This is one of those spoilery episodes. Spoilers I will be talking about below, so if you haven’t seen this episode yet it’s probably wise to just close this window and watch the episode. This line is to make sure that those spoilers don’t show up in blog aggregators.
I’m of course not talking about the identity of Suzuha’s father: Daru. I think it really was clear with the name of the time machine: if Okabe was really Suzuha’s father, then it’d have a really fancy and screwed up name, and yet her father just had to be an important character. I still think that Daru’s voice actor was a bit of a mis-cast. There was this one line where he tried to act cool, but instead sounded more like he does usually. Overall he just sounds strange, in a way that he’s forcing a different voice from his usual range a bit too much.
In any case though, what really struck me about this episode was Suzuha’s death, and how she failed to change the future for more than one percent. Throughout the entire scope of Steins;Gate, the concept of travelling to the future has never been hinted as plausible, and this episode really confirmed that it’s a one-way ticket. On top of that she also gave really strong background to the landlord.
I’m also fascinated at the complication that this has for the future. Especially since this episode was purposefully really vague on what else has changed: what happened to Makise Kurisu? What happened to the IBM5100? I mean: what was the reason why Mayuri’s death was evaded? I see three possibilities:
1. John Titor II never existed and he never gave Okabe the inspiration to experiment with time travel.
2. The message that Okabe received from himself scared him really badly and made him decide to abandon the time machine research.
3. Makise Kurisu never got involved and therefore the time machine is currently different.
I really suspect that a lot here is connected to each other. Suzuha travelled back in time, pretending to be John Titor probably was the cause that Makise Kurisu became a lab member. Interestingly, what would have happened if Okabe never went back in time to where Makise Kurisu was alive, back in that first episode? That also would have been a big setback for CERN. It’s also interesting how the time machine really seems like something that Daru would have built: one that focuses on sending stuff back to the past. It was Makise Kurisu’s influence who suggested sending thoughts back in the past, which so far turned out to be by far the most convenient time machine. I also suspect that that’s the reason why CERN was so easily able to take over the world.
Rating: ** (Excellent)
The question is, why didnt the world-lines change the first time, the one where suzuha commited suicide?
To me, before that episode, I was 80% sure that Daru was Suzuha’s father.
Another epic episode for SteinsGate!!
@Rex: She didn’t have memories, hence not being able to do something that makes a huge difference.
This show really shows how time travel can be so sad. It’s heartbreaking knowing that the connections cease to exist as Okabe goes through different timelines. Mayuri, right before Okabe sent that D-mail… I would probably go insane if I were Okabe. Not only are you losing those connections, but you’re gaining ones you don’t even know, in the case of the D-mails. And nobody even understands that you need to be caught up to speed on what you missed. I’m really curious to see where the show goes from here, but this week just really hit me. More than it probably should. I’m more worried than when CERN first raided the apartment.
I don’t understand this series, and I won’t pretend I do. I do enjoy it, the depth of the characters and as Pafiume (I think) put it, the consequences of time travel is sad.
This is easily the best anime airing atm… Every single episode is full of awesome and it looks like it wont be letting go until the end
Time travelling is always fascinating… Thinking that the same Suzuha who was just there with them, travelled to the past, got old, and ended up commiting suicide, before she even got to meet them, its just depressing
I cant wait to see what other twists are coming
I bet we see some serious shit with KURISTINA next episode. That we didnt get to see her after Okabe think he “fixed” mayuri’s fate, something bad will happen.
And i would like to remind both myself, and also we still dont know why she was killed in episode 1.
wut, i must have had my head under my arm when i wrote my previous post, it doesnt make any sense lol. Ok let me rephrase that last sentence:
And i would like to remind both myself, and others here, that we still dont know why she was killed in episode 1. My guess is that they save that for the final episodes. It likely wont make sense until then.
Speaking of making sense, try and watch episode 1 again, you will go “uh-uh” a couple of times now i assure you that.
@The question is, why didnt the world-lines change the first time, the one where suzuha commited suicide?
Wordlines DID change.
The meter has only certain number of decimals to be shown. HOWEVER THE WORLDLINE NUMBER ITSELF IS INFINITE DUE TO INFINITY OF DECISIONS.
So it can be
0,444410000000124554
0,444410001414545545
0,444410014545457575
ANd device would show same number.
Something that bothers me this episode is why Mr. Braun didn’t know the part time Suzuha after she left with the time machine. It wasnt a D-mail/time leap so he should’ve remembered her as a part timer.
And what happens to Okabe when he timeleaps, does the original timeline dissapear?
Another perfect episode from Steins;Gate. This episode left me begging for more. And yes, the consequences of time travel are depressing and kinda sad. As for Mr. Braun not knowing that the part-timer Suzu and the older Suzu were the same person, might be because Mr. Braun never asked for the last name of the young Suzu. Also, Amane is a popular last name in Japan. So it wouldn’t be surprising that two person can have the same name.
Suzu was using Daru’s surname, Hashida, in the past, so there would be no reason that he would think that they are the same person, seeing as only their first names are the same.
wooo! Absolutely loving this anime!
But i need a little refresher… what was this original d-mail that they are talking about where Okabe ‘stopped’ suzuh?? and what dmail did he send to correct that towards the end (when mayuri is crying out not to)? thanks…just forgot some details from previous episodes and too lazy to back track.
What if Makise was the death caused by a time traveler? What if originally Mayuri was ordered to kill Makise but because of Okabe D-mail altered time in which Makise’s mission was different. Like said before Makise knew that Mayuri was important to time travel and might have instead killed her off. But assuming that SERN was working on time travel already, does this mean that they would have figured out time travel without her?
No speculah to add, myself, but I’d just like to point out that one of the brilliant moves that Steins;Gate regularly pulls, and especially through the confusing cliffhanger at the end of this episode in particular, is encouraging the fanbase to think and postulate.
Oh, how I feel sorry for the visual novel players right now.