>Most compelling and original use of time travel thriller plot, still unmatched to this day. >Still unmatched In terms of character writing/development >Kino pacing/character driven first arc that filtered shounentards. >Flawless and satisfying ending that was built up to and established early on. >Actually funny comedic relief moments never executed at the wrong moment >Praise worthy VA performances/character acting >One of the most complex and nuanced main characters to ever be written, a brilliant deconstruction of the Chunni stereotype >Thematically brilliant >One of the most emotionally engaging narratives In the medium
Can we just appreciate how great Steins Gate is? AOTD? Undoubtedly, a true masterpiece that will never be forgotten.
Shigurui is his best work. Followed by blade of the immortal then texhnolyze.
Alexander Foster
Having just finished it, it's pretty good but not flawless.
Its strong point is in laying plot threads early on which tie into one scene - bomb threat evening in S1, rooftop in S2 - and using the time travel repetition to wring possibility out of those scenes. The plot really hit stride between S1's end and S2's beginning, as Kyouma's mind wore down.
Its weakness is in establishing characters. In the beginning Kyouma is just chuuni, Faris is just stereotypical moe, Daru is just an otaku nerd, etc. They get more explanation in focused episodes later, but at expense: Mayuri narratively disappearing after the first half of S1 until the last half of S2, Ruka and Faris having no significance outside of their S1 mini-arcs.
And there's some weird inconsistencies to create tension. Almost all the time, a change upstream immediately causes a change downstream (d-mail consequences are instant), but Suzuha's BttF fading picture breaks that rule to make the date arc happen. Did Amane and Judy's right hand fake-outs amount to any connection to the masked riders, or was that all Kagari?
It's certainly good, though the first few episodes don't sell it.
>Its weakness is in establishing characters I wouldn't fully agree with that, maybe for the rest of the characters it's understandable but Okabe had a really strong introduction thanks to his interesting chuunibyou personality. >Mayuri narratively disappearing after the first half of S1 until the last half of S2 Uhh no? In fact we got more and more insight on Okabe and Mayuri's relationships (when mayuri's grandma died, when okabe got sick etc...) as he kept retrying to save her. >Ruka and Faris having no significance outside of their S1 mini-arcs True. >Did Amane and Judy's right hand fake-outs amount to any connection to the masked riders, or was that all Kagari? 0 is garbage, the whole point of Kagari is to be used by the doctor to go back in time and inform him about the time machine, that's it. The writers tried to give her character more value by making her Mayuri's child or looks like Kurisu (wtf?) but they failed terribly, Kagari is a mistake.
Zachary Hall
>certainly good It's a MASTERPIECE, faggot.
>but not flawless Nothing is flawless in this world, fool.
Jaxon Wood
>weekend-check >steins gate thread overcome by ulterior opinions-check >OP/usual user getting mad-check >spurious explanations start flying-check Yep, it's real greenposting hours!
I suppose rather than 'established' what I mean is 'endearing'. Okabe is obnoxiously chuuni, but why should I endure him? Mayuri seems an arm's length from reality in a different way, but is that a plot point or a personality trait? By the time the season is done, I totally understand why I should have cared more, yet it holds back on giving hooks to their personalities so the d-mail explanation can happen.
>we got more and more insight on Okabe and Mayuri's relationships But once Okabe decides to undo the d-mails, the plot shifts from Okabe and Mayuri to Okabe and Kurisu. Having established (quite well) Mayuri's importance, she doesn't get any more development until the latter half of S2.
>the whole point of Kagari is to be used by the doctor So the right hand shots were a bunch of red fish? That's a relief; I thought I had missed some blink-and-you-miss-it explanation for Amane's suspicious behavior.
Nathaniel Campbell
>Most compelling and original use of time travel thriller plot, still unmatched to this day. That's pretty specific, but sure. I can't even think of another time travel thriller that's noteworthy. >Still unmatched In terms of character writing/development Strange thing to say considering pretty much every character is a walking cliche, and Okabe is the only person with anything to do. >Kino pacing/character driven first arc that filtered shounentards. You'd think with all the time they had in the first arc, they would've used some of it to make any character besides Okabe less 2 dimensional >Flawless and satisfying ending that was built up to and established early on. The beginning and ending are very disconnected from the rest of the show, at least plot wise. It even starts using a new type of time travel mechanic. >Actually funny comedic relief moments never executed at the wrong moment The comedy was good for the most part, but they overuse Luka as comedic relief it's quite hit or miss >Praise worthy VA performances/character acting Very good performances, I agree. >One of the most complex and nuanced main characters to ever be written, a brilliant deconstruction of the Chunni stereotype So complex and nuanced that he can be described as a deconstruction of the Chuuni stereotype >Thematically brilliant I wouldn't go so far as to call it brilliant. It does do a good job though. >One of the most emotionally engaging narratives In the medium I found the relationship between Okabe and Kurisu very compelling, definitely held the show together when it was floundering. It's a good show, I really enjoyed it. I'd say that it's very overrated though. I'd put the anime adaptation over the VN, if only because it's shorter and thus spends less time fucking about. It shouldn't be analyzed as a work of science fiction, it's really more of a thriller. It just uses some technobabble to justify the time travel polot.
