I understand how most people feel about Steins;Gate. I understand that it has caused many people to be invested in anime and appreciate anime better. I understand that in many ways people felt sympathy for and related to some of the characters in Steins;Gate. And I also understand that for many Steins;Gate is an experience they will never forget. There are many reasons Steins;Gate has had this impact on people, and more often than not, the reason is personal and many people might find difficulty putting it into words, as I have noticed that when they try they will simply just end up reiterating that they love it a lot without fully understanding why, which is fine.

I do not feel the same way about Steins;Gate as most of the people that have watched it. I will not be the person to praise it to no end and say that it has made me feel things nothing else ever did. But it left an impact on me regardless, because of its core strengths: Its capacity to make you sympathize with the characters on screen and presenting very fluent characterization that captures who a character is and why they behave in the way they do.

Like it or not, otaku culture is not looked well upon by a lot of people, and this causes some people to steer clear from anime as a medium. The reasons all relate to how anime causes people within the otaku culture to behave or even those that are enthusiastic about it . Be it because they are afraid of how certain people project certain traits they wish they had through the shows they have watched, be it because they apply to real life the mentality of a character from a fictional show that has a setting with heavily fantastical elements that do not apply to reality, be it because people end up closing off from their social life and replace their group with idealized versions of who they wish they could interact with, and the list could go on further. All of these unhealthy traits are not only considered socially unacceptable and cause people to behave such, they also cause these people to think in ways where if you do not understand the context behind what they say, their interests will cause them to alienate themselves from whoever they might try to interact with. I do find it unfair to reject an entire medium based on the behavior of certain people, but I understand why the disdain for anime is produced. It is not as simple as „aren’t you too old to watch cartoons?”

The story of Steins;Gate is set in Akihabara, a commercial district within Japan where otaku culture thrives, and all of the characters within its story have this culture either deeply ingrained into who they are or are outsiders who on some level have difficulty interacting with the culture or world. The story presents who each character is through the quirks they have and how these quirks cause them difficulty when interacting with others, while during the process setting up for the events that unfold. Close to most of the quirks relate in some way to otaku culture and to fully understand who they represent you would need context from the culture itself to understand what type of behavior each character is following within it. Still, even without the context, even if you won’t understand how this behavior was formed, Steins;Gate will eventually get you to understand the reasons for which these characters behave the way they do by showing you what the characters and what they struggle with.

The story is driven forward by Okabe Rintarou, who is characterized as a Chuunibyou, which is a japanese colloquialism for people that act on their delusions of grandeur and develop a persona just for that. The term exists because these people act outwardly as if their delusions are true, in an attempt to stand out and be desirable to people, throwing their imperfections to the side. Okabe, acts in the stereotypical manner of a Chuunibyou. First of all, he pretends that he is fighting against an organization, often talking on a phone on which there is no call about a mission with heavily exaggerated code names that sound cool. This is done by Okabe in a way that outwardly targets the person observing his behavior and this interaction for Okabe has the purpose of making it seem as if there is more to him than what is displayed, with the intent of causing the target to be interested on who he is. However, with one quick glance and very little thought, it becomes obvious to anyone that if anybody would actually have a grandiose mission, they would not talk about it openly and secrecy would be of utmost importance, so this façade fools nobody, even if his friends accept it. On a smaller scale but with the same purpose, Okabe also sometimes acts as if he has special powers and he understands things of supernatural nature or that the very least can hardly be explained. And last, he acts in a manner that is meant to put some distance between himself and other people. His behavior often puts people down, due to the façade it is seen as harmless, but Okabe essentially just plays hard to get. He essentially through his persona tries to push people away from who he really is, with the hope that his persona is going to be so interesting to them that they will pursue Okabe. This behavior really is just a projection of what Okabe truly wants, which only sabotages his goals because it is a behavior that is dishonest. Rather than engaging people about their interests and carefully observing them for who they are, Okabe chooses to take every idealized notion he thinks other people would admire, and creates a persona deeply influenced by what is considered cool within the otaku culture.

But the story goes beyond just portraying that Okabe’s behavior and mentality and it instead challenges Okabe’s psyche by making everything that he tried to portray to other people become true.

Okabe and his friends have a “science laboratory” where they create experimental gadgets that center around some ridiculous idea. Most of them have very little practical use but there is no denying that the people within the laboratory have a grasp on the in-world’s scientific concepts. Eventually, as time goes on they hit a breakthrough and manage to send phone messages back in time. The more they develop this idea, more people join in and they learn more about the world and how it would intend to use this technology. Every single scene is one more piece of the puzzle that provides even more context about what impact this technology can have, how it gets these characters to interact, how the world would make use of this technology and the fact that Okabe has some ability that causes him to be affected differently by any changes done to the timeline. Without giving the outcome away, eventually, all the events around him cause Okabe to be what a Chuunibyou aspires to project outwardly. He truly does end up fighting against the circumstances he is placed in, with them having large ramifications on the world at large, and due to the fact that he has a special power he is the only character to have retained this information. He now knows things no other people should, secrets that he cannot tell, and he is the only one to have the capacity to do anything about it due to the fact that he is special. But while the Chuunibyou stereotypical behavior assumes that this behavior would cause people to gravitate Okabe because he is important, thus making it easier for Okabe to open up outwards, these circumstances only cause Okabe to only retreat even further inwards. It is partly true that these circumstances, as the Chuunibyou stereotype would assume, would put distance between him and people, but at the same time it also has the intended effect Chuunibyou’s try to project. People become interested in Okabe, because they become concerned and want to help him. But while a Chuunibyou would welcome them even if outwardly they would act in a way that maintains their superiority, Okabe cannot open up to them or let them in. Because no matter how much he wanted to, his circumstances are actually true and he cannot be helped as he actually is indeed special. Rather than accepting the people that approach him, he can only repel them because they can never have context into his situation. Describing Okabe any further than this would be telling you how his character arc concludes which I won’t do.

