「時間跳躍のパラノイア」 (Jikan Chouyaku no Paranoia)
“Paranoia of Time Leaps”

I knew the cast had a ton of female characters, probably because visual novels are still dominated by male players, but I didn’t expect this many to be introduced in the story already. In appearing order, we’ve got your obligatory trap Urushibara Ruka (Kobayashi Yuu – I feel your pain Okarin), tomboy/perky Amane Suzuha (Tamura Yukari), shy/reserved Kiryuu Moeka (Gotou Saori), and the childish/naive slot filled in by Nyannyan Feiris (Momoi Halko). There’s enough time given for a little taste of each of their personalities, but they’re pretty much building off the same archetypes that appear in almost every anime, so I’m gonna say they’re not incredibly interesting right off the bat. Every one of them had their usual attraction traits going full blast, so anime junkies, pick your poison. For now, I’ll go with Makise Kurisu for her ability to mock our MC and get a couple of laughs out of me. And that weirdass jacket.

Plot-wise, John Titor is introduced, albeit via a monitor, but unlike our world, John Titor reappears after 2001, and all of his visits during 2000 to 2001 are now erased. According to John Titor, the universe follows the many-worlds interpretation, and I think it’s safe to assume that’s how time travel will work in the show, at least for now. He also mentions the world line, which is basically the course of a particular object through time. The many worlds theory is probably the best to adhere to, given its flexibility and its relatively simple “nature.” Changing Titor to appear now instead of 2001 is probably more likely because he will be of some importance rather than the convenience of him now being Japanese, but then again, who knows? Maybe Okarin shifted worlds since the last episode, where Makise Kurisu isn’t dead, and John Tritor didn’t appear in 2001. See how ridiculously easy the many worlds interpretation can explain things? Well, so far. Also related to John Titor is the computer Moeka was looking for, the “IBN 5100,” or rather, the IBM 5100 in the real world (ours). In case you didn’t read everything on Titor, he was looking for the IBM 5100 to “debug” various computer programs in 2036. Of course, the anime doesn’t assume you know that, so they might take it in a different direction. Is it incredibly cool and surreal that there’s such a real world emphasis in this? Yes, yes it is.

The story would probably get stale real quick by now had they not pushed onward with their now completed “time machine.” Apparently they think it’s a teleporter, but when you put “the gel-bananas have been torn apart on a molecular level” and it returning back to where it was in the past in gel form together… it’s a damn time machine. …and another cliffhanger on Makise. I’m gonna take a swing in the dark here and say, she’s important!

Okarin took a notch up for entertainment this time around, as there’s something about the intonation of his voice that gets me every time, but that’s just Miyano for you. He also turned out to be a pretty nice guy, being loyal to his friends, and nice to strangers (on occasion). The pieces of moe-charas scattered throughout shake up the “dark” atmosphere, probably a little too far out of place with Nyannyan, and although stereotypical, was enjoyable nonetheless (because it’s just an anime quirk). The story’s definitely getting into its groove, but judging by the rate of their microwave development, any actual time travel antics might not be for a while, so I hope it keeps chugging along.

 

82 Comments

  1. Kurisu WTF!!
    I was rather shocked at the gel banana teleporting back to where it came from, it is a teleporter + time machine :3
    the whole time travel and world theories are interesting, hope they exploit this aspect more.
    and that trap… I vote him for the best trap of 2011!

    jrj
    1. It did NOT teleport to where it came from.

      It teleported into a parallel universe. And “telerported” is wrong term. Its more like “got forcibly torn apart and reformed with data loss in parallel universe”.

      UnknownVoice
    2. to me it was more like it just time traveled back to where it originally was except it was also “reformed”. the guys were too busy looking at the microwave to see it was there already.

      amado
  2. Yeah, I like that they’re showing Okarin as a nice, occasionally normal guy, and not just playing up the mad scientist thing. I liked the part when he was talking about Ruka-kun, and kept mentioning he was a guy. The timing of it every time he said it made me chuckle a bit. Found myself a lot less confused this episode too. I’ve shifted from, “Wha…zuh? O_o” to “Tell me more… <3 ". :p

    1. If you went to the English Wikipedia page, there’s a pretty good chance a lot of things will be spoiled for you. Everyone else, be warned.

