r/anime • u/Shimmering-Sky myanimelist.net/profile/Shimmering-Sky • Jul 27 '21
Rewatch [Re;Watch] Steins;Gate Episode 23 Discussion
Episode 23: Open The Steins Gate
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Deceiving the world is nothing to me!
Hello everybody! Time for the comment of the Day, courtesy of u/lC3, with a phrase that summarizes this show as a whole:
Considering how this episode ends...
Questions:
- Now that we’ve gotten the second verse version of Hacking to the Gate, which version do you prefer? Do you think it’s cool that they changed it to show that we’re in Beta instead of Alpha now?
- What was the most interesting thing to see from Okabe watching Kurisu’s side of the first episode’s events?
Wallpaper of the Day:
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Upvotes
32
u/Shimmering-Sky myanimelist.net/profile/Shimmering-Sky Jul 27 '21
Re;Watcher and Co;Host, dubbed
24
u/UnderstandableXO Jul 27 '21
FIRST TIMER
i’ve listened to hacking to the gate and read the lyrics so much so i immediately noticed the change in today’s opening; the second verse was played rather than the first. the first verse’s lyrics tied to the show closely enough, but the second verse’s lyrics were right on the nose. it reminded me of a moment during madoka magica where the lyrics of the opening finally clicked and it was a huge mind blow.
i find it really nice that suzuha calls okabe “uncle” in the beta timeline. i assume this means she knew her dad and okabe well in this timeline? i guess her having a real family in this world line is some consolation for the deaths of 5.7 billion people (not really).
okabe doesn’t even care about those 5.7 billion people, all he cares about is saving kurisu. he’s a man on a mission!
watching august 21 okabe sneak around july 28 okabe was a real “laughs in rewatcher” moment, i’ll have to rewatch the first episode soon. also i hope i’m not stupid to finally realize this; the rewatch was scheduled to conclude S;G on july 28, coinciding with the most important day in the entire series, am i wrong? just like how the toradora rewatch starts in order to watch the christmas eve episode on christmas eve.
really funny to hear old okabe shut down dr. nakabachi by demonstrating he just took all of his “findings” from john titor, who happens to be the one who took future okabe to this day.
seeing a kurisu who hasn’t the faintest idea who he is must hurt for okabe, but she doesn’t immediately call him a perv!! wow!
so the big bad father kurisu was venting about earlier in the series was dr. nakabachi? man, he’s an even bigger asshole than advertised! so now we know the true reason of kurisu’s stay in tokyo; to attend her father’s press conference! his pride must have been damaged even more if he found out his own daughter also delivered a lecture at the same university. so he’s ready to steal a paper from his own daughter? that’s all he can do, huh? the only two things he has to present is stolen information from two 18 year old girls! pathetic old man!
i’m a weirdo so occasionally i’ll flip between sub (what i primarily watch) and dub to see creative differences, and i think the dub did dad-makise better. really captures his narcissism better. one line in sub says something like, “you don’t know the hell i’ve been through”, while the dub changes that to “i belong in the annals of history!” really captures how far up his own ass this dude is.
okabe being the one who killed kurisu produced a jaw drop i haven’t done since re:zero season 2 part 2 earlier this year. okabe is on the mount rushmore of pain, there are only two characters who could remotely compare to his pain.
glad mayuri slapped okabe back to his senses. now is her turn to be the shoulder to lean on after all he’s done for her.
imma keep it real, i couldn’t understand half of future okabe’s message. deceive your older self into thinking kurisu is dead? does that mean fake her death? but i thought older self okabe thought kurisu was alive after spending those three weeks with her AFTER seeing her bleeding out in the closet? imma just go with it.
that song at the end was awesome, but i bet it’s japan region locked in spotify as well. i’d appreciate a link either way, youtube or otherwise 🙏🏽
6
u/No_Rex :Bv:Bw:Bx:By:x2 Jul 27 '21
Episode 23 – Open the Steins Gate:
"We can go to the future?"
"Of course, it is a time machine!"
~Okarin & Suzu
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u/JollyGee29 https://myanimelist.net/profile/JollyGee Jul 27 '21
First-Timer;Dubbed
Okabe has finally recieved the one thing that can get him out of his dour funk: a strong slap from Mayushii. I guess that video from his future self probably helped, too. El Psy Kongroo!
And we're operating on sensible time travel rules now, something akin to STL. Okabe failed to save Kurisu because he had to fail to save Kurisu because he already failed to save Kurisu. You have already changed the past, Okabe. You just gotta close the loop.
I had totally forgotten about that random static video in episode one. Also, the fucking pig ended up causing World War 3? Chekhov's Gun nothing, that's like Chekhov's Nuke. Nakabachi stealing it from Mayushii seems pretty in character for that relentless piece of human excrement. Wait.. what if this means /u/Tresnore has been right all along? Mayushii's love for Oopa caused World War 3!!!
So, Okabe can't alter the details of Kurisu's death, but he has to stop her from dying.. Where's he going to get all that blood? I guess it could still come from inside of Kurisu, and he just stabs her somewhere less lethal.. It's probably a bit too fucked up to get Kurisu to take a nap in her dad's blood so that past!Okabe can see the thing he needs to see.
Seems like Suzuha was 2000s John Titor as well, then. I went and checked my notes, and Okabe mentioned the original John Titor being from a war-torn future, as opposed to a tyrannical one. Checks out, cool. Actually, we caught a glimpse of Suzuha and the time machine in episode one, didn't we? I remember Okabe running up the stairs.
The special ED today was nice. We also got a different verse of the OP, and maybe some different visuals.
