- Episodes : 12+
- Genre : Sci-Fi, Thriller
- Airing Date : April 12, 2018 – Still Airing
- Producers : White Fox
Contains Spoilers
Steins;Gate 0 Introduction
Based on the visual novel game, Steins;Gate 0 takes place 6 months after the first installment. Rintaro is still depressed due to the loss of Kurisu, a fellow scientist he developed feelings for who also helped create his microwave time machine. Despite restoring the timeline, Kurisu still manages to come back into his life as Amadeus, an AI program, which was created by former teammates of Kurisu by using her memories.
Even though it’s not the real Kurisu, Amadeus’ presence is still emotionally tearing Rintaro apart, and the people that were after his time traveling technology are now back endangering those closest to him. Now he and his team must band together with some new allies in order to make sure the technology of Amadeus and time travel don’t fall into the wrong hands, and to prevent World War III from happening.
What We Liked About Steins;Gate 0
Though it is based on a game, you don’t need to play it in order to enjoy this anime. It follows the art and story of the original game excellently well and may encourage you to try it out. Considering there were numerous loose ends in the original series, it is nice to finally see how the series continues and how Rintaro deals with the events of the previous season in relation to the long-term effects.
Why You Should Watch Steins;Gate 0
1. It Perfectly Continues from the Original Series
Putting aside Rintaro being able to save Mayuri, his childhood friend, it doesn’t mean he stopped the war in the future from happening. As stated earlier, despite the first series having some conclusive qualities in the ending, there were too many unsolved mysteries in regards to the conflict in the future that further drive this story. With what Steins;Gate 0 provides so far, it continues to expand the origins of the conflict, who and what started the war, and why. All we need to know is can it be stopped.
2. You See Rintaro Go Through Some Major Changes
As an extension to the first reason, you see Rintaro go through some very dark changes because of what happened in the preceding series. While the Rintaro in the first series was much more childish, the Rintaro you see here has matured but is in a very dark place for very good reasons. As opposed to always wearing his white lab coat, he has switched a black suit in this installment in order to show his changes and that he is trying to move on.
Why You Should Skip Steins;Gate 0
1. You Need to Watch the First Season
Despite not needing any previous exposure to the actual game in order to enjoy this series, you still need to watch (and/or play) the first Steins;Gate in order to understand 0. You need to watch it to mostly understand why Rintaro is such in a dark place with what has been presented so far, and who some of the supporting cast is, most notably Suzuha. In the original series, he was eccentric like Doc Brown from Back to the Future. In 0, he’s emotionally broken while trying to move on with his life. While this installment does tell you why you really won’t have an emotional connection to what Rintaro is going through unless you watch the first series.
2. It Could Highlight Akihabara More
Though the series takes place in Akihabara, it could do more to highlight it now that it has become a Mecca for Japanese pop culture enthusiasts. The series is mostly interior-oriented and whenever they’re outdoors, the backgrounds are minimized while the characters take up most of the screen. Though it’s reasonable that we shouldn’t expect this anime to be a glorified commercial for Akihabara in the same vein as Akiba’s Trip, at times, it is nice to see some famous landmarks such as the Radio Kaikan Building and the UDX buildings outside the station for fans to relate to and identify with.
Final Thoughts
At this point, we honestly can’t say you should skip it. The best recommendation we can give is just don’t watch it right away without watching the preceding series first since it puts everything into context. Along with watching the first series, we also encourage you to try playing the game exclusive to Sony consoles. Since they tell the exact same story with the same results, feel free to give it a shot before watching Steins;Gate 0 in either anime or game form.
Author: Justin "ParaParaJMo" Moriarty
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