      Luckily, the lack of detail in those type of spoilers don’t ruin a show for me, and actually get me more interested.

      1. as a player of the visual novel, i can tell you its Ruka. as for why u think its Ruko, its because Kyouma called him Rukako. (i havent watch it yet so i might be saying things, not like its important)

        Fenicks
      2. Actually, I watched Stein’s Gate early in the morning (had like 5 hours of sleep total), and had the volume set low. I’m thinking that’s why I heard Ruko. It’s funny too because the subs I watched clearly said “Ruka-kun”, yet I read and heard “Ruko-kun”.

        Guess “Ruka” would’ve completely destroyed the trap for me though, since “Ruka” can be romanized as “Luca”, which is a male name. 😡

        Soiyeruda
    1. oh look!!
      another shabutaro!!
      I dont get it
      i think almost all peoples will agree that S;G is very different from your typical anime
      – this is obviously not a harem anime ( 4 men, 5 women )
      – okabe is not your bishie protagonist

      1. Forget to say… I don’t mind if characters isn’t cute or handsome, I don’t like this classical types of girls (tsundere, yandere and so on).

        Just knew that the main protagonist is voiced by Miyano Mamoru… May be I’ll watch it.

        Seya
    2. Woah, woah woah… Have you seen Hououin Kyouma?! How’s he not handsome? Tall, lean, LAB COAT!
      Unshaven, messy, LAB COAT! Crazy, unstable, LAB COAT! This season’s male model for sure. He’s my replacement for Dr. Ozaki.

      Airon
  3. Damn, that trap really fooled me. The -kun honorific was already suspicious, but not uncommon for a girl. What the hell though, why does he have a hair pin??
    And yeah for Feiris aka Komugi-chan (Nurse Witch Komugi-Chan). I knew that her voice seemed familiar to me.
    Really enjoying this series so far.

    boingman
  4. time travel in this show doesn’t sent the subject forward/backward, but to the same present? Poor old banana again. How many years does it take to make that, gel-banana.

    FlamingYu
    1. my take is that, it is sort of impossible for them to see the effects of that gel banana if it is sent forward or backward… so it would be more shocking if it is sent back to where it belong… in the present moment :#

      and speaking of gel banana, I miss the “your banana is floppy” line

      jrj
    2. There is no way to speculate on anything right now. So far, there’s no explanation how the microwave works, and I’m pretty sure time travel will work at least backwards, because you can’t change an event without going back to the past (or sending something to the past, like a text message).

  5. It’s a trap! Admiral Ackbar award of the year nominee spotted! In fact I fell for it initially…
    Other than that, Kurisu is cool and acidic-tongued genius I like the most, Nyannyan is your standard meido, Moeka is a really fitting name, and Suzuha looks like copy of Mao from Kimikiss to me…

    ewok40k
  6. I love Hashida’s “shit here he goes again, i don’t know him” attempt to hide his face during Kurisu’s lecture.

    Mayuri normal hair color is cuter and her constant “truth telling” vs Okarin’s lies is enjoyable. Yeah a 980 yen sword, oops wrong hand got possessed.

    Feiris going with the flow of Okarin’s delusional stuff is cute as well

    Zaku Fan
    1. Oh and the many worlds theory is not really nice when you think about it. It means Kurisu really died somewhere. Then again, travelling along the same time line (i think it was Okarin who screamed in ep 1) would make the many worlds theory a very wierd fit

      Zaku Fan
      1. But it IS the only way to explain plausibility of time travel.

        Also, that is almost NOT a theory. its scientifically proven fact that parallel universes can and DO exist.

        UnknownVoice
      2. @UnknownVoice,

        No I don’t think it’s scientifically proven, more like mathematically proven. But what the maths tell us is really up to our own interpretation (like, how the hell do you interpret 11 dimensions) 😛

        koja
      3. Eh no its not. You are mixing up dimensions with parallel universes. String theory and its offshoots is based on N dimension space (last i heard N=10), NOT parallel universes.

        If you have any scientific experiments that can prove otherwise, feel free to link it up. Otherwise, the multiverse theory (which is used in a theoretical cosmological model) will remain as such, a theory.

