「虚像歪曲のコンプレックス」 (Kyozō waikyoku no konpurekkusu)
“Complex Virtual Image Distortion”

So Okarin was indeed faced with a no-win scenario after the events of episode 16. But my speculation was off – it wasn’t whether to save Mayuri or Kurisu, it was Mayuri or Feyris-tan’s father.

Mind you, I still sense that things are going to go down that road eventually – there’s a timeline out there where Kurisu dies, and my gut tells me Okarin is going to have to face that down sooner or later. But for now it looks as if Kurisu’s absence at the end of 16 was either a troll or a completely insignificant detail seized on by an overeager audience, as there she was safe and sound in the pre-open of 17. In fact, everything seemed just fine – except one day later than before, Mayuri’s watch stopped. And the door was kicked open, and the rest is history – one of them, anyway.

A cynical viewer might ask how Okarin managed to project himself back this time, given that the attack by Moeka’s group seemed to catch him completely by surprise. But do so he did, as his own personal “Groundhog Day” was still playing out with only the details changed, but the tragic results the same. This time, Kurisu’s advice was to find a way to cancel out all the D-mails that were sent in the current timeline, thus hopefully getting us back to a timeline where the IBN 5100 was back at the Shrine when he needed it and Mayuri might live. After some of the most blatant flirting between them yet – Kurisu is becoming more dere and less tsun all the time – Okarin starts out on the seemingly daunting task of trying to undo all the D-mails that led to the tragic results two days hence.

As I understand this mythology, Okarin can’t undo the D-mails because they’ve never actually been sent in this timeline now that their effects have been felt – the only thing he can do is to take steps to counteract the effects of the D-mails. The starting point is Feyris-nyan, and it’s her story that dominates the episode – but there’s still Ruka and Moeka’s D-mails to worry about, just for starters. For me, the drama surrounding Feyris was a step down from the magnum opus that was Suzuha’s story, but it was still effective. The most interesting element was that after Okarin told her the details of what had happened, Feyris’ memories of the old timeline – where her Daddy was killed – came trickling back and started getting all jumbled up with her “real” memories. Now, is this something special about her, some limited Reading Steiner of her own? Or, as I suspect, is this something that would happen to anyone if Okarin gave them the same information?

That really does lead to the fascinating philosophical question of just what “reality” is, – is one of Feyris’ realities more “real” than the other? Is this timeline where Daddy lives, the one she calls a dream, any more a dream and less real than the one where he died, just because she remembered it? After she selflessly decides to send another D-mail and give up her father as a way to help Mayushi, it appears she still remembers what happened, so that’s now three realities she has memories of.

My strong suspicion is that this won’t be enough. Logically, it can be assumed that Moeka won’t be cooperative about changing the past, and that her D-mail was likely to simply tell herself where the IBN 5100 was so she could steal it. For now it’s easy to suppose that Okarin will concentrate on counteracting Ruka’s D-mail (“Ruka-Mama – eat lots and lots of sukiyaki and tonkatsu and your child will be a genius!”) and turning Ruka back into a boy. While that’s fine with me – I’ve said from the beginning that cute flat girls are a dime-a-dozen in anime, but adorable Trap-Miko’s are a rare thing indeed – I don’t see how that will get the IBN back, in and of itself.

Oh, well. For now, anyway, things have taken a step back towards the timeline we were in way back at the beginning, and Akiba is Akiba again. I would be remiss in not pointing out that as things systematically revert back, they’re reverting back to a timeline where Kurisu is dead – but why belabor the point? I won’t pretend I know what’s going to happen next and I don’t mind that, as even the relatively unspectacular eps like this one are still entertaining and emotionally involving.

121 Comments

    1. I believe that Moeka said at one point that the original D-mail that saved Makise was the one that caught SERN attention on Okarin. So the final conflict will be choosing between Makise or Mayuri. Tough choice…

      chaos
  1. Feyris remembering what happened on a different world line seemed like plot convenience to me, but at this point, I can’t complain with how amazing Stein’s Gate has been.

    Soiyeruda
    1. I suspected that she had the reading steiner, but it wasn’t until Okarin brought her to the Moe shop that she was able to recall all of them. It open a lot of questions:

      -Did Feyris had the reading steiner all along or just acquired it due to Okarin?
      -How do reading steiner works?
      -Did Feyris remember what happen in the last 2 timelines?

      My suspicion is that she doesn’t remember what happened. She may have “felt” what happen, but she is unable to find the words from them…similar to Mayuri. This raise the question: Can each person in each different timeline sense the other person’s timeline? I believe they can. It is like they are linked together, but are unable to understand it or define it, so they just assume it is nothing and leave it alone. It is only when another person describe what happen in exact details is when they are able to see and channel the other timelines.

      chaos
    1. No, that was proof that light speed cannot be exceeded. It shuts down the easiest way to time travel by going faster than light. But there are methods that do not contravene relativity but still allow you to “effectively” travel faster than light. Wormholes for 1 example, star trek warp drives for another

      Zaku Fan
      1. also wrong, all they did was prove light can’t travel faster then the speed of light. No duh Sherlock.

        The HK scientists were just using china SCIENCE! to state the obvious and try to sound like the world should praise them for doing so.

        kodo
      2. Please do understand what they were trying to verify before claiming it was stupid.

