My opinion on the show? BEST-ANIME-EVER. Wonderful characters, intelligent and intricate plotlines, great twists and a satsfying payoff at the end, this show sent me on an experience that I don't think I'll ever forget Due to my immense liking of the show and my excitement about the upcoming visual novel, I've decided to create a thread devoted to this wonderful show to discuss anything and everything related to it; characters, episodes, music, whatever.

To start us off, let me first mention my favorite character: Okabe Rintaro, a.k.a the show's protagonist, a.k.a Lab Member 001, a.k.a HOUOUIN KYOUMA!!!!


He's just an incredible character, really. I mean how many protagonists can you name that wears a lab coat EVERYWHERE, goes by a nonsensical alias (he only uses it to make himself sound cool) and goes around pretending to be a mad scientist? Only one; this guy. His crazy over the top personality is always fun and entertaining, particularly as it's such a stark contrast to 'normal' life in modern-day Akihabra, and that alone makes him a blast. However the fact that he's also a genuinely nice guy who'll go to any lengths to support his friends and actually is a thoughtful, considerate human being behind all that crazy makes him such a complex and interesting character. The development his character goes through over the series is nothing short of incredible.



Case in point; Okabe is awesome. El Psy Congroo, over and out.

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El. Psy. Congroo.

My favourite's Makise, but I feel so sad for Mayushi because of what she goes through.

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I really love Steins;Gate. The characters are all really interesting and the plot has such scope! I think my favourite character would either be Okabe or Daru.

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I recommend watching the movie since it concludes the story of Steins;Gate, and gives Kurisu her time in the spotlight. Only bad thing about the film is that it feels extremely rushed... Honestly, they could've made a second season for this show >.>

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Makise ROCKS. She is a perfect example of tsundere done right, and has such intelligence and heart that you can't help but like her In my books, she's second only to Okabe, with either Mayuri or Rukako (can't decide which ) tying for third.



I want to see that so bad However, I'm one of THOSE people who watch their anime in dub; I just find it easier to have the voices in a language I understand and NOT have to constantly read subtitles all the way through, regardless of whether it's good or not. As it so happens, I found the Steins; Gate dub EXCELLENT, and am this waiting till there's an eventual release of the movie in dub before I watch it. I have no doubt I'll eventually crack and watch it in sub if it takes too TOO long- I've watched the series 3 times since I initially finished it last fall, so there's no way I'm missing out on the movie, even if I don't enjoy watching sub much- but in the meantime, I'm content with waiting

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I don't post here anymore, but I will if it involves Steins;Gate. I've read through the visual novel, played the 8-bit spin off, seen the anime, watched the film, and read the manga. All of it is excellent. Truly one of the best stories to come out from the last decade.

I disagree that there could have been a second season. They adapted the entire visual novel, so there's nothing left to tell. The movie ended everything perfectly, and the main storyline does not need to continue. Steins;Gate is good because they knew when to stop. If they kept it going, the story would eventually get drawn out and stop being good. I'm fine with the occasional spin off or even a live action adaption, but for all intents and purposes, I feel that the main story is finished.

Oh, and fair warning that the upcoming official visual novel release by JAST will have Japanese audio only. They didn't re-record it with the English dub actors. Either way, I have it on pre-order. It's great to finally see this game out of Japan with an official release in English. Hard to believe that the Xbox 360 version came out way back in 2009.

Actually, I'm involved with the fan translation of the game. We're currently editing the old iOS/Android patch and I'm serving as localizer/translation check. You can see me in the patch credits as Foxhounder. Hopefully we can convince 5pb to use our translation for a potential official release.

Glad that this thread is an exception; Steins; Gate is a truly amazing anime, and if there's any one anime worthy of discussion it's definitely this one I've watched the anime 4 times, have the visual novel on pre-order (though I am disappointed by a lack of an English Dub ), planning on reading the manga and GREATLY looking forward to the eventual film localization

I agree; as much as I would enjoy a second season, I can't see how they could without butchering the story. I mean, the movie is EXCELLENT by the sound of it, but I can't see how a 2-hour long (I'm guessing) movie could translate into a 12+ episode TV series without slowing down the pace by a fair bit. And with the anime already ending on such a great note, I don't see how they could add even more new material in a way that does the series justice (though granted, I'm sure many people thought that about the movie, and it apparently was excellent)

If you WERE able to get that IOS/Android patch done and make it official, that'd be brilliant It'd be great to have Steins; Gate available to me wherever I go, and having a patch would very likely create new fans for the franchise. In short; good luck, and I look forward to seeing what you guys come up with

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The movie was excellent. I included in my Top Ten Films of 2013 for the website I write for.

http://thepunkeffect.com/?p=13817

I plan on doing a full review of the film, series, and visual novel later this year.

