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Merengues.Pop
Posts: 22 |
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Steins;Gate is just too advanced for you guys
Being serious now, yeah, the show has its pros and has a lot of cons if you think about it too much. But then again, you should remember that you are not watching a documentary by Sir David Attenbrough or a film by Wes Anderson, you're watching a niche anime show, made from nerds, to nerds who from time to time need some pandering and looking good too... Disconnecting your brain to watch doesn't mean that you need to be dumb to watch, but you need to realize that life, real women, science and all that things are well in the outside world, not next to you in your couch. Do not go watch Steins if you're still thinking on paying taxes and being a responsible adult. Saying you can mix s**t because they are from different sets of rules, it's like saying that you can't mix sweet and bitter, well, surprise it tastes better like that, I say mix every trope and resource out there, wink at every time-travel story before and walk out looking awesome if you want it, it's fun. I think that's the reason why Steins often gets on top of top10 lists, because it's fun despite the archetypes, it has great voice acting in its two protagonist, has a great OP and it's good looking... And well, there's a reason why realistic shows of adult life, taxpaying, working, normal women exist and common guys are just idem are not in there. I will not call it my fvourite show ever. But as physics student-nerd as I was when I first watched it, I found it refreshing and fun, and nowadays gradstudent-still nerd I still find solace in it. But well everyone has its opinion. |
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Videogamep
 Posts: 564 Location: CA |
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The archetypes in Steins;Gate never really bothered me. I don't have a problem with using archetypes like that as long as the archetypes aren't the only character traits and Steins;Gate gave every character enough development that that isn't the case. I actually think that was done on purpose since the first half showed the characters as mostly archetypes, while the second half gives them way more development. Also, one episode (I think it was 3 or 4) actually had a scene where Daru called Kurisu a tsundere. Steins;Gate always felt self aware enough about the tropes it used that it never got in the way of me liking the characters, which are actually my favorite part of it. Even if it's nerd pandering, the characters got enough development and were likable enough that it never bothered me.
In case you can't tell from this, I really like Steins;Gate. |
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Greed1914
 Posts: 4609 |
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I do think that quite a bit of the enjoyment of the series will depend on how much you enjoy the characters and one's tolerance for pandering. I was fine on both ends, so I didn't find the first half boring at all, and it helped make the second half that much more compelling.
Where I probably had the biggest issue was that Kurisu's death was part of what eventually led to World War 3. It works in that it is believable that such knowledge would create huge problems, but it was also incredibly obvious that it was used as an out. Until then, the biggest downside of what the Gadget Lab did was that SERN becomes overlord. Then it changes into full-on war with countless deaths, so while everybody else gives up something personal, Okabe doesn't have to because of the stakes. It wasn't enough to sour my opinion of the show, but it was probably the biggest point of pandering for the show. Overall, I still consider this series to be a contender for my third-favorite anime. |
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Just Passing Through
Posts: 277 |
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You totally missed the first time change, which sets up the whole show, and leads to the whole point of the end.
Satellite hits the building, spoiler[Makisu Kurisu is murdered], Okabe calls Daru to share the news, using the phone linked to the microwave, and the next day spoiler[Makisu Kurisu is alive again] The gender swap time change happened later in the show. |
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Redcrimson
 Posts: 160 |
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Well, that wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Zac only made me throw my keyboard across the room in a fit of blind rage once.
Which is surprising because I'm That Guy who thinks the first half of Steins;Gate was actually the better half. I think the characters are generally pretty endearing, and bounce off of each other well. I was rather fond of Okabe's chuuni antics, I like that he has a distinctive personality at all. So many, so many anime protagonists just seem to exist for the sole purpose of making reaction-noises and have exposition monologued at them, especially in shows like Steins;Gate. I would much rather watch a whole show about Okabe being super-chuuni and ranting about conspiracy theories than the latest Shounen Jump-y action-bonanza mega-hit. I feel like the second half actually loses a fair bit of focus, and starts to unravel pretty catastrophically towards the end. When it suddenly turns into The Dating Game starring Hououin Kyouma, I felt like that was the low-point of the series. It's just kind of smashed in-between the time-travel thriller plot and the already established romance arc. Which reminds me, I'm kinda surprised the podcast didn't really discuss Okabe and Kurisu's relationship. I always felt Steins;Gate managed to pull off a pretty endearing little love story on top of everything else it has going on. Okabe and Kurisu are distinctive enough to have good rapport, but also compliment each other well enough to totally buy into their relationship. But then again, I'm a straight male super-weeby Sci-fi dork who plays VNs and laughs at anime memes on the internet, so I guess I'm pretty much ground zero for Steins;Gate's target audience. The show definitely, definitely has problems, but I think what it actually accomplishes is significantly compelling enough for me to mostly not be bothered by them. I certainly wish the story was a little less transparent, and that the secondary cast was a bit more nuanced(or at all really), but I think what we got was still a pretty damn fun sci-fi show. And certainly one of, if not the best, VN-to-anime adaptations in recent memory. |
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Videogamep
Posts: 564 Location: CA |
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You should give the VN a try. I played it a while back and it gives the secondary characters a lot more development. It also gives the first half more focus compared to the anime. |
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PragmaticPoet
 Posts: 6 Location: Colorado Springs, CO |
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Hey! I'm the fan who was fortunate enough to chat with Zac and Hope today!
