Review of Steins;Gate 0

They say time is the true ruler, so simple yet very complex and unforgiving. Able to cause paradoxes and even get cat humor? At least, that's what I used to think Schrodinger cat was all about. As of yet, everything about time manipulation and travel is out of our reach and advancement that the majority of out depiction comes from fiction, many works in different shapes and forms had their unique takes on the topic, but very few managed to maintain a strict and stay as faithful and concise as it started by the time they were concluded, and rolling an anime tongue about this,Steins;Gate always slips from the mouth, and for a good reason.
The literal alternative to the 2011 series hit, Steins;Gate that retains to this day a pretty high place on every top x best anime shows for what it had of spicey cliffhangers, jaw-dropping revelations, unpredictable plot twists, and original intercourse, a series that already had the ultimate conclusion, to begin with, and nothing in its case begged for a sequel (technically, that's not what this is). In the world of programming, there is a saying that goes; “If it works, don't touch it”, but as many world-line, as there may be, a story can have all sort of roller-coaster twists and turns that it might eventually render a previous installement entirely on its feet. Enter; Steins;Gate 0.

- Story (8.5/10):
The conclusion of Steins;Gate is ancient news by now, back in the first season we learned that they finally achieve world like Steins;Gate, a world line where neither Kurisu nor Mayuri dies, a world line that world war III is avoided, the world line of true peace that Okabe was desperate to reach, and for that, many people might be wondering what Steins;Gate 0 is for?
Exactly at episode 23 of the original series, there was an alternative version called “Steins;Gate: Kyoukaimenjou no Missing Link - Divide By Zero”, also known as “Steins Gate: Episode 23 (β), Open the Missing Link” where Mayuri agrees with Okabe not wanting to go back in time and save Kurisu after the devastating truth of him being the one who kills her. Steins;Gate 0 is the direct sequel to that episode that follows what it was like to live for Okabe in a world he chose where Mayuri gets to live but Kurisu dies, this is the Okabe that sent the message from the future to Steins;Gate episode 23 Okabe so that he doesn't give up on saving Kurisu and thus avoiding the entirety of world line Beta. All of that mess sounds complicated on first words, but trust me the twists that shifted the story of Steins;Gate 0 were that of a greater scale.
For the most part, the classic cliffhanger episodes remained just as prominent, however, most of the episodes were just boring and filled with unnecessary dialogue that it makes you waiting for the punch line at the end of the episode because you know it's the running theme here, and for most people, the only thing that keeps this desperate follow up to the first season going.
Just like the first season, Steins;Gate 0 borrows the concept of D-mails and memory transferring to delivery time travel action, but also relies more on physical time traveling and even expanded on new exciting concepts like AI and memory preserving, SEREN is no longer the only predator but few other adversaries seemed to have joined the lobby.
Is a sense, Steins;Gate 0 feels more mature than its predecessor, Okabe, and folks are surrounded from every corner this time around, and Okabe, let's just say, he learned how to restrain himself in a sad way.

- Art (8.5/10):
The handling of animation and art style was never a problem in Steins;Gate, and let's be real here, we're talking about White Fox (Akame ga Kill is not what'd you'd call a fantastic show, but it had some stunning animation).
All you need in this show is a consistent animation that retains its quality throughout, we're not talking about flashy battle scenes or fluid bullet dodging moments, this is a series heavy on dialogue and philosophy, all you need is a mature enough art style to portray the characters and settings so that the viewer might take things seriously.
All the characters are exact replicas of their old selves, after all, there was no major time skip or anything, which is always welcoming to the fans to see familiar loved faces, however, I feel like one thing that has become apparently a must in modern shows, it seems that every female in the cast has had an increase in her cup size. I get it, it's become a marketing tactic to add some degree of sexuality to certain characters in today's anime, but some diehard fans can never stand that, seeing old innocent Mayuri walking around with a heavy chest is never a pleasant experience you know.
One other note to make is on the gloomy and cold color palette used, it's obvious that this season is darker than the previous one, a running theme with it is depression out of all things, I mean, our beloved mad scientist is living his days in a black outfit, go figure it's going to feel like a nightmare in a GTA IV liberty city, you know that game had its problems in the cold blue filter on.

