Steins;Gate – 22

Women: dangerous when wet

Unless you watch an episode the very moment it is released, not getting the entire contents of the episode spoiled for you can be tough. Twitter, Tumblr, and 4chan are all places I have to either cautiously filter through or just avoid like the plague. If you didn’t have the kiss spoiled, I’m happy for you. If I just spoiled it for you now, that’s your own damn fault for opening the post of an episode you haven’t seen.

Kurisu left the lab without a word in order to come to grips with the fact that she will inevitably have to die to save Mayuri and create a peaceful future. When Okarin finds her, she’s laid out on the rooftop of the very same building she is supposed to die in. The conversation doesn’t get very far, as it starts to rain and they have to duck inside the building for cover.

There’s a bit of wet t-shirt fanservice, as to be expected in an anime. As they wait for the rain to calm down, Kurisu pulls out a sewing kit from her pocket (I guess sewing kits are small these days) and starts to patch up a rip in Okarin’s lab coat. He admits that he went through a frantic search of the city to find her, hence the tear in his clothes. As soon as she’s done with the handiwork, the light-hearted conversation takes a nosedive into the darkest of conversation topics. Death. Kurisu knows that this is where she dies, and that the only way for this to work is for her to accept her death.

Okarin is not willing to abandon Kurisu, and so he does what he usually does; runs home and timeleaps. Kurisu stops him just in time so that he won’t make the same mistake of just repeating the same period of time over and over. By doing this, he’s been killing Mayuri countless times over, to the point where he admits himself that he’s grown completely numb to it. There is no other way, but to go back to the beta world line and kill the very person who trusted him and saw him through this entire mess. Filled with pain, they embrace each other.

It takes a bit more coaxing from Kurisu until Okarin fully agrees to time leap. She assures him they’ll still be together as long as he remembers her. Maybe not in his timeline, but in another. Set in his decision, he confesses to Kurisu and she shyly kisses him. They kiss a couple more times, neither of them wanting the moment to end.

Kurisu leaves Akihabara and Okarin sees her off. He gives her a lab gadget and she gives him a Dr. Pepper. She mouths what looks like “anata no koto ga suki” to him, but he doesn’t see it. When he returns to the lab, Daru has cracked the code to delete any traces they’ve left on SERN’s database. Just as he presses ENTER, Kurisu barges in and tries to confess her love to Okarin. Sadly, it’s cut off before she can finish her sentence.

Okarin is left standing in his original timeline, dazed and confused. He gives a rambling speech that is half of his mad scientist ego and half of a sorrow so deep he can’t contain it. Mayuri gives him a quiet look, then tells him it’s okay to cry. It doesn’t end there though. Okarin throws out the IBN 5100 so that no one will ever use the Phone microwave ever again. The ED starts up, but that doesn’t mean the show is over. Okarin suddenly gets a call from Suzu who has come from the future asking him to try and stop World War 3…

Left Over Thread:

You’re lucky I always carry a sewing kit in my…holy crap, where did I even store this thing?

In an alternate timeline, it wasn’t Kurisu’s first kiss, but her first HEADBUTT

You need to start dialing down the crazy when even MAYURI thinks you’re weird

Now in Grape/Blueberry flavour

End Thoughts: That was an utterly beautiful and tragic episode; fit to be the finale of the entire season. It could have ended with Mayuri telling Okarin he could cry now, and I would have been perfectly content with how things unfolded. Instead of just ending on a crescendo, they suddenly switch gears and change things AGAIN. The beta world line may not have SERN taking control of everything, but it has World War 3. How on earth is Okarin supposed to stop that, especially after he got rid of his Phone Microwave? It’ll take more than advising people to eat more vegetables to make a big change. Furthermore, why is he responsible for this? Why does HE have to be the one to tinker with fate? This is his original timeline and everything is now progressing as it should. If this worldline is destined to go to war, maybe they should just leave it. It seems something worse is always waiting on the other side when they try and make a brighter future anyways.

This is my new favourite episode, as it had so many powerful moments and conversations. We had seen Okarin slowly slip into a numb state where he could watch Mayuri die over and over without batting an eyelash. Through his actions, we could see how the mission to save Mayuri took precedence over Mayuri as an actual person. But to have him admit it with words, to say that he’s known all along, is entirely different. He knew, but he was too far gone to stop it. Slowly going insane and slowly going insane while you actually realize what is happening to you are not the same thing. He really has been through far too much.

Then there’s Kurisu, who has been through arguably just as much shit as Okarin. She worked as hard as she could to fulfill Okarin’s wishes and save Mayuri, only to find out it would end in her death. Congratulations, you supported Okarin through his darkest moments and came up with multiple Nobel-prize winning theories just to have it result in your end. The most amazing part of this tragedy, is that she remains completely calm throughout the entire thing. She didn’t break down and cry (at least, not in front of anyone) or beg Okarin to save her. She quietly thought of a way to save the two of them, couldn’t think of one, and then came to a set decision. To make things easier for Okarin, she was strong in her choice and showed almost no fear to him. She never said she was afraid of dying, when you can be almost 100% sure that’s what was running through her mind. No one wants to die. The only selfish thing she did for herself all episode was to run back to the lab and tell Okarin she loved him. She knew it would make it harder for him, but she also knew she’d regret it if she never told him. Oh, how it hurt. It hurt so much. I won’t be surprised if anyone cried at any time during this episode. There’s still more to come, and the show must go on, even without Kurisu. In memory of lab member 004, El Psy Congroo.

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.