Stein’s Gate has the most subtle build-up of the season, and yet at the same time it has its moments that are completely un-subtle. The colours are all washed out, there is no complex background music but instead it consists out of simple sounds, and yet it has a very hammy lead character that combines together surprisingly well. The atmosphere is really tight when it needs to, and the lead character provides some nice silliness to lighten the mood from this atmosphere.
Now, that cross-dresser was a bit too much, and I’m also not sure where that maid cafe suddenly came from (seriously, are there actually cafes in Japan in which the waitresses aren’t dressed as maids? This episode overall was not as impressive as the first one, but it still had a lot to like about it. The dialogue in particular is nicely down to earth and interesting: it’s well written for both the subtle and silly parts, making sure that it doesn’t destroy the mood of the serious parts.
Also, the mysterious John Titor is definitely an interesting addition to this series: a time traveller who appeared ten years ago, and in the meantime erased his own existence. This series has definitely chosen interesting subject material with time travel, and that gel banana also shows that it’s really planning to make use of it.
The big question for this series right now is: why is Hououin special? Why did he not forget about time resetting itself?
Rating: * (Good)
do you know that the setting of this story is in AKIHABARA?
“shes a 3D girl with a 2D’s soul”, Already found my favorite character.
I liked the cross dresser scene if only because Okarin took it upon himself to constantly tell us Ruka is a dude. :p
“Thankyou for donating these provisions to the lab. This will raise lab member morale”
Okabe cracks me up.
“The big question for this series right now is: why is Hououin special? Why did he not forget about time resetting itself?”
1. Time did not reset itself. AS Makise explained in the episode, it is impossible to travel backwards within the same timeline.
2. That is because he caused the changes by sending that message back into the past.
Anyone who is confused by this episode should read these:
d
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Titor
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butterfly_effect
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grandfather_paradox
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twin_paradox
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Many-worlds_interpretation
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M-theory
Those are the main theories and ideas used in this show to explain time travel.
As for cosplay coffee place? 99% of Akibahara coffee places are like that. In fact you are very likely to meet people like Rintaro out there, who are in constant LARP-ing mode. Its a weird place like that.
BTW, the John Titor story is real. Not that he was a time traveler, but someone did post on forums in 2000 claiming to be time traveler and made various predictions about CERN etc. Look up John Titor on wikipedia
this show makes me want to microwave bananas…
I was expecting things to go a bit faster, nevertheless the episode was enjoyable enough to keep me interested.
I just hope this doesn’t end like Chaos;Head… So far is doing way better than its predecesor.
I also want to microwave bananas every time I watch this show. If I end up doing it I’ll let you know how it turns out, though I suspect I’ll be disappointed by it not turning green and gel-y.
I suspect that Okarin is actually John Titor. What do you think of that?! O_O
Huooouin definitely sold this episode for me, and thus the entire series. Well, that and the Omelette of Doom.
Not to get ahead of myself, but it’s looking to be my favorite of the new season.
The lead character is my main reason for watching the show. I though he would be getting on my nerve but no, he’s just crazy enough to be hilarious without getting annoying.