Steins;Gate – 16
Time machines just aren’t made like they used to be
I officially finished driving school on this scorching summer’s day, and I feel as free as a bird. It’s 46 degrees celcius and so humid it feels like you’re swimming when you walk though. Whoever thinks Canada is perpetually knee-deep in snow and wrought with polar bears needs to be experiencing this right now…Anyways, I’m safe and sound in the comfort of AC so there is no need to fear! I can enjoy my Steins;Gate without sweating like a pig.
After all that hullabaloo about finding Suzu’s dad in episode 15, he’s not even there. The “barrel-like” man ordered the pin and will be coming back later to pick it up. Other than that, the man won’t reveal his client’s identity. Okarin stakes out in the alleyway to catch this mysterious man. The one who made the order…was Daru! He claims to have ordered it just to give Suzu a bit of hope, but there’s a lot more meaning to the purchase than just that.
Bad Daru! Stop buying backalley dakimakuras from strange men!
Back at the time machine, Daru is still toiling away to try and get it finished in time. Just as he finishes, Mayuri comes to an amazing conclusion. Daru is Suzu’s dad. She figures this out based on the name of the time machine (named after a lab gadget), narrowing it down to only people who know about Okarin’s Reading Steiner, and many other clues. Wow, I guess her head isn’t just full of tiny little bunnies rolling around! All of a sudden, the meeting becomes a happy reunion that brings Suzu to tears.
Along with her trusty bicycle, Suzu heads off to 1975 to try and set things right. The time machine can’t go forward, so she’ll be living out the rest of her life from then onwards. The time machine vanishes, but not much else happens. No change in the divergence number, no Okarin spazzing out from a timeline change…Nada. The lab members wait for the older Suzu to arrive (after having aged from 1975 until now) but instead get a letter from her delivered by Mr. Braun.
The letter from Hashida Suzu is not the bearer of good news that they expected. Suzu suffered from amnesia upon arriving in 1975, only remembering who she was one year before her death. She failed to obtain the IBN 5100 and stop the chain of events that would lead to the dystopian future she lived in, and thus committed suicide in the year 2000. If she hadn’t searched for her dad in the year 2010 or if Okarin hadn’t had stopped her that rainy day, this might not have happened.
Okarin takes all the blame, and immediately decides that sending a D-mail will be the best course of action. Of course, this means everything from today including Suzu’s touching reunion will be erased. Still, he does it. Right after the jump, he asks Mr. Braun how he knew Suzu. Apparently she looked after Mr. Braun and left the divergence meter with him. Hmm, I don’t remember it being that high. Could it be that Okarin’s D-mail made the divergence number tend towards 1? Afterall, this is the time that the trains shouldn’t be operating and that Mayuri should be dead…but she’s fine. At least for now, the timeline has changed enough so that Okarin’s friends are safe.
Bonus Screenshots:
The killer is Mrs. Red. In the kitchen. With a whirly camera.
Have a refreshing drink from our new sponsor while blatantly flashing the label at the screen!
The last thing he saw before his fat devoured her (like a Kerr black hole)
Good old 1975, when everyone was bald.
End Thoughts: I don’t think I’ll ever stop being impressed at the pacing of this show. I keep expecting it to slow down again, but it never does. What I liked the most about this episode was when Okarin sent the D-mail. All of his recent jumps have been after a short period of time, but this one was after about 2 days of waiting. Suzu finally meeting her father like she had always wanted to, Suzu growing close to everyone, all those peaceful moments…they would be gone. This is the first time I really didn’t want the timeline to switch. Mayuri’s complaints drew even more attention to the issue at hand. I’m starting to get the feeling ‘ol Tuturu is a bit smarter than she lets on if she managed to figure out Daru’s identity.
I liked that moment more than Suzu meeting her father. As much as I like Suzu and recognize that this episode had a lot of great moments with her (especially that letter. OH MAN THAT LETTER.), that sort of drama is very hard to relate to for me. Time travel issues can be tricky to portray because it’s such an alien concept, and trying to understand what a character is going through isn’t as simple as simply watching and immediately getting it. I don’t know what it would be like to have a Reading Steiner and have everything erased. I can only relate that to what I know of loss or being forgotten. It’s not that I can’t intellectualize what they’re feeling and put it into words, but I just don’t feel any emotional reaction to it. Of course, not every dramatic moment can be easily relatable, so every person will find certain things more depressing than others. That’s an entirely different topic though, and I don’t want to get too off-track.
