Steins Gate: The Complete Series [DVD]

Taking place in Tokyo, Japan during the summer of 2010, Steins;Gate mainly follows the character Rintaro Okabe (J. Michael Tatum), a university student and self-proclaimed mad scientist. He is the founder and head of the Future Gadget Laboratory, a small organization based in an apartment dedicated to creating new technologies. Along with him are his long-time friend from childhood Mayuri Shiina (Ashly Burch) and expert computer hacker Itaru "Daru" Hashida (Tyson Rinehart). Rintaro is interested in the possibilities of time travel and attends a conference on the subject, but some strange events start side-tracking him until the whole world seems to change. However, only he can remember what the world was like before the change. Things become even more confusing for him when he encounters the young scientific genius Kurisu Makise (Trina Nishimura) whom he had previously seen dead before the world changed. Meanwhile, at the Future Gadget Laboratory, Rintaro and Daru's experiments on a microwave oven seem to have given it the ability to send text messages into the past. I first heard about Steins;Gate a few months ago through the original video game, originally released in 2009, that is available on Steam. I have always liked time travel as a mechanic in storytelling and the video game interested me. After playing through it, I was not disappointed and immediately fell in love with the interesting and complex storyline and the characters. It was inevitable that I would eventually check out the anime adaptation. The anime adaptation follows the game's story fairly closely, though there are necessarily some scenes that were eliminated and details left out for timing. Still, the core story, following the "true ending" in the video game, is followed faithfully. That is the main attraction of a series like this. It is difficult to really talk about the brilliance of the story without going into spoilers, but I will give some idea as to what this story is about. As mentioned earlier, time travel is one of the main themes of this series. Rintaro uses this technology to make alterations to the past and notices what kind of effects they have, though not everything goes according to plan. Throughout the story there is the question if what they are doing is ethically correct, so there is a sort-of philosophical element to the storytelling. I also really enjoyed the integration of real-life elements in the story, most notably by making the story of John Titor (an individual famous for making postings on the Internet in the early 2000s claiming to be a time traveler from the future) an essential part of the plot. While some aspects of the show may be bizarre to the Western viewer without a decent knowledge of Japanese pop culture or anime in general, it does not really detract from the story too much. The science fiction element and emotional responses of the characters are what really drives the story. That is another bright spot of this anime: the characters. The cast itself is rather minimalist with only around a dozen characters, but they are well-written and memorable. Almost all of the characters go through their own journeys and experiences that reveal more about them than first appears and this keeps the show interesting. To take a few examples there is the main character of Rintaro who starts off by acting obnoxious and immature, but as the events of the story go on and he is tested again and again as he experiences the consequences of his decisions you find yourself rooting for him to ultimately succeed. Mayuri comes off as an airhead in the beginning, but as you learn more about her background and her relationship with others you start appreciating her good heart and honesty. Moeka Kiryu (Jessica Cavanaugh) is introduced as a rather mysterious person and socially inept, but her presence in the story becomes a major turning point and, despite what she does, by the end you sympathize with her as well. These are just some examples I can talk about without spoilers. Make no mistake, by the time you finish watching this series each major character will leave their mark on you. When it comes to the animation itself, I am at a disadvantage since I am not that familiar with anything comparable. Aside from some Japanese anime films, this is the first anime television series I have watched since my days of watching things like Pokémon and Yu-Gi-Oh! when I was younger. Overall, however, I enjoyed it for what it is. This is primarily a character-driven story so there are no big action sequences. Still, as a means of telling its story, it comes off well. The music is generally okay, though I must say it felt inferior to the superlative music composed for the video game. This box set itself contains the complete series on both DVD and Blu-ray. This includes all of the original twenty-four episodes of the series plus a bonus OVA episode that acts as a postscript to the main story. There is the option to watch the dubbed version done by Funimation or the original Japanese voice work with subtitles. The original Japanese is a treat for those that have already played the video game as the main cast from the game reprises their roles for this anime. The dub is also pretty good, though with the usual adjustments for cultural differences. The Blu-ray version, which is the one I viewed, looks absolutely great with a nice, sharp image. I suppose the only disappointment here is the lack of bonus features. Aside from some trailers, the only bonuses to speak of are some audio commentaries on four random episodes done by the English voice actors and some other crew at Funimation. I usually like commentaries because of the insight offered into the creative process, but in this case it is overwhelmingly uninteresting as they just talk about voice acting and their own backgrounds. In conclusion, this is a fantastic series that is likely to be enjoyed by those that like science fiction stories involving time travel. Indeed, this is easily one of the best time travel stories it has ever been my pleasure to experience.

