8.4 | / 10 |
Users | 3.7 | |
Reviewer | 4.5 | |
Overall | 3.7 |
The eccentric mad scientist Okabe, his childhood friend Mayuri, and the otaku hacker Daru have banded together to form the 'Future Gadget Research Laboratory', and spend their days in a ramshackle laboratory hanging out and occasionally attempting to invent incredible futuristic gadgets. However, their claymore is a hydrator and their hair dryer flips breakers, and the only invention that’s even remotely interesting is their Phone Microwave, which transforms bananas into oozing green gel. But when an experiment goes awry, the gang discovers that the Phone Microwave can also send text messages to the past. And what's more, the words they send can affect the flow of time and have unforeseen, far-reaching consequences - consequences that Okabe may not be able to handle...
Starring: Mamoru Miyano, Kana Hanazawa, Asami Imai, Tomokazu Seki, Yû KobayashiAnime | 100% |
Foreign | 98% |
Sci-Fi | 19% |
Romance | 15% |
Comedy | 14% |
Psychological thriller | 5% |
Drama | 2% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.78:1
English: Dolby TrueHD 5.1 (48kHz, 16-bit)
Japanese: Dolby TrueHD 2.0
English
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Four-disc set (2 BDs, 2 DVDs)
DVD copy
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 4.5 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 3.5 | |
Extras | 2.0 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
Two relatively recent quick casualties in the ever unpredictable world of series television were the American reboot of
Life on Mars and Awake. Both series featured a hero who had suffered an unfortunate car accident and
whose subsequent life was torn asunder as a result. In the case of Life on Mars, the hero suddenly found
himself transported back in time several decades, while in the case of Awake, the hero found himself shuttling
between two distinct realities. There’s no car accident in Steins;Gate; instead, there’s a horrifying collision of a
satellite which has fallen into a skyscraper and whose descent from the heavens may have precipitated a bizarre set of
phenomena that the series’ hero, Rintarō Okabe, begins experiencing. Then again, Okabe’s strange affliction (which
will be detailed below) may be due to his jiggered microwave, which this self-proclaimed “mad scientist” had altered to
help prove his theories on time travel. One way or the other, Okabe finds himself more and more confused as one set
of memories he clearly recalls doesn’t seemed to be shared by any of his friends, and several weird things occur that
lead Okabe to believe he may either be time traveling or at the very least shuttling between two alternate realities.
Steins;Gate is another anime culled from a visual novel game and follows in the footsteps of Chaos;Head
, both having been produced in their game forms by 5pb and Nitroplus. Though there are some fairly tangential
threads tying both properties together, there’s no real requirement to experience Chaos;Head in order to wend
the thorny path that Steins;Gate offers. Steins;Gate is a smartly written, if just occasionally slightly
annoying, trip through several hoary science fiction tropes, but it manages to invest what might have been a cliché
ridden enterprise into something quite ingenious at times. Okabe is certainly one of the most unusual anime heroes in
recent memory, an obsessive soul who is prone to cackle manically at inopportune moments and whose theories aren’t
exactly supported by anything approaching a traditional scientific method. When one of the timelines Okabe finds
himself shuttling through involves the apparent murder of a beautiful and intelligent female time travel enthusiast,
Kurisu Makise, a murder which Okabe himself may have committed, the earnest young man sets out to figure out what
exactly is going on.
Steins;Gate is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of FUNimation Entertainment with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. This is a stellar looking release that offers razor sharp line detail when it's called for, but which also doesn't hesitate to craft whole sequences in a much softer look, with gauzy textures and fuzzy imagery brilliantly evoking Okabe's quasi-dream (or is that nightmare?) state. Colors are often bold and extremely well saturated, but at the same time the anime also exploits a lot of monochromatic elements which verge on a desaturated palette. Kurisu's auburn red hair pops nicely and makes her character instantly recognizable. As Okabe begins to visit alternate timelines, there are a glut of really interesting design elements brought to bear on this anime, all of which look great.
Steins;Gate features an English dub offered in Dolby TrueHD 5.1, as well as the original Japanese language version in Dolby TrueHD 2.0. The original Japanese version sports excellent fidelity and some extremely appealing voice work. Most will probably opt for the English language track due to the increased surround activity, especially in some of the segues between various timelines. That said, there's a weird boxy quality to some of the voice work here, as if the recording sessions have been done in different studios with varying quality microphones. That's a relatively minor annoyance, however, in a track that does offer great fidelity and really wide dynamic range.
Steins;Gate is one of the most intriguing anime of the year, a wonderfully convoluted trip through the pretzel logic of time travel and alternate realities. Okabe makes for one of the most unusual (and unruly) heroes in recent memory, and the interlocking stories featuring him (in any of various timelines) and his friends and collaborators make this a novelistic enterprise of really impressive depth and storytelling panache. This Blu-ray is a little light on supplemental content, and the audio has some very minor issues, but the video is fantastic. Highly recommended.
Steins;Gate the Movie: Loading Area of Déja vu / 劇場版 STEINS;GATE 負荷領域のデジャヴ
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