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「結像のリナシメント」 (Yuizou no Rinashimento”)
“Rinascimento of Image Formation: Return of Phoenix”
I kind of get the sense that this episode of Steins;Gate 0 is one of those Seinfeld “You don’t dissect gossamer” moments. The more I think about how all this actually came together the more goofy and far-fetched it all seems, with the overall mediocrity of the last two months’ worth of episodes having a lot to do with stretching my credulity. But if you can get past that, Steins;Gate was entertaining again. And fun again, and Hououin Kyouma finally came our of hibernation, maybe just in time to save the series. And in the big picture, that probably matters a lot more. El psy fucking congroo…
That said, I do find the idea of Kyouma time-leaping 25 years two weeks at a time – until he gets far enough back that it’s only 48 hours, making the total number of leaps around 3000 – quite the narrative paradox. It’s hilariously preposterous if we’re honest, especially when you consider niggling little details like – what about the time the time leap machine doesn’t work and totally messes Okabe up? Why didn’t that happen this time? But it’s also quite a clever plot device, and a very evocative one too – especially when one factors in Amadeus’ involvement. Even now Kurisu is right there at Okarin’s side as he tries to change the world (and those repeated conversations were pretty funny).
In a nutshell, this is typical Okabe Rintarou – he’s really the Job of sci-fi anime. He takes all the punishment God can dish out, all for the sake of humanity. Yeah his whinging for 20 episodes did get kind of annoying, but hell, I think if anyone was ever totally justified in feeling sorry for himself and risk-averse it would be Okabe. Sadly, though, that didn’t really prove to be conducive to telling a riveting version of this story – and thus, when the maniacal laugh finally made its reappearance I can only imagine most S;G fans were just as relieved as Daru (and if anyone hadn’t seen the first series, maybe just as confused as Maho).
As one would imagine Okabe’s hop-scotch journey back through time was not without its complications, and frankly I’m skeptical anyone could endure that – even Lintahlo – and come out the other end sane. That’s if one considers Hououin Kyouma sane, but I kind of do – I always figured the whole chuunibyou act was just Okarin’s way of first trying to look cool, then eventually keep himself from getting too freaked out by the shit he was getting involved in. It’s also a great chance for Mamoru Miyano to show off, of course, and surely he’s had all that Kyouma bottled up inside him all this time, desperate to break free.
As dreary as much of “0” has been, there’s no denying that laugh has the same effect as opening a window and letting a big waft of breeze come in and clear the dust and cobwebs from the dank corners. However questionable his route to get here 001 is back, and he’s more 001 than ever. Maho of course having no idea what the hell is going on is pretty hilarious in her reactions, and I loved Miyano’s delivery of the “Member 009!” line. With Kyouma around, there’s never any question of who’s in charge, that’s for sure.
Unfortunately, as confident as this new-old Okabe is and as sure of his resolve, his calculations for the moment appear to have been wrong. Despite his having foiled Professor Leskinen’s plans for that rooftop, a helicopter (though this one looks suspiciously different) still shows up and blasts the time machine seemingly before Mayuri and Suzuha can escape to execute Operation Arclight. The destruction of the time machine seems to be a convergence point, which means Kyouma is going to have to come up with a Plan B. Happily that’s something he’s quite good at based on his track record.
Do you guys remember when Amadeus!Kurisu said that she hoped Okabe could someday laugh from the bottom of his heart? This is that right here in this episode. Also, props to Mr. Braun for being able to defeat Shiina “I kill spec-ops soldiers for breakfast” Kagari w/o killing her.
Roses are read.
Violets are Blue.
The Future is not set.
El. Psy. Congroo.
El Psy Congroo
https://randomc.net/image/Steins%20Gate/Steins%20Gate%200%20-%2021%20-%20Large%2021.jpg
I AM MAD SCIENTIST! IM SO COOL SUNUVABITCH.
FUAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
YES YES YES HOUHOUIN KYOUMA IS BACK IN THE LAB
The finesse and the intellectual inducing lab coat
https://randomc.net/image/Steins%20Gate/Steins%20Gate%200%20-%2021%20-%20Large%2024.jpg
MAAKISE KURISTIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINAHIYAJO SAFIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINA!He had the hentai tensai shoujo… And now loli tensai shoujo!
Of what a wonderful time we live in
A youtube commenter said that it should be Hiya Josephina. which makes a lot of sense actually.
I want Houhouin to butcher her name…
Sadly we won’t get the pudding scene
Lets break open the Dr Pepper crates to celebrate nonetheless!
Sigh. How lucky am I to be alive, to be finally showered once again by the whacky craziness of my one and only favorite MAD’O SCIENCISTO. It was all for the sake of this moment.
El. Psy. Congroo.
The return of that laugh moved everybody?
I must be a stone-cold solid bitch mountain, then. This is the first Gate episode I found to be dreadfully tedious. It was like having to climb a ladder gripping with one’s fingernails, after one’s fingernails have been ripped out. It was an exhausting slog to drag myself through each minute even though I wasn’t even paying full attention.
I suppose the laugh was a relief, it should mean that we’ll see some stuff to happen next ep. But it’s all excessive martyr-porn with the 3000 leaps. A few hundred, I can sympathize with but the writers pushed it too extreme IMO. Like, let’s be realistic here! It’s just an animated sci-fi about repeated attempts to change events via time travel. Let’s not get crazy here. It was easy to be sympathetic in the first season, the repeated attempts were executed well enough. Here it was cheap namedropping like, “remember the first season? Like that, but since we’re not gonna show it with good pacing, suspense, and drama, we’ll drag you through a few painfully creaky moments and hit you with an outrageous number which you’ll appreciate because our attemping to re-do the first season will show how cheaply we compare.”
Have to agree with you. The episode didn’t really elicit anything from me other than, “Okay. Now we’re back to where we were two episodes ago.” By this point we’ve gotten used to the “time leap X times to save” plot structure so much, increasing that number to the thousands just doesn’t have the same effect (for me anyway).
I am beginning to wonder the reason why every time Okabe dives back into the past and fails is because the writers have unique ideas for the story that won’t fit unless certain conditions are met.
https://randomc.net/image/Steins%20Gate/Steins%20Gate%200%20-%2021%20-%20Large%2023.jpg
https://randomc.net/image/Steins%20Gate/Steins%20Gate%200%20-%2021%20-%20Large%2035.jpg
How the hell did the Russians smuggle a Mi-24 Hind into Japan?
Don’t ask. Just accept.
Pretty much a must with this series.
Russian hacking of Japan security, it’s all the rage and apparently it’s even being used to foil the plan for stopping WWIII.
https://randomc.net/image/Steins%20Gate/Steins%20Gate%200%20-%2021%20-%20Large%2036.jpg
“Airwolf” (an US TV Series)
The Hind can be refilled on midair? Then he fly always under the radar…
or easier, they put it in pieces and build together in an hidden hanger at the Harbor.. voila!
or use Refuel Submarines, so big that he can land on some Platform on sea (of course on clam sea)
think in some “Tom Clancy” roman way and i bet you came out with own ideas
I think this series ends at Episode 23 and they have an OVA or something like that. It won’t go beyond 24 episodes so there’s a conclusion coming and soon.