THE GOOD: The anime is among the best I've ever seen, with an interesting story, great characterization, and an a sense of humor that serves to compliment the seriousness of the show instead of undermining it. I received this series yesterday, and I stayed up the entire night watching it; I couldn't put it down. The show contains all 24 episodes as well as an OVA listed as a 25th episode (a decision I completely agree with, as the events of the OVA help answer some lingering questions that viewers might have). I especially enjoyed having the show on both DVD and Blu-ray. I don't have a Blu-ray player so it was nice to be able to find an anime that was not only on Blu-ray. The art on the discs look very nice, the box art is beautiful, and the case holds the discs very well, I am not afraid of the discs popping out of their trays. Overall, the combo pack itself was very good. THE BAD: The only complaint I have with the show as presented on the discs was the sub. Overall, the sub was very well done, but there were a few times where there was a slight discrepancy between what was said, in Japanese, and what the subtitles said. For example, at a point in the anime where one of the characters reveals that their online screen name was "kurigohan and kamehameha", the sub changes it to "Chestnut Rice and kamehameha", which, spoils part of the reference to Dragonball. Other times, the main character calls his "assistant" the name Christina rather than Kurisu (basically adding a 'tina' to the end of her name). She responds by saying something like "there's no 'tina'", while the sub translates it as "that's not my name". These kinds of things don't happen too often, and are not very significant to the show, but it was something that was annoying to me. However, because this was infrequent and didn't affect the story too much, I still gave the show a five-star rating. CONCLUSION: In conclusion, the anime is great, the box set is great, but the subs are slightly lacking. This collection is definitely worth purchasing.

Generally speaking, I don't really like animes with darker color palettes. I also generally don't like psychological/thriller types of programs. This anime is the glaring exception to those rules. I love this anime. The characters are just wonderful. And their wackiness pairs well with some of the peril and the darker themes that are presented. All the characters mesh well and are solid. The only one who seemed a big weaker to me was Moeka. But even she works well to drive the plot and doesn't take anything away. I still have to admit that the color palette isn't my favorite, but it is well-suited to the overall theme and tone. The music is wonderful. That opening theme will get stuck in your head, but you probably won't mind. Writing this review has got me thinking about it and I'm listening to it right now. The dub is pretty good. The first time I watched the series I stuck with the dub for about the first half. But I still definitely prefer the sub. As often happens, some of the voices of the American voice actors bugged me a little. But these voices are much better suited than the voices for a lot of anime, so I can definitely recommend it for people who don't want to be reading subtitles the entire time. The translation is also very good. Very little is lost between the sub and the dub. And not for the plot. The plot is absolutely my favorite thing about Steins;Gate. I will avoid spoilers. At the beginning of the series Obake and Mayuri are going to a talk on time travel by a respected scientist. Someone ends up getting stabbed and dies, but then almost immediately afterward they run into her just fine. Some other strange things happen, and it turns out that Okabe and his partner Daru have invented some sort of time machine. The rest of the series revolves around this time machine and the problems it solves and creates. But that description doesn't even come close to doing it justice. It is also a love story. And the second half is very emotionally driven with Okabe showing just how far he is willing to go for the people he cares about. The series finale does a wonderful job of bringing everything full circle, referencing the very first episodes that you will probably have forgotten about by then. And the OVA that is also included is not strictly necessary, but it does a lovely job of tieing together the series in a way that is eminently satisfying. Time travel is a very difficult subject to handle effectively in any medium. But Steins;Gate finds ways to handle it with grace. Very little about the time travel feels contrived and anything a little strange is easy to overlook, especially the first time watching. I appreciate that this set comes with both blue ray and DVD copies. Right now I do not own a blue ray player, but I know I will get one someday, so it is nice to have those disks to be able to watch then. As I mentioned in the title of this review, Steins;Gate is my favorite anime of all time. There are a lot that I like, but none so much as this one. Hopefully my review has given you some idea of why that is. I definitely suggest you buy it and watch it right now.

