Steins;Gate 0

Steins;Gate 0 is what would have happened if the emotion and seriousness were amped up right before the end of Steins;Gate. There isn't much else to say besides watch that and then this. It feels perfectly connected with the original plot yet has it's own uniqueness.

This series is set after the events depicted in Steins;Gate... but in a reality where Okabe failed to save Kurisu. He gives up his 'mad scientist' persona and stops investigating time travel. Then one day he meets Maho Hiyajo and Alexis Leskinen, acquaintances of Kurisu who have been working in the field of artificial intelligence; the system's personality is based on Kurisu's personality and memories. They ask him to help with the system's development. Gradually he is brought back into the field of time travel and it isn't long before tragedies start again and he must work again to save his friends, and the world.

Having really enjoyed the first series I was keen to watch this; I was not disappointed. Given how the story starts it isn't surprising that it has less comedy moments than the early part of the last series. The story was gripping from its opening to its conclusion. All the old characters are back, even if Kurisu is now a computer AI, although their relationships have subtly changed due to various events. These changes feel perfectly in tune with what has happened. Overall I'd say that is a must see for fans of the original series but if you've yet to see that series check it out first or this will be rather confusing.

These comments are based on watching the series in Japanese with English subtitles.

It obviously couldn't live up to the outstanding first season, but for what it was up against...it did amazing! The characters are again the main focus of the show, and it works great, the characters are loveable and annoying when they need to be. They took a risk completely changing Okabes personality and it works also, for the most part, towards the end when he turns back to his old self it gets a bit messy. The plot is goood, not great, there is some repetition from the first season but overall is original. The beginning of the steins gate;0 is the best part, it opens so incredibly with the best pacing, simple story line different characters. Tbh the new characters are alright, they didn't feel like they added much to the chemistry between them, and were simply there for plot purposes. The ending was also alright, a bit confusing, a bit aggravating honestly... I was waiting for something in particular to happen and when it didn't I was surprised but also sad that I didn't happen, cause it would have been incredible...I can't say what, it's a spoiler, I'm sure you know if you know. The whole Amadeus thing was also a really smart way of bringing back a past character without actually bringing them back, it is also what divides this season from the first and makes it stand out from othe timey-wimey nonsense shows. My only real complaint is that I kept forgetting what happened in previous episodes...I may just be stupid, I also did watch each episode at two in the morning...but I kept getting confused if I was watching the right thing. A worthy sequel anyways. 8/10.

The final third of the show rivals the original series, perhaps even surpassing it at some points. It was phenomenal imo. If the show had such quality throughout, I'd give it a 10/10, but two things that bugged me: (1) the fanservice is worse than in the original. We did not need a closeup of Moeka getting her boobs tickled come on, it's disrespectful to the characters and the audience. Plus, the short girl had her boobs exposed to other characters too often in ways that never enhanced the plot (eg. The muscles relaxing scene, towel dangling in lab shower, etc). (2) The pacing midway through is not great in my opinion, the show doesn't have the same thru-line the original did (originally it was developing time travel and stopping CERN), but the midpoint of SG0 jumped from side plot to side plot, and while several of these came together in the end, it was disengaging for me during the mid-section for that reason. Perhaps part of the problem is due to me watching the show in chronological order (SG0 between ep22 and 23 of the original) and so the sudden slow and frankly often uneventful pacing of the first half really stuck out when placed in the middle of the original shows climax.

However, the ending was incredibly satisfying, I had a massive grin on my face just seeing it, and I think it's well worth watching for that alone. An excellent show overall, but those two problems did detract from my viewing experience somewhat and I wish I'd finished the original before starting it as to not mess with the flow of tension.

Steins;Gate was an amazing anime that was full of twists and turns and a very heartwrenching story on sacrifice and moving on. Steins Gate 0 is more of that, but worse in many ways.

Most of the plot twists were really predictable especially since the anime beats you in the head with its 'hints' and assumes you wouldn't get it, but I knew where a lot of plot points were going just a few episodes in. A lot of the episodes feel disconnected and some of them are just repeating the exact same points: Okabe is depressed, Mayuri wants him to be happy, the other guys want to try and fix the timeline. It's the same few cliches done for a long time. The action scenes are also horrible, but thankfully they don't take much screen time.

That said, steins;gate 0 *is* a good sequel to the first, but keep your expectations low. Some scenes were really powerful, and in the end it feels like it wraps up the series in a fairly satisfying way. I'd give this a 6.5/10.