We have a beta patch currently available for download on this blog.

http://tldr.aloneunix.ru/2014/01/19/ste ... -released/

Keep in mind that you need the app installed (either actually bought or pirated) and your iOS/Android device has to be jailbroken/rooted. The steps on how to apply the patch are listed in the link.

Everything is in English, but only the prologue contains my edits. For the rest of the game, expect crude translations and typos. To my knowledge, the @channel sections are still in Japanese. However we are working on fixing this and an updated patch is in development.

The reason that we're having problems getting an official English release is because JAST owns the English rights, at least for PC. They don't seem to be interested in localizing the mobile version so perhaps we'll be able to work out a deal. In any case, we obviously won't charge for them to use our patch.

We're also working on a full patch for Chaos;Head Noah on iOS/Android. It's the predecessor to Steins;Gate in case you didn't know. There were negotiations for JAST to also release C;H, but they never worked out a deal. We have a better chance of our patch being officially used by 5pb in that case at least.

I'm definitely sensing a lot of 5pb. love here There's no doubt as to why though; between the reviews, the patches and whatnot (all of which I will likely check out at some point ), it really strikes me how brilliant the guys down there are when it comes to storytelling. I watched Chaos; Head myself and while it wasn't as good an anime as Steins; Gate, was a pretty good story (if not necessairly gracefully executed) with a very unique protagonist, even when compared to Okabe. Then of course there's Steins; Gate, which is all sorts of brilliance, and I'm just basing this off the anime; the visual novel may be even better! As for Robotics; Notes, haven't played/watched it yet, but I have high hopes In terms of storytelling, Ace Attorney is a great series but it does require you to suspend some of your disbelief when it comes to its' zanier aspects; with 5pb.'s Science Adventure series, while there's certainly some 'fantasy' elements to it, there's not much in it that makes you think 'come on! Like THAT would ever happen!'. For the most part, it's all within the realm of reality while still having creative, complex and over-the-top plots, and that's what makes it so interesting


Moving on from the 5pb. appreciation rant, when do you imagine the movie will be released in dub? I REALLY want to see it but I would MUCH rather see it in the same language I watched the series in; I'm HOPING it'd be released by the fall, but I am unaquainted with Funimation's (I'm assuming they'll be licensing it, as they're the ones who did the TV series) licensing processes, and as such can't be sure

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Chaos;Head has an amazing story, but you have to experience it in the visual novel. It's such an addicting narrative that kept me on the edge of my seat until the very end. You can download it from here if you're interested.
http://fuwanovel.org/novels/chaoshead

Unfortunately, it doesn't seem like anyone's interested in officially localizing the game. You have to play the fan translation, even if it has bugs and typos. For instance, you can't save during Ch. 7 of the game so you have to play it in one sitting. But if you can get past that, you have a great visual novel with gorgeous art, great characters, good performances, and haunting music. Check it out.

The visual novels are always better compared to the anime. However, Steins;Gate is the only one that comes very close with its adaption. It's essentially a straight re-telling of the True End route, leaving almost nothing out. Though one thing did bug me:



The visual novel contains many alternate ends that weren't seen in the anime. I think it's worth checking out for that alone. But back to the anime. With the series, it's obvious that 5pb and animation studio White Fox wanted to make something that was more than a cut-and-dry adaption. They made Steins;Gate as something that could stand on its own and as a good series. Basically, it was make a good series first and be a game adaption second.

