What Did Little Witch Academia Do So Right?

     I've been gone, now I'm back. Spoilers ahead. Glad we're past that.

Little Witch Academia (TV) OP 1
Studio Trigger

     Studio Trigger has for a long while been one of the studios that I've thought was so incredibly far ahead of the rest of the pack. That's not to be taken as an objective fact of course, just my personal preference. Along with SHAFT (who gets the advantage of working with lots of NISIOISIN material) and White Fox (though less so lately), I definitely tend to give extended chances to their works when compared to everything else. 
     Which brings me to the work in question, Little Witch Academia (TV) -- and I'm not necessarily here to give a cumulative history of the anime, or how it came to be so popular, thought that's definitely important. With that said, please accept my very hurried, unspecific telling of events. 

Little Witch Academia's Origin Story

(Abridged)

     Again, this piece isn't about the history of the OVA, the sequel, the reboot, and the game. I just think it's negligent to not at least gloss over such an integral part of what makes Little Witch Academia what it is. 
     In the words of Bill Wurtz ,"In the year negative a billion Japan might not have been here, [but in the year 2013 Studio Trigger released Little Witch Academia.]" then there was a sequel, then the reboot (which spawned a PS4/PC game). The reboot is what I'm concerning myself with for this piece.

     For the actual ill-informed, Little Witch Academia was an original animation project for Anime Mirai. For clarity sake, the event is also called (by English-speakers) the "Young Animator Training Project" which is basically what it sounds like. The short -- approximately twenty minutes long -- was released in theaters soon after and streamed on YouTube within a couple of months after that. 

Amanda and Constanze drawn by Visqi Sigar

     Here's the part that's important, if only because many people point to it as the reason for Little Witch Academia's widespread popularity and success: Studio Trigger started a crowd-funded "Kickstarter campaign" for a Little Witch Academia sequel in 2013 which was completely funded* within a day, with stretch goal(s) reached within a month. The sequel, Little Witch Academia: The Enchanted Parade was released in October 2015, also being very well received. There have also been a number (not sure how many) of manga released for the title as well, but as far as animation went, The Enchanted Parade seemed to be the end of it.
     I wouldn't be writing this however if that were the way of things. Little Witch Academia received a two-cour (25 episode) TV anime scheduled (and released) in Winter 2017 and Spring 2017. For a lot of the fans however, at least out west, we weren't really sure what we were getting with Little Witch Academia (TV). Eventually, after a short period of confusion: clarity. The TV series was a reboot.
     
*The funds from the Kickstarter campaign were supplementary to the studio's own budget, so the campaign itself was not the sole monetary source for the movie. 

A Single Person's Preconception

Ryuko (KLK) Akko (LWA) & Luluco crossover
by Luluco character designer MAGO

     I'd like to reiterate that I am and was very biased about Little Witch Academia, because I've come to adore Trigger's style. Even with series of their's that I don't particularly like (for example, Kill la Kill) I can point to any number of things and say "This is what I want more people to do; that is what I want from anime. I want more things like this." I bring this up because Little Witch Academia, the original OVA, was very unremarkable in most aspects. There's nothing I would point to off the top of my head as bad, but any consumer can tell you that things don't have to be bad to be not-great. And of course, I liked it enough to give the sequel a shot, which I enjoyed much more so, though that's not necessarily the common consensus. 

     What kept me coming back to Little Witch Academia was the charm, and it's unfortunate that I can't think of a better way of explaining that in short, because at this point, it's definitely a cliche to express something as "full of charm." 
     Little Witch Academia is probably best expressed by what it (glaringly) is and isn't. For starters, It's absolutely gorgeous, your stylistic opinions allowing. All of the animation is incredibly expressive, and it's fluid when it should be and otherwise when it shouldn't. There's a lot of personality in the directing and animation, and that goes such a long way.
      However, it's not that original; as Demo put it, "It's predictable, and there are some scenes and terms lifted straight from Harry Potter that might feel like less of a reference and more of a plagiarism to some," which hits the nail on the head, but I digress as to not get ahead of myself before making this point: I didn't necessarily expect a lot from Little Witch Academia (TV). 

Little Witch Academia [Left] & Little Witch Academia (TV) [Right]

     I expected gorgeous animation that seemed to be stylistically created specifically for me, and I expected it to be easy to watch. To some degree, I expected that to be the end of it. In my mind, it was stuck in this binary situation where it would either be like the two proceeding Little Witch Academia animations where the story was (overly-)simple and trivial, or it would follow in Space Patrol Luluco's footsteps, being outlandish to a near incomprehensible degree. Even with a two-cour run, I couldn't see a scenario where Trigger could stay true to the source (pre-reboot, as it were) and still strike that balance. I'm still not sure if I was wrong or not. 

That Same Person's Perspective

     Unfortunately, with the first episode of the TV anime, Little Witch Academia brought up more questions than it answered. As I mentioned earlier, I and many others had no idea if this was a retelling of the same stories, or if it was supplementary material for the existing ones, or if it was altogether a reboot. The first major thing I worried about was the characters themselves. 
     For example, for much of the first episode, Sucy isn't a friendly character. She's sinister, in fact. after coming to understand who she was supposed to be, I suddenly faced this confusion -- "Am I supposed to discard what I know about her? Will there be Easter Eggs from the OVAs? Are they just using her likeness but creating a different character?"
     I just had no idea what was going on.

