That episode felt very rushed. I wasn't really surprised by any of the revelations, but the narrative felt a little off, I guess. But, if it's for the sake of doing as much justice as possible to the conclusion, then, I'll bear with it.
The solution is simple, but I for one can't quite wrap my head around how that's not going to cause some huge, universe-fucking paradox. That's the point, yes, but when I start thinking about the mechanics, I... Well, I guess I shouldn't. I wonder how he's going to pull that one off, short of using lots and lots of ketchup.
But man, life really has been enjoying kicking Rintaro around lately. First he has to watch his childhood friend violently die over and over again both despite and because of his efforts to save, then has to sacrifice others' happiness for his own pretty much, then learns he has to sacrifice the person he's come to love, and now learns that he was the one who killed her in the first place. I mean, damn, that royally sucks.
Rintaro's reaction to learning that he still talks like he does now when in his thirties was good.
edited 6th Sep '11 2:02:00 PM by ComicX6
My Megaman and MegaTen RPG LiveblogsThe single biggest clue to exactly how he's going to pull this off, methinks, is that Metal Oopa. Unless I'm forgetting something from the first episode, every other loose end in the current timeline has been accounted for.
But yeah, great episode. And the fact that we've seen him fail over and over again, combined with the fact that he only has one shot at making this work, keeps the tension up.
Dat GAR Okabe
Dat Hacking to the Gate second verse
Dat phone video
Dat El Psy Congroo
Dat C204
Dat Sky Clad Observer
Dat best episode of the series.
edited 6th Sep '11 9:01:18 PM by Augustine
Read all of my fanfics!The last episode was everything I expected. Awesome. And now we have a movie to look forward to. No clue what its going to be about though.
Read all of my fanfics!The last episode finished off nicely, though it did have bits that it felt like it skimmed over. (It was tidier than Chaos;Head's end at least.)
One thing bothers me though... So Suzuha "vanishes"... how? Where? What? Did Okabe just appear where the time machine was without the time machine? Because if the perfect timeline is one without the time machine appearing on the roof, it explains her vanishing - because she doesn't need to time travel - but it doesn't explain how Okabe got back.
What I wanna know is what happened to the other Okabe? The one who actually found the faked death scene. It was kind of implied that he'd go on to have all these time traveling adventures, but I'm pretty sure the whole point of them doing this is so he wouldn't, which is backed up by Suzuha disappearing Back To The Future style. Given that he would go on to live his life somewhat normally, wouldn't that make there two Okabes walking around in the future? Or would the future one disappear? My first thought was that the future one would die from the stab wound in the past, which would actually make a whole lot of sense and seem very clever to me, but since he didn't and was apparently hospitalized in the future, the whole thing makes very little sense.
Quite an unsatisfying conclusion for a time travel story, if you ask me.
edited 13th Sep '11 3:40:42 PM by Clarste
I think what happened was he did indeed play out the whole series, to eventually become the Okabe that fixes the timeline - he tricks himself. Remember that the plan was to make sure the apparent past was not changed. When Okabe got back, however that happened, he was hospitalised.
Time travel via D-mail in Steins;Gate is easier to think as mental time travel between the bodies in each timeline. It creates a "personal timeline" situation. ... though that does raise the question how the "D-movie" from Okabe's future self exists. Unless that was recorded in the perfect timeline. Because otherwise it implies that there are non-Reading Steiner Okabes that get replaced by the Okabe we've been following.
Actually I take that back, I forgot something I realised: There aren't really parallel timelines in Steins;Gate: when history is altered, the world's own timeline changes, which is why John Titor describes it as people's memories being altered, instead of Okabe jumping into a new timeline. His Reading Steiner is resistance to this. ... but this actually raises more questions when I think about it, when talking about actions Okabe takes in the bad futures, because if there is only one timeline at a time, the perfect future should have always existed? NHHHHHHHH I think I'll stick with the idea of a Reading Steiner Okabe possessing other Okabe in each timeline. Sadly this basically makes Okabe a bit selfish because he'd do anything to be "that Okabe" to live in the happiest timeline.
edited 13th Sep '11 4:34:43 PM by Jaabi
The VN tells us who Suzuha's mother is. She is a random cosplay girl.
I'm not even joking.
Read all of my fanfics!Welp, so much for my pet theory that Reading Steiner is caused by having timeline shifts focus around you, and Okabe's perfect memory of the timelines is the result of Homura-ish levels of repeats.
This was pretty disappointing. The only thing that was slightly non obvious was Okabe getting stabbed. Still, you'd think he'd make sure the Cyalume Saber still worked, or try to use the ink from the red pen in his pocket.
I think this episode was more the conclusion and less the climax. It was honestly heartwarming, but supposedly the VN does it better. I'll have to wait for the fan translation.
Read all of my fanfics!I haven't watched this anime in ages. Is it worth picking up again?
I've got new mythological machinery, and very handsome supernatural scenery. Goodfae: a mafia web serialSo finish it, yay or nay?
I've got new mythological machinery, and very handsome supernatural scenery. Goodfae: a mafia web serialI always finish what I start. Unless its total crap, which Steins; Gate isn't.
Read all of my fanfics!

Was it Reading Steiner? That guy is a bro.
Read all of my fanfics!