        Using the multiverse theory in a world where you adjust a singular timeline (assuming ep 1 really is Ocarin screaming) does not make sense as the previous actions of adjustements made would not have occured. You could of course try to say that Ocarin merely entered an offshoot of an offshoot of an offshoot (offshoots = number of times adjustments made).

        Homura’s time travel ability (Mahou Shoujo Madoka) would be the type that would fit a multiverse theory

        Zaku Fan
  7. Glad you picked this series up. The premise is okay for now, at least the animation is okay. I agree, Makise seems like the best girl so far because she seems less generic than the rest. And for her to appear like that, she might be an AGENT of the organization!

    Let’s see where this anime takes us.

    skylaris
  8. Also happy to see this picked up! It’s a good series for discussion.
    Liking Makise’s character more and more, but it’s still too early to pass judgement on the others (like Moeka and Amane). Personally, I really enjoyed the conversation between Feiris and Okarin, but maybe that was because of Momoi’s cute nya’s tacked on at the end of her sentences.
    Looking forward most to the interaction between Makise and Okarin considering it’s already off to a good start (for the viewers). The conference scene was priceless.

    Aisu
    1. He is constantly LARP-ing. 99% of real world teens who have some sort of problems live in similar modes, shrouding the common day things together with their fantasies into one.

      UnknownVoice
      1. Just feels a tad overplayed, that’s all. I’ve read/played (what is the correct lingo?) the original and Miyano doesn’t seem quite as awkard playing Rintaro there. Perhaps the body language is confusing me.

        vp
  9. Anyway, the only anime worth following this season.

    They used parallel time travel theory (since the one timeline one is impossible due to causality paradoxes) And I loved the references to John Titor. So far everything in this is quite grounded in real world theories. And its nice to see them NOT spewing crap.

    So who wants to bet that SERN is Show Spoiler ▼

    and “John Titor” is actually Show Spoiler ▼

    Also for those interested
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Titor
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butterfly_effect
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grandfather_paradox
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twin_paradox
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Many-worlds_interpretation
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M-theory
    http://altimatrix.com/parallel-timelines

    UnknownVoice
  10. Got to say this, i hate the main male protagonist’ personality. He is so spontaneous and can’t take certain things seriously. I mean only a few hours after a serious incident happens whether it is murder, people disappearing, history changed, a muderdered person revived or whatever; after a few hours he is back to is spontaneous mode.

    banzmanga
  11. K,I’m convinced Amane Suzuha is from the future.
    She had never seen fresh corn (assuming it doesn’t exist in the future)
    Loves CRT TV’s (must love retro stuff)
    And said:
    “i heard that’s the popular way to say hi now”
    “So, that’s what’s popular these days”

    Oh and Kiryuu Moeka is probably being chased by the “organization”.

    GoodStuff
  12. oh,hey another trap…. WTF,THAT’S A TRAP?!!!

    Is now some kind of trap season or something? I don’t think i can survive like this…
    *still smacking head to wall while dropping mega F bombs*

    ShinGetter
  13. This show is great. I was only going to watch the first episode and save everything for a localization of the game, but now I need to watch it because it’s really good.

    nasadigital
  14. So Kobayashi Yuu is voicing two traps this season. Mariya Shidou from Maria+Holic and Ruka Urushibara from Steins;Gate.

    Nothing to say except, “IT’S A TRAP!!!”

    MasterDragonKnight
  15. Felt like a better episode than the first one. Sadly it doesn’t have the crazed insanity of Chaos;Head’s New Gen crimes yet, but the fear in his eyes when he finds another memory that doesn’t match reality is nice. In any case I’m fairly sure that the many-world theory actually has some acceptance in RL*. Also there was a quick reference to Chaos;Head, the ‘Knight-Hart’ who couldn’t find the IBN.

    *Hard sciences really aren’t my thing but as far as I know it has something to do with an atom moving in one direction creates a universe where it moved in another. Obviously time travelers aren’t part of the regular theory.

    Grant
      1. It’s when Daru and our favorite mad scientist are discussing the IBN that was rumored to be in Akihabara, Daru mentions that even ‘Knight-Hart’ (Takumi’s online name in a MMORPG) couldn’t find it.