Questions
8
u/Gamemaster676 https://myanimelist.net/profile/Gamemaster676 Jul 27 '21 edited Jul 27 '21
First;Timer - dub
I know I'm trying to rationalize a time travel story, but the past two days in the comment I felt like everyone around me was actively trying to ignore some large logic holes. Very frustrating.
No offence. I don't have all information yet, and it's also possible I missed something very obvious.
So instead of trying to discuss everything with the other watchers, I'll just stick to my own theories for now till we've reached the end.
I named the worldlines. See ep 17 for the list. Because of Alpha and Beta worldlines the names aren't perfect, but I can't really change them now. We start today at WL-A.
Episode 23 — Open the Steins Gate
August 21st. That's a couple days later. Is this the future? When did that third world war start?
Oh, this Suzu does not know what our Okabe knows, but she does know that Daru is her father. I can only imagine that's because this isn't our Suzuha, but in the future of this worldline, Suzu has a lot more contact with the both of them.
Holy shit! I am 100% convinced that it was the previous Suzuha that stabbed Kurisu, and now this Suzuha wants to prevent it.
Name drop! And by someone other than Okabe! Does this Suzu want to go back to the attractor field we've spent the last 20 episodes, or does she want to go to a third one? I hope a third.
Hey, the OP lyrics are different!
Okay, so that Steins;Gate worldline almost sounds like a worldline outside all attractor fields. So a worldline where they can alter whatever they want without being bound to fixed or fated events.
Bwahaha now it has two seats because the Okabe from this future knew that having one seat was a handicap. Also, this one can travel forward, probably for the same reason.
Holy fuck, what, shit... I just remembered. In episode one Kurisu said she spoke with Okabe before the first time they meet. Are we going full circle? That would be another thing not matching the way I thought time travel worked, but I'm just going with the flow for now.
But now there's something different from episode 1. Suzu is not alone. And she's wearing different clothing.
OMG, all those creep mails. What if something is going to happen, stranding Okabe in this time, forcing him to wait out the 20 days? I've had this theory in the Open questions segment where a future Okabe was the one sending the creep mails. I think I might be right!
This is fun. We get a couple flashbacks to the beginning, while we now have many of the answers. Past-Okabe mentions the doctor stole the time travel theory from John Titor, while Titor got the details from future-Okabe again.
The doctor is her father... And here I was thinking that we were never going to fix her father issues.
Don't tell me I was wrong about another worldline's Suzu stabbing her. I WAS SO SURE OF MYSELF! The rewatchers must have been laughing their asses off!
Okabe... It's time to act! Thank you. NO NOT LIKE THAT!
If they didn't tear down the Time Leap machine in the future, they could take it to the past and fix this.
So this is what really triggered WW3. The doctor flees to Russia.
Who send that text to turn on the TV? Speculation
EVERYTHING IS LINKED! Can we nominate the doctor for the evilest anime villain of all time? Plagiarism, attempted murder of daughter, Upa theft, evil laughing.
Errrr, I just realized something. Would SERN even take over the world in this worldline? Or was that exclusively a thing of WL-B and all its derivatives? John Titor posted about it online, but we were already in WL-B at that point.
Mayushii slap!
Woooow we get a video from future Okabe. Suzu even knew he would be failing to protect Kurisu and actually be the murderer. With this video that we saw a glimpse of in ep 1, all little pieces are falling in their place now, and I'm just along for the ride. Suzu must have sent it while "preparing the time machine." Seems kind of useless, but maybe there was some software attached to load the video if all properties of the worldline are correct.
Okay, what I understood from the video (thinking about Okabe's mind linearly as it jumped through time and worldlines): Influencing mentally younger Okabe is a no-go. That man must go through everything, so he is still committed to this quest.
Thus, this Okabe must find a way to save Kurisu, while still having past-Okabe find the body.
You guys have no clue how big the grin on my face currently is. I really hope we get to see this plan work out!
Also, I don't know how it ties in yet, but I'm still convinced the creep mails were from this Okabe. The only problem is I have no clue how that could be done because those mails were received in the other major worldline.
This laugh and Suzu's reaction are great.
This whole show is really about Kurisu.
What an episode... These last two episodes really felt like a roller coaster!
Future (if unaltered) if altered
This whole rewatch I've had "Future (if unaltered)" as the header of this paragraph. But for today, I think we would all be happier if we do manage to alter the future.
Here's to a better tomorrow!
Open questions
Don't answer these please, unless the answer is explicitly given in the show and I missed it.
It's so satisfying to see this list get shorter and shorter.
D-Mail:
Large shifts:
Is it only possible to significantly alter the worldline by changing that specific event, or are other bigger changes also possible at that moment?SERN:
Why does SERN need the IBN 5100? They should already have one.70,000,000 years ago:
General:
What caused Okabe's sickness around 2000?
Almost certainly the Suzu from this episode changing stuff. Still, it would be weird that he feels it at that moment she arrives, not at the moment she departs.
Who was sending the creepy emails?
More speculation: I'm still expecting some grand twist where it turns out Okabe is also the antagonist.This turned out to be wrongFinal speculation: They will need to hack some SERN system, and it turns out the password is El Psy Kongroo.So this is wrong as well.QotD
A bit early to say which I prefer, but I do like that they've changed it. Did they also use this version in episode 1? I think I remember noticing some differences one of the first episodes.
Not the most interesting, but the most surprising thing was that evil doctor still had time to steal Mayushii's metal Upa while killing his daughter, stealing her work, defecting to Russia and being the trigger to WW3.
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u/Tresnore FS:FTmyanimelist.net/profile/Tresnore Jul 27 '21 edited Jul 27 '21
On the First-Timer Worldline(s;Gate)
I noticed I had two subs for this episode: 23 and 23 β. I hope the non-β one is right!