        In some experiments done, singluar photons seemed to exceed light speed while travelling in other materials as its medium. The experiment was simply to show that exceeding light speed in a vaccum is impossible.

        This is experimental proof of a theoretical gap. If it was stupid, by the same logic, the entire LHC search for the Higgs boson is stupid because obviously the particle must exist for the standard model to hold.

        Zaku Fan
    2. I firmly believe that there is something out there that is faster than the speed of light…we are unable to understand due to our current limited knowledge and technology. In about another 50 years, somebody will realize that there is something faster than light. In another 100 years, another guy will discover something faster than that. The world exists in infinite possibilities so don’t be so sure to jump to conclusion based on what other people say…at least for now.

      A while back people thought sound was the faster and before that it was what the naked eyes can see. So are you really surprised that something out there is faster than light.

      My basic logic in addition to that is that the majority of the universe exist in darkness where light doesn’t exist, so something must exist there. Even if light is the fastest, it is only assume in a vacuum. What happen in a lab is not the same as what happen in real life…

      chaos
  2. Came into this episode pretty biased as I thought Feyris’s route ended in a really moronic way. At the end I didn’t hate this episode as much as I thought I would, probably because of the brief Kurisu & Okabe exchange.

    And now to Luka….

    namelessdwelling
  3. This episode was okay, if for nothing, reinforced my beleif Feyris should have been in way more episodes. I’m assuming in this timeline she is more active the lab now that Suzuha is gone. Suzuha or Feyris… that’s a tough call.

    And can someone please explain to me what a Rei-Netter is?

    Tez
    1. Wrong. Okarin lost both Suzuha and Feyris’s father. However, given original timeline, Okarin would have lost everybody minus Mayuri and Daru.

      However, it was a tough choice. When I saw how sad Feyris was when Okarin mention undoing her D-mail where her father died, it was heartbreaking, especially the constant look at the drawing of Feyris and her father. T.T

      https://randomc.net/image/Steins%20Gate/Steins%20Gate%20-%2017%20-%20Large%2027.jpg

      It made me wonder: How many lives would it take to save Mayuri? He had already lost Suzuha, now Feyris’ father. It looks like Ruka’s gender is next. I am sure Ruka will not take that well…

      chaos
  4. – Kurisu is becoming more dere and less tsun all the time –
    and I like that!
    I won’t pretend I know what’s going to happen next –
    “Remember, we’re talking about the force here. At this point Malak could drop out of the sky and I wouldn’t bat an eye.” – Canderous Ordo
    – and this is one of the things that makes steins Gate such enjoyable rollercoaster!

    ewok40k
    1. Maikse is becoming more lovey-dovey because Okarin is not acting stupid anymore. If you recall, Makise likes Okarin for his caring and mature side. Now that the fun and laugh are over, this is all that remain; thus, she is falling in love with him more and more. The ironic part is that she forget it whenever the timeline changes. It is heartbreaking to see it. If Feyris can remember her other timelines, maybe Makise will, too…

      chaos
      1. i don’t think so cause chiristina hasn’t sent a d-mail yet, im also having these theory wherein those who sent out d-mails would have the ability of the reading steiner just like okabe which was the first one to sent out a d-mail.

        geri911
  5. Did anyone else get the feeling that the episode was rushed and had forced drama? Also, it was convenient that Okarin ran into Feyris, got her to remember the other timeline events, and quickly persuaded her to give up her father. I hope that the following episodes to undo Ruka’s and Moeka’s D-mails are not that hurried because I want this series to give me a positive, lasting impression.

    However, I did like that Feyris acknowledged that her D-mail was selfish because she altered the entire town and past 10 years just for her own happiness. I thought that in this episode, Okarin was first going to say that his leaps and now, undos to save Mayushi would be selfish.

    catanthill
    1. Okarin’s seems much more selfish to me as he has had way more tries at it than Feyris did. Even worse was when they undid it and it still didn’t bring back the IBN 5100. How many others selfish wishes will he undo in order to fulfill his own selfish wish.

      Rayzakk
    2. Yes, I certainly had that feeling, that this is one of the weaker SG episodes and wasn’t so well thought through.

      For starters, in order to cancel Feyris’ D-mail, Okabe really went the roundabout way – he time-leaped to a time when the D-mail was already sent and following the logic of the show, Feyris should not have had any recollection of it. The only way she would have known was if Okabe asked her – “Hey, did you get some weird message 10 years ago that made you not bring the moe to Akiba?” In this case, the message wasn’t even sent to herself but to her father, so there’s no way she would have known that something had happened. When he started desperately asking her questions about it, she had no clue what he was talking about, but then she conveniently remembered – something that only Okabe has been able to do so far. So yeah, that felt too… “convenient”.

      A better and more logical approach would be for him to send a D-mail to himself in the past saying – “Don’t let Feyris send that message” or something similar, like he did with Suzuha. Of course, this way he would not have known what her message was, but it would make more sense. I guess they used that approach in order to reveal Feyris’ story to us.

      In the end, this is just a minor complaint though. I guess I have been used to Stens;Gate delivering solid well-thought episodes for many weeks now, so that when a weaker one (not weak, just weaker) comes along it feels kind of out-of-place.