Robotics;Notes was good I guess, but please don't go in expecting Steins;Gate. There are references to it, including the return of a supporting character from it, but it's completely separate. You'll probably get a kick out of the various in-jokes though. On its own though, it has likeable characters, an interesting story, and gorgeous animation. However, the ending leaves a lot to be desired. I don't like scores, but I'd probably give the story of Chaos;Head a 9/10, Steins;Gate a 10/10, and Robotics;Notes, a 7/10.

Don't forget that 5pb's also releasing a fourth Science Adventure game called Chaos;Child, a direct sequel to Chaos;Head. Very little is known about it and we don't even know what it's on, but it exists and it's in development. Wouldn't surprise me if they make an anime of it. If it comes to PC, then the fans can make a translation of it. Robotics;Notes was only on Xbox 360 and PS3, which are practically impossible to create patches for.

Funimation will definitely license the film. They already did for the original series and R;N, so it makes perfect sense. Realistically, I can envision them dubbing the film and releasing it in English by the end of this year. Keep in mind that getting the rights is a long process, and you have to assemble the voice cast again and record the voices. So yes, my estimate would be some time this year. Really though, you should try giving the Japanese dub a try. The cast is legendary, and Mamoru Miyano is a god of voice acting. His performance and range are incredible.

Woot; can't WAIT to give it a try Chaos; Head should be a fun experience; if it's better then the anime (which I liked well enough, contrary to popular opinion) then I'm sure this is going to be a real treat I'll keep what you said (particularly involving Chapter 7) and I look forward to playing through it in the near future

Yeah... with the Steins; Gate anime, I felt that it probably was as close as possible to matching the quality of the visual novel, even though I haven't play it. I mean on MyAnimeList.net (an online anime community with at least a million members to it) Steins; Gate was rated the second best anime of all time with an average ranking of 9.17 out of 10; with THIS many people liking it, I find it hard to believe it wouldn't measure up to the visual novel very well This along with the Key adaptations (Clannad, Kanon and Air) really are the standard ALL visual novel/video game adaptations should try to match, and be works that are -like you said- good series first and good adaptations second. I feel with many anime adaptation the creators are counting SO much on the fans of the games/visual novels watching the heck out of the show that they don't really bother making it a solid standalone experience, nor even a great anime. For example, take Persona 4: GREAT game, but while I personally liked the anime, it wasn't all that great as a standalone experience and didn't QUITE incorporate all the elements of the game's plot as I would've liked But I digress; Steins; Gate and the three Key anime are all FANTASTIC adaptations, and it would be quite hard I imagine to match their quality, so I can see why many don't seem like their trying, even if I don't quite like it

I heard as much regarding Robotics; Notes, and even if I hadn't, I probably would've expected as much Even if the source material of an anime is amazing, it all comes down to the animation studio how great the anime itself is. And let's face it; match-ups like Steins; Gate and White Fox and Clannad and Kyoto Animation don't happen all too often, hence why we only get 'masterpieces' (however you choose to define one) every so often Well even if it's not AMAZING, I'll still probably give it a shot; as a new fan to 5pb. I want to do that much for them

Regarding Chaos; Child, I personally hope they DO release an anime for it; I'd like an English version of the visual novel too... BUT the original's hasn't been announced yet, I won't hold my breath Oh, and while I'm hoping, I also think it'd be good if there was a remake (preferably by White Fox) of the Chaos; Head anime; it was okay, but I felt from what I saw that it could've been MUCH better then it was. Not especially likely, but it WOULD be quite awesome

I REALLY hope you're right about the Steins; Gate movie; as a huge fan of the series, waiting more then another year might be more then I can stand And yes... I probably SHOULD check out the Japanese dub for it some time; I've heard great things about the voice cast, particularly Mamoru Miyano who's apparently done MANY other great series in the past (such as Death Note) and it would be interesting to see the series in a new light. I'm not USUALLY the sort to watch sub if I can help it (it feels weird watching in a language I'm unfamiliar with and in a language I don't know), but for a series as good as this and with a cast as apparently as good as they come, it would likely be worth my while to check it out

... and on a DIFFERENT Steins; Gate related note, what do you think the likelihood of other visual novels in the series being released are? There's a romance spin-off called Henri No Darling, and a side-story compilation called Kosoku No Phenogram, both of which sound pretty interesting. There's also the whole 8-bit spin off thing as well, but I'm reluctant to give that a try for some reason

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Sorry about the bugs. The people I'm with didn't have any involvement with the PC patch, but hopefully the iOS and Android versions will be fine. Those ports are actual the Noah version of the game, which has extra scenarios. Currently, we have a translator working on those sections.

