Steins;Gate 0

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,

• Okabe Rintarou: He's a 19 year old college student trying to get past the trauma he faced last year and it's hinted that he even goes to therapy for it. He's in my favourites in both the original and in zero but for different reasons, he's no longer a delusional chuunibyou who jokes around in every scenario but a respectful young man who's trying his hardest in the life he has and he's a normal person except for the fact that he always looks like he's in pain but it's funny to see this persona of his break whenever he interacts with Amadeus. He refuses to meddle with time because he learned his lesson to not go against convergence, so instead he's in denial that World War III will ever happen because he cannot even imagine a future like that because of his peaceful surroundings but he comes to his senses after Mayuri's death and waking up in the future and seeing what awaits the beta worldline. Once he jumps back 3000 times, he turns back into his old self, into the mad scientist, Hououin Kyouma!

• Hiyajo Maho: She's a 21 year old legal lol- I mean researcher who works at Viktor Chondria University. She also happened to be Kurisu's senior and best friend from America and she was devastated when she found out that she died. She has an inferiority complex and often talks about how she's not as smart as Kurisu and can never catch up to her but she does eventually grow past this. She meets Okabe through a meeting among researchers and students introducing Amadeus, a lifelike AI to the world. They quickly bond over Kurisu's death and she eventually decides to make him into a beta tester for Amadeus. Over the course of the show, they grow a close bond together.

• Amane Suzuha: Unlike her cheerful and energetic self from the Alpha worldline, she's more reserved, serious and mission driven. She's frustrated with Okabe because she knows what happens in the future and truly wants to reach the Steins;Gate worldline. She tries to avoid things like parties because she feels guilty that she's the only one from the future who is able to experience it but eventually she learns to accept the fleeting peace of the present. Her interactions with the rest of the cast especially her parents are very funny and wholesome; she wants to see her parents together before she has to leave for battle.

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,

• Messenger
• Re-awake
• Okey-Dokey
• Amadeus
• Fatima

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