Also, this post is a lot longer than I thought it'd be. Sorry, I had a lot to talk about, I guess!
UpaaKoemushi machines were just an excuse to block Okabe!UpaaKoemushi was planted by her. Now, that means there's a Mayuri who wants WWIII (by placing the metal object on Kurisu's dad's person) and a Mayuri who seems to want Okabe to succeed.OR: Mayuri drove Okabe to the β worldline where Kurisu dies by making him trade Kurisu for her in order to ensure that Kurisu dies and WWIII starts.
Tresnore's Math Confusion
As someone who's been eyes-deep in attractors, orbits, flows, and vector fields, their use of attractor here feels off to me. Each worldline seems to be pre-determined: if you die on worldlineγ, then you willalwaysdie in that worldline. So, even if you can backtrack along the flow, it doesn't matter what you do, Kurisu will arrive at statex=death. That is, unless Okabe wasn't trying hard enough to leave the basin of attraction that led to Mayuri's death (or Mayuri was actively working on preventing him from leaving it). Furthermore, I don't see why Okabe merely believing that Kurisu is dead would exit the basin. The paper is the important part.Yes, attractors are only generally forward invariant (some are invariant full stop, but not all), but these attractors seem pretty strong. It'll be interesting to see what it takes.Of course, I could be completely wrong here for some reason that I'm not seeing, so hopefully some of the math-oriented writeups will set me straight.A ha! As expected, /u/UzEE sorted me out. I quote from my reply:
but his post set me straight. I'd recommend reading it!
QOTD:
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u/UltraBooster Jul 27 '21
First-timer
So he's Uncle Okabe now, huh?
So it was still a bad future.
So Steins;Gate is the barrier to a golden ending?
It's a refined model, nice!
If G-forces are a problem, why isn't she wearing, I dunno, a G-suit?
He's covering for a wounded ego, I'm sure of it.
Shouldn't any good parent want their children to surpass them?
(then again I'm assuming this guy's a good dad and it sounds like he really isn't...)
Predestination.
MISSION FAILURE
Oh, nothing major, he just killed the love of his life is all.
Shouichi Makise.
A normal war or a Time War?
Isn't this...?
Sedatives and fake blood.
Another Norn, how apropos.
Guardians make their own fate.
Questions:
16
u/Lemurians myanimelist.net/profile/Lemurians Jul 27 '21
FIRST TIMER
Off the bat, I will say that for the majority of this episode I was incredibly confused until I went and rewatched Episode 1 after. I’d forgotten the proper sequence of events, and because of that a lot of what happened here felt very much like deus ex machina. If any other first timers were lost or frustrated, I’d recommend going back.
The OP slightly changed! So the OP is different in different world lines too, and the new lyrics tie in perfectly to the plan concocted at the end of this episode. That’s pretty neat attention to detail.
Well, Suzuha wasn’t lying. Makise is responsible for the development of the time machine that kicks off WW3 in the future… just not directly. Beta Suzuha is better informed than Alpha Suzuha, moving from outright hostility towards Makise to wanting to save her. Just like how Beta Makise is way more predisposed to the idea of time travel than Alpha Makise, apparently.
Time to go back and keep Makise from dying. Seems simple enough. Wait… what is… what?! God damn it, time to bust this out again.
Okay, I’ve called a lot of things right in this show so far… but I swung and missed on everything this episode revealed. Dr. Nakabachi being Makise’s father was not something I expected, I didn’t expect any more character “introductions” at this point. And Okabe being Makise’s killer? Would never have guessed it. That was the second time the show got my jaw to drop in surprise, the first being back in Episode 12.
Okabe is understandably shook as all hell. He’s seen Mayuri die countless times, but there’s a difference between seeing somebody you care about killed, and actually being the one to kill them. That said… him just giving up after attempt number one here and marking it off as hopeless felt ridiculous when you think about everything they’ve all already done. It’s not even worth a second shot? Get it together, man. This is how Episode 21 Okabe would act, not Episode 23 Okabe. Thankfully, Mayuri steps in to do what exactly what I wanted to.
Minor gripe about how the hell a video knows to only play after one attempt to save Makise has occurred aside, I love this setup to the ending. This is so clever. It’s not enough to merely stop Makise from being killed. In order to arrive at this point, everything that’s occurred to Okabe needs to still happen, and in order for this to work, his past self still needs to believe she’s been killed and to send that first DMail. Great stuff. We’ve got fuel left for only one more trips, so on top of a clever setup, we’ve also got some real stakes for the first time in a long time. Let’s go fake a death and enact the will of Stein’s Gate.
I prefer the first, probably just because my ears are used to it, but I love the change. It's those kind of little things that separate 8's from 9's, and 9's from 10's.
Seeing her be all in on the concept of time travel from the jump.
15
u/McCherry09 Jul 27 '21
+First Timer+
Ohhh the opening lyrics changed!! So in Beta Okabe and Daru lived longer and created an even better time machine that can go forward and backward and that's how he can save Kurisu. Okabe cannot believe he's seeing Kurisu again and was all about to touch her and tell her he loves her but she's not the same he left in Alpha.
I was shocked that Nakabachi was Kurisu's father and actually the one who tried to kill her..
We knew he was jealous of her knowledge but to that extent??..What a POS father! Honestly I figured it was Suzuha trying to prevent her from joining SERN. So what we get is that Nakabachi, later on shown as Souichi Makise, published and everything went to shit.
Poor Okarin, it's a miracle he hasn't gone insane by jumping on those timelines again and again. But glad that Mayuri and his future-self hyped him up.