I don't watch a lot of Anime. While I consider myself an Anime fan, not all Anime series' are created equal. I'm very selective about what I purchase, being on a budget. Something told me this was going to be good. It had been on my wishlist for almost a year when I finally had the extra money to purchase it. Best call I ever made on an Anime series. The plot is spell-binding. The twists and turns, exciting. The story, full-steam ahead. The art, phenomenal. Witty banter. Clever stream-of-conscious dialogue. Colorful, endearing characters. When they laughed, I laughed. When they cried, I cried. The roller-coaster of emotions the cast took, I was along for the ride. My desire to finish watching was insatiable. Heck. I want to watch it again. Soon enough, I've no doubt I will. Seriously, if this show could have gone on another ten seasons, I'd have jumped on the bandwagon. This is a Sci-Fi mind-warping tale on hyper overdrive strung out on speed. Episodes were over before I knew enough time had passed for an episode to be complete. Closures would occur before I realized there could even could be one. Admittedly, it feels like there are 3 endings to the series, and each time, I could easily have let it got at that. But, somehow, what poured forth from the cerebral cortex's of the people who created and wrote Steins;Gate captured my attention anew. Okabe is reason enough to watch this series just to hear him speak. Daru's cool. The female characters at first feel like just plain ol' eye candy. However, within mere moments of each of their introductions, they become so much more. The fact that they're animated to be cute just makes everything even easier. Having said that, there's nothing I'd really truly consider "Fan Service" (barring, perhaps, Faris), one reason I don't really care for some Anime series' to begin with. I prefer real women as opposed to animated ones I could never have... But, cute is cute, and the females in this series are every bit. Far beyond that, though, I get back to the story. The plot. The characters. All worth every penny you pay to get this. If you want a fantastic, solid series you can truly enjoy, this is the one to get.

- Synopsis: An anime that starts off with friends hanging out trying to discover the method to using a time machine. One day, they accidentally discover it. At first, it turned out to be just for fun as they continued to humor themselves, but then the group starts heading into dangerous territory as they dig deeper into the unknown. They find many shocking secrets that they cannot go back on; as they become targeted by various and shady organizations. Curiosity killed the cat. A saying that the main character will painfully come to understand as he attempts to reclaim the life he originally had. =========================================================================================================== - Comments: This anime is very suspenseful. Moreover, the characters are pretty likable. Which makes it easier to develop sympathy and empathy towards them. Because like many things in life, not everything is so cut-and-dried or black and white. As the anime becomes more serious, you can't help but sympathize with the main character. It's very well done. Even though they are fictional characters, this anime in particular effectively absorbs the audience and leaves them in suspense. Like an addiction: wanting more and more. - Analysis: I also liked how they touched up on concepts such as time travel. I'm sure many of us, especially as kids, fantasized about this. So, it was pretty cool how they were talking about this concept but in a more nerdy and scientific way. Further emphasizing or playing around on the idea that it may exist; we just don't have the knowledge or means to go about it. - Features: English and Japanese audio, as well as English subtitles. Includes 25 episodes on 4 Blu-ray disks and 25 episodes on 4 DVDs with a run-time of about 10 hours. Rated TV-14 for violence, and sexual content. - Conclusion: An anime with lots of exposition which is suitable for more mature audiences. Reminds me of the Twilight Zone in many ways. =========================================================================================================== - Recommendations: Chaos;Head, Psycho-Pass, Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World-, Code Geass, Code:Breaker, and Bakemonogatari.

