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> Steins;Gate is an anime partly based on a man named John
Titor who made a name for himself by claiming to be a time traveler from
the future. Normally I would dismiss such claims, but he didn't seem to
profit from it financially so it piqued my curiosity. What really sparked
my interest was how Titor described the politics of the future. He claimed
that the U.S. had fractured into disparate states and descended into another
civil war. According to Titor, this conflict revolved around order versus
rights, which I find believable because a minority opinion can easily be
drowned out by the will of the majority, or likewise, people's rights could
be taken away by unconquerable force wielded by an authoritarian government
simply because they are powerless to stop it.
> People might think I am being paranoid, but judging from history, I have
reason to be paranoid. You have no voice if you can't guarantee it. If
we live in a world where only the strongest survive then all that matters
is who is victorious, for the dead cannot live to tell the tale. My stance
on this will never change, and there's a reason for that. If you ever wander
into the realm of political science, you might notice that sometimes evil
doesn't see itself as evil. It's a matter of perception. If you can see
through the eyes of tyrants then you might not be surprised by the lengths
some people are willing to go to stop them. Titor claimed that he traveled
back in time in the hopes of stopping the future he described from ever
happening.
> I found this dark glimpse into the future fascinating, and it looks like
others did too because it inspired the creation of a great anime (in my
opinion of course). Titor's dark vision of the future never came true,
but he claimed that timelines can diverge into many possible futures. Perhaps
that's why it never came to pass. Perhaps it's possible to create a perfect
timeline that's always free from tyranny. This sets the stage for Steins;Gate.
> The central character of Steins;Gate is a self-proclaimed
mad scientist named Okabe Rintaro, fondly called Okarin by his best friend
Mayuri. Okabe discovers a way to send messages back in time which leads
him down a path that would even make madness seem like sanity. Whenever
he sends a message back in time, he changes the past but doesn't remember
everything that has changed in the present, and is the only one who remembers
the previous timeline. You can imagine his confusion.
> Okabe is brilliant and walks a fine line between insanity and genius,
but he quickly finds himself out of his depth. The real story begins when
Okabe finds the dead body of Makise Kurisu, a red headed female genius,
lying in a pool of her own blood. Okabe accidentally sends a text on his
mobile phone back in time detailing the event, and not long after, he meets
her alive. Naturally, he cannot believe what he is seeing, and he does
everything in his power to unravel this mystery. He quickly realizes he
has the power to alter the past, and thus he attempts to create a brighter
future.
> With the help of Kurisu, whose beauty is a rare sight, they delve deeper
into this mystery, and she creates a time leap device that can send memories
instead of messages back in time to a person's past self. This soon draws
unwanted attention, and Okabe quickly finds himself losing control of the
situation. Even fate itself conspires against him, and everything begins
to fall apart in front of his very eyes. Okabe often jokingly refers to
what he calls "The Organization", which is a group of people who rule the
world from the shadows. Unfortunately for him, it turns out to be a real
organization. The story takes a dramatic turn for the worse when he embarks
on a long and painful journey to set things right as those closest to him
are effected by the changes in the timeline.
> I think one of the things that sets this anime apart from the rest are
the strong bonds that are forged between the main characters. Okabe defies
fate itself to try to save his best friend Mayuri by changing the past
countless times. This not only gives his character rare depth, but shows
what a wonderful human being he is. Okabe keeps searching for a solution
even when the situation seems completely hopeless. He fights to save her
even when the whole world is against him. He simply refuses to give up.
That's a rare sight indeed.
> Okabe also has to save Mayuri from herself, which further compounds the
problem. Muyuri keeps staring into the sun as if it's home, and he won't
let it take her (episode 13 delves deeper into their shared history). This
part of the anime is full of very heartfelt emotions. Okabe and Mayuri
have a very close friendship which the anime reveals in very endearing
ways.
> Steins;Gate begins as a lighthearted comedy but soon becomes
much more serious. You have to keep watching if you truly want to enjoy
this, assuming you're a fan of anime and time travel stories. Of course,
there are many people who see anime as nothing more than children's cartoons
for people who haven't grown up yet, which is a shame. Needless to say,
many disagree. Looks can be deceptive, not to mention there's a huge market
for anime. We shouldn't care how heartless critics perceive us.