      Darklord
      1. Okarin cannot send a D-mail to himself to stop Feyris from sending her D-mail because in the current world line, Feyris never sent a D-mail. Therefore, he must “undo” her D-mail by finding out what her D-mail was, and then countering that D-mail.

        In this episode’s world line, Feyris’ father received a text saying her daughter was kidnapped for ransom. This caused him to avoid the plane crash, which resulted in a divergence from the world line where he died. To “undo” this D-mail, Okarin and Feyris had to send a D-mail to Feyris’ father and tell him the kidnapping was a joke. As a result, the divergence of world lines that I mentioned earlier is cancelled out as if it never happened. Now they are back in the world line where Ruka is a girl.

        DrKM
      2. Hmm…good point!

        I guess I did not consider the fact that the sending of the D-mail in the past never happened. It’s funny how D-mail is able to alter the past by also removing the cause that altered the past (the sending of the D-mail), so you’re right, he had to go a lot further (10 years ago) to find out what happened and reverse it.

        Still…that does not explain how Feyris remembered the events of the other timeline – it still feels like something that happened because the plot demanded it to. On the other hand, I guess that was the only way to remove the effects of her D-mail, since it would be impossible for Okarin to find out what message she sent and who she sent it to otherwise. The only way it could happen is if he asked her – “Did something strange happen to you 10 years a go” and if she answered – “My father received a fake ransom message”.

        Anyway…I feel a lot better now about this turn of events…

        Darklord
      3. also gonna say it again im thinking that whoever sent out a d-mail would acquire the ability of the reading steiner, that’s why saying that it was convenient for okabe to have feyris remember the other timeline and that it was not well thought, is off for me, this anime have proven itself week to week and there probably is a valid reason as to why feyris remebered the other timeline that being said i rest my case. S^.^Sv

        geri911
    3. I disagree. This episode didn’t seem rushed at all. In fact, it was very emotional. The constant reminder of the drawing of Feyris and her father smiling was just heartbreaking knowing that Okarin have to take that away from her. It did acknowledge my suspicion that Feyris’ D-mail was to saved her father.

      So Mayuri’s death was surprising and moving, Suzuha’s failure was touching, but Feyris’ losing the one thing most precious to her was not?! Come on. It almost brought me to tears. Apparently, you have never lost a loved one otherwise you would have felt her pain. She lost her father for god sake and had to hide her sadness in Moe. It was a tough choice for Okarin, but it has to be done for Mayuri’s sake.

      For those who ask if Okarin is selfish for choosing Mayuri over Feyris’ father, I have one thing to say: if it wasn’t for Okarin in the first place (Feyris D-mail), Feyris would have never had the 10 years that she did with her father? He is merely taking back what he had given her, but did it for Mayuri’s sake.

      If all else failed, he can always redo Feyris D-mail now he know what exactly happen.

      chaos
  6. Isn’t any one gonna call shenanigans on Feyris being able to save her father with a simple D-mail (mind you, based on the divergence numbers from the flashes in the original episode) that never altered the time line by a full 1% divergence?

    1. 1% divergence = not dystopia (from Suzuha, which may be theory based hence true or untrue is unknown)
      Mayuri not dead if 1% crossed = Suzuha’s theory (or is it Makise?)
      This means Mayuri = saved if 1% crossed is only a guess but the only solution Okabe has at this current time.

      It could be Mayuri is saved at 0.75% but Makise dies as per ep 1 at 0.75%, then you get another problem

      Zaku Fan
    1. Not when they are in May Queen by the way but when he first asked her what she put in the dmail when they were squatted down hiding just before that and she has her first flash of the other timeline. She was looking at him like he was kind of crazy until he grabbed her and she started to have her memories come back.

      Rayzakk
      1. Nah… I would have to opine that her recollection was due to a combination of several factors: 1) the memories of previous timelines have been consistently referred to as “forgotten,” not “undone,” meaning that they remain for all people everywhere buried in the subconscious, technically accessible under the right psychic conditions; 2) being inside of the very place wherein she was most active in the other timeline, being surrounded by a location important to her in the other timeline; 3) genuinely believing in Okarin’s story about her alternate life after he gave her information she had thought that only she knew. That would explain her ability to recall the other timeline.
        HOWEVER, it does not really explain her having maintained her memories through the subsequent timeline shift. That compels us to arrive at one of two explanations: 1)she, too, had Okarin’s ability, albeit a weaker version that requires prodding; 2) once any average Joe remembers an alternate timeline, he or she acquires what is currently thought to be the ability possessed by Okarin alone.

      2. Well said, Wolf. I highly agree with you there. Feyris did mention that she kinda felt it all along. Mayuri is the same way.

        My next train of thought would be that everybody has this ability. Then why is Okarin the only special one? Maybe his crazy belief that he is a mad scientist trigger a flashback into his other timeline selves like what happen to Feyris. His firmly believe that his is a mad scientist, been around his time machine and friends, and interact with people who have travel through time.

        chaos
    1. The headline “time travel not possible” does not match the limited nature of what they seemingly proved. Consider that there is research going on RIGHT NOW to detect D-mails. It is still a plausible theory, because it has nothing to do with photons traveling faster than the speed of light. The D-mail research http://arxiv.org/abs/1103.1373 is attempting to detect Higgs-Singlets that WILL BE created at some future time. Sending a true D-Mail would additionally require developing an encoding scheme to layer information on the singlets (not a cellphone).

