Steins;Gate Volume 2

“El Psy Congroo.”

Rintarou Okabe, self-styled ‘mad scientist,’ has been playing with fire – and now he’s faced with the consequences of his actions. Having time-travelled or, more accurately, sent text messages that have travelled back through time and altered the present, Okabe’s meddling has resulted in the violent death of someone very close to him. He’s no longer caught up in an elaborate piece of play-acting; the agents of SERN really are after him – and they are utterly ruthless. As all his defences drop away, the carefully cultivated mad laugh, the bombastic speechifying, the dramatic poses he loves to adopt, all are abandoned and he determines to undo the damage he has unwittingly caused. Now begins the tortuous unravelling of the changes he has wrought as he travels back in time again and again – and unlike his friends, he has an ability described as Reading Steiner, which means that he is able to remember everything about every slightly altered timeline he visits. And because each time-altering text was sent by one of his circle, and always for a deeply personal reason, he comes to learn much more about the people around him, from pink-haired otakette Faris to painfully shy loner Moeka who can only communicate through texting.

‘Be careful what you wish for’ is the dark underlying theme of Steins;Gate. The light-hearted tone of the earlier episodes has gone, replaced by a leaner, meaner plot that plays out as a tense, taut sci-fi thriller. It’s hard not to relate to Okabe’s growing desperation as he abandons his ‘mad scientist’ persona (although not the lab coat) and reveals himself as a vulnerable, confused human being, way out of his depth, yet stubbornly determined to repair the damage his discovery has caused. It’s edge-of-the-seat viewing that doesn’t insult the intelligence and, once you’re hooked, you won’t want to stop watching.

So often, these days, an anime TV series draws us in with a great premise, striking artwork, believable characters and then…runs out of steam (and/or possibly budget) before the plot can be satisfactorily resolved, leaving the audience frustrated and disappointed. Not so with Steins;Gate. This series is that all-too-rare animal: a show that delivers. In fact, it delivers the goods so effectively that it really repays watching at least more than once, to see how neatly and subtly the clues are placed early on will pay dividends later on. All the characters are interesting and their predicament genuinely intrigues. The portrayal of Okabe is especially compelling; watching his growing despair as each of his efforts to put matters right encounters some new problem he hadn’t anticipated is both fascinating and gruelling at the same time. Given his love of acting a role, he’s not been the easiest of people to empathise or identify with up till now but it’s his difficult journey and his determination to save lives that makes the second part of Steins;Gate so addictive. And here, J. Michael Tatum gives the performance of his voice acting career; he captures Okabe’s descent into despair so well that – whereas you might have felt tempted to slap him earlier on – you’re soon rooting for the mad scientist to win through and undo the damage he’s caused. There’s a particularly cruel and ironic twist to the plot about halfway through these episodes which forces Okabe to be honest with himself about his true feelings toward his ‘assistant,’  the brilliant and prickly red-haired scientist and rival, Makise Kurisu. Okabe has persistently irritated the young woman by calling her ‘Christina’ during the first days of their acquaintance, a telling point comes in their relationship when he calls her Kurisu, her real name, for the first time. (Of course, this being an alternate world timeline piece of science fiction, that first time will come round again and again and only he will remember it, yet each time it will be no less significant.) Sparks fly whenever the two young scientists are together – and yet, there is an undeniable chemistry between them. But what hope is there for a meaningful relationship where only one of them will remember what happened on an alternate timeline?

And, as a bonus, there’s episode 25, an OVA which you won’t want to skip (unlike some ‘extra’ OVAs in other series) as it follows Okabe and friends as they travel to the US (thanks to Faris) and meet up with Kurisu once more. It makes for an entertaining epilogue and answers a couple of other questions that may have been bothering you…

Extras on the DVD box-set include two commentaries for episodes 19 and 24 (the latter by the recording team and Colleen Clinkenbeard) and textless Opening and Closing songs.

In Summary

A taut, twistily plotted time-travel thriller; Steins;Gate is that rare creature: an anime series that delivers a satisfying ending, now with the bonus of a well-acted, wittily scripted English dub. What are you waiting for? Go; enjoy!