Steins;Gate 0 – 17 [Altair of the Hyperbolic Plane -Beltrami Pseudosphere-]

Finally, Steins;Gate 0 has fully committed. There’s no going back from here. This week we have the continued fallout of episode 16, Daru being a good father, and a Mayurii sized dose of suffering. Buckle in, because this is a long one. Lets jump in!

First, some obvious stuff. Steins;Gate 0 continues to not be an action series. I don’t want to dwell on this to long, because it really is a small if obvious gripe about the series. But the entire rooftop action scene was… awkward at best. The soldiers were Stormtrooper levels of accurate, while also being about as durable as paper. With that criticism out of the way, Kana Hanazawa, you are amazing. Mayuri’s VA did a great job this week. Last week was all about Okabe’s breakdown, and it was glorious. It makes sense that Mayuri would get a similar followup in this episode. It helps that I had completely forgotten that Mayuri didn’t know about the future. The only questionable part of the whole thing was the Hikoboshi and Orihime aspects, which forced me to read up on Tanabata. I recommend you do to, as its referenced a lot.

Now onto the big stuff. Mayuri is dead and she ain’t comin back. This is big, I am so happy Steins;Gate 0 is finally committing fully. You may ask, why in a time travel story, is Mayuri dead for good (hopefully). Simple. The Microwave Time Machine isn’t done. Okabe can’t, unlike the original, repeat over and over to save her. And that is a good thing. It means Okabe no longer has any reason to accept this World Line. He has no reason not to try for the Steins;Gate line. Because the whole purpose of this line was that Mayuri lived and Kurisu didn’t. I figured Mayuri would give him the motivation to try again, I didn’t suspect it would be like this. Really hypes me up for these next few episodes, that characters are no longer safe and people are dying.

As for Okabe, I find his reactions to be pretty interesting this week. First off, his reason for being upset with Mayuri. He didn’t care about Suzuha going back in time and leaving. He didn’t care about any possible danger. No, he was upset that Mayuri wanted to learn about the future, even though he told her not to. It continues his trend of obsessive control he has displayed this entire season. And when she was going to the past? The man was disgustingly desperate, not because he cared about Mayuri’s feelings on the matter. But because he didn’t want to leave his personal “perfect” bubble of a world line. Makes me excited for how Okabe will be now that Mayuri and his current World Line are deader than a doornail.

Speaking of World Line, I have to mention, we are still not on the “Okabe sends a video back in time” World Line. In the original Steins;Gate, in episode 23, Suzuha says her time machine is “C204”, but in this episode of Steins;Gate 0 she called it “C203”. That means that, for whatever reason, we are not in the correct World Line yet. So we have atleast one D-Mail or Russian Time Travel attempt left before Okabe gets to where he needs to be. Considering the last few were caused by everyone but him, I suspect he won’t actually cause it himself. That means that, technically, this World Line is up in the air. Anything can happen, and the switch can fix it. No one is safe! Especially not with whats apparently happening to Amadeus…

So Amadeus. It’s clear that Amadeus was the one who posted the @Channel messages. The username is the same as Kurisu’s, and the message was clearly directed at Okabe/Maho in regards to the time machine. The real standout part of that bit to me though was the reference to “Father and God”. If you have been paying attention, there is only one established character this could be. Leskinen. Amadeus’s creator and “God”/owner. We finally find out his plan. Leskinen has been attempting to drag out, or influence, Amadeus to create Kurisu’s time travel theory. No doubt he was the one responsible for Amadeus going down before, when she called for help. Perhaps he even got Okabe, getting close to him, to get him with Amadeus. To replicate Okabe’s time with Kurisu. Im so happy that Best Boy Leskinen is finally stepping up to be a villain.

Now onto the easy stuff and some small gripes I had with this episode. First off, my goodness, Suzuha is an idiot. Somehow, someway, while walking in the middle of the roof, Suzuha fails to notice getting surrounded by soldiers. This to me was the most ridiculous moment of the entire episode, probably the 2nd cour, so far. It’s hard to believe Suzuha is this hardened future soldier. And yes, I know this era has been making her softer or what have you, but still. It’s just a bad play on Steins;Gate’s part. On the other side, the leather-clad assassin. Who could it be? Not Kagari, she is too “important” to die. My bet is Moeka. She had a suit just like it in the original, and is disposable. Its possible Moeka is here to save them, but I am hoping not. We need more suffering after all.

Finally, I wanna talk about Daddy Daru for a sec. Daddy Daru was so cool this episode. I wasn’t expecting it at all. The more Okabe becomes a complete asshole, the more Daru steps up. I wasn’t expecting a lot of his lines this week. Nor for him to be so accepting of Suzuha going on to head back to the past. I think my favorite line of this entire episode was when Daru explains why future him sent her to the past. That he just wanted her to experience this era, free from war, as they stand on a rooftop watching the sunset. I think that was the most touching part of the episode for me. Daru has really start rising to the challenge lately, asking out Yuki and becoming more responsible as an adult. It’s nice to see not everyone is falling apart.

So, all in all, Steins;Gate 0 has once again stepped up to the plate with a rousing episode. It looks like the dominoes are finally starting to fall. I think the biggest factor in where Steins;Gate 0 goes, at least in the immediate time frame, is whoever is in that leather uniform. It could be one of 3 people. Reyes, Kagari and Moeka. Kagari and Moeka are confirmed in the outfit, while Reyes is up in the air. Personally though, I know she’s one of them. I can feel it.

What about you? Think this was a good episode? Or to melodramay for you? Personally, I can’t wait for next week.