    2. You have to understand that for every statement/belief given, there is always an UNDERLYING assumption…

      So the statement: Time Travel is Impossible…

      The missing assumption is: time travel is impossible…under our current human knowledge and technology. For example, human knows that the Earth is round, but an ant does not. An ant only knows the world as it sees it with its own eyes and through the eyes of his fellow ants; thus it appear to be flat and limted. On a bigger scale, time travel is a new concept to human and appear to be impossible, yet to a higher life-form like a god or a billion year galaxy, time travel is a snap of a finger.

      chaos
  7. I don’t know anything about the VN, but I remember wondering early on in the series whether Moeka had a similar ability to Okarin. She kept taking pictures as proof of what had happened up to that point and it made me think that maybe she had to look at her old pictures to tell what the current world line is like. That said, nothing since then has suggested anything like that so it’s probably nothing; Feyris remembering things from other world lines kind of reminded me of that thought though…

    Kud
    1. Once her role as a SERN agent surfaced, I just interpreted the cellphone pics as her way of gathering data. I kinda spoiled myself and have a small idea of what’s in store, but

      Show Spoiler ▼

      Soiyeruda
    1. When and where do they post the S;G previews, anyhow? Unlike most shows, they never do it at the end of the credits … or if they have been the subbers have been cutting it off.

      Guardian
  8. Wow, absolutely amazing. First we can see how Okarin keep experementing with D-mail and time-leap. Of course, some of them are the greatest thing ever happen (the miko become untrap).

    NOW the second half of the season talk about how to undo everything that had happen. I wonder does this mean Kurisu will have to die after all? (Agree with Enzo)

    Since perhaps on other time line ,even with the IBN 5100. Mayuri will still have to die, therefore have to undo even further back to the first world.

    Geez, I really hope Ruka won’t be a boy soon. This will mean less of harem (but wait HE like him as a boy too )

    For this show, I can only watch in awe.

    lkaze
  9. We were fooled. Damn it, I was fooled. Thought they were going to go straight to the world line where Kurisu is the one that dies. They certainly pulled a fast one there.

    Curious how we don’t ever see Okabe getting terribly injured till this episode. Perhaps it was meant to contribute to the scenario itself and why Feyris called him her ‘prince’.

    I like the episode, but due to the fact that the previous one was so much more capable at tugging heartstrings, this one didn’t really stand out that much and what was meant to be a serious dilemma was solved quickly enough, though perhaps the VN had elaborated on that more.

    Leaving the arguments and theories up to those who are more adept, I see that the divergence number has changed slightly again. I suspect that when Okabe deals with Moeka it’s going to see a larger difference since she’s directly involved in this.

    And how can the episode be without one or two Rintarou/Kurisu moments? =3

    Owaranai
  10. Feyris has it bad. Okarin only remembers the time line he came from. Feyris remembers all her timelines. It’s like remembering all the times you re-lived your life.
    Feyris should just send a DMail, “don’t fly JAL” and they won’t have had to sell the comp.

    deafvader
  11. I love how Okabe keeps clinging to Kurisu for help. It’s really sad that she will constantly forget things every time leap.

    It’s surprising that Feyris was able to remember. My theory, it was eye contact with Okabe that allowed her to get the effects of the Reading Steiner. Just guessing tough.

    Also, I disagree with Enzo There doesn’t seem to be any indication that Feyris remembers anything after moving the world line again. She’s just being a tease like she usually is.

    fragb85
    1. Before the Dmail she said “I’ve never felt that much darkness” and after “Ferys and Kyouma fought a great darkness, as lover together, in a past life!”
      If you don’t want to call this a hint then call it a cheesecake.

      1. It was also indicated that she have forgotten all of it…

        Thus, there is no clear evidence of either. However, since she did recall the other timelines, it paved the way into what the Reading Steiner really is…

        I can see Feyris playing a more active role in helping Okarin now that she “sense” what happen in the other timelines.

        As for Makise helping Okarin, Since Suzuha is gone, I don’t think Okarin can turn to anybody else for help. How is that sad? You forget to recall that Okarin is an idiot who think that he is a mad scientist while Makise is a proven genius. If Okarin doesn’t ask for him, he will continue back where he started trying to save Mayuri over and over again just to end in a failure. Beside, it takes a real man to admit he is weak and he need help.

        chaos
  12. Suzuha confirmed to have succeeded in her mission. That felt good given her letter last episode. Perhaps the buyer for the IBN5100 is SERN.

    Not sure why it got delayed for 1 day but Mayuri still got shot. I was expecting final destination style rather than Moeka again.

    Flipped the previous 2 episiodes, Suzuha never talked about an attractor field alpha unless Makise is referring to the rope analogy, in which case, the rope is the attractor field which would imply there is something at the core of the rope.

    I don’t think Feyris remembers the 2 timelines. Her actions do not seem like that of a person who remembers what happened. She might remember them as a dream or something though. As for how she can remember the timelines, it may be possible that Okarin’s constant time travelling has distorted his personal time, allowing those who are near him to share his reading steiner ability if they get emotionally distressed.

    Personally i find it really admirable if someone could choose the same as Feyris. Giving up your family member for a friend even though it is the fair thing to do when we consider that Mayuri’s death is being caused partly by Feyris. Still it requires either a very strong sense of fairness or selflessness.

