Steins Gate is an enjoyable experience that really is a character forced piece. The story has interesting aspects with numerous twists and turns, some which can be obvious while others can be surprising and unexpected. To give an appropriate and thorough review of the show I will be breaking it down into two separate aspects of the show and analyzing both of them individually:

1. Story
2. Characters

Story:

The story of Steins Gate is a complex web of time travel and mystery as characters act recklessly to alter the past for their own personal gain without regards to the consequences of their actions before finally everything comes dramatically crashing down on them. Now without giving away to much, I believe that the story is the weaker parts of the overall show. The first half can often seem very slow and random and even led me to initially drop the show after I first tried it. However, the show does significantly improve in excitement after the halfway point after a certain event occurs (one that I won't say as it would spoil the show).

Where the story struggles is where most time travel stories struggle: time loops & time inconsistency. This show is better than most at avoiding them, but it does struggle with most stories where the characters have access to time travel, "why can't they just go back to the beginning and not do what they did to get there in the first place? " Much of the story revolves around the main character just trying to fix everything individually when he could just go back and tell himself not to use the time machine. Issues like this bring down the overall plot as it makes the journey next to pointless if you could just solve your problem with a click of a button.

As a results, I would give the story a 70%.

Characters:

Where Steins Gate really excels are its interesting, relatable, and entertaining characters that you easily grow attached to. Chief among these are the main characters:
- Rintarou Okabe

• Kurisu Makise

• and Mayuri Shiina

Every single time these characters interact, you feel like you understand them better then most characters in other shows. Okabe is a goofball kid who wants to be a mad scientist but also genuinely cares about the lab members under him as if they were family, while Kurisu is a tsundere scientific genius who learns to appreciate the community and friends she gains in the lab, and finally Mayuri is a slow, airhead with a heart of gold whose mere presents makes you smile with how adorable and bubbly she is. The characters feel more real and understandable then most shows can achieve in a greater amount of time. They are all flawed, imperfect people who have stumbled upon the greatest discovery known to mankind and have to overcome their flaws while simultaneously supporting one another.

Due to the ease at which I could spoil major plot elements if I describe their back stories in to much detail, I will simply state that you will easily cheer for our heroes to overcome their boundaries and flaws in order to save the future, not because they are superheroes who we, the audience, aspire to be, but because they are represent who we really are. Most people would make the same mistakes they make, for the same reasons. However, they show us how anyone can have the courage to pick themselves back up and try to make amends to save the world and the people they love from suffering, no matter the cost.

As a result, I would give the characters a 100%.

Overall, Steins Gate is a good show with a decent plot about great characters making mistakes and learning to overcome them at all costs. I'd recommend this show to most people, as the characters alone are worth watching the series for.