        Grant
  16. You’d be amazed at all the things that go around in Steins;Gate. For one thing, Ruka Show Spoiler ▼

    I’m not sure if the anime is going to follow the manga and I’m not sure if the manga is following the game so don’t quote me on this…

    PandAEmic
  17. Comparing episodes so far, I like Stein’s;Gate’s better than Chaos;Head’s.

    We get our trap early on (It’s ok Okarin, no one will judge you :d) accompanied by my favorite Doo Doo Dooo from Mayuri.

    We get Makise Mocks, Okarin gets owned.

    Daru makes his 2d wives cry, but explains that Feyris is a 3d girl with a 2d soul so it’s ok :p

    Mewtube makes a return from Chaos;Head and so does Goodle, I’m waiting for Pedopedia to show up XD.

    “inb4parallelworlds” Lmao.

    That was an epic chatroom.

    And if anyone cared to notice, Ep 1 and 2 both had Gel-bananas, which are obvious references to the Tales series Gel items like Apple Gels lol.

    anishuma
  18. I am really, REALLY liking Okarin thus far. I’m lovin’ his hilarious voice and crazy attitude. A nice guy overall too. I have a bad feeling about things that will happen later on (assuming he made that blood curdling scream), which is unfortunate since he’s too awesome. But at the same time, he makes the show. xD

    frice
    1. I usually hate his character’s type but Okabe is so over the edge that it’s really funny and enjoyable to watch him. I hope he retains this light and funny attitude thorough the series.

      Serapita
  19. I loved the game. For obvious reasons, those first two chapters skipped most of the comedy on it (Dare is much more pervert) and scientific explanation. The debate between Makise and Okabe explains all the current theories for time travel (it was a pain to read Einstein’ relativity in japanese) so the visual novel gets you into context and make things so much real (that was the KICKASS of this story, it has so many details that it makes you think on the theories and are very realistic).
    But an actual lecture on an anime episode would be impossible, so that effect is lost.

    Like most SF stories about time travel, the first episodes are the most important but you don’t know it until more ahead, so they can be confusing.

    I wonder which route would they follow. I really cried with Suzuha’ route, and Mayuri/True End were very emotive too. With Suzuha’s and True I’ll be pleased ^^

    ahh… and Show Spoiler ▼

    and Show Spoiler ▼

    and Show Spoiler ▼

    in short Show Spoiler ▼

    pmt
      1. well I used spoiler tag ^^
        anyway is almost a must for time travel stories that Show Spoiler ▼

        the issue here (not original of S;G) [MAJOR spoiler]Show Spoiler ▼

        The goal is like already spoiled in the PV: “Trick yourself. Trick the world”

        pmt
  20. It´s really interesting, specially when you add a male lead who has absolutely no idea of the real implications of he just discovered. Yeah sure, Okarin seems like an intelligent guy but when you have the posibility to alter the course in any posible way you open a door no human culd ever close. This is the posibility of possing as a god, even whwn Okarin is a really nice guy (and I am cheering for him to not go crazy) that doesn´t mean that someone around him is not going to try take advantage of mankind´s greatest descovery since fire. Time is something only God can control, humans not so much (at least not in anime).

    haseo0408
  21. I’m betting that John Titor did not and have no plan to travel to 2001 because the IBN machine was rumored to have appeared in Akihabara one month ago (in the anime’s timeline), as mentioned by Okarin’s friend (whose name I keep forgetting). Therefore, all books and threads since 2001 that referenced John ceased to exist. So the question is probably, how did the IBN machine travel forward in time?

    Dusk
  22. I love Kobayashi Yuu. She is perfect for traps. But she sounded especially girly in this show. Maybe due to the fact that I’m watching Maria Holic that I’m used to her sexy husky voice counterpart. Either way, props to her cuz she’s awesome.

    Okarin was kinda out there in the first episode. But I blame the wtf-ness. In this episode, I found him to be quite funny. His laugh is growing on me and I love the Takuto feel. “You forgot the secret phrase.” “Gomen, Okarin~..”

    “KIRABOSHI!” >:1

Leave a Reply to Joojoobees Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *