First of all, I want to let you know if you will enjoy Load Region of Deja Vu.

If your favorite part of Steins;Gate was the cohesion of the plot and the obedience to the rules the narrative sets for itself, you probably won't like this movie.

If your favorite part of Steins;Gate was the character-driven drama, this is the perfect send-off for you before you decide to watch 0 or not.

My love for the original anime comes from a mixture of these things, which leaves me with confused feelings that will probably change depending on how the stars are aligned and whatnot.

Before going in, I would like to clarify that there will be spoilers for the anime and the movie.

Now, I just recently started, watched, and finished Steins;Gate for the first time, and it really spoke to me like few other anime have. While I don't believe it's perfect, I know it comes damn close for me. I was very happy to find that there was an entire movie following the events of the OVA, but upon thinking back to my experience watching the movie, I have a few complaints.

My main negative criticism with this movie is the retconning of Steins;Gate's carefully plotted rules for it's time travel system, and even it's ending, in favor of it's more drama-driven plot. This is a drama with sci-fi elements, rather than being a perfect marriage of the two like the anime is.

At the very ending of Steins;Gate, Okabe manages to achieve the only world line where Kurisu and Mayuri are allowed to live on. With the accidental destruction of Kurisu's research papers on time travel after her father attempts to murder her and steal the credit for himself, a new world line begins where time travel is never invented and an arms race to rule over time never happens. Okabe and those he cherishes most are left to live in a timeline where they are free to live their lives, not knowing the future and not being able to redo the past.

That is the most important arc that Okabe goes through in Steins;Gate. In his own hubris he starts interfering with reality, and faces extreme consequences for it.

But, in Load Region to Deja Vu, this is ignored almost completely. After Okabe disappears between world lines due to the trauma that his Reading Steiner ability has caused him, Kurisu brings time travel into the Steins Gate world line to save him. It's not even that this fact isn't brought up. Around the middle of the movie, when Suzuha time travels back from 2036 to explain Okabe's disappearances to Kurisu, Okabe begs the two not to continue to interfere with time. His character is still intact, even if his arc isn't, but this ultimately isn't too detrimental to the plot.

Though I have many problems with how Okabe's arc is made partly meaningless, it doesn't ultimately impact the movie itself all that significantly, considering the main character is Kurisu. The point of the movie is that it follows another character and how she thinks and feels about everything that happens, rather than just following Okabe, who has the most information and knowledge of any character in the anime. Though the plot holes are undeniable and hard to defend, if you keep in mind that this isn't canon and is rather just a deeper look at Okabe and Kurisu's relationship, you can really find enjoyment from it.

After I finished the episode 25 OVA, I felt like the characters could've been handled better for a kind of epilogue story, and Load Region to Deja Vu gives me exactly that. It doesn't give closure to every character, but the characters it does focus on are given conclusions that I think are pretty satisfying. The emotional arc of this story is that Okabe and Kurisu realize what they mean to each other, which is shown by the lengths the both of them go to save each other in both the anime and the movie. While the lengths Okabe was willing to go for her were shown expertly in the anime, the movie gives time for Kurisu to show that kind of care back.

Honestly, this movie is very much flawed and very much not something that can be canon without ruining parts of the show. Anilist says this movie is a side story to Steins;Gate rather than a sequel, and I'm willing to agree with that. Despite all my criticisms, I still strongly identify with the emotions put forward in the 90 minutes of runtime the movie is given.

Considering I've spoiled most of it, you've either already watched it or don't plan on watching it, but I can say with certainty that I got the most from this experience by not thinking about it as science fiction, but more as an emotional character drama. I enjoyed my experience, so it earns a good review from me.