Yeah, I know about MyAnimeList. I'm a member of it, but don't post often. What's also great about the anime is that it inevitably leads people to the visual novel and other games in the universe. The visual novel industry is something that most Westerners don't know about, so S;G is the perfect gateway to it. I really hope that JAST's release of it does well. But I can't say that I'm not a bit concerned. They've only done hentai VNs before, and this is their first non-H title. Still, it does have an official ESRB rating and they want to release it through outlets like Steam. I think there's a good chance of this one doing well.

Speaking of Key, I've been playing Kanon for the first time. It may be a simple romance story, but it was a very important visual novel and it launched Key as a company. There's two anime adaptions of it, and the second one is unanimously praised as being MUCH better. Either way, I'll check it out after I beat the game. Only have one more route left. Then I'll move on to Air and Clannad. The latter in particular is one of the most acclaimed anime of all time, so I'll definitely see it.

With Persona/Shin Megami Tensei, I'm getting into the very first SMT game on SFC. I was playing a fan translation, but since Atlus is actually releasing it on iOS in English on Tuesday, I'm switching to that. These games are LONG, so it'll be awhile until I get to Persona 4. I don't have a PS2 or PS Vita though, so I'll have to work around it with emulation most likely.

Robotics;Notes is animated by Production I.G., one of the most well-known and respected animation studios. Trust me, for all its story faults, R;N looks fantastic. It's no doubt the series' strongest aspect. With the Chaos;Head anime, it should have been much longer. You can't cram a 30 hour story into 12 episodes. Steins;Gate had the luxury of having 24 episodes and an OVA and movie to tell its story. The anime of C;H was a disappointment also because it was developed by Madhouse. These were the same guys who brought us Death Note, yet the animation falls way short of that. Don't get me wrong, it looks good at some points, but is just an overall mixed bag.

For me, I've grown accustomed to hearing Japanese and reading subs. It personally also helps me because I'm learning the language. I can understand though why you'd think that. Keep in mind though that some things get lost in translation. Listen to this joke in Steins;Gate for example.
Sub:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Bf0aYBk0OQ
Dub:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2Pq7pLcslo

In the sub, Okabe is someone who obviously can't speak English and when he tries to, he utterly fails. You can't do this in the English dub obviously, so it kind of falls flat. With some series like Azumanga Daioh that rely EXTENSIVELY on Japanese culture and language, you really have to watch the sub.

To me it makes perfect sense that they'd release an anime of Chaos;Child. But we know literally nothing about it other than it exists so it's way too early for speculation.

I'm well aware about the spin-offs, but frankly I think there's little chance. Those games were originally released for Xbox 360 and PS3, last gen consoles that are slowly dying. It'd also be financial suicide to release visual novels on anything but PCs and handhelds. There's is absolutely no way for something like that to compete with the triple A action titles. Renri no Darling did get released on iOS though, so there is somewhat of a possibility. But my team isn't working on it because we've got our hands tied with other projects. I have played the 8-bit spin-off though because it's on PC with a translation. It's here if you're interested.
http://fuwanovel.org/novels/steins-gate-8-bit

The game is very short, but there's so much stupid cryptic shit that a walkthrough is mandatory. With its art style and sound emulating classic Japanese PC adventure games, it's meant to be that way though. You type commands to interact with the environment. In a way, it's sort of mocking those types of games where there was no clear cut solution in sight.

