Steins;Gate
Mar 24, 2017 13:35:13 GMT -8
Post by Zarnium on Mar 24, 2017 13:35:13 GMT -8
Originally posted 6/12/15. This version is slightly edited.
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Doot-dodoo! It's Steins;Gate! (Correctly spelled with an awkward semicolon in the middle. I dunno.)
Having recently finished watching this show, I thought I'd give it its own thread apart from the anime topic so it would get more exposure. Not only is it really good, but it's also very accessible to anyone who doesn't already watch a lot of anime. I'll keep this spoiler free.
To sum up what this show is about, think about how time travel usually works in fiction: someone goes into the past, changes history, and then returns to the present to find that they are the only one who remembers the original timeline. Usually, the time traveler integrates into this new world without much of a problem, but I've always wondered what kind of affect that experience would actually have on a person. Even if the new world were better, I'd think it would still be very distressing to have none of your friends or family remember the same shared experiences that you do. Steins;Gate explores issues like this without glossing over them the way that so many other time travel stories have. It's a hard science fiction story, but a very human one at the same time, one that explores the emotional affects that changing the past would actually have on the people involved.
To begin with, the time travel elements of this show are remarkably well-done. Time travel is a notoriously difficult concept to write about while still making logical sense or being easy for the viewer to follow, but Steins;Gate gets it right. The mechanics all makes sense, are explained clearly, and are very consistent. There aren't any big plot holes related to the time travel itself that I noticed, and the way everything works just clicks without seeming too arbitrary or contrived. If you really examined the show with a magnifying glass, I'm sure you could find something that's out of order, but it's still about as airtight as you can get.
What really makes Steins;Gate special, though, is the character work and the dialogue. These characters are a blast to watch; a lot of the show, especially early on, is mostly idle banter, but it's really good idle banter that tells us about who the characters are and how they relate to each other. Everyone is multi-faceted, and has more to their personality than a quick glance might suggest. Once the plot really starts rolling, this makes you care about how the ever-changing past is actually affecting everyone. This puts Steins;Gate above your average time travel story, which tends to either use time travel merely as an excuse to put characters in an exotic location (such as Doctor Who) or to solely explore the mechanics of time travel itself without working on the characters much (such as Timecrimes.) Not that either of these approaches are bad necessarily, but it's very refreshing to see a show that melds them together so well.
Lastly, and most importantly as far as my recommendation goes, this should be a very easy show for anyone who isn't already a habitual anime viewer to watch. It doesn't have the off-putting sight gags or exaggerated characters that are common to many prominent Japanese shows, which makes it much more accessible to a general audience. At the same time, it is steeped pretty heavily in Japanese culture and Japan as a setting, which gives it its own flavor that sets it apart from American television. At only 25 half-hour episodes, it's not exactly a huge time commitment, either.
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Doot-dodoo! It's Steins;Gate! (Correctly spelled with an awkward semicolon in the middle. I dunno.)
Having recently finished watching this show, I thought I'd give it its own thread apart from the anime topic so it would get more exposure. Not only is it really good, but it's also very accessible to anyone who doesn't already watch a lot of anime. I'll keep this spoiler free.
To sum up what this show is about, think about how time travel usually works in fiction: someone goes into the past, changes history, and then returns to the present to find that they are the only one who remembers the original timeline. Usually, the time traveler integrates into this new world without much of a problem, but I've always wondered what kind of affect that experience would actually have on a person. Even if the new world were better, I'd think it would still be very distressing to have none of your friends or family remember the same shared experiences that you do. Steins;Gate explores issues like this without glossing over them the way that so many other time travel stories have. It's a hard science fiction story, but a very human one at the same time, one that explores the emotional affects that changing the past would actually have on the people involved.
To begin with, the time travel elements of this show are remarkably well-done. Time travel is a notoriously difficult concept to write about while still making logical sense or being easy for the viewer to follow, but Steins;Gate gets it right. The mechanics all makes sense, are explained clearly, and are very consistent. There aren't any big plot holes related to the time travel itself that I noticed, and the way everything works just clicks without seeming too arbitrary or contrived. If you really examined the show with a magnifying glass, I'm sure you could find something that's out of order, but it's still about as airtight as you can get.
What really makes Steins;Gate special, though, is the character work and the dialogue. These characters are a blast to watch; a lot of the show, especially early on, is mostly idle banter, but it's really good idle banter that tells us about who the characters are and how they relate to each other. Everyone is multi-faceted, and has more to their personality than a quick glance might suggest. Once the plot really starts rolling, this makes you care about how the ever-changing past is actually affecting everyone. This puts Steins;Gate above your average time travel story, which tends to either use time travel merely as an excuse to put characters in an exotic location (such as Doctor Who) or to solely explore the mechanics of time travel itself without working on the characters much (such as Timecrimes.) Not that either of these approaches are bad necessarily, but it's very refreshing to see a show that melds them together so well.
Lastly, and most importantly as far as my recommendation goes, this should be a very easy show for anyone who isn't already a habitual anime viewer to watch. It doesn't have the off-putting sight gags or exaggerated characters that are common to many prominent Japanese shows, which makes it much more accessible to a general audience. At the same time, it is steeped pretty heavily in Japanese culture and Japan as a setting, which gives it its own flavor that sets it apart from American television. At only 25 half-hour episodes, it's not exactly a huge time commitment, either.