- Sound (9/10):
I would go for days praising the voice acting quality in this franchise as a whole. I mean Okabe, his desperate calling voice is very believable and on performance standards, I get shivers every time he's spitting some emotional black magic, you can feel the hardness in his throat, that weak tone of voice to get from a sick falling person. That isn't exclusive to Okabe, all other characters have their area of expertise as well, you have Daru excelling at mimicking stereotypical otaku nonsense, and there is Mayuri with her delicate innocent voice, the “Tu-tu-roo” can never be so powerful in the mouth of somebody else.
The opening theme songs were fascinating, “Fatima”, nothing new for Steins;Gate and the amazing passionate “Eri Sasaki” here, I mean, seriously, the first season's opening was spectacular, and this one continues on the perfection even further. The series covered a single opening theme song but one of two verses spanning equally on both parts of the series, the ending theme songs were also amazing, they sort of have that unique vibe in them that makes you beg for more, I talked about how common cliffhangers are here, these endings on teasing you more to create a time machine of your own and travel to a time in the future where you can watch the whole thing on a marathon.
And let's also not forget the soundtracks. sung by the same singer that did the opening theme songs from the first and this season, and they don't fall short on delivering the same emotionally heavy and exciting experience, I would almost argue that Steins;Gate wouldn't feel the same without these tracks playing from the shadows, they have a strong presence that it's hard to not notice them from the moment they start kicking in.

- Character (8.5/10):
Steins;Gate's character cast was always so lively, filled with unique characters, you get the innocent, the nerd, the Otaku, the feminine... and the mad scientist. However, it seems Steins;Gate 0 has denied the existence of the last one, and simply replaced the “M” with “S”, and thus, the sad scientist known as Okabe was born.
Okabe is thrown into severe depression, at last, he had managed to save Mayuri, but still at a dear cost of losing Kurisu. Okabe doesn't have the same charming feel to him after that, we've come too fond of the original clumsy self-proclaimed mad scientist that spreads joy unintentionally with his majestic laugh and made up conversations with his phone, nope, we got none of that here but a grieving miserable man in black clothing. However, all of that served for a final character development that was necessary to render the circle complete.
It seems that even us, the fans of the original (that didn't play the visual novel, a crime I know) are greeted by many unfamiliar faces that it almost makes us not feel at home, I mean, there is the old beloved characters, but also in the mix a lot of new ones, mainly consisting of Kurisu and Mayuri's friends, a lot of them were to some degree unnecessary, and served little to no value in favor of the story, whether they were planning on doing something with them but never got the time, that will remain a mystery, but as for the way it played out, they were just there, like that piece of paper on your desk you though you're going to make use of but end up forgetting about it and is just there until somebody disposes of it or the wind plays it off somewhere.

- Enjoyment (8.5/10):
To some extent, I feel betrayed, mildly disappointed and annoyed from the fact that I have to admit to myself that there were indeed some boring parts I didn't like during my watch, I remember the first season to be this amazing experience, but not so much from this as a general look. Maybe that's because I binge-watched the old series, but as I got on the train hype very early on with this one, I had to suffer the weekly pain known as waiting because some shows are meant to be binged as over-doses of a pleasant unharming drug.
The first season will always be my favorite, Steins;Gate 0 will probably be one of my favorite conclusions of an anime ever, I'd ever dare place this next to the fantastic ending of Code Geass, it's just too perfect and makes a lot of sense, one of those endings that makes the show stuck to your head for days if not weeks. I totally loved the kind of cliffhangers we got, the sudden revelations and mindblowing realization were top notch.
I've already made the decision of adding the opening and ending themes songs along with some of the soundtracks to my sacred collection for what amazing relaxing material they can serve the purpose for.
Walking out of the whole experience of having watched this is truly a feeling like no other, I feel like finishing the trilogy of the Lord of The Rings all over again will so much lore and questions bumping into my internal skull.

- Overall (8.6/10):
Steins;Gate 0 is almost its own experience, however, watching it with no knowledge over the last installment puts it out of context, I'd highly recommend checking this out if you already watched the first season and got to enjoy it. But first, not in mind that before that you have to watch the prequel “Steins;Gate: Kyoukaimenjou no Missing Link - Divide By Zero” to get into the mindset of diving in.
One thing to keep in mind, don't unleash all of your hopes on this one, not everybody is proud of what it turned out to be, I've also been told that this is not the complete remake of the visual novel, and even has its own unique ending, so a newer experience guaranteed, win, win I guess.
If it's been a while over 2 years or something after you last saw the original, I'd highly suggest you got and give it a rewatch because somethings won't add up to you that well, the most ideal option I can come up with is to rewatch the original, and then binge watch Steins;Gate 0 with no delays, because the wat is surely to leave its deep marks on your enjoyment, it's a huge factor here.
In an ideal world, we all love our share of Steins;Gate, right? in that case, have some popcorn ready, but be careful with your microwave okay?
Have some friends join you because you will never somebody to share the intense moments with, a lot happens, the world is lively, and the decisions are more unforgiving.

-El Psy Kongroo.