime is superb, featuring consistent quality every damn frame and a host of stunning visual effects, including but not limited to gorgeous night skies. The soundtrack is nothing short of a masterpiece. I would be hard pressed to call it the greatest soundtrack of all time, however every single moment the sound design of this anime is utterly enthralling. Every mood, every moment, every event is fully captured and conveyed in a way the visuals and dialogue alone never could.
Overall Steins;Gate 0 adds up to a worthy seq... midquel? to Steins;Gate. It's a one of a kind piece of media and hands-down the best anime I've ever watched.