Aw, it's fine; so long as the game is playable in SOME shape or form, then that's all that really matters to me That said, I'm looking forward to the patch you guys are doing of it; it'll be great playing an extended version of the game, as well as being able to play it on the go, so best of luck

I don't go on MyAnimeList that often either; I'll use it to vote on an anime that I particularly liked or occasionally to discover something new, but that's about it Back on topic though, yeah, I imagine most people who watch the anime WILL play the visual novel, and that in itself is great for series such as Ace Attorney as well as the genre in general Of course, there is of course the uncertainty as to how many people the game will reach beyond fans of the anime and of course the quality of the translation itself, like you said. As far as I can tell though, the company seems like they're doing their best to do the game justice with the localization, and I'm sure many people will buy the game just for the heck of it simply because it's new and on Steam (or perhaps during one of the sales that they do). Therefore, until the game actually comes out, I'll remain cautiously optimistic as to the game's quality and sales

You won't regret checking out ANYTHING by Key, really; Kanon, Air and Clannad are all superb anime and visual novels, and sinking time into each of these titles is time well spent. I personally am not a fan of the hentai scenes thrown into the games and purposely go for the all-ages versions for that reason, but that aside I find them to be superb Kanon is a bit slow-going in the beginning, but the individual stories of each female character is really engaging, and the ending -while not SUPERB- does succeed in giving you a good emotional payoff. Air is a little shorter, but has an AMAZING soundtack, equally great characters and an ending that really moves you. Clannad is the best of the bunch though, primarily because of it's After Story (though it'd be slightly spoilerish to describe why) and while is the longest of the games, it's because the developers have a fantastic story to tell. As for the anime adaptations, each one is great (except the 2003 adaptation of Kanon) and worth watching; Air is not everyone's favorite due to it's limited number of episode, but I personally liked each of them for what they had to offer, for while they were all similar they had differences to them that made each journey feel distinct and memorable. I could go on, but I've been talking too long as it is about these series'; long story short, keep at it

I've never played the Shin Megami Tensei series, personally; the reportedly extremely dark plots, extreme difficulty and sheer length of the games has intimidated me I've only played Persona 3 and 4, and enjoyed both IMMENSELY; maybe that doesn't make me a 'true' fan of the sub-series, but whatever Regarding 3, I'd reccomend playing the PS2 (FES) version of it first; while the PSP version DOES streamline some of the mechanics and offers up an entirely new experience, the PS2 version simply offers more immersion Regarding 4, the Vita version IS the superb version of it, but I imagine there won't be an emulator released for it for quite some time unfortunately, so you'll likely be stuck playing the PS2 version. All this said however, whichever version of these games that you play, I'm sure you'll find it to be a rich and rewarding experience; I know I have Until then, enjoy SMT; hopefully you enjoy it

I suppose I'm being a little too hard on the studio then; Production I.G HAS done amazing works, I suppose it just simply comes down to the fact the story didn't match that of it's predecessor. The studio simply did the best they could with the source material Regarding the Chaos; Head anime, I definitely agree with you; the show was way too short considering the complexity of it's source material, and having a full 24 episodes would've definitely helped make it a better show. While I agree it was disappointing that Madhouse -a studio who produced Death Note, almost unaminously agreed to be an anime masterpiece- did such a poor job on it, I think part of it may have had something to do with the network it was originally released on; I can't say this for certain, but I think they're the ones who decide on how many episodes an adaptation may recieve, so if they're not confident in the series they order a shorter run of it to keep costs down. I know that with American series it's the network, not the studio, that dictates how many episodes a season gets, so I'd imagine it'd be the same with anime Well, here's hoping that the probable Chaos; Child anime will be good enough to inspire a reboot of it's predecessor; unlikely perhaps, but it could happen

That's actually awesome that you're learning Japanese; I hope to visit the country myself one day so it's always been on my to-do list, but I've never gotten around to it Ah well; I'll hopefully get around to it one of these days Back on topic, that joke IS a lot funnier in Sub then in Dub; Okabe acting gangster by saying 'Word to your mother' isn't quite as funny as a more japanese Okabe failing at trying to speak English. That said, if you don't know the jokes or the context of the original language/sub then it isn't such a big deal, hence why people who watched the dub first (like me) are partial to that version. That said, if it takes too long for the movie's release, I may HAVE to watch the sub, and who knows? Maybe I'll like it better

Bah; I had thought that'd be the case, but I was hoping I was wrong Ah well; at least there IS the 8 bit sequel available. It may test my patience a bit, but I'll get around to playing it eventully, methinks

While I'm thinking about it as well, I'm curious; what's your favourite character(s) in Steins; Gate and why? As someone who is also a huge fan of the series, I'm interested in hearing your perspective

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It may come as a surprise, but they're actually using the original PC fan translation as its base. From there, they'll substantially edit it and turn it into the official English script. Games like this and Banshee's Last Cry (iOS localization of Chunsoft's classic Kamaitachi no Yoru) will truly test if gamers are ready to "play" something that's meant to be completely read with only choices as interaction.



