Reviewing Saya no Uta was a lot of fun, enough for me to consider playing a whole lot more visual novels and reviewing them too. Problem is, due to the nature of the stories in a lot of visual novels, I may end up not enjoying an awful lot of them. Hence I might end up with yet another overly negative post series. The alternative is to simply revisit all my favourite series and write some proper reviews of them, but they may end up coming off as spazzy fanboying. Whatever you guys want, there’s a poll on the sidebar to decide for me.
Right, back to Steins;Gate.
Some enterprising folks had guessed this from the last episode already, but Daru is Suzuha’s dad. I found the mental leap of faith that someone would have sex with Daru too difficult to make. I guess that, upon hearing that he gets himself a lovely waifu, he starts working out a bit. It’s not like Steins;Gate hadn’t already given us hints that Daru was Suzuha’s dad. Remember the fateful rainy day when Suzuha went to the meeting of nerds because she heard her dad was going to be there? Well, remember who else was showing up at that meeting until he was called away when Okarin informed him he would get to eat something by Feyris? Damn you Steins;Gate and your hints I never picked up on!
The plot has been taking a turn for the silly lately. When you take a step back and stop immersing yourself in the Steins;Gate world, you realise this episode had a tearful farewell to a time traveller, wishing her all the best in saving the world. Toss that in with the “I am your father”, the dystopian future, the full body leather catsuits, the evil organisation in masks, the moeblobs being pushed out in front of trains, and you realise that Steins;Gate has long since passed the grounded tone of the earlier episodes. It’s not that much of a bad thing, as I’m quite partial to slightly silly plotlines myself, but it does destroy a little part of Okarin’s character. One of the parts I really liked was how Okarin’s Mad Scientist persona was totally at odds with his surroundings. His grandstanding was a mask over the reality that he was a poor young adult who could barely pay his rent, his only claim to fame being he had a microwave that could make bananas green and gloopy. Introducing all these new plot elements certainly hots up the story a bit, but it does take away from that part of Okarin’s character I really liked.
I was having difficulty following the plot from the last episode, but I walked out with the assumption it would all make sense later. This episode simply assumed I had gotten to grips with the plot and ploughed forward in rather uncharacteristic speedy fashion. Let me just check if I’ve got this right. The reason Suzuha was travelling back in time was so she could get the IBN, then wait for a looooong time before she can give it to Okarin, right? Or did she need to decode something back in 1975? I think it was the second option, because Okarin already had the IBN once earlier on in the plot. Besides, why did she need to translate whatever it was again? To prevent CERN SERN from doing…something or other, god only know. I can’t follow it anymore. I’m happily taking Okarin’s side in all this. All that matters is the ‘Save Mayuri’ plot.
On that note, it appears Okarin, upon realising that neither the time machine nor the time leap machine worked, finally caved in to what hundreds of people were crying out for him to do and simply send a D-Mail. The problem is, a D-Mail is the most unreliable version of the lot, because we don’t get to see what happened as a result of the D-Mail. Was Okarin scared away enough by his own D-Mail that he stopped the production of the phone microwave in the first place? It’s not like he can reproduce that either. The phone microwave was made by Daru, while the time leap machine was made by Kurisu. Also, seeing as there’s no phone microwave, that means Kurisu had no reason to join the lab in the first place. This means instead she gets picked up by some folks at CERN SERN and become the evil world conqueror that Suzuha said she would become. But more importantly, this means she’s not going to get anymore screentime. Curse you Okarin and your slapdash approach to time travel!
The Cart Driver 
Until next episode it’s next to impossible to guess how far back Okabe actually sent the message and what it contained, but he certainly wouldn’t have any need to prevent himself from building the microwave in the first place just to alter what happened to Suzuha. At minimum all he had to do was send himself a message telling him not to follow her in episode 10, which would mean she would get back to her time machine uninterrupted before the rain damaged it and thus correctly retain her memory when she used it again.
This means that all of the development between her and the cast from episode 10 onwards never happened in the current timeline, she never found out who her father was, and continued on with her mission (which was always to get Okabe the IBN 5100). Was she successful? Judging by the divergence number shifting, she probably was and the IBN may be back in play once again.
