
a review by BlastRadius

a review by BlastRadius
Plot and Storyline
It follows the story of the Okabe Rintarou who defected from the Alpha worldline and gave up trying to save Makise Kurisu after accidentally being the one to kill her in the Beta worldline. He decides to give up on reaching the Steins;Gate worldline and instead live his life and prevent World War III from occurring without meddling with time but that doesn't last for long because there's only so far denial can take him. Instead of SERN developing time travel and using it to turn the world into a dystopia, we have organizations like DURPA, Stratfo and even Russia trying to gain the technology for themselves and start the third world war in the Beta worldline. This forces Okabe to regain his long lost identity as the mad scientist Hououin Kyouma and finally reach the Steins;Gate.
Unlike the original, Zero isn't nearly as linear so it's somewhat harder to follow all of the plot threads but this also meant a lot of plot threads from the original were given answers like who Suzuha's mother is, what type of work Kurisu was doing in America and explained the ending of the original in more detail which lead to a more satisfying ending.
Characters
Steins;Gate 0 has a much larger cast than the original show with new additions in the form of Kurisu's friends and professors from work, Mayuri's cosplayer friends, and characters from the future like Suzuha and Kagari. Not every character has a major role or even a small role in this story however, like every cosplayer friend except for Amane Yuki are practically background characters and how certain character story lines aren't given enough time to make sense like Amane being hinted as one of the agents of Stratfo or DURPA but they still add something to the story.
That said, here are my favourites this time around,
Animation and Art Style
Just like the original, Steins;Gate 0 was also animated by Studio White Fox and came out in 2018. The anime had consistently good animation but I also don't remember any spectacularly animated scenes unlike the original but overall it's slightly better. In terms of art style, there wasn't a major change but a lot of character designs were updated ever so slightly for a fresh look. The newer characters who were introduced look unique and were easily recognizable too.
Soundtrack and Songs
Once again, the soundtracks and songs from this show were genuinely amazing to the point where I kept listening to them several times. Every OST and song fit the show and it's themes perfectly. I'll list a couple of soundtracks and songs that I enjoyed,
Pacing and Direction
In terms of both pacing and direction, I believe zero was a small step up from the original despite the flaws zero has when it comes to handling some plot threads like the show hinting Amane Yuki had something to do with the attacks against the main cast. The pacing was fairly consistent throughout the first half of the show and sped up as it got closer to the end. The direction was brilliant, I noticed it especially during certain scenes like the reawakening of Hououin Kyouma and the scene where Amadeus bids the main cast farewell.
Emotional Impact
Steins;Gate 0 did what I never expected it to do, surpass my already impossibly high expectations and cement itself as a contender for my favourite anime. It has my favourite episode in all of anime, Episode 21 is probably the most excited I've ever been watching a piece of fictional media. I can't tell you how many times I've probably watched this scene because of how hype it is. Overall, I felt very satisfied or atleast more satisfied than when I finished the original.
Overall Thoughts
I'll repeat this once again, this is definitely one of the best shows I've watched in my life. I didn't watch the show chronologically but I'll probably recommend it that way to others since I think that's a better way to watch through all of it. So I'll end it off with a request from my side, I NEED ANOTHER OVA WHERE THEY ALL HANG OUT TOGETHER T_T
42.5 out of 44 users liked this review