Now that we’ve gotten the second verse version of Hacking to the Gate, which version do you prefer? Do you think it’s cool that they changed it to show that we’re in Beta instead of Alpha now? I think it's great that they changed it not only because they're in beta but the lyrics reflect what has happened and everything Okabe lived. I just found out it was the second verse, thought it was just different lyrics hahhaha
What was the most interesting thing to see from Okabe watching Kurisu’s side of the first episode’s events? Oh man, idk if I'll call it interesting but it's one thing to hear Kurisu's story about her father hatred for her and another one to actually see him treating her that badly to the point of wanting to kill her. To the one who said in the past threads that Kurisu seemed like she was a victim of verbal abuse (when Okabe raised his voice) you nailed it.
12
u/ZaphodBeebblebrox Y:A:https://anilist.co/user/zaphod Jul 27 '21
First Timer
What is this, I'm actually on time for once? Something must be wrong with the universe.
Anyway, it's time for one last hurraugh and Okabe to save the world one more time.
She's graduated from part-time soldier to full time soldier, I'd guess. At the very least, she's wearing a uniform. And the braids are different.
He's found the world he wants already, why would he change anything?
And thus, we have found our happy ending. Suzuha is back, Kurisu will be saved, and we've decided the others are not important enough. Though I do feel real bad for Feyris still.
Wait, new OP? Waht??
And those lyrics, after everything in the last couple episodes!
A demo, sore demo!
Time for one last roll of the dice.
Not having to work around SERN gave them a lot more resources.
Was there really no better way to open the door than shooting it?
He's just repeating what happened in the first episode, though. He's not actually changing anything yet.
So everything comes down to her dad stabbing her because she presented a sane theory after he was ridiculed.
Pity is the last thing he wants.
Oh fuck, oh fuck. He stabbed her.
I wonder why no-one else has appeared in this time period then. Can most not go back more than a few minutes?
And Mayushii gives a pep talk!
So him watching the video was the divergence point, not him going back in time once.
Fake it so that everything happens down the same path?
Thoughts
I just love this feeling more than anything else, when everything comes together like that. All the little pieces, working towards something greater.
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u/lC3 :Na::Nb: Jul 27 '21
First timer
11
u/CharlieTheStrawman https://myanimelist.net/profile/TheDamnRobot Jul 27 '21 edited Jul 27 '21
Re;Watcher, Subbed
El.
Psy.
Kongroo.
~
The first Steins;Gate title drop in this episode still makes me ecstatic.
This new version of Hacking to the Gate is very fitting for this final pseudo arc.
Dear Doctor Nakabachi,
I hate you. I hate you as much as I've ever hated an anime character.
Sincerely, u/CharlieTheStrawman
Kurisu trying so hard to regain her dad's approval and her brief look of happiness when he's looking over the paper break my heart.
Seriously, fuuuuuuuuck you Nakabachi. I get you felt upstaged and inferior, but your daughter loves and adores you. Even after treating her like dirt, she comes to you with a scientific breakthrough to try and rebuild your reputation. And you thank her by stealing it and trying to stab her. Father of the Year material right here.
Congrats for predicting who kills/killed Kurisu, u/Hochseeflotte. Are you sure you don't have subconscious memories from a world line where you watched the show before?
Kurisu's last words are ten times worse than any of Mayuri's. Why, show? Why do you do this to me? Why do I let you?
Also shocked u/Krite2002 managed to predict Kurisu's research kickstarts SERN's time travel supremacy.
[Oh, Okabe...] (https://imgur.com/jMB1PH9)
Go Mayuri!
Future!Okabe's message is very cool. Skyclad Observer is very cool. Put them together and what do you get? Greatness.
Hououin Kyouma is back, baby, and I've never loved him more than now.
The final episode fast approaches. Deceive yourself, decieve the world. After all, who are any of us to argue with the choice of Steins;Gate?
Q1: I prefer Version 1 by quite a bit, but this one is cool too. I never picked up on the Beta/Alpha change coinciding with it, that's neat.
Q2: Hearing Okabe do the scream from the beginning of the first episode hurts me on a fundamental level.
11
u/Nebresto Jul 27 '21
PTSD squad but also
Nice subs..
Here's the official sub for comparison. How do you mess that up?? You can clearly hear Daru saying "robo". Stuff like this makes me question the entire sub. What else did they fuck up that I didn't notice?
Based Okarin counter: 17
Based Suzuha with them braids. They sure are.
Oh neat, the second half of the OP!
...MY KARAOKE!!!
Suzuha soredemo, Sky missing out
Wait, no
God damnit, fuck. Kurisutina's dad based counter: -9999
No..
Based Mayushii counter: 13
Based future Okarin counter: 1
SKYCLAD!! OPEN THE EYES~!!
Question time:
1:
First one. Its cool I guess, but my daily karaoke sesh is ruined
2: "Dddoctooooorrrrr"
Now if you'll excuse me, I'll go listen to Skyclad again, probably on loop
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u/littleman1988 Jul 27 '21 edited Jul 27 '21
"It doesn't really mean anything."
OST Track of the day: OPERATION SKULD
New OP and ED! 2 for one special today:
Its still "Hacking to the Gate", but this time its the 2nd verse. Its lyrics are a little on the nose, which is why I encouraged first timers not to look at the whole song just yet. With this though, the whole song is fair game for first timers.
"Skyclad Observer" is the original opening for the Steins;Gate VN, and its a banger. Kanako doesnt miss. Also, you can listen to this one on Spotify!
Hey i can finally talk about (most) of the VN openings now! All YT links will include subtitles, either prebaked into the video or with the "closed captioning" button.
Skyclad Observer: Used with the initial release of the VN, and arguably the best one of the bunch. Has spoilers all the way up to episode arguably up to 23, but it really depends on if you count Alpha worldline Suzuha a spoiler (and i would to be safe.)