I'm a strong advocate of watching/playing my media in its original uncensored version, but the Key games are the rare exception were I'd go with the all-ages versions. The h-scenes are COMPLETELY out of place with the tone of the game. Not only that, BUT THEY NEVER TALK ABOUT THEM AGAIN. Seriously, Yuichi has sex with these girls and they act like it never happens afterwards. Some of these girls even have severe psychological trauma or other problems. I highly doubt that they'd be in the mood for fucking.
Luckily, the anime version takes these annoying bits out. So that's something to look forward to.



The core SMT has always been retro-inspired and brutally difficult without the proper guide. It's an acquired taste, but they do have a lot of great moments. Persona seems to be a lot more lighter in tone. I'll defintely check it out when I get to it. I have this thing where I have to play everything in order when I start a series.



Yeah, you're right. But because of that stupid decision, it turned out to be a mediocre anime. It's the same thing with the recent Watamote series. I absolutely loved it until the half-assed garbage ending. It's terrible, and if this show had another season, it'd would have been a great series. Unfortunately, it's only a good series. Stupid networks.



Well the dub has some of its more cringe-worthy moments. Like this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mslZSL9Z84



Besides the obvious choice of the main character Rintarou Okabe, I'd have to go with Kurisu Makise. She's the strongest female character anime has seen in such a long time. She's not walking fan service, and she's not a brainless broad with big boobs. She's an insecure, but highly intelligent, woman who simply wants to prove to her father that she's worth something in his eyes. I really liked how the movie showed her perspective on things. The relationship between her and Okabe is one of the strongest romances I've ever seen in any medium. Come to think of it, Steins;Gate has one of the best stories in any medium.

Speaking of Okabe, I'm actually cosplaying as him for an upcoming anime convention that I'm going to with my girlfriend. It's actually the first time I've been to one of these things ever, so I'm pretty excited. I've already got my labcoat.
Since the S;G PC limited edition comes with lab member pins, I'll be wearing those too.

BTW, I'm part of a video game music reviewing site. After several delays, we've re-launched with a brand new look. I wrote reviews of the Chaos;Head and Steins;Gate soundtracks as part of the launch. They're here if you're interested. Tell me what you think.
Welcome to VGMOnline?: http://www.vgmonline.net/welcome/
Chaos;Head: http://www.vgmonline.net/chaoshead/
Steins;Gate: http://www.vgmonline.net/steinsgate/

Huh... that's interesting; I never knew that before. Well, you learn something new every day Perhaps Capcom will do something like this when the AAI2 patch is finished? If they did, I'm not sure if that would annoy me or please me; it'd majorly annoy me because they'd be publishing it after doing next to no work to ensuring it's localization, but it'd please me because at least they'd be making sure more Ace Attorney would be sent out to the masses; particularly if they did a limited physical release run (which I doubt they'd do)

Anyways, I'll be interested to see what gamers who are new to visual novels will think of this; many people claim to love games with great stories, great characters and amazing soundtracks, but when faced with a game that has minimal interaction and a lot of reading, they're truly put to the test as to how much they're willing to invest in an experience. Many play video games or watch TV for mindless entertainment, so it'd be difficult for these people to be able to invest the attention to play their way through a visual novel. Well, here's hoping for the best



I'm glad you agree I'm one of those guys who feels uncomfortable even seeing girls in bikinis, so I usually avoid entertainment with flat-out avoid nudity where I can Even if that wasn't my preference however, I'm sure I'd still want to play the all-ages version of these visual novels nonetheless, mainly for the reasons you said; they just would feel completely and utterly out of place, not only stylistically (I mean come on; it's moe ) but with the characters' personalities as well, that they would feel like they were disrupting the experience. I think the reasoning behind this MAY have been that they didn't want children playing these games but they needed a way to attract adult gamers who would be turned off by the cutesyness, so they simply added h-scenes to encourage adult gamers to give a chance. If that was the case, it was a rather cheap and tasteless way to attract attention, but whatever; at least Kanon DID get shunted into the spotlight one way or the other; Kanon is a good game and deserves to be played Well, hopefully the rest of the game proves fun for you, and look forward to the anime; it definitely does the game justice





I wish I were the same, pal I mean, when I do start a series I TRY to start from the beginning, but sometimes it'll just be too hard for me to get into it; stuff from the NES/SNES may be classics, but sometimes they just feel too... different from the gaming experiences I'm used to for me to properly get into them. Maybe I should try bullying myself a little more? 'You're going to STICK with this game till the very end, and you are going to like it! '... or something like that?