Yeah but how can Okabe trust what his past self would do upon getting that text? Remember good old Kurisu cursing her future self about the My Spoon thing. You can’t trust D-Mails, even to yourself
You’d think he’d be the one person who KNOWS he can trust what he says. There’s barely any reason that Feyris could have gotten her parents to listen to her about not making moe stuff happen, nor Ruka getting her mother to eat more veggies.
By comparison, at that time, Okabe already knew time travel was possible and had sent himself a couple of D-Mails. Why doubt now? That was before Moeka and her group made their move, so even the paranoia wouldn’t be that strong, what with only one or two mysterious messages sent.
From what i understand is that you’re right in that she was supposed to secure a IBN5100 when they just got made and give it to Okabe to erase his first sms. That was picked up by a global spying network and slotted into the “time travel” keyword tag. It was because of that that SERN noticed Okabe’s group.
The problem when Okabe actually had the 5100 was that he was not aware of how critical it was and what to use it for.
Crunchyroll didn’t transalte the text of the D-mail that according to some anon on 4chan says:
“Cancel pursuit. Last mail was SERN’s trap”.
So yeah, Okarin didn’t follow Suzuha to the otaku meeting and she went back to 1975 to accomplish her mission (secure a IBN5100 and deliver it to Okarin 35 years later!). We still don’t know if she managed to do it this time.
The IBN is necessary to hack into SERN’s database and delete the traces of the very first D-mail Okarin sent, thus avoiding SERN’s spyware.
I think Mayuri is fine for now – but now that begs the question, where was Makise Kurisu in the last scene? If she went to SERN…well…color me surprised.
I was half considering to go way back to all the past episodes just to check the numbers on the divergence meter but too much work.
I suppose the IBN was used by Daru to hack SERN so by obtaining it, it would probably be used to cover up the tracks left behind from the hacking? It WAS the whole cause of Tutturu’s death after all.
Come to think of it, if there’s no Phone Microwave then wouldn’t we be back to episode 1’s world line where the phone microwave was just some green jelly banana making machine, no IBN, no Suzuha and Okabe finds Kurisu’s dead body?
Yet Kurisu-tina isn’t there… I’m confused.
Heh, I considered going back and checking those divergence numbers myself. This show really does require a rewatch at some point. Especially that blasted first episode
I think there’s some forum thread somewhere on MAL with the divergence numbers of each episode.
I believe the thread said the world line in the very first portion of episode 1 was 1.xxx something and later on became 0.5something after the discovery of dead!Kurisu-tina. The next few episodes were all 0.5something too but they decreased to 0.3something after a few d mails and towards Tutturu’s death. It was stuck in the same 0.3 divergence number until this episode when it increased to 0.4something.
So I guess they’d have to slowly increase the numbers to get to a good end.
i disagree with you on your bit on kyouma’s character some. while i agree that previously it was kyouma’s mad scientisto persona against the backdrop of a normal reality, it might be intentional that now it’s his seeming normal self against the backdrop of a more insane reality. i suppose it’s to emphasize how crazy things have gotten, that even someone as weird as kyouma can appear normal and relatable in the current plot and situation. i still think he’s the same guy, we just see him differently due to the situation.
anyways, im as confused as you are, but im still wondering what moeka needed the ibn for in the first place and where she might be right now, now that things have changed.
So at first Huouoin was mad, but now the plot turned mad making Huouoin seem normal. It might indeed be the case, now you mention it.
While I agree to an extent, the problem is he’s become normal(ish) person in an abnormal world, which is the bane of generic male leads across the board. Obviously it’s more interesting here, because it’s still Hououin Kyouma and the deliberate contrast between the two, but it just isn’t as fun to watch as the flipped version
im sure we’ll get more of his weirdo self soon. like his engrish. lmao.
at least we now know that it’s completely possible to have interesting male leads in seemingly awkward positions, as the trope goes. ARE YOU HEARING THIS GENERIC HAREM ANIMES? D:
I couldn’t get into the whole “good bye!” scene, because even though I totally called that shit and was pumping my fist, everyone’s reaction to the Daru fathered Suzuha revelation seemed a bit too tailored for emotion to me. If it were me, I’d probably be confused as shit. Daru asking if his wife was a hottie almost made up for it, though.