    Zaku Fan
    1. That was the very same reason why Feyris agree to undoing her D-mail. She said it best herself, “Okarin, it is because of it that I had 10 years of happiness with my father.” Thus, she thanks him for giving her the opportunity that she wasn’t have otherwise without Okarin approval for her orginal D-mail.

      It is the idea of giving something back to the person who have given you something to begin with, for that she see him as her prince in shining armor.

      chaos
  13. This is the first episode of Steins;Gate that I felt was rushed.
    The fact that I don’t like Feyris and her constant “nyan-ing” doesn’t help…

    Other than the convenient plot device of Feyris remembering her previous life, there is another thing left unexplained: if she staged her own kidnapping then why did her father sell the IBN 5100? The only explanation I can think of is that SERN monitored the D-mail and contacted Feyris’ father to buy the computer. But still it doesn’t make much sense because Feyris’ dad should have rushed to the station after receving the D-mail…

    Son Gohan
    1. You are thinking too much into that…

      Back when IBN was out, it was worth a lot of money. Anybody with money could have easily bought up the IBN. Assuming everything was SERN doing is just paranoia.

      The point that you missed is that the IBN is now gone and there is not lead into where it is at; thus, the only logic approach is to revert back to a timeline where the IBN whereabouts IS KNOWN.

      The second point you missed is that Steins;Gate is revert back to episode 1. It is undoing everything to explain what happen in episode 1 and about SERN dystopia. Thus, the next is Ruka D-mail and not Moeka D-mail…

      chaos
  14. Why does no one make a fuss about the fact that Okabe slept with Feyris?
    It’s very subtle but all things indicates that they made love.
    ・She said she wouldn’t wanna forget her time with Kyouma with her face blushed.
    ・After sending D-mail, she said they were lovers in previous life and were in close relation ship. We know that now she has the reading steiner so she remembers all her past.

    hekke
    1. Unlikely, the VN doesn’t have adult scenes. Okabe is a nice guy, I can’t see him as a person who takes advantage of someone emotionally vulnerable. Plus I doubt he would be in the mood considering Mayuri’s life is at stake. Also there is no indication that she remembers at all.

      fragb85
    2. This is kinda what I hinted at in my earlier post. I have not read the VN, but I got that subtle hint that they may have gone ahead and slept together. This was further built on by the blush, so it only made sense in my head.

      I knew I wasn’t the only one who noticed it.

    3. I think the animator is just heavily hinting on it. Although I do want to confirm, is the VN have no adult scene at all or just the clean version? Because I rather want to know the canon version of Stein Gate.

      lkaze
    4. @Hekke, where the hell do you get that idea?!

      There was no hints. It was all in your head. The scene depicted may have leave room for assumptions, but nothing concrete. How would you need that after their conversation that she left the room and he fell asleep to wake up the next day and undo Feyris D-mail? Exactly…

      If you looked back at previous episode, it did hinted that Feyris like Okarin. Now we just know why. It is a similar situation in Death Note where Mika had her memory erase a few times yet she still loved Light regardless if she knows him or not. It is the idea that love can transcend through time and space…

      The funny thing about “reality” is that everybody has their own version of it, but none ever has the true version of reality. As human, we can only see what we want to see and hear what we want to hear. The opposite is also true, you can’t see what you don’t want to see nor hear anything you don’t want to hear.

      With that, I can assume that you like Feyris and the idea of Okarin X Feyris sounds good to you…

      chaos
    1. the divergence meter changed to a point where the father was saved. but he has not yet reached a % on the meter where mayushi is saved, just like how he hasnt saved the world by passing 1%

      Mr.man
    2. Also, Okarin didn’t use any D-mail in order to save Mayuri. He only used the time leap. The previous D-mail was an attempt to save Suzuha. This D-mail was to find the IBN. Thus, he has not made any real efforts via D-mail toward saving Mayuri…

      chaos
    1. Maybe only time travelers can use the Reading Steiner. Feyris may have acquire her when she use the D-mail. Of course if that was true, then all previous users of D-mail have the reading steiner including Moeka. Makise didn’t use any D-mail so she don’t have the ability, neither does Daru and Suzuha.

      chaos
  15. Wh-what…? Feyris ends up with Okabe? But they will delete Suzuha’s existence (I was pretty sure Feyris is Suzuha’s mother…)

    Deleting D-mails with another D-mails? That will just add more record to SERN. Why doesn’t he just send a D-mail to himself of before the first episode? Like, “Don’t mess with the microwave or Mayuri dies and go save Kurisu.” 😛 It would create a really cool time paradox since he receives a message through a machine that will never exist… The paradox should either revert the world to what it was before the first episode, or may destroy the universe, yay! With this it would take just another one or two episodes to finish, but who wants that, right? (And knowing Okabe’s former personality he would probably take it as a challenge from that “organization” of his XD )

    Maybe I just missed something, but why are they so focused on changing to the “B time plan” while it was Suzuha who told them to do this? I mean, the only ones who could have told her this theory are our main characters themselves and they couldn’t have ever proven it since the dystopia was still dystopia when Suzuha left. I believe this theory to be completely misleading.