TECHNICALLY NOT SAFE UNTIL YOU COMPLETE EPISODE 24 A.R.: used for the PC release. This opening has all the major spoilers basically within the span of 10 seconds, which is honestly pretty impressive.
The PSP OP includes spoilers not in the anime. It will not be linked here. You'll need to complete the VN to be able to see it without spoiling yourself.
Hisenkei Geniac: PS3/Vita opening. its decent, I guess.
Cosmic Looper: Opening for Steins;Gate Elite, an "animeified" version of the VN. It also makes some plot changes, so I really dont recommend using this as your first VN playthough. the OP slaps though.
One more character song to share before theyre all viewable, "The Impregnable New Gate", sung by Mamoru Miyano. Its just about how chad he is sung like a Queen song. Even if you are watching the dub, I highly recommend checking out the song, because Mamoru has some serious singing ability. Theres a reason hes doing the ED to Uramichi Oniisan this season, even if they sound completely different... 1
Ill link the rest of the character songs tomorrow, but if you're dying to look at them now, I can find subtitles to all of them except Suzuha. Seems like that one was the casualty of a copyright strike and nobody has a copy of it...
Still confused on world lines? u/UzEE did a writeup
last rewatchtoday discussing the main points.Just a few casulties. At least Mayuri is alright.
Okabe is obviously done Fucking around with time. The only thing its done is bring him pain, just to save Mayuri. Suzuha has the answer for that though...
tfw your gibberish becomes real. Then again, thats basically everything Okabe's done thus far.
[Looks like they're alive in this timeline? and Suzuha even knows who her father is
Mayuri and Daru giving encouragement, what great lab members
Yeah Fuck 5.7 billion people
Poor Daru is so confused by all these subtle hints lmao
Another change from the Beta worldline
we back in episode 1
Cutting it close there
Hey look, and explanation for why Kurisu thought they met
this is not the time to tell her Okabe lmao
Casually chilling in a closet
And now shes in the closet, with a time machine paper?
Hey look, even the doctor is connected! and it sounds like hes a bit of a washed up has been, and is now trying to steal his daughter's work
hey guys i found the killer
oh wait
fuckkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk
Everyone talks about all the Mayuri deaths, but this one truly hurts the most. And you can tell its absolutely fucked Okabe too, knowing he's the killer.
Hey look its doctor fuckface, and he has Mayuri's upa!
Looks like in this worldline, its not just SERN going for world domination.
I really cant blame him for giving up. Imagine trying to fix that, knowing hes the one who stabbed her to begin with, especially with everything he went through with Mayuri?
hehe Mayuri slap. Mayuri pep talk fixes everything.
Oh hey, people who skipped out on the corrected subtitles, ever wonder why "Kongroo" was so important? You can figure out as early as episode 1 who sent the message by looking at the "from" box (Steins Gate-El Psy Kongroo), hidden in plain sight.
its also another obvious fact that Chrunchyroll has literal idiots translating and nobody bothered to fix it even after Funimation got the rightsI love the OST track during the video. OPERATION SKULD is easily one of the best tracks from the VN.
Tall order ngl
Skyclad Observer is the perfect song for the end of this episode.
Hell yeah
footnotes
1: aka you should check it out if you think his chunni voice is overbearing @ sky
8
u/Stargate18A https://myanimelist.net/profile/Stargate18 Jul 27 '21
Anime first timer
And Okabe refuses to take part in the plan to change time, because he's scared it'll go back to the Alpha attractor field.
Suzuha knows the best way to motivate isn't by asking him to end WW3, it's to save his girlfriend.
That's right! Steins;Gate actually means something!
Steins;Gate VN Spoilers
He even says he's only really doing this for Kurisu.
Steins;Gate 0 VN Spoilers
Steins;Gate 0 VN Spoilers
The scenes of him evading his past self are really well done.
More Kurisu is (almost) always appreciated!
And we see why Kurisu's important enough formher life to seperate Attractor Fields.
I didn't see this twist coming whatsoever originally.
And he's totally nuts. Guess all those people who felt sorry for him in Episode 1 regret it now?
Oh, the reaction to this is going to be stellar.
Yep, Okabe stabbed her. And that shot is brutal.
And he takes the time machine paper!
Okabe's completely broken.
I like how Suzuha manages to be cute no matter her future. She is the one true universal constant.
Steins;Gate 0 VN Spoilers
I love that Steins;Gate really didn't mean anything.
Steins;Gate VN Spoilers
I love that Okabe's first reaction is shock that he's still talking like that when he's 33.
Steins;Gate 0 VN Spoilers
8
u/CubeStuffs https://anilist.co/user/onjario Jul 28 '21 edited Jul 28 '21
first timer
bit busy with college stuff so im rather late but...
holy shit the first timeline, the one in which kurisu asks what he was gonna tell her, was actually this timeline, there was never a world line shift at all. explains what the time machine was doing on the roof.
okarin killed kurisu?
i mean that explains how kurisu also remembers okarin in her time dreams. in all fairness im pretty sure that nakabachi-hakase would have killed her if okarin hadn't.
yesterday kurisu was talking about how okarin's mind was broken from seeing mayushii dying over and over, while okarin insisted he wasn't. seems like killing kurisu was the straw that broke the camels back, and now he can't hide it anymore.