In other words, I had no idea what to feel when Suzu met her dad. Her future dad. They went from just a slight connection to suddenly being father and daughter. How would you feel if you suddenly met someone who would be your daughter in the future and they were looking for you? It’s like suddenly forcing a close relationship on someone. It was a great scene but it was really weird to watch. Awkward, almost.
Anyways, dorama and my withered heart aside, the next episode looks like we’re onto something. Nothing TOO big since this is only episode 16, but enough to slowly bump up that divergence number. Mayuri is safe but only AT THE MOMENT. I wouldn’t be surprised if, say, Kurisu kicks the bucket next and Okarin has to start panicking to save her now. All is fair game in Steins;Gate and anyone could be the next target. Even YOU……..Yeah, pretend I never said that. El Psy Congroo, you crazy guys and gals.
About Overcooled
A neuroscience graduate, black belt, and all-around nerd. You'll either find me in my lab or curled up in my rilakkuma kigurumi watching anime.
POWUH: 1000-1099 and Pirate King with 1048 comments
I’m sad about part-time warrior.
I pondered that point about them discovering each other also. For Suzu, I guess you could chalk it up to just her feeling elation for finally finding someone to call Dad that made her happy. And Daru’s response was fitting; surprised and unsure, but still caring for Suzu’s feelings while being more curious towards the size of his waifu’s oppai.
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
It kind of sucks that her reunion wasn’t with her proper dad, but I imagine she was happy and relieved nonetheless. Daru’s response was pretty fitting, although I’m not sure how much I appreciate turning it into a boob joke. :B
POWUH: iLurker with 10 comments
I agree with you that the reunion between Daru and Suzu would have worked better if they spent more time creating a fatherly bond between those two instead of telling some sexual joke. That’s probably a limitation of the anime medium with respect to the visual novel, which can spend hours developing a certain subject.
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
The time limit probably made them rush things a little bit, so the revelation was rather sudden and kind of…casual. That boob joke really wasn’t needed.
POWUH: 800-899 and Flying Sage with 856 comments
Congrats on finishing your driving class.
Definitely a bitter-sweet episode. Suzuha gets to meet her father, but now only Okarin knows what really happened. Suzuha died, but Mayurii is alive. And of course the basic problem of Moeka is completely unresolved.
This show sure is good at keeping it coming.
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
Thanks. I’ll try not to hit any pedestrians!
Suzu died, but Mayuri is saved…I guess this is what Okarin would prefer though. Hopefully they’re safe from Moeka for a while longer, but who knows? This show really does just keep moving along.
POWUH: Meta Resident and Yōko Fanboy with 1246 comments
I was quite touched by this episode more than the rest. Especially finding out Suzu committed suicide from failing. Though about the reunion of Daru and Suzu, I’m sure all of you guys know this by now that Daru did intend on getting that duplicate for Suzu but as he grew up and had a child (Suzu) he would of given the badge to her, which then would lead to her going back into the past (time loop)
Though besides that, I think it was intentional how they pulled the reunion. Something we need to more focus on and dismiss the development because this IS a time travelling series. Other than how they interacted before finding out this reunion. How do YOU think they could of prolonged it with development? I can’t think of any and if you’re talking about hanging out, that’s completely off-track from the plot which is why I thought it was great how they pulled it off. Of course everyone has their own opinons and so do I and the reason why is because like Jrow said, their reactions were fitting for the situation. If you were in Suzu’s shoes, trying to find your father then finding out he was right there, you would be surprised but that wouldn’t matter after because you know that nothing else matters but knowing you’ve finally found your dad, which would lead to Suzu acting the way she did. XD
Mayushi’s death could be prolonged OR Suzu was wrong. She said that if Okarin wanted to save her, he had to change the time meter over 1% but I don’t believe this was ever tested. More so, a theory. Maybe if the time meter changed by 0.1% (see how the ‘1’ is still there) that the time would change. I’m only guessing here so don’t quote on me and we don’t know what’s happened to CHRISTINA because she wasn’t shown in the end. She could be dead or she could be outside buying groceries 😛
By the way, this is just a thought but could the bicycle have been the cause of the bad landing? She only had the bike AFTER she time travelled to 2010 so that could be a reason which would explain why they had a short shot of the time machine and the bike next to it. OHOHOHOHO so many ideas~
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
I just think the whole reunion would always be awkward. It’s not a case of me having an issue with building anything up, it’s a case of seeing Suzu settling for present-day Daru as her father being strange and a little unsatisfying. As for an alternate way of playing out the scene, I might have liked it more if Daru found out he was the dad after she left.