But this is enough for me to start saying how exactly Okabe’s story has affected me. It has shown me that even if I do not understand the intent or cause of someone’s behavior, I can find them something that is respectable about them. You see, I personally shun a lot of the behavioral traits about otaku culture. Acting like a chuunibyou, projecting your love life onto an idealized 2D picture, all of the weeaboo associated nonsense. But just because I renounce the behavior itself that does not mean that I also have to renounce the person that has this behavior. There was more to Okabe’s behavior than met the eye, and there is a lot more context to him that I did not provide. But after this behavior was very slowly but carefully removed from the person enforcing it, all I could observe was a person that desperately did not want to be alone. It was something very basic and human that was being approached in an incorrect manner. Okabe was wrong and portrayed as heavily flawed, but a genuinely good person that would forever suffer if ever left alone. Steins;Gate has not proven me wrong, but it has given me more to think about. I am correct to reject the behavior itself and not accept the negative consequences behind it. But just because I understand the outcome of the behavior, it does not mean that I do understand the intent. The intent itself is something that I do not have context on and it is most likely something that I could sympathize with. So even if I find someone’s behavior abhorrent, I should at the very least try to understand why they behave that way. I should have at the very least some degree of understanding and patience.

As I have said, every character in some manner has been affected socially by the otaku culture. The story showcases who each character is, what are their flaws through dynamic interactions between each character that are portrayed in an often comedic and somewhat neutral way, and why they exist by exploring what they desire through exposing their behavior for what it is. Each character has some depth and their behavior is displayed well through skillful characterization.

Other things that Steins;Gate has to offer is a lot of theoretical concepts that border on metaphysics and discussions surrounding things of that nature, as well as some information on conspiracy theories. The world behaves in a manner that assumes these things are possible and feasible, and incorporates them into the world. In some cases it gives you the context from real life. Most of the ideas of Steins;Gate are not its own, and are used as a realm to explore the group it portrays, so do not expect an anime that rethinks a theoretical concept or the world order at large. Yes, it puts them together in ways that are unique to itself it takes, but its focus is to explore the people it presents, and the theoretical concepts and conspiracy theories are just tools to give further shape to the world of Steins;Gate. If you came for a story that is an adventure about time travel, this will be very different from what you expect, and that can be both a good and a bad thing, depending on what you want to experience.

You see one of the things everyone likes to address, but also has to, is the slow pace of the show. Every scene focuses on providing the viewer with context into what they are watching, and rather than focusing on Steins;Gate being an entertaining process from start to finish, it chooses to put all of its energy into the outcome of each scene, making sure that every scene carries what it intends. Steins;Gate does not pander to provide you with something fun every second of its watch time, but rather to provide you with everything that would help you understand what is going on with who you are seeing. Some people might criticize it for not delivering constant entertainment value on screen, but Steins;Gate through Okabe openly renounces acting cool for no reason. It doesn’t goof off for the sake of goofing off. If a scene is there, it is because it tries to tell you something or inform you about something you’ll need to understand for the next message it delivers. Its slow pace is warranted.

Still, regardless of how well it does the things it does, as well as how genuine it is, Steins;Gate still is something I only personally consider to be fine as a show. A lot of it comes down to personal preference, as I prefer shows to be focused on progressing forward, rather than taking their time. It definitely has a more than warranted enough reason to pace itself in the way that it does, but that doesn’t mean it will change my preferences simply because of that. Another reason is that, even if I do understand who the characters are and why they behave that way, and I see that there is depth to them, for the most part I do not like them. I don’t feel a strong dislike towards them; I simply do not care much about them. The reason for that being that: each character was created to fit what the show tried to convey, that they would only matter within the context that they were placed. There is depth to the overall message that is displayed through their use and their behavior, but strip away these elements, and all you are left with are husks. I do get that to a degree that is part of Okabe’s characterization, but that is the point. He is a husk because it is part of the characterization. In some cases, I did fully understand the behavior, but I was just not interested in who the character was and felt little to no sympathy for them.

Regardless of that, I praise Steins;Gate for the message it has managed to deliver to me. I’m sure that the people that have the otaku culture planted deeply into them related in some way to the story, and I am sure that this is one the best stories to humanize the culture to people outside of it. As I have said, if you seek to start sympathizing with the otaku culture as a whole, Steins;Gate is going to be very helpful, as it was helpful to me. It is one of the best shows to be introduced to anime, as it has the potential to eliminate a lot of the preexisting prejudices for the medium. However, I’d avoid Steins;Gate if the pace itself is something that would really bother you. It has the best reasons it can possibly have to take its time, but again, as it is the case for me, personal preferences are not something that can be reasoned with.