Yeah Good source material don't always get good adaptations unfortunately, and that's largely a result of executive decisions. In a perfect world, there'd be a lot more flexibility and slots when it comes to network channels, as well as more resources and creative leeway on the part of the studios; shows that are too short would be expanded, shows that are too long (Bleach, Naruto, One Piece, Fairy Tail, for example, though I'll admit I'm not exactly a fan of these shows so I'm biased ) would be made shorter. But alas, the world of anime is not necessairly a perfect one; at least though we're lucky enough to get masterstrokes like Steins; Gate every so often




I may be in the minority here, but I actually found that scene kinda cute That said, I can see why it would be cringe-worthy to some; Mayuri is a moe-ish sort of girl, and moe in the Japanese dub is a LOT different then anything that could possibly be done in english. As such, sub-minded people would find the scene in English cringe-worthy, while dubbers would be vice-versa; it all comes down to preference I suppose




Funny thing about Okabe; in the beginning, he just seemed odd to me and a bit of an ass at times But when you see the mind behind the facade of crazy and the heart behind the 'mad scientist' you start to warm up to him, and by the end of the series it's hard not to really like the guy, mad scientist persona and all Makise Kurisu on the other hand was someone that wasn't hard to like at all, not even from the beginning; sure on the surface she's a genius with a streak of pride and independance, but underneath she's incredibly insecure to her father rejecting her and wants nothing more then to somehow win him back. She's also a warm, caring individual who will go the extra mile to give her friends a hand when they need it; however, she's also a bit of a no-nonsense sort of girl who doesn't like to take crap from anyone and can be quite confrontational. She's a marvelously complex woman, and she is one of the best female characters I've ever seen in any medium And as you said, her romance with Okabe is AMAZING: it's completely believable as their relationship moves from reluctant (on her part) cooperation to a solid friendship to an eventual romance, and you just can't help but enjoy seeing the dynamic between these two as they both tussle and help each other out throughout it all But again as you said, Steins; Gate is one of the best stories ever created, so it's no surprise that the romance sticks with you so



You're in for a treat then; anime conventions are SUPER fun, and an absolute BLAST to experience Not exactly easy on the wallet, but if you only go to one a year then you can justify it And hey, you're going as Okabe, so I don't doubt that that in itself is going to be enjoyable; he's such a charmingly eccentric character that posing as him would be a blast. As Okabe himself would say, your going to this con must be a decision of Steins; Gate itself

As for myself, I'm probably going to go as Okabe next year; I wanted to do him this year, but my two cosplays that I'm doing (Apollo Justice and Miles Edgeworth) were both things that I hadn't originally planned on doing, but sort of just came together. I had no intention at first, but then I found the right colored pants here (at Old Navy and Bluenotes, to be exact), the right blazer at a thrift store there, my mom got me an Apollo vest for my birthday and then before I knew it, my cosplays for both guys were already nearly complete, so it would've been a shame not to finish them. Ah well; I'll have the lab member pin (I'm also getting the S;G Limited Edition ), the pants and the shirt, so that'll make my cosplay that much easier to do next year



Page has been bookmarked; as a fan of video game music, I enjoy reading reviews of em in order to discover new material wherever I can, so I'll definitely have to visit you guys' site every once in a while

As for your reviews, I felt like you did a good job with both. You mentioned a lot of the highlights of the soundtrack while analyzing a lot of the key pieces and the various thematic and genre motifs captured in each; it wasn't an 'OMG, this soundtrack is amazing!' review, but a methodical and thoughtful one that considered each track for it's musical merit and how well they worked as a stand-alone listen. I particularly liked your analysis of 'Gate of Steiner'; I've only listened to it within the anime, but it is a solid piece that deserves to stand amongst the 'legends' of video game music. In short; well done

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It's not totally uncommon for companies to use fan translations. Xseed came to a deal with the original translators to use their patch for the game Ys: The Oath in Felghana. The translators of Mother 3 even sent it in to Nintendo, though I don't know if anything's been reached yet.