I want to start off and by saying anime is a hobby of mine. Iv watched anime since I was 12 and my older cousin had a large collection and he would lend my a few here and there. 13 years later I'm still a huge fan. Iv seen countless series, I have a membership threw crunchyroll and watch anime airing in Japan as it airs. You can't see much newer anime then that. Out of all the anime iv seen I have seen some I disliked, hated, enjoyed, loved and some that are so good they make me thankful for being a anime fan. This is one of thoses series. In all my years I have seen very few anime's as good as Steins;Gate. Its generally considered a masterpiece among anime fans. Its not quiet mainstream (yet) but its growing in popularity each year. The website myanimelist.net ranks anime's based upon user reviews. In the top 10 section Steins;Gate is ranked #2 with 230,000 reviews and a average rating of 9.3/10 (keep in mind only 1 other anime is ranked higher). This isn't a critics review website this is users. That's you, me, your friends, that guy down the road. With such high ratings you know it will be great. Steins;Gate is a Psychological thriller. Its a thinking anime, they will not always put everything out in the open they expect you to do some thinking too. Parts can be confusing but they do a good job of giving you multiple angles of the story at different points. It can be an emotional rollercoaster. The good times are great the sad times are depressing. I don't want to go into an extensive review of the anime tho. If looking for a detailed review please head over to YouTube. As for value, it simply can't be beat. Funimation has treated us very well here no doubt. 25 episodes, Bluray & DvD for $30 is a excellent deal. Anyone who collects anime can tell you its not a cheap hobby. I had a 4 disk (DVD 1 season) set of arpeggio of blue steel. Not a highly regarded anime average at best but I enjoyed it. I payed $50-$65 for each DVD (total of 4) I have over $220 in this 1 season of a average anime. Nothing special about it either. For $30 you get 4 DVDs, 4 Blurays 2 seasons and 25 episodes. Keep in mind this is a very popular anime. Compare that to the $220 I spent on a 1 season average anime and you can see how good of a deal this is. $220 for 4 DVDs 12 episodes vs $30 4 DVDs and 4 Blurays 25 episodes. Funimation could have easily done the same exact thing and people would have still bought it plan and simple. For this fact I'm very pleased with Funimation. Its a very reasonable price.

This is a great anime! I am rather picky about the shows that I enjoy, and few are as well thought out, entertaining, and sweet as this show was. Instant classic. As others have mentioned, it follows a self proclaimed mad scientist who stumbles across something stranger and darker than even his craziest imaginings could take him, and he must figure out a way to save the world and his friends from the cruel hands of time itself. The pacing reminded me a lot of Trigun where the first half is a lot of fun and fluff, but when the crap hits the fan then things start moving quickly. With this show it is very easy to watch one or two episodes at a time in the beginning, but once you hit the 2nd half then clear some time for some binge watching because it is difficult to stop. I am certainly going to watch it again (and again) to see if everything works out plot wise with the time travel, but on the first pass watching primarily for story it was pretty convincing, and it is nice to see a story that actually works with time travel. Only minor complaint on the story is that (as with most time travel shows) some episodes get a little repetitive, and there are 3 'endings' to the show before it finally stops. Still, great handling of time travel, and each ending is pretty good, and the final ending is nice. From a quality perspective it is really rather hit-or-miss. The show certainly suffers from some bad compression causing color stepping along lighting gradients, which I find extremely annoying, but most of the time it is not really that big of an issue, but that is the extent of my complaints. The Japanese cast is top-notch, but I really enjoyed how the English cast really overplayed their parts as it really fit the feel of the show. I typically watch anime in Japanese, but this is one where I would suggest people watch in English... it is not 'better' but it was certainly more fun.

The show is fantastic. If all that needed to be rated was the video and plot it's easily 5 stars. But there are a couple things that have disappointed me after I had, honestly, sky high expectations for this blu-ray. - The video quality is superb. This is to be expected. But it's worth noting because this is a great looking show. It's not super action packed or flashing. But there are some really beautiful scenes. - The dub is very good quality -- for a dub. None of the english voice actors are painfully annoying. Some of the actors are actually quite good at times. But near the end I found the dub's translation to stray too far from the true dialog, which I was already familiar with. I had to finish the series with subbed Japanese audio because it is really that much better. I found the main character, Okarin, to be less endearing overall when watching the dub, but it was usually bearable. - The subs are very good but not perfect. I have seen better subs for this show on a web stream. There are some annoying minor grammatical errors. And there are also parts where I think the sub translation is either not completely accurate or the sentence structure was poor enough to interfere with its interpretation. But overall, as stated first, the subs are good. Among all translations I have seen of Okarin's playful title for Daru, "hakka" ハッカ. I believe the blu-ray subtitle translation to "haxor" seems the most correct with the context provided by the show. The dub translation has Okarin referring to Daru as a "hack" which is more derogatory. - I haven't yet viewed all of the bonus material in the collection, but I am happy with the amount of content provided. It seems like there is commentary on almost every disc (though most episodes do not have commentary). There are a lot of trailers for the show too. And seemingly all variations of the intro/outro songs are included on the final disc.