> The main villain of this story is an organization named SERN which is
based on CERN, a real organization that built a giant pipeline that can
theoretically create miniature black holes by slamming particles together.
This actually was and still is a very real concern. John Titor claimed
that in his time, CERN holds a strict monopoly on time travel by tapping
into miniature black holes. In the future, SERN uses this power to create
a dystopia from which there is no escape. A dystopia is a technologically
advanced civilization but politically regressive in terms of human rights.
This is a future no person of conscience wishes to see. Let your guard
down and it might become a reality. Sometimes the sun burns a little too
brightly.
> Titor actually makes an appearance in the anime to keep his memory alive.
Titor claims that he traveled back in time to prevent the revival of Communism,
but creating this timeline seems impossible because no one can see a future
that is free of it.
> As an aside, I don't believe that physical time travel into the past
or future is possible, but I do believe it's possible to receive messages
from the future, but only on the same device. Time doesn't really exist,
only ways of measuring it does. Time is merely the illusion of our minds
recording one moment after the other. If time travel is possible, I have
the sneaking suspicion that it involves tapping into energy that operates
both in and outside of 3 dimensional reality. This is another reason why
I loved this anime; this part is actually believable. Kurisu and co agree
to name the ability to send messages back in time as D-Mail, an abbreviation
of DeLorean mail, which is named after the car that can travel back and
forward in time in Back to the Future. Perfect. One of the
greats pays homage to another one of the greats.
> John Titor should be proud. Even if he was a fraud he inspired the creation
of a great anime. Some ideas are so powerful that they have a ripple effect
on the world. If there is some truth to the theory of time travel, we will
never know, because it's too much power for anyone. If that power fell
into the wrong hands, it could be the end of everything. But we can dream,
can't we?
> One thing that annoyed me about the anime is Okabe's opening monologue
was changed in the English dub. In the Japanese subtitles of the localization
I own Okabe says: "The universe has a beginning but no ending. Infinite.
Stars also have beginnings and they end their lives with their own powers.
Finite. History shows that those who possess wisdom are in fact the most
asinine. This can be thought of as the ultimatum from God to those who
stand firm." He says more or less the same thing in the English dub (in
equivalent terms as opposed to exact terms), but the English dub removed
God from his opening monologue. Dare I ask why? Politics I suppose.
> Whether Okabe's opening monologue offends someone or not is irrelevant
to the greater scheme of things. It was in the original script whether
you like it or not. The universe is an incredibly complex force of nature
that creates life. Whether you choose to call that God or a creator is
entirely up to you. Okabe even contradicts himself (or his original Japanese
self I should say) in the English dub by doubting if the universe is infinite.
It certainly seems infinite because there is no end in sight. People who
don't both fear and respect the true nature of the universe really need
to open their eyes. I'd say the opening subtitles lack refinement here,
but it's an otherwise great translation.
> Also worth noting is that the story doesn't end with the anime. There's
a movie that continues the story while preserving the greatness of the
anime. I have to say though... the Steins;Gate movie was
incredibly painful for me to watch for reasons that I am about to divulge.
Spoiler
warning: Okabe forgets which timeline is real
and disappears from the main timeline. Everyone he knew and loved almost
completely forgets who he is. He becomes so lost in negative timelines
that he loses all hope of ever escaping.
> Kurisu experiences how powerless Okabe felt for herself, yet she understands
why he never gave up: Where there's a will there's always a way. Kurisu
anchors Okabe by imprinting a powerful memory on him which slowly makes
him want to return. It brings me to life to know that Kurisu never gave
up on him. She brings him back from the brink of despair to a world where
hope still exists. I don't think I will ever watch the movie again. I have
no desire to relive that hellish experience. That overwhelming sense of
powerlessness can go to hell.
> At least the movie didn't change the ending of the original anime. I'd
only watch the movie if you want to be depressed for most of it. The anime
series, however, is a masterpiece. It is those who possess wisdom who are
the greatest fools, because we know we lack knowledge. Time to forget the
negative and focus on the positive. |