Visual novels shouldn't really be considered as "games." In my opinion, they're pretty much fancy eBooks with graphics, sound, music, and voice acting. Chunsoft seems to realize this, so they've marketed their US releases of Kamaitachi no Yoru and 999 on iOS as NOVELS, rather than games. Hopefully the market can get larger eventually, but it doesn't look to good right now.



With Kanon, I've completed all the routes except for Mai. Working on it as we speak. Actually though, this is the first time I've played a game that matches the season I'm in. Kanon takes place in the dead of winter, and it was pretty cold where I lived at the time. I remember that when I played Steins;Gate (which takes place in the blistering hot summer), it was winter over here. Sure it's minor, but it kind of adds to the immersion.

Speaking of good anime adaptions based off of visual novels, I've been reading and watching Higurashi: When They Cry. It's one of the most addictive plots ever. I'm talking Death Note-like addictive. It's also extremely violent and gory. There's little out there that makes me feel uneasy, but something like Higurashi definitely isn't for the weak-stomached. Hard to believe that this visual novel started off as a doujin game made by like 3 guys. Now it's a majorly successful franchise. Currently, I'm reading the final arc and I recently finished the first season of the anime. If you haven't checked it out yet, I definitely recommend it. It's available in English officially on iOS and PC.



Kind of odd seeing as I'm the younger one. For me, retro games have always held a large place in my heart. I like them generally more than newer games, actually. One of the series that has the best evolution over consoles is definitely the Metal Gear series. Looking at it from the very beginning is like watching a chronology of video game history. From the 8-bit games to the new photorealistic MGSV, it's truly a masterful franchise of storytelling.



Keep in mind also that the majority of anime is junk. Most of anything is junk. You occasionally get some good series, but like everything out there, I'm willing to bet that only 5% (if that) of anime is worth my time. When someone has full control of what they want to do and no restrictions, that's when you get the masterpieces. But we live in a world of money-making corporations and executives, so it's rare to see it.



The Steins;Gate dub is one of the better ones I've seen. These characters have personalities and speech patterns that ONLY make sense in Japanese. The English cast did a fantastic job of making an equivalent. The newly written dialogue is hilarious and witty. It's actually worth it I think to see the series at least twice. Once subbed and once dubbed. Would have been nice for them to dub the visual novel, but I can understand the difficulties involved in bringing the cast back together.


Yeah, I can imagine how expensive it would be. Just got to spend my cash on the things that count and not go too crazy.



Great, another fan! I've been trying to spread the word of this new site since it only just launched, so it's great that we've gotten at least ONE reader, lol.

Thanks. Yeah, what I'm trying to aim for is professionalism. We don't want to be viewed as a fan site, and instead want to be perceived as a professional and reliable journalistic group. I've got a lot of other reviews planned, including Robotics;Notes and other Science Adventure albums. I've been listening to the vocal and orchestral collections constantly over the last few months. Just listen to this symphonic of Gate of Steiner. Simply beautiful.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4FgZKd3vgk

Oh, and I also write for The Punk Effect. Plan on doing a new column about visual novels. I'll write an editorial explaining their importance, with Kanon likely being my first review since it's so influential. For the time being though, you can check out everything I've written here.
http://thepunkeffect.com/?author=2370
I tend to do anime reviews and am currently publishing an adaption based off the original Metal Gear games. There's also some reviews for Lupin III, a retrospective on Action 52 (the worst game of all time, IMO), and some other miscellaneous film reviews. Hope you enjoy, if you get a chance to read them.

Ahhh I'm so glad I've found fellow S;G and AA fans! Steins;Gate is by far my favourite anime I have ever seen (and the visual novel is incredible!)

Have you all seen the beta version of episode 23? Apparently it leads into Steins;Gate 0 which has been confirmed to be getting an anime!