Steins;Gate – 12



And wit this, the second half of Steins;Gate has begun. That twist at the end is bound to change everything for this series. I also love how well animated that final part was. This series is a pretty neat example of delivering great graphics with a limited budget.

Now, it’s still the question as to whether Mayuri is really gone or not (Makise also revived once and we still don’t know why), but I’m really interested in what that scene was between her and Okabe where they were 70 million years in the past, or how Mayuri seemed to know that something was going to happen to her. This episode really was building her up to be some very interesting character for the future.

Beyond that: Okabe actually suggested to publish the results of the time machine. That also would have been quite an interesting concept: how would it get used? How do you prevent it from falling into the wrong hands? And how would people notice that something has actually changed? Are there more people like Okabe around who retain their consciousnesses throughout different timezones? The only one who has been hinted to be the same is Shining Finger, and perhaps Suzuha.

Overall I like the balls that this series has to keep its cards to itself for so long. This show actually did a great job of building up with its first half. Sure, it was annoying at times and the characters could have been more versatile, but it built up its setting really well, the slice of life moments were good and it managed to put a lot of meaning into it plot twists of changing time. Now, for the second half, I do hope that the creators don’t end up fully abandoning those small things like the shopping scenes. That had something really down to earth that I really liked so far.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

15 thoughts on “Steins;Gate – 12

  1. And after this point in story, time-travel movies like Primer will seem VERY simple and easy-to-understand when compared to what is about to go down.

  2. I was expecting more things to happen in this episode but overall it turned out to be quite good despite the slow start… I wasn’t disapointed. I hope they manage to keep the pace in the second half… I won’t deny that I’ve already spoiled myself with the whole story (I’m the type of person that is unable to stop digging info once he find something that he enjoy) so I’m really expecting a lot from this show 🙂

  3. Actually, I hope we are over with the shopping scenes and the slice of life stuff (a little bit is more than fine, but it should no longer be the focus).

    It has to be done building up at this point and it should now become the scifi timetravel mindfuck it is promising to be.

  4. Now some people are gonna wonder…how come that time traveling chick that always glares at kristina didnt warn okabe enough about what was about to go down…

    you know, since shes traveled through time.

    There is a VERY good explanation for this (and it explains why she HAD to travel to that point in time) Hopefully it will be explained fully…but for me just knowing why really made the experience of the ep really good especially when she ran out of the house before sern came

    …this was acutally hinted at in the first few episodes and more elaborated on (not not explained outright) by john titor in the dialog with okabe

  5. I think that Makise revived because they switched timelines. If you’ll recall from the first episode, Okabe’s Steiner power was activated, and then Christina’s lecture never took place because their was a UFO in the roof or something. I guess the big question is who else was messing with the past. It could be CERN, or Okabe from the future, although my head hurts even thinking about that possibility… My guess is that Okabe will pull off a timeline switch to “save” Mayushii too (although the one in the old timeline will still be dead, I guess).

  6. @draggle yeah pretty much…but there are a few other characters who are messing with the time lines as well…

    And for some reason I feel the name Shining Finger a reference to a bond villain somehow now that I think about it some more.

    Just cant think where its from.

  7. I don’t even watch this but Im gonna make a bet an expirienced time-traveling version of the protagonist or one his allies will become a major villain later on~

  8. The name Shinning Finger is actually a reference to G Gundam. It’s the name of Domon Kasshu’s ultimate technique

  9. Steins;Gate is MAGNIFICENT this week. Just woah! And yes, Shining Finger is from the G Gundam series. Just listen to the song: Flying in the Sky and you’ll get the screaming shining finger line. LOL.

  10. “This series is a pretty neat example of delivering great graphics with a limited budget.”

    I totally agree with you, I always think that there are some fans out there that can give us the best anime of our times, because lately the anime it’s too commercial ¬¬

  11. I just rewatched the first few episodes and saw something amazing. When you stop at 8:22 in the 2nd episode you will see that desert like scene from the beginning of this episode. It’s just a glimpse of a moment after Okarin touches Mayuri’s hand… It seems destiny after all =)

  12. @Dude I noticed the same thing. They slowed time down whenever she was giving him the bag. The way that they had their hands and the bag’s design reminded me of some wedding rituals, and in that one moment, I realized that Mayuri was in love with Okabe despite him not sharing the same feelings as her. This seemed to symbolize what she really thought of him, in my personal opinion.

    The beginning of this episode further emphasized this notion and also showed that my earlier hunch that Mayuri was a lot deeper and more intelligent than shown. I secretly think that her wish from way back when accidentally made her a god over Okabe’s life, if that makes any sense. Like she rewrote the universe itself to save him.

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