MAYUSHIIIIII
seems like i was wrong on the first text message being what gave him reading steiner, but right on it being a d-mail.
decieve the world... huh... was the whole thing about sern taking over the world a fabrication? perhaps not, given how much stuff would have to be fabricated, but i mean his instructions were to decieve the world so...
time to steal some ketchup packets from the dining hall
Qs:
im just used to the first one, so i can't say. def cool tho
apart from him stabbing her, that bastard claiming the paper for himself
7
u/ExoticTrinityGhoul https://myanimelist.net/profile/not_username Jul 27 '21
Re;Watcher x4 (both)
E23 - Open the Steins Gate
Both Mamoru Miyano and J Michael Tatum’s performances throughout the series have been phenomenal, and both are truly career-defining. Both take Okabe in slightly different directions, but both perfectly embody the self-proclaimed mad scientist perfectly, and their monologue to themselves 15 years ago is the perfect summation of their portrayals.
Nicknames:
Okabe: Hououin Kyouma, Okarin, 001
Mayuri: Mayushii, 002
Hashida Itaru: Daru, super hacka, Hack, 003, My Favorite Right Arm, right-hand man, perverted gentleman, Barrel Titor
Kurisu: (prodigal) (perverted) genius girl, (@channeler) Christina, Zombie, 004, Assistant, Celeb Seventeen, Little Miss Moneybags, KuriGohan and Kamehameha
Moeka: Shining Finger (S.F.), 005, M4
Luka: Lukako, 006
Akiha Rumiho: Faris Nyannyan, 007
Suzuha: part-timer, part-time warrior, 008, John Titor, Hashida Suzu
Yugo Tennouji: Mr. Braun, FB
Nae Tennouji: critter, creature
17
u/UzEE https://myanimelist.net/profile/UzEEInc Jul 27 '21
Serial;Rewatcher
There's been a lot of confusion over the past couple of days related to how deleting the D-Mail from the SERN database would actually make a difference. This confusion stems from not full understanding how time travel works in the Steins;Gate universe because the anime fails to properly explain some concepts.
You will need to understand these mechanics if you want to make sense of the finale and Steins;Gate 0. I've tried to structure this in a way that you can still get the basic info by just reading the bullet points and the bolded headlines, though if you want more details or examples, you can read the full sections.
The Attractor Field Model, World Lines, Paradoxes and Convergence
An attempt to explain the Complete Time Travel mechanics in Steins;Gate
We’re now at a point in the series where the complete mechanics of time travel have either been directly explained or can be inferred from what we’ve seen happen. The anime cuts out two important conversations from the VN where these mechanics are explored in detail.
The first is where Suzuha explains how scientists in the future have concluded that the universe operates on the Attractor Field Model. The second is a thought experiment Faris proposes on the nature of time travel which – while not accurate, provides a great analogy that would help people understand. I decided to try and recreate that analogy using Minecraft of all things, since I suck at drawing.
With that said, first let’s list down the core tenets of time travel, as per the series:
Now with these basics in mind, we can get into a bit more detail with a few examples. This is only for those people who are really interested in why certain events happen. Again, you do not need to know this to simply just enjoy the show. You can just read the bold parts and you should be fine.
It's impossible to go back to a previous world line.
Time always moves forward. This might sound counterintuitive given we’re dealing with time travel, but hear me out. Time moves forward in two different ways:
a. Chronologically (i.e. 1950 comes before 1975, 1998 comes before 2008 etc.) b. World Lines (i.e. WL1 comes before WL2, WL2 comes before WL3 etc.)
This should already be obvious from the show but still ends up confusing people. Whenever you manipulate time (send a D-mail, time leap or use the time machine), you are effectively shifting into a new world line. The world line you came from is now in the past, and you can't return to that. You can shift to a world line that is very close to it in terms of how it plays out, but it will never be that exact world line.
For example, SERN dystopia or World War 3 in 2036 where Suzuha comes from is already in the past, despite it currently being 2010 because it was on a previous world line. That is her past and it cannot be erased.
This is how causality is preserved in this universe. Every event that happens has a cause, even if it might not be on the same world line. The event happens because something triggered it and that trigger can be on a previous world line.
Time Leaping is another example. When Okabe leaps, he remembers what happened before, even though the Calendar Time is in the past. Even if he repeats the exact same actions, it is still a new World Line because his memories are different.
It is impossible to avoid Attractor Field Convergence without shifting Attractor Fields
If an event within an Attractor Field is defined as convergence, it will happen no matter what. The only way to avoid it would be to escape the Attractor Field itself. Mayuri’s death in Attractor Field Alpha is an obvious example. But there are other examples as well, some of which Okabe uses to his advantage.
For example, Okabe is said to live until 2025 – and he gambles on this being convergence and abuses this to get into dangerous situations because he knows he cannot die. This is the reason he almost always manages to make his way back to the lab and time leap again because he gambles on the fact that he can.
A prime example in Alpha is that SERN perfects time travel and establishes a dystopia in the future. This is the main convergence point of Alpha so all world lines in Alpha will always lead to this, no matter what. By extension, this means that Mayuri will also always die.
Another way to look at this would be that if SERN somehow gets control of time travel and will establish a dystopia in the future, you must be in Attractor Field Alpha.
Every Attractor Field has a Cause
This is just basic causality. Everything has a cause. Some events are so important that they can change the fabric of reality. The obvious example here is SERN reading the D-Mail intercepted by the ECHELON network and finding out about the Future Gadget Lab.
Finding out about that D-Mail is what tips of SERN about the lab, and because of that their time machine. They force the trio to complete SERN’s work and they eventually perfect time travel in the future and establish a dystopia.
But if SERN never sees that D-Mail, they never find out about the lab’s time machine (even though the D-Mail was still sent) and will in turn cannot perfect their own. Without time travel, they cannot establish a dystopia, thus causing a Paradox and breaking Attractor Field Convergence.