Akko -- Part of an album
落書きまとめ by Pixiv user ビスマルチョ

     And unfortunately, that was an invitation for me to only focus on the negative. There was a lot of animation from the first episode I don't like. There's a handshake between Akko and Sucy that looked as though it was pulled straight from a Ghibli movie (not a fan for the most part, for the record) and the scene where the three girls run from a mandrake looks awful to me. But just as much as I was focusing on what I didn't like, I was missing all of the good -- things like the voice acting.
     Note: It's not that I didn't expect this from the animation, either. I understand producing a single OVA and a full TV anime are two completely different beasts. But I was still really disappointed in what I figured would carry me through the series. 

     Again, this is a very negative way for me to say I was generally unimpressed. I actually waited a few episodes (wherein I learned that it was in fact a reboot) before I allowed myself to really dwell on what I had watched to draw conclusions. What I learned by doing that was invaluable. 
     It became really obvious that Trigger was not going to play it's cards close to it's chest, so to speak, with Little Witch Academia (TV). They weren't trying to hide anything, and all of the characters were telegraphing how they would progress as characters through the show. By the end of episode two, for example, you'd be hard-pressed to find someone who didn't put together that Diana was going to be an all-out supporter of Akko in the end. You had to not be paying attention to be surprised by Ursula's being revealed as Chariot. Like many things, the show was going to be about the journey, not the destination. 
     I do believe this was intentional, and I think it was really bold. What amazes me most is that the moments that Trigger was sculpting before our eyes -- where they were seemingly laying out how they were planning on making a weighty moment -- how they managed to still seem so fresh and satisfying despite their predictability and telegraphed nature. 

     So anyway, on to the brunt of this piece --but as to lay a foundation, I'd like to make my opinions on Little Witch Academia (TV) very clear. This series surpassed all of my expectations, especially the ones I was fighting off from the first episode. I came around to the series' own quirks in the art and animation styles, and I fell in love with the narrative. I think the latter half is much stronger than the first half for sure, but it was the first half that I came to know as a pleasure to watch. I feel sorry for anyone who didn't watch Little Witch Academia (TV) while it was airing because I'm afraid one of the best parts of the experience was the feeling of it being a journey. Regardless, this is a new favorite.

Akko & Diana

and the Extra Pulp

Little Witch Academia (TV) OP 2
Studio Trigger

     I'm very tempted to call Diana the best character of Little Witch Academia, and that was definitely not the case in the original short(s). What I like so much about her is how it doesn't even seem like she changed all that much from beginning to end. That change happened more on Akko's end.
     During episode two, the episode in which she's introduced, I think Trigger wants you to flirt with the idea of Diana being an antagonist by showing you her hubris, but I think that's the extent of it. "Just entertain me," the show says. "Look at her as if she's the antagonist," as it hands you scene after scene of Diana being snobbish. I think, as a retaliatory thought, we then begin to counter that suggestion. This gives you a chance (that you unknowingly run with) to see Diana as a multifaceted character; a chance to view her from a number of perspectives -- not just the protagonist's point-of-view -- in the same moments we're being introduced to her. Because nothing is being hidden from us, we have this freedom to put ourselves in anybody's shoes we need to -- again, without ever even realizing we're doing it because the story is so simple and without baggage.

     We're shown Diana's hubris, but we also see her capability, which I don't know if the majority of viewers are ready to accept this early. In such a simple story, I think we want to believe that Diana can be overcome and bested. So whereas we see Diana completely outclass everyone for the next couple of episodes, we also see her hubris get the best of her at the end of episode 2, but it's not as if she wasn't doing something impressive, she was just too full of herself.
     In that same moment however, we see her grace. She doesn't want to accept the praise from her peers and superiors for an act that she wasn't responsible for (saving the Jennifer Memorial Tree), but she also doesn't intend to embarrass those jumping to conclusions. 

Larger Version
Little Witch Academia (TV) Episode 23
Studio Trigger

     Perhaps my favorite part of Diana was how this transparency would never allow me to be annoyed with her (a feeling I carried throughout both of the original OVAs). She wore her respect for Akko on her sleeve, where if anyone looked they could see it. She was more impressed than possibly anyone except Lotte when Akko participated in the broom race, and seemed to be the most... unsettled perhaps that Akko couldn't win with such a display of determination. As she says herself late in the series, Diana believes in Akko; she believes Akko can do things Diana could never do. She believes Akko is closer to Chariot than she is, which was a painful reality she had to accept wasn't for her, but she still wanted to exist.
     That's what fuels this tension between the two. Akko thinks Diana is completely disassociated with the ideals she wishes to uphold, and Akko handles herself in a way that Diana recognizes as a liability to Akko's potential, and what she wishes for her to be so dearly. 
     Again though, there's Akko's side to the debacle. Never for a second does Akko forget that Diana is an impossibly talented witch. What frustrates her so much is that Diana walks the (seemingly) easy path laid before her. If Akko herself were as impressive as Diana, who knows what the limits of her dreams would be? And yet she's stuck, struggling, watching Diana seemingly squander all of that potential following arbitrary rules religiously, refusing to be helpful in a practical sense. This sort of pseudo-rivalry pushes the both of them to grow until one can tell the other "Look! I was right! Quit wasting your time and help me." 

     On a side note, with Diana, we have to imagine most of her struggles for a while. Trigger nearly flat-out brings this to our attention is one of the later episodes (14) when they have Akko tell Diana "You're always looking down at others; you have no idea how hard [people] are working!" This really brings that point forward, that Diana is either reaping the benefits of