The first bit with Suzuha’s ultimate fate got me, though. Damn it all …
But, yeah, I’m curious to see what exactly changed. Okabe’s got Mayuri and the IBN on his mind, but I’m guessing something has to balance out in the other direction for those two bits of history to swing in Okabe’s favor. The questioning of Kurisu’s whereabouts in these other comments has me a bit worried …
I kinda liked it because Daru didn’t act overly sappy. He acted exactly the way he always acts. Even when he tried to sound cool, it sorta failed. It was awfully cheesy, especially the bye bye scene, but I rather liked seeing Daru act in character even in that scene
Man, Daru’s really been grating on me during the last two eps. He was fine as a comedic counterbalance to Okarin’s mad scientist persona, but give him serious scenes… his voice is bad enough, but he sorta cheapens what could be some genuinely nice scenes. Suzuha’s found her dad, so why not have one of his first comments to her a question about her moms bust; that will make her laugh and make him more endearing to her, right?
No Steins Gate, I’m calling bullshit on that; don’t change your characters personalities to fit with another, especially not Daru! Ok, rant over.
Ah well, at least something positive happened. I don’t mind whatever crazy repercussions happen from Suzuha’s actions, as long as the blessed tuturu lives on. I can treat everything else in Steins Gate as a footnote compared to that. š
Still, Suzuha…. ‘sniff’… š¦
Kyouma will probably save Suzuha if he manages to prevent the future with SERN taking over the world, what is in the end he needs to do to save Mayuri.
But I think it was normal for Daru to be shocked at first to suddenly hear he had a timetraveling daugther who was with him this whole time. He at least recovered quicly and asked about his future waifu.
My issue was less about Daru’s reaction; he was completely in role for the role he plays, that is, a somewhat shallow comedic minor character. The thing is if the story’s going to include him in a serious plot that has major implications for the rest of the series, then at least try to flesh him out a bit more.
I guess I felt his role as Suzuha’s father just felt really forced, like he was only made so because, other than Okarin, there were no other regular male characters to choose from, rather than it actually fitting the story.
Everybody else’s reactions also came across as tacky in the context; Mayushi smiles, Kurisu calls him a pervert and Suzuha acts happy regardless. They could have been having a conversation about hobnobs (had to bring that up again) rather than a serious plot development.
I don’t know, I’m seemingly on my own on this, so I’ll just stop talking now
Oh you were talking about the writers. They indeed should have shown him more as a plottwisting element, but on a second tought this is not the first time Steins Gate surprises us with the unexpected.
At first I started thinking all the ‘organization’ stuff Huouoin the mad scientist was talking about, was just conversation material. But later Kyouma starts receiving weird mails and the like.
Also when we least expected Shining finger turned out to be a traitor.
It’s probably Steins Gate delibaretly hiding some major plottwists to surprise the watchers.
Oh and it does seem extremely natural that the creator of the (D-mail) time machine of Huouoins lab was also the creator of the future complete time machine of the resistance founded by Huouoin. If Suzu is that future inventors daughter it sorta all comes together.
i agree, daru’s character felt weird and out of place in this episode, and the entire scene itself felt WAY too cheesy and melodramatic. i even rolled my eyes. daru took this new father information too easily (what?! no “HOLY SHIT I GOT LAID” moment?) as well as suzuha. she could have at least had some denial, as she never expected it was him all along. i feel like we got robbed of both characters’ personalities in that scene. so much more could have been done with it so it would be more believable.
To be honest, I was laughing almost the whole episode. Then there was the letter from Suzuha, which made me finally stop laughing and stare thinking “whaaa—“
I cried little bitch tears.
No Hououououououououin Kyouma in this post. š¦
Look at the tagpic.
Wait then what’s FB? It’s not SERN right? And why did the IBN disappear at his timeline but Moeka was still looking for it!?
Moeka assumed the lab members had the IBN because they managed to timetravel (partly).
FB probably is the reason why Moeka is working for SERN, probably some kind of prophecy or the kind.
And as last the IBN disappeared because of one of the D-mails sent to the past. It caused for the IBN to never reach the temple.
She needs to find an IBN5100. Make sure it reaches our mad scientist, so he can hack into SERN once again. Remember before he lost the previous IBN after a D-mail he managed to hack into SERN to crack the data about the jellyguineapigs. Now he needs to hack in SERN to find out about SERN’s plans. If he can do that he can find a way to stop SERN back in the 70’s to save Mayuri’s fated death.
