Steins;Gate 0: Episode 4 “Solitude of the Mournful Flow – A Stray Sheep” – Recap/ Review (with Spoilers)
Steins;Gate 0 attempts to inspire interest by noting Okabe feeling a world line shift, and it being noted Suzu didn’t return to the past alone. Network Crunchyroll Director(s) Kenichi Kawamura Writer(s) Jukki Hanada Air Date 5/2/2018 Actors Introduced Kagari Megumi Han Flash Forward: Okabe, Mayushii, Suzu We have an extended period in the future and…
Steins;Gate 0 attempts to inspire interest by noting Okabe feeling a world line shift, and it being noted Suzu didn’t return to the past alone.
| Network | ||
| Crunchyroll | ||
| Director(s) | Kenichi Kawamura | |
| Writer(s) | Jukki Hanada | |
| Air Date | 5/2/2018 | |
| Actors Introduced | ||
| Kagari | Megumi Han | |
Flash Forward: Okabe, Mayushii, Suzu
We have an extended period in the future and it is as dystopian as we have always known. Okabe is on the run, people trying to keep him safe get massacred, and eventually, he gets captured. Meanwhile, with Daru and Mayushii trying to create a time machine, peacekeepers come after them and this coerces Mayushii to entrust Suzu with her 10-year-old, adopted, daughter, Kagari. Not because she could necessarily help much, but just so she won’t have to go through the same trauma Suzu did.
Well, go through it again since she was an orphan.
Commentary
I fully believe there should be a few episodes dedicated to fully playing out the bad ending. That includes seeing Suzu lose her mother and just all the characters we know and love being taken out (killed). For, as noted in past recaps, that is the selling point here. What would happen if a show didn’t have its protagonist push for the good ending but accepted the bad one and left it at that? And considering the bad ending is more than a decade away, it isn’t like we’re going to see much progress towards it in present time.
So, to perhaps push what Okabe should be fighting for, I think we have to witness what he is allowing to happen. Heck, maybe even figure a way for him to jump forward and see what he is letting happen. Which may very well be how this show ends when I think about it. Okabe giving Suzu the kind of message he knows he needs in order to keep going even when they seem hopeless.
Changing The Future: Suzu
Before Suzu was in 2010, she was in 1975 and also 1998. During this time, it seems she decided to not just look around, see what year it was, then jump to the time it should be. Instead, it appears she might have made changes. Like, for example, changing something to prevent Y2K from happening. Something Mayushii’s daughter, Kagari, didn’t agree with for, even at 10, she realized how changing one thing in the past could drastically alter the future for worse. And though already an orphan, she didn’t want to lose Mayushii too. So, with that in mind, she pulled a gun on Suzu and later ran away.
Commentary
Question: Could it be that as Okabe was making changes to world lines, part of the reason he kept failing was because Suzu, in the past, was changing things on her own as well? Like, as Karandi has noted in the comment section, there hasn’t really been a strong point for this show. One could argue, one being made, “Hey, it is letting us see the bad ending” but who really wants that when we saw the good ending over the course of 24 episodes and to get to the bad ending now, we have to go through an additional 23?
However, with seeing Suzu meddle with things, it helps you understand why, perhaps, Okabe had so many issues with jumping through multiple timelines. It was because Suzu in the past kept changing things which Okabe had to deal with in the present. Because, considering how many world lines there are, who knows if one Suzu wasn’t messing with another timeline while Suzu was interacting with present time Okabe who was also messing with and jumping from timeline to timeline.
The Whereabouts of Shiina Kagari: Suzu, Okabe, Moeka, Daru, Ruka
With it being clear Okabe isn’t jumping world lines and is ready to let the world go to hell, naturally, there has to be more to the show then him pining over an AI version of Kurisu. Thus leading to the question of, where has Shiina Kagari been for the last 12 some odd years? Ruka may have an answer, but with Daru calling Moeka, and not knowing it, Okabe is ready to freak out. Especially since he knows, in multiple world lines, who she is. Suzu may not, but he does and that frightens the hell out of him.
Commentary
It’s nice that there is some sort of goal now, in terms of finding Shiina Kagari, but similar to Sword Art Online: (Alternative Gun Gale Online) it’s not the kind of goal which leads you to believe this deserved to be a full-fledged series. Especially considering, speaking on Steins;Gate, in particular, they released a movie before. So, all things considered, why this wasn’t a movie, instead of another 23+ episode season, is beyond me.
Which isn’t to say I hate the story or am necessarily bored. But, at this point, it is a program I watch since I feel loyal to the franchise and while not noteworthy, in any way, it isn’t terrible either. It’s just milking the franchise for what it’s worth and we haven’t reached the point where it seems diluted.
But we’re working our way there.
Highlights
- There is some kind of goal now!
Low Points
- However, that goal isn’t strong enough to carry the series till the end. In fact, it may barely carry those already iffy about this show to the end of the next episode. Unless something interesting comes about from Shiina.
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Previous Episode’s Recap
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- Plot and Dialog - /100
- Character Development and Performances - /100
- Visuals and Sound - /100
- Pacing - /100
- Value For Intended Audience - /100
It makes me wonder if this is going to become a trend. Having spin-offs which, so it seems, act as a sort of reminder the franchise exists as they prep for the next big entry. I mean, I’m not sure if we’re getting a legit Steins;Gate sequel, or maybe the second arc could be it, but with SAO, FLCL, and the dungeon franchise seemingly doing it, maybe it is a thing?
I’ve definitely been feeling that I’m watching because I liked the original series rather than because this spin-off had offered me much incentive to keep watching. I was hoping that feeling would fade, and while the spin-off isn’t bad, if this had been my entry to Steins;Gate I wouldn’t be overly impressed with it as a franchise.