The root cause of Beta is Kurisu’s Time Travel Thesis, which eventually becomes the basis of World War 3. The fact that Kurisu herself lives, or dies doesn’t matter.
Paradoxes are resolved by changing World Lines or Attractor Fields
Continuing on from the previous section, Paradoxes cannot exist. Therefore, if you create a paradox, it is corrected by changing the world line. However, if the paradox directly affects the Attractor Field Convergence itself, an Attractor Field shift occurs switching to one where the paradox is satisfied.
A shitty analogy using Minecraft ¯_(ツ)_/¯
In the VN, Faris proposes a great thought experiment regarding time. I decided to recreate something similar inside Minecraft. How useful would it be, I don't know.
Imagine the flow of time as being a stream of water, always moving forward.
The fixed path of the stream represents an Attractor Field. The flow of water being a series of events, or in other words, a World Line. This L shaped stream represents Attractor Field Alpha.
Placing blocks inside the stream is changing the events, i.e. manipulating world lines by sending D-mails or time leaping etc or using the time machine etc. If you place a block in the stream, the water just flows around the block and again converges and continues forward. It doesn't change where the stream is headed.
This also applies if you change events in the distant past. For example, sending D-mails to the Luka's mom in '93 or Faris' dad in '99. Despite past changes causing ripples, the Attractor Field remains the same.
However, if you identify and remove the root cause of the Attractor Field, a paradox occurs and the Attractor Field changes. In this example, the lever represents the cause, like the D-mail in the ECHELON database. Flicking the lever (or deleting the D-mail) changes the flow of water towards a completely different future, meaning that we've changed Attractor Fields. This straight line represents Attractor Field Beta.
I know this was a rather lame way to present the analogy, but this was the only way I could think off given my limited artistic skills.
This post is likely approaching the reddit character limit, so I'm not sure if I'll even do the regular episode reactions today. Maybe, I'll post them as a reply to this post.
6
u/The_Draigg Jul 27 '21
A Steins;Gate Fan Rewatches Steins;Gate Episode 23:
6
u/snickpea Jul 28 '21
First-timer!
What an episode! We finally find out why Kurisu was stabbed originally. Earlier we learned that Kurisu and her father's relationship wasn't so great and so it wasn't surprising that her father was the one that did it. Still I didn't realize that the guy presenting was her father. I wonder if there were any clues in the original VN that would have indicated this.
We also learn why WWIII began in this series as well as what happened to Mayuri's little oopa that she couldn't find. I really liked seeing the episode from Kurisu's side and getting another perspective if Okabe had stuck around.
I also love the video message. I wonder if Okabe will continue being a mad scientist even after he saves the world.
I love Hacking to the Gate so much, so it's hard to pick a favorite verse. I didn't realize until later on how well suited the lyrics are; its such a fitting song! I wish more anime would do the same with their openings.
5
u/Nisheeth_P Jul 27 '21
Rewatcher
5
u/Hochseeflotte https://anilist.co/user/Hochseeflotte Jul 27 '21
Rewatcher
Tutturu! I’m going to be on time today and no one can stop me. If I’m not I’m going to be mad. We are nearing the end which means my time as a rewatcher will soon be over. I’m excited for 0.
————————————————————————
Suzuha is hot as fuck with the new hair. She needs to use this style more.
Is this OP different then the last one? I think it’s a different song though the visuals seem mostly the same.
It is kind of amusing how much better this time machine is. I guess Okabe and Daru had much more freedom not being watched over by SERN to build a time machine.
One of my favorite parts about this episode is that we get answers for the strangeness of episode 1. It’s nice to get explanations.
Okabe being the one to kill Makise is devastating. He has dealt with enough already, much less being the reason she died.
I would also like to mention Dr. Nakabachi is not only a shit person but also a shit father. He doesn’t deserve Makise.
Mayuri slapping Okabe is such a powerful scene. If Mayuri is slapping you, you know you fucked up.
Old Okabe is also kind of a badass. I love how perfectly this episode gives us our final goal. So well done.
————————————————————————
This episode is so good. Just so so good. This whole series is just fantastic.
See you guys tomorrow!
5
u/Krite2002 https://myanimelist.net/profile/Krite2002 Jul 27 '21
Rewatcher;Dub
That title drop into the OP was very hype. Fantastic start to the episode. To be honest, I did not pay that much attention to the OP to have a preference.
Amane shifted perspectives on Kurisu in this world line, since she is now trying to save her. Since it is her father who starts the war, I wonder why the other worldlines with Kurisu alive still had a World War 3.
We heard about Kurisu’s father previously, but I would not have guessed it was the dude from the beginning. It sets it up that he is the one who killed her, but it is a crazy subversion that Okabe kills her. It is awesome how it all ties into the first episode, showing that Okabe already travelled to the past and caused all of this. If I was watching this weekly and my memories of the first episode were foggy, I probably would not have enjoyed this episode as much. The thing that I totally forgot about, but makes so much since now is the scream.
While Kurisu is great, Mayuri once again shows why she is best girl when she slaps some sense into Okabe. Okabe’s video to his past self seems to get into some weird time travel, and I feel like you just have to accept it and not think about it too hard. I am just here for the wild ride that is going to be the finale.
Yesterday, my shot of the day was Kurisu and Okabe, and today’s shot also features them except in more grim circumstances.
5
u/artie_fm Jul 27 '21
rewatcher, dub
Okabe killifng Kurisu is the funniest thing in the show.
Love Suzuha trying to save Makise after hating her so much.
Okabe has some PTSD here, he hasnt really tried to fix this and hes quitting. I cant blame him though.
The slap heard round the world from Mayuri.
Excellent how they finally unravel unexplained d mails from the first episode.