But all that aside what concerns me most is that there can be 2 Huouoin’s at the same place and same time. This is hinted at the first episode. When Kyouma and Mayuri are talking with each other in the building they hear somebody screaming and it’s clearly Kyouma’s voice. So I am assuming Huouoin will timetravel to the past and prevent some incidents to save the future and Mayuri. It will be much like that one Harry Potter movie in which Harry travels back in time and waits with Hermione to prevent some of the incidents with the werewolf teacher and the like(think it was the third movie).
about Suzuha’s letter in the timeline where she failed; I really liked how even though she points out exactly why it went wrong, it doesn’t sound accusative or resentful at all.
and killing Suzuha the (sorta sexy) time-traveler/resistance-member/part-timer off so that Mayushi the token moƩblob can live looks like a pretty poor tradeoff to me.
Repel Lugubrious
But won’t Suzuha be saved from traveling back in time and having to die, when Huouoin saves the future from SERN’s clutches? I do think so. I can already imagine Huouoin the last few episodes completely timetraveling in more than one timelines and stopping some of the incidents from ocurring. I mean we clearly did hear Huouoin’s scream when the present visible Huouoin was talking to Mayuri in the building.
that deduction at the end of your post…. OMG….
This means that Mayuri has to die for Kurisu not to become an evil scientist! (Kurisu joins lab–>time leap machine created–>announcement plans–>Mayuri dies, if all these do not happen, Kurisu simply becomes evil)
I’m so happy! Since the forces of evil must not be victorius, Mayuri WILL be sacrificed and stay dead! OK, nowadays she isn’t as annoying as before (no tutturu for a month or so) so I may shed a manly tear or two when she tells Okarin to sacrifice her in order to save the world.
My guess is the clichĆ© where Kurisu+Okarin goes ‘no, don’t abandon your life!’ and Mayushi says ‘thats OK, I will have friends with me up till the end’. I hope I guessed wrong because that tearjerker scene will mark the beginning of the decline of this great anime. OK, it may not if it will be well-executed.
Oi, don’t look down on Steins Gate! The word lame clichĆ© doesn’t exist in the dictionary of Steins Gate!
There has to be at least one or two timelines in which we get a happy end! And you know what they say about happy ends: All the way to the end, a happy end! lol
I thought people were joking when they said that Daru was Suzuha’s father, and I wrote it off as something that they wouldn’t try to actually make happen, for fear of making Daru creepily coming onto Suzuha even creepier.
Guess who’s scrubbing their brain free of the mental image of somebody braving Daru now.
well it kind of sucks when people think of Daru as someone not human and will never ever have a human wife, shows how shallow some people are. But he sure doesn’t make much of an impact as a character though
I agree that the plot is all over the place, but in some crazy way it really work for this series. But on that note I haven’t herd Okabe correct people with his name of houuuuuinnn (something or rather, as it’s been so long I forgot).
Ok, the show got me on, Daru being her dad, as I was certain that it was Okabe. It was unexpected, as I already made up my mind that it was Okabe. However doesn’t that mean Daru higher up then Okabe seeing as how he has created more useful things?
On a side note, I kind of know what is going to happen next, but I will keep that to myself.
i must say scamp, i was gripping the plot alright before reading ur post, then ur post threw whatever i grip into disarray, and force me to rewatch and get the plot again, which i cant exactly put into words…….. good luck with ur attempt. š
As much as I like the anime version, the xbox version was better in terms that no one ultimately dies or gets sent back to 1975 (suzuha you unfortunate part-time worker…) While the anime has the same feel as the game, my biggest fear is that they will not explore whether on another world line suzuha survives and can stay with them. The world line already changed and it’s not like they can’t add that in. Plus, there are so many world lines that I wouldn’t be surprised if everyone lived happily at the end. I hope its so and not a TTGL ending where half the cast gets ousted. Tomorrow’s the next ep! Can’t wait ^^
If you notice, I believe in episode 10, when suzuha sends a message to okabe telling him goodbye, you get a quick glimpse of the time machine gone, then that’s when okabe sends himself a D-mail, telling himself to follow her.
Hi i am kavin, its my first time to comenting
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To the next! Kind regards!!