The time thing isn’t proven, but I’d say it’s pretty safe to believe they won’t actually head towards a different fate until they surpass 1%. All the major changes do tend to happen at 0.1% increases though. It’s probably just the bigger the jump in the divergence number, the more things change. Hopefully Kurisu is alive, gah :B
I was wondering if the bike might have messed things up and bonked her on the head too, heh.
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
Awesome episode! Suzu and Daru are so good together to bad she had to leave, I laughed when Daru asked about his future wife ahaha so funny. And yes that letter from Suzu! Wow very sad but I guess we need things like this as in character death sometimes >.>;;
Can’t wait for more! I guess it’s time for them to look for Christinaaaaa’s dad too! 😀
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
I can’t believe Suzu died so soon after finally meeting her dad…So sad.
I forgot all about Kurisu’s dad! I wonder what he’s up to now…
POWUH: 400-499 with 428 comments
This episode is probably the best one so far, especially with Suzu’s interaction and its effect on the other characters. Apart from Daru being her father (though remember his words for them to get inside the time machine and…yeah… and a rather good explanation by Mayuri, tuturoo!), the dive from the high was incredibly well done, especially since I felt like crying. God, why must anime be more human than…human shows? So heartrendering, especially with that moment of how she repeated ‘I have failed’ so many times, it actually felt like the end of the world. Oh, Suzu, we still love you, no matter what 🙂
As for that D-mail, feeling a little buzzed how my theory was right, heh heh, mad scientist feeling right now, especially with the increased number on the Divergence Meter. D-mail=shifting World Lines. Time leap=unilateral timestream shift. Ah, being an amateur author is so great…but Steins;Gate always throw something in as a spanner. Hm, what will the next episode bring? Will SERN strike back? Will I’m-mad-scientist-dude be revealed as FB? Or will Doctor Pepper take back its throne from Coca Cola? So many unanswered questions…:)
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
Not my favourite, but definitely a good one. It’s amazing how many people Steins;Gate is bringing close to tears. It might just be that I watch a truckload more anime than live action movies, but anime always manages to make me more emotional.
Haha, yes Reaper, you too can be a MADO SCIENTISTO with that sort of great thinking! If I could, I’d hand you a nice, cold, Dr. Pepper right about now.
POWUH: Novice (36-50) with 36 comments
「失敗した失敗した失敗した失敗した失敗した失敗した失敗した」
Suzuha is a girl with determination beyond limits. But it’s also such a trait that doomed her when she realized she had failed her lifetime mission. This depression has tortured her for a whole year before she giving up hope and hung herself. This is just utterly horrible. The letter scene, accompanied with that bgm, is simply depressing. The original letter was even more worse.
Suzuha’s Letter
Even after Okabe has shifted timeline with the last D-mail, Suzuha still died lonely in 2000. There’s no escape. There’s no hope going against fate.
My depression has been getting worse since I listened to Suzuha’s image song again. I’m gonna feed on this negative emotion… =[
Steins;Gate Image Song – In the Rainbows of Light –
Combining this with Suzuha’s alternative ending where Okabe chose not to send the D-mail, will make a freaking tear bomb. Don’t click the spoiler if ur going to read the original VN.
Show ▼
Thus the sacrifice has finally begun. El Psy Congroo. Harden your mind, Okabe. El Psy Congroo.
And I got a bad news. The anime team is going to hastily wrap up the coming arcs(before the climax) in a pattern of one episode per VN chapter… I think they have wasted too much time on those slice of life scenes in the 1st season… so disppointed… =[
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
Suzu has a real sense of duty to go so far as to kill herself…That letter makes it even more tragic. Hopefully I can play the VN when it’s translated (or just learn Japanese faster…somehow. :B)
I think they spent way too much time building stuff up in the first part too…I was getting BORED, even. I would much prefer if they cut some of that in exchange for keeping more of the juicy ending arcs in tact. Ah well.
POWUH: Novice (36-50) with 36 comments
Oh God hopefully they won’t screw up the pacing. They have skipped lots of scientific explanations already, yet they don’t have enough time. I don’t want it to be another Chaos;Head adaptation… >=0
IMO it needed to be 48 episodes to fully adapt the VN. =[