    Anyway, there’s something I wanted to ask a long ago. Does anyone know what Okabe’s nick Houoin Kyouma means? Or is it just some nonsense? I’m just curious, because the sound of this nickname is very similar to something in my native language – hard to translate, but it is something like “Shitty Good-for-nothing-lemon”. I’m sure it’s just a coincidence, but is really funny XD

    MariN
      1. It’s no troll, why would I make up something like that? I’m Slovak and if you find another one, I’m sure he’ll understand. I just wanted to know what the nickname means because I slightly suspect the creators that it may be intended since they borrow nonsense words from English, German and Norwegian(?) and maybe some more. Now I feel I was paranoid since there is no way they would base that name of the sound of colloquial words that aren’t even in the dictionary XD

        MariN
  16. So “I feel bad for Hashida-san”
    That means Suzuha told him that her real name was Hashida Suzuha
    But how does she knew it if she left days before Mayushi solved her father mystery?

    Flow in the script?

    1. This isn’t a flaw. It just means that Suzuha, after going back to 1975, acquired a IBN 5100 and gave it to Feyris’ dad for safekeeping. Feyris’ dad knew the 40-year-old Suzuha.

      Son Gohan
      1. But isn’t her name Amane Suzuha before she found out that Daru was her father and since this never happened in this timeline (okabe stopped himself from following her after the time machine forum meet) how is she still known as “Hashida” Suzuha

        Shoronpo
    2. Good point. She should not have known her father was Daru. Unless she was either affected by Okarin as Feyris was this episode (unlikely as no physical contact), Okarin told her her dad as Daru in the D-mail or Suzuha decided to take the Hashida name for purposes of going undercover. All are unlikely though.

      Probably a miss in the plot.

      Zaku Fan
    3. Recall that in episode 10, Suzuha DID go to the forum that Daru went to. Since Okarin never stopped her, it is possible that she discovered her father’s identity there.

      Amiena
      1. Not possible following that episode. Summary of what happened.
        i) Okarin made Suzuha agree to go to the lab for a celebration regardless of whether she found her dad
        ii) Okarin tricked Daru into going to the lab for the celebration
        iii) Suzuha went to forum and did not find Daru there
        iv) Suzuha left for 1975 without returning to the lab

        Zaku Fan
  17. I’m pretty sure that even after undoing all the D-Mails Kurisu will still be alive. Okabe switched world lines without using the Phone Microwave. There’s also the fact that Kurisa was alive in Suzuha’s future.

    We’ll probably get back to that point eventually, but undoing the D-Mails would only get Okabe closer to the time-line in which Kurisu dies, but not actually into said time line.

    Avalanche
    1. Show Spoiler ▼

      and next episode will be more of a ‘humor’ type episode. Nice change of pace.

      super mega spoiler
    2. I think he did use the phone microwave at that time. The explanation wasn’t completely clear to me, but Daru had the phone connected to it somehow. They discuss this at some point with Christina in the room, I believe.

  18. I agree that this episode was weaker than the last one’s and unless they will surprise us I am not really looking forward to the next “character episodes”, since I don’t care about the trap’s or the killer girl’s past. I’d rather prefer they skip those 2-3 eps and go straight to the Kurisu & Mayuri eps, but what can you do…especially Moeka’s past is probably pretty important.

    boingman
    1. I also decided to marathon this series on a whim. Now I was I wish I hadn’t done so until the series finished, since I’ll be very preoccupied by this series until it ends XD. I need to send myself a D-mail to stop me from marathoning this too early 😉

      This is one helluva series, and I’m enjoying it it immensely. I love all the dialogue, the excellent characterizations, the comedy, as well as the intriguing plot that this series combines.

      Kentaiyoshimi
    1. i agree with this… Feyris had been known to play along with Okarin with this “Organization” thingy and making up ridiculous stories of her own (episode 2) ; she probably doesn’t remember a thing and just said it out of coincidence

      Sai
  19. Okay this one is gonna be long, but it also make the most sense…

    Despite what other readers and Enzo stated about returning to Timeline #0 (where Makise died), I disagree. I don’t think you guys are thinking this through enough. First, let get the all the current timelines in a list:

    Timeline #0: Makise dies, SERN ruled the world, Suzuha travel back in time
    Timeline #1: Makise saved, but SERN ruled the world and Suzuha is here
    Timeline #2: Lotto D-mail (plus all timeline #1 events)
    Timeline #3: Moeka D-mail
    Timeline #4: Ruka D-mail
    Timeline #5: Feyris D-mail
    Timeline #6: Suzuha D-mail
    Timeline #7: Mayuri’s death, Time Leap Machine

    All of you might be wrong because you all assumed that timeline #0 is the original timeline. However, I don’t think it is. In fact, I believe that Timeline #-1 might be the original timeline. In fact, I will go farther and assume that timeline #-2, #-3, #-4, etc exist. The past episode define the present as all past events PLUS all effects of time travel. Why do I think so? Because of time travel. The original timeline can be defined as the timeline EXCLUDING all time travels.