Is the VN worth seeking out of you're already really familiar with the adaptation? From the few I've played I know they require I pretty good investment of time, and I'd be bummed if I spent most of it rehashing what I've already seen. 
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Videogamep
Posts: 564 Location: CA |
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I played it after I saw the anime and I really liked it. It expands a lot on the character interactions and it's exclusively from Okabe's POV so it provides an interesting perspective. It also has multiple endings that the anime didn't touch on so those'll be completely new. I'd say it's definitely worth it if you like the anime. Also, the true ending (the one the anime used) is extremely hard to get. I had to look up how and reload a lot of saves. |
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Via_01
 Posts: 551 |
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Absolutely. Not only because the scenes are more in-depth (it comes with a medium that is not scared of taking a few hours into every step of the road), but also because you get to see the many alternate endings focused on different characters, and there's a greater sense of involvement on everything that's happening. Plus the artstyle is pretty great, definitely something that the animation lacked. |
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PragmaticPoet
Posts: 6 Location: Colorado Springs, CO |
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Well it looks like I'll have to start saving up then. Thanks!
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Angel M Cazares
 Posts: 5499 Location: Iscandar |
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I guess I must be a f-ing misogynistic pig because I do not think Steins;Gate is a hate-women machine. I thought that dishonor was only reserved for the likes of Cross Ange and Sword Art Online. I admit that these series podcasts are a neat idea, but I should probably avoid them when shows I like are covered because, apparently, my taste in anime is shit.
Or I could stop having fun watching anime and instead obsess over every little thing that might offend women and other historically abused groups. I get when crap like Cross Ange is harshly criticized for their abominable misogynist shit. But I get bothered when critics like Zac and Hope go out of their way to find anti-women content in anime. Steins;Gate is a fun show. It is not perfect and the harem sexist stuff is there, but I do not think it deserves to be vilified for it. Believe it or not, I am all for women's rights, but I am not a feminist. If I were a feminist I would not be able to watch 99% of the anime being made. |
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Zac
ANN Executive Editor
 Posts: 7912 Location: Anime News Network Technodrome |
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I certainly never called the show sexist - I don't think it really is, other than in the ways shows like this can be typically interpreted as such.
Mostly we pointed out that the female characters are largely all collections of personality archetypes that exist mainly to fall in love with the main character and that it wasn't good character writing. Hope liked the show anyway and thought it was really well-written in spite of the character development being kinda subpar. I don't think anyone villified the show or its fans and let me make this super clear - nobody involved in the production of this episode thinks for even a second that if you like Steins;gate you are a "misogynist pig". Whatsoever. At all. Not even a little bit, not even in secret at night when we think nobody's listening. So please do not interpret any of the comments in this episode to imply that. |
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JacobC
ANN Contributor
 Posts: 3728 Location: SoCal |
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Seriously. I like the show for the most part, I heaped tons of compliments on it, and nobody, Zac included, even came close to calling it a "bad show," we all said at the very least we understood why it was so beloved.
I just said it had spots of real bad character writing, because I think it definitely does. In the first half, this applies to everybody as they wax noxious about totally random monkeycheese nerd things for too long and too often. In the second half, those spots mostly revolved around the female characters because A) Everyone that's not Okabe and Daru is a female character so that's most of the cast and B) The issues with the character writing were largely tied to the VN necessity of basing everyone's arcs around kissing the ground the MC walks on So yeah, it's gonna be a little uncomfortable. It's male self-insert story with harem #5,724. I think it's easily one of the best versions of that story, maybe the best version, but that designation is kind of like having a handicap; it would have been even better without having to tiptoe around the harem/multiple romantic routes stricture. That's all I said, and that's all I meant. (P.S. If you "support equal women's rights" but "don't consider yourself a feminist," you need to re-examine your perception of what those words mean. That means you're a feminist. You've been taking in some erroneous rhetoric if you think that's some kind of bad word. I get it, I was once in the same position.) |
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Angel M Cazares
Posts: 5499 Location: Iscandar |
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Don't sweet it. I was being sarcastic with myself. I love Steins;Gate, and we have differences on our opinions and views of the show, but I do not take your opinions as personal attacks. You are criticizing an anime show; it would be childish of me to be morally offended by it.
I mean that I am not a feminist in the sense that I have not gone on crusades to defend women. And I get that women need to be treated as human beings and given equal rights; most of the women closest to me have dealt with domestic abuse. Last edited by Angel M Cazares on Sat Mar 21, 2015 1:10 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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PragmaticPoet
Posts: 6 Location: Colorado Springs, CO |
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What's important to understand is that feminism isn't some kind of badge bestowed upon crusaders and fanatics. Feminism is an ideology, pure and simple. Like Hope said, it's one that has been (wrongly) conflated with extremism and misandrony, but the bottom line is Feminism is the belief both genders deserve equal rights, opportunities, representation, and agency in society. If you believe that, you're a feminist.
I defer everyone to Aziz Ansari's Letterman interview regarding the topic. |
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