English Dub Review: Steins;Gate 0 “Missing Link of the Annihilator-Absolute Zero-“

Steins;Gate is back with its new alternate-timeline sequel. Viewer beware, things are going to get a bit dark.

Overview (Spoilers Below)

Seven years after the release of the original series, Steins;Gate 0 begins a new story in the Steins;Gate world with an interesting premise: What if Okabe Rintarou, AKA “Okarin”, failed to save genius and future inventor of the time machine, Makise Kurisu, from her death. Several years after the events of Steins;Gate, Okarin has become a broken soul; a shadow of the man he once was, struggling to cope with his past trauma and live life as a normal college student, waiting for the inevitable beginning of World War Three. A war which results in none other than the collapse of civilization into a calamitous dystopia.

We begin with Okarin finishing a hypnotherapy session, recommended to him by his best friend, Mayuri, who he runs into after his session is over. His demeanor is that of a tortured man struggling to keep his sense of well-being, trying his hardest to live life as a “normal” person. It’s a far cry from the eccentric self-proclaimed mad scientist that he used to be. Mayuri invites him to come hang out with Ruka and Faris, a couple more friends of his who he hasn’t seen in some time. They get to discussing what’s been going on in life, and Okarin tells them, much to their surprise, that he’s living a pretty normal college life. Of course, they can hardly believe him, but Okarin insists on his normality. One thing leads to another, and the group suggests that they go visit the lab, just like old times. Okabe is terrified at the prospect, but in the spirit of friendship, he agrees to come along.

At the lab, resident hackerman Itaru and his daughter-from-the-future Suzuha are present, with Itaru procrastinating his work on building a time machine. Suzuha tries to press the importance of him making the time machine so she can try and fix the timeline and save the future, but Itaru’s gonna be Itaru, as they say. Just as Suzuha gets caught up talking about the past, the telltale sound of boots on stairs announces the arrival of Suzuha’s past-mom and Itaru’s future-wife, a lovely young lady by the name of Yuki. Fearing the possibility of a paradox, Suzuha quickly hides in the bathroom to avoid being seen by her eventual mother.

After Yuki arrives, Okarin and the others come soon after, and Okarin soon stumbles on Suzuha hiding in the bathroom. The two go up to the roof to talk and share a heart to heart. We learn that Suzuha has been pretending to be Itaru’s little sister to avoid revealing to Yuki who she really is. Doing so would no doubt be quite problematic. Looking over the city from the rooftop, she begins to go on prophesying the doom that is soon to come to the innocent people of the world. Things take a turn for the depressing, and Suzuha insists to Okarin that he is the only one who can save the future of this timeline. Okarin can’t handle the thought, however. He tries to impart to her the pain he’s felt watching his friends die while trying to save the timeline, and renounces the concept of time travel altogether. The man was never meant to meddle with such powerful and terrifying forces. Suzuha has no taste for Okarin’s self-pity, though, and storms off downstairs.

Later, as Okarin and Mayuri head home, Mayuri expresses how happy she was to see everyone gathered together at the lab. She’s felt lonely there lately like things aren’t how they used to be. The ghosts of the past seem to resonate into the present, and Okarin sees flashes of their past time together, trying to save the future. As the two ride the train together, Okarin receives a text message to go drinking with some professors doing a conference at a university tomorrow. Smiling, Mayuri tells him to go have a good time, and Okarin soon departs.

After going out with his academic peers, Okarin walks home, looking at the flyer for the conference tomorrow, realizing that the conference is being held at the university Makise Kurisu went to. Suddenly, Okarin is gripped by the flash of a horrible nightmare of Makise dying at his feet. He nearly vomits at the thought, and we get a sense of just how much pain this poor man is in.

The next day, Okarin is staffing the front desk at the conference, when he meets a young lady as sassy as she is short, Maho Hiyajou. At first, she thinks she’s a kid lost in the wrong building but is quickly chastised for his mistake by the loud-mouthed 21-year-old. He admits his mistake, and the two depart on decent terms. As she leaves, though, Okarin sees the face of Moeka Kiryuu, which rattles him to his core.

The episode concludes on Okarin watching that day’s seminar of the conference, which is about developing new artificial intelligence. He’s surprised none other than Maho to arrive on stage as a translator for the professor leading the seminar. She explains that, by building on the work Makise Kurisu had done years ago before her tragic death, they have developed an incredible new AI, with thoughts and feelings identical to that of a human. They have dubbed this new AI, Amadeus, and no doubt, it’s about to throw Okarin’s life into a strange new chapter.

Our Take:

As a big fan of the original Steins;Gate, I was incredibly hyped to see Okarin and friends return for another go. The concept of this show is so well-suited for a sequel that I’m surprised it took this long to get made since the show came out quite some time ago. Nonetheless, I’m happy to say that this first episode doesn’t disappoint. There is a deep sadness to what has happened to poor Okarin, and it reflects strongly on his newfound demeanor and the melancholy life he now leads. Furthermore, seeing the faces of his eccentric band of comrades fills me with a sense of nostalgia that serves to drive the theming of this show home and immerse me back into this messed up world they occupy. This episode makes my heart heavy but leaves me feeling insatiably curious to see what happens next, and how Okarin will redeem himself, if at all.