    There were several time travel events that changed the past so the original timeline has to be the timeline before all time travel interferences. Here is a list of the time travel that have changed the past:

    Okarin Time Leap: 48 hours ago
    Lotto D-mail: 3 days ago
    Moeka D-mail: 5 days ago
    Suzuha first time travel: Year 2010
    Okarin first reading steiner: Year 2000
    Suzuha first appearance as John Titor: Year 2000
    Feyris D-mail: 10 years ago (Year 2000)
    Ruka D-mail: 17 years ago (Year 1993)
    Suzuha second time travel: Year 1975

    Do you see my points? This episode of Feyris D-mail tell us that Okarin have to undo each time travel event in order to save Mayuri. You guys assume that Makise’s death in timeline #0 is the farest back, but it is not. So given the timeline changes, the farest time travel is 35 years (Suzuha second time travel to 1975). In addition, there was not enough information to assume that what happen before episode #1 or what happen to any of the characters before then.

    We do know that Suzuha travel to the past (2010) and may have killed Makise in order to save the world from SERN’s dystopia. Given that information, we know that Makise’s death neither stop nor change the future. She was merely an addition to SERN’s dystopia; thus, whether or not she died doesn’t matter. Suzuha finally concluded that what caused SERN’s dystopia is Okarin microwave phone. Thus she travel to 1975 to get the IBN 5100 she can delete all of SERN information regarding time travel and their suspicion of Okarin.

    These are the known time travel events yet there are more, do you guys recall all of SERN jelly-man time travel? Yes, SERN send their human test subjects all over the world and through several time period. How far back did they send their test subjects? That is unknown. I believe Suzuha failed because she didn’t travel far enough to the past to prevent SERN. If SERN sent one subject to the past (let say 20,000 years ago), then become a self-fulfilling prophecy that SERN will eventually looked into time travel and create a time machine.

    If you guys rewatch the episode about SERN background and the episode regarding their test subjects, then you will have an idea why SERN was created and who was sent back the farest.

    My assumption here is in order to stop SERN dystopia, one of two things must happen:

    1) Okarin must undo all of the travel time including his D-mails, Suzuha time travel, and SERN jelly-man experiments

    Thus, he basically eliminate time travel from history resulting in OUR REALITY, where time travel doesn’t exist. It bring back the idea of: 99% Science, 1% Fantasy. How is that for an ending?! (I wonder if I can find the real Okarin, Mayuri, and Makise… :D)

    or

    2) Like the movie Timernator 3, Okarin just have to ride through SERN dystopia and defeat them in a further, distant future

    LOL! Which would you choose, change the past (#1) or change the future (#2)?

    chaos
    1. Getting back to the first episode, I’ve thought about this on Suzuha episode. Remember that one of the first effect of his first Dmail, was the disappearance of 2001’s Titor, the one we know. So how could a Dmail sent some hours ago change an event 10 years ago. This can only mean one thing, our 2001’s Titor have been adopted by the serie as being a real time traveler. But who was he? what was his mission?

      One a fast thought I’d say:
      1- Suzuha arrived in 2010, killed Makise, then went back to 2001.
      2- Okarin Sends the first Dmail
      3- Suzuha arrives in 2010, does’t kill Makise, then stays in 2010
      … well, I don’t really believe it, but can’t find any other reason.

      1. It was mention a while back that John Titor in real life claim himself to be a time travel from the Year 2036 who is on a special mission to prevent a major disaster in the future.

        http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Titor

        However, because most of his predictions turn out to be false, people see him as a fake. I believe he left a few months later to “return” to his time.

        As for Suzuha and Makise, Suzuha stated that she hate Makise because she was the one who develop the first successful time machine for SERN. I don’t know what Suzuha real mission is, but she did state that she was in 2010 to find her father, but her original mission was stop SERN. So I am guessing traveling to the year 1975 was her main mission and she got side-tracked in 2010. Makise happens to be there so she killed her.

        When Okarin changes the timeline, Makise was saved from the murder. So Suzuha must have not run into Makise so she proceed to finding her father.

        As for the John Titor in 2000 to 2001, Steins;Gate may as well used it as an intro and proceed to create their own storyline thereafter…

        chaos
  20. in episode 1 makise ask okarin what he was trying to tell her 15 minutes ago but okarin didn’t know what she was talking about did okarin manage to travel back more than 48hrs. can someone explain how okarin d mail about makise death effect the world line since at that point they did not know about d mail or how to time leap yet

    jason
    1. Good point. I believe that at one point Okarin will become desperate and will proceed to use Suzuha time machine for himself. It is inevitable that he will need a time machine to physically travel in the past, but the only problem is that he cannot return to the future…

      As for Makise’s death, Okarin D-mail it to Daru and somehow Makise death was prevented. I am sure once the storyline reach back to Okarin first D-mail, her death prevention will be explained.

      chaos
      1. for those thinking that it was suzuha who killed christina think again try watching episode 1 and you’ll see there that suzuha’s time machine actually arrived after okarin sent the d-mail that saved christina. im actually am having a crazy idea as to who killed christina, its way off but a possibility Show Spoiler ▼

        i hope i’m wrong hehe and as to how did the d-mail okarin sent to daru saved christina, im thinking that he Show Spoiler ▼

        geri911
  21. Theres always this one thing that bugs me about time travel/leap. When Okarin does a time leap(send memories back in time), what happnes afterwards? For example:

    Timeline 1: Okarin puts on the headset and does a time leap, thus creating Timeline 2
    Timeline 2: (48 hours before Timeline 1) Okarin is aware of the events in Timeline 1

    So, right now, the P.O.V of the will always follow Timeline 2 after the time leap, but about about Timeline 1? AFAIK, nothing has changed, since all Okarin only did was physically put on a headset. Doesn’t this mean that there are many “Timeline 1’s” where Okarin and co. continue living even though Mayuri is dead?