まさに中身はハードSF、こんなアニメが１０年ほど前にゲームを製作後にテレビ放映されていたとは驚きでした。また、アニメ版は、劇場版とその後の”ゼロ”にも到達する内容がすでに至る所に挿入されているのが興味深い。本当はこれだけ世界中で高い評価を得ているので、一度、あのキャラクターらが、オーバーアクションと声優の声による演技が、海外でどのように声優が演技し観客がどいのように反応しているかを一度、見たみたいものです。よくできたというより、へたな海外の大作ドラマシリーズと肩を並べられるアニメですね。真空管（別な言い方がある）時計らしき、何らかの数字をshメスツールはなぜあるんだろう？ ”諦めるな”・”審判の日まで涙と苦痛はしまっておけ”・”やれることはすべてやってみろ”・”人のためじゃない 自分のためにやり通せ”と、鑑賞をしている人に王しているようなアニメでした。これは名作ですよ。人生とは？問いかけも含めてお見事。（だったら他の人も気が付くんじゃない、作れそうというのは禁句。）

A quick delivery a week before it should and a price which is not to high. All in all a good choice to buy. And the anime is very good as well.

Simplemente esta serie es una obra maestra, un argumento que a pesar que el inicio puede ser algo lento es magnifico, los personajes tienen personalidades reales y son sometidos a situaciones extremas que te han compadecer de ellos, la banda sonora es adecuada en todo momento... 100% recomendada. Hablando de esta edicion de DVD lleva audio japones con subtitulos en ingles, estupendo. Y ademas lleva el OVA, tambien añadido en japon como el capitulo 25 que hace cerrar bien toda la trama. Otra cosa de esta edicion de DVD que me ha llamado la atencion es que contiene las versiones creditless del OP y END.

Self styled 'mad scientist' and geek Rintaro Okabe/'Hooin Kyoma' stumbles across the murder of scientific starlet Makise Kurisu during a lecture on time travel. Following a strange temporal 'event', Okabe sees her alive and is desperate to figure out how this is possible, enlisting her in the 'Future Gadget Laboratory' (his little club) and working on his microwave time machine. One of the finest anime I have ever watched, 'Stein;s Gate' is the antithesis of your typical goofy fanservice fest, offering a smart and often touching take on the power and side effects of time travel. The foundation is absurd for sure, and the show's sense of humour has no problem mining that, but when we get to the members using the technology to alter their lives and in the process, change the world around them, the show pulls no punches. This is amplified by the fact that we have a strong and likeable lot of characters that make up Okabe's entourage: the eccentric lead, the smart but somewhat high nosed Kurisu, the loveably sweet Miyuri, tech and online geek Daru, the silent and reserved Moeka, the timid & transgendered Lukako, the excitable waitress Faris and the high spirited tomboy Suzuha. They all compliment each other well and as the series progresses, you really get behind them and why they want these changes, some of which do tug hard at the heartstrings. However, it is Okabe's story that is the most grueling, as 'Stein;s Gate also acts as a more fantastical coming of age story as he remembers every change in the timeline, and how he must step up for his friends, as well as solving Kurisu's murder. He goes from petty manchild to a far more mature adult by the end and it can be very harrowing. How'd have thunk this could come from the inventor of a microwave & phone based time machine? And the rest is no slack: the animation is subdued but full of nuance and detail, refreshing for a sci-fi show, the music is often sombre but never overpowering or melodramatic, and the voice cast are tremendous, with J. Michael Tatum on the English front giving a career best performance as Okabe. Frankly, I have practically no genuine complaints or issues to speak of, save for maybe the last episode being little more than perfunctory sugaring of an already satisfying ending, but even then, it still has enough laughs to get by. Honestly, I cannot sing the praises of this show enough: drop whatever you are doing, and go see this show. It is criminally underrated, and of the best animated television series to come out in the last decade.

Wow excelente! Y a un precio de regalo! Una de las series más geniales que he visto, imagínate que todo lo que hagas en tu vida pueda ser alterado con un simple mensaje de texto! Pero como dice el tío de Peter Parker, un gran poder conlleva una gran responsabilidad