Anime Reviews

Stein's;Gate

Genre: Sci-fi, Thriller.

Synopsis: The self-proclaimed mad scientist Rintarou Okabe rents out a room in a rickety old building in Akihabara, where he indulges himself in his hobby of inventing prospective "future gadgets" with fellow lab members: Mayuri Shiina, his air-headed childhood friend, and Hashida Itaru, a perverted hacker nicknamed "Daru." The three pass the time by tinkering with their most promising contraption yet, a machine dubbed the "Phone Microwave," which performs the strange function of morphing bananas into piles of green gel. Though miraculous in itself, the phenomenon doesn't provide anything concrete in Okabe's search for a scientific breakthrough; that is, until the lab members are spurred into action by a string of mysterious happenings before stumbling upon an unexpected success-the Phone Microwave can send emails to the past, altering the flow of history. Adapted from the critically acclaimed visual novel by 5pb. and Nitroplus, Steins;Gate takes Okabe through the depths of scientific theory and practicality. Forced across the diverging threads of past and present, Okabe must shoulder the burdens that come with holding the key to the realm of time. [Written by MAL Rewrite]

Initial thoughts on the premise of the anime: It sounded interesting. I've always been into time travel and science fiction and this seemed it would be a perfect fit.

Episodes: 24.

Thoughts on the art style: I thought the art style was very pretty and well thought out to match the seriousness of the anime's plot.

Thoughts on how the story played out: I thought the way the story played out was captivating and managed to hold my attention.

Good Points: It tackled very scientific ideas about time travel and paradoxes without dumbing it down too much; John Titor, need I say more?; Well developed characters such as Ferris NyanNyan and Makise Kurisu.

Bad Points: One major bad point I am picking out is the whole 'But he's a guy/dude.' thing because even if Luka/Ruka was born male she clearly wants to be seen as female with how she dressed and acts; Some major explanation is missing from the anime that was in the game/visual novel (explanations of time travel theories using wormholes and cosmic strings).

Middle Points: The characters seem a little bland at first with your typical crazy lead, your airhead sidekick and the token technological genius.

Score: 8/10

Overall thoughts: I thought it was a beautifully animated and well thought out series which didn't skimp on the character development. The inclusion of a Trans* character was nice but how she was handled was not in the nicest/best way.

Sources:
Synopsis: http://myanimelist.net/anime/9253/Steins_Gate
Picture: http://cdn.myanimelist.net/images/anime/5/73199l.jpg