    Curious
    1. What about timeline before the time leap?

      It continue on as it will. Thus, from the Okarin POV he basically put on a headset and take it off. However, his past self 48 hours before receive all the new memories.

      Nope, there are not multiple timeline 1. It is still the same timeline only 48 hours before. Evrything that will happen will still happen, only minor details change. Major evnts like Mayuri death is not preventable.

      In time leap, there are no timeline 1 and timeline 2. It is still the same timeline, only 48 hours beforehand. Thus, the main idea is that Mayuri death cannot be stop because Okarin is still in the same timeline. As he continue to experiment to D-mail, he continue to run into Mayuri death. The conclusion is that he need to move from Alpha timeline to Beta timeline. Alpha and beta refers to a collection of timelines, not just one. Recall Suzuha rope example…

      chaos
    2. Timelines are just mere possibilties. And there is always one active timeline only. When time travel occurs, the current timeline shifts to the chosen possibility, and the previous one ceases to exist. The world rewrites itself.

      No1 can ever travel back to the exact same timeline. The very action of time travel itself splits the timeline into two. One possibility that you travelled, and one you didn’t. D-mail and time leap are all the same. The only difference is that the contents being sent and the limitations. Okabe’s Reading Steiner doesn’t kick in when he time leaps because the divergence is too minor. It’s the same when Suzuha travelled to 1975. She will fail to retrieve the IBN. This is also one of the standing points where every1 has Reading Steiner. Like Okabe, every1 “remembers” what had happened if the divergence is minor as there’s not a change at all. They simply “forgot” the past events, or sees them as dreams and their own imaginations, when the divergence is severe. Okabe’s RS sense is unique as his personality is too freaking determined and he’s unwilling to forgo anything, memories wise.

      It’s not the point that Okabe couldn’t save Mayuri with time leap. The current timeline is amongst the infinite ones within the Alpha Attractor Field. According to the Attractor Field Theory, it will force all timelines into some predetermined events. For example, SERN distopian future and Mayuri’s death. There’s no escape in Alpha. The only way out is to shift the timeline beyond 1% divergence into the Beta Attractor Field, which is believed to have a better future as SERN will fail to create a time machine of their own without noticing Okabe’s group. It’s also strongly suggested that the said Beta is the original worldline of Okabe. Like Mayuri, Kurisu was destined to die in that worldline. But after Okabe sent his 1st D-mail, she somehow survived. Which means Okabe has jumped worldlines. The divergence has been decreasing toward 0% since Okabe started to send those previous D-mails, and it is now climbing up with the reversal. It’s safe to say that the original worldline is indeed Beta, the one Suzuha suggested.

      Kansokusha
  22. What I don’t understand is this:

    As far as I understand, when Feyris “undoes” her first D-Mail this means that Okabe switches to a different timeline, consciously thanks to his “reading Steiner”. Basically, it is Okabe’s consciousness which switches timelines.

    But I think this does not mean that the “old” timeline with Feyris’ dad alive collapses. It is just Okabe’s consciousness which moves on. Therefore, Feyris did not “kill” her father by “undoing” her first D-Mail.

    It seems that Feyris’ second D-Mail had the effect that her consciousness switched to another timeline together with Okabe’s, so maybe she has some sort of “reading Steiner” as well. However, without “reading Steiner” in my understanding her consciousness would have simply stayed in her “old” timeline with her dad alive even after “undoing” her first D-Mail. So what exactly was the choice she was facing?

    Any thoughts on this?

    Besides, I liked this episode because I like Feyris. I think she is pretty clever and her “nayn”-ing is not because she is stupid or deceiving people but just because she thinks it is fun.

    jreding
    1. You are correct. The timeline where her father died and the timeline where he lived still continue on. For the record, Okarin didn’t travel back to te timeline where her father originally died, he travel to a similar timeline where her father died, but not the same one.

      The choice she was facing is from Okarin POV where he remember all previous time travel. In his POV, he can only exist in one timeline thus whatever timeline he moved to is consider the true timeline. She is unaware of the many worlds theory.

      So for those out there who felt sad for Feyris, don’t. Her timeline where her father lived still exist, so she is happy there….

      chaos
    1. What if Okarin decided to travel with Suzuha to 2010?

      When they exit, Okarin ran into a different direction hoping to find Makise which he did and try to tell her when Mayuri showed up. They went somewhere when the other Okarin enter into the room and he must have took Mayrui’s metal oopa. When he try to fnd Makise again, she was gone. He ran upstair to find Makise stab by Suzuha where he screamed. He grab Suzuha and they ran out before the other Okarin came in.

      chaos
  23. I actually liked Feyris more because of this episode. After knowing why she is so dedicated to Moe because of her father death, I don’t mind her playful “nyan” anymore. I hope she play a more active role for the reminder of the series, especially with Suzuha gone.

    I was hoping Okarin could have found a way to find the IBN without killing her father…

    chaos
  24. Anybody playing VN version of this arc? I felt like some details were skipped, just like some past episodes, but I guess in this arc the skipped parts were more important. Can anybody tell the differences of VN and Anime? (no future spoilers, please)

    zeroyuki

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