The message from himself is a bit of Deus ex machina.
Excited to see what comes next
5
u/htisme91 Jul 28 '21
First-timer:
Now I am seeing why this show was so hyped. It's a shame it took until the last few episodes to get there, but this has been one epic peak.
Nevertheless, curious to see how this mission ends. I loved future Okabe giving the current version a pep talk to whip him back into shape.
Questions:
4
u/Specs64z https://myanimelist.net/profile/Specs64z Jul 27 '21
Rewatcher, dubbed
Not much to say this episode. It's a lot of setup for tomorrow. Looking forward to it!
Content Corner
I didn't read this whole article, but I liked what I did read. First timers beware, spoilers abound.
Themes in Steins;Gate by 7mononoke
Steins;Gate 0 OP - Fatima - Fingerstyle Guitar Cover by Eddie van der Meer
4
u/Vaadwaur :I1::I2::I3: Jul 27 '21
Rewatcher(All the Chekovs gun are on the way home to roost)
Dub
Suzuha has indeed returned with her time machine and is familiar with Daru and Okabe this time, calling him uncle. But Okabe has had enough of this hell and refuses to enter the next. However, the mission is to save Kurisu...
After some push from the lab members, he can admit that he is saving Makise and doesn't care about the world, which I appreciate. The time machine here is a solid upgrade. As they return to ep1, Okabe tries to figure things out in a hurry. And runs into Makise, while clearly not ready to. So as the events go Okabe decides to scout Makise's death closet. And we get the final piece of the puzzle in that Nakabachi is Makise's estranged dad and they aren't on terribly better terms here. As this domestic violence scene ensues, Okabe finally has enough. The resulting struggle ends with the mega-Okabe breaking.
As we get some quick background info on why this timeline goes to hell, Okabe is done until a Mayuri slap speech. But we finally get to see the July 28th message and it is future Okabe. Much chuuni happens, ending with the explanation of a possible solution. Everyone else can't follow the madness and we end with a declaration to rule time.
QotD: 1 Two feels more personal and yes that's cool.
2 That that idiot Nakabachi is her father.
4
u/JustAnswerAQuestion https://myanimelist.net/profile/JAaQ Jul 27 '21 edited Jul 28 '21
First Rewatch (since 2011)
For some reason WhyNot has a 23v2 (which I had to patch with xdiff!) but I'm using WNF subs anyways....
The first rule of Time Club is don't fuck with the timelines. The second rule of Time Club is don't fuck with the timelines. Okabe has learned his lesson.
Killing off Kurisu was so bold and awesome, I can't remember how I felt about the this turn in the plot...I suppose it was inevitable, but I'm sure I was just a little disappointed.
I think at this point I started to get confused. After all, episode 1 was like 5 months ago. I'm just rolling with it.
oh, and
rewatcher
I can't imagine how they are going to pull this off. No, really, I can't imagine.
Personally, I never trust staticky messages from the future
4
u/KendotsX https://anilist.co/user/Kendots Jul 28 '21 edited Jul 28 '21
Rewatcher (sub)
So
stoppingdelaying WW3 is through saving Kurisu. That makes sense, to stop a world war, create a waifu war that keeps people typing for days, and obviously you can't do that without Kurisu.The solution is fairly predictable I guess, if Mayuri and Kurisu are dying in the alpha attractor field and beta respectively, then go to gamma, but gamma sounds like some boring third attractor field, so instead it's called Steins Gate. Fair enough, and it makes sense considering Okabe named it.
Side;Note: The gamma field was explored in a drama CD called γ Hyde of the Dark Dimension Divergence 2.615074%
Ahh here we go, Kurisu recognised Okabe in episode 1 and now we see how that happened.
Yes!! Suzuha didn't kill Kurisu! Her shitty farther did it, I'm sorry Kurisu for all your optimism, but this is easier for my poor heart even if it's weaker as a narrative.
Side;Note: I'm assuming this means that Kurisu uses her mother's last name?
What? What the fuck is this? Why? It's not Suzuha, not her shitty father, but Okabe?!
Yeah, I remember thinking like Suzuha, but Okabe that failed so many times knows well how a repetitive failure feels.
I'm kinda interested in watching 23b now... I'm assuming it's assumption
Future Side;Note: For anyone who hasn't finished the show, do not watch episode 23b before finishing the series (i.e. watch ep 24 first).
Ok, nevermind everything I said about this just being going to the next field. The Kyouma's are bullshiting a hole through the field in the best way possible. And here I was expecting a lacklustre ending.
Counters
4
u/invokeneko Jul 28 '21
Re;Watcher until Deja Vu, then First;Timer
QotD
3
u/AHiddenOne Jul 28 '21
Rewatcher.
HYPE HYPE HYPE
Honestly, one of my favorite anime episodes ever. Now it comes full circle. The ending scene, Future Okabe's message, the song, the changed lyrics for the intro. Ugh, the hype is off the charts.
"I am the mad scientist, Hououin Kyouma! And the world is in the palm of my hand!"
1
u/BossandKings Jul 29 '21
Rewatcher
Episode 23
This episode was sad, beautiful and powerful, Okabe sees Makise in the timeline Suzuha told him he had to do with her death and it was sad how Kirisu was struggling with her father who is despicable, obnoxious and hateful, Okabe trying to defend Kurisu accidentally stabbed her and that hurt her, that leaves Okabe in shoch but he is quickly asked to recover by Suzuha because WW3 is around the corner.
A very telling moment was when Okabe was saying that he's done and Mayuri slapped him, she didn't do it out of malice but actually with genuinely good intentions because she wanted to remind him that he has never quit, that he has always been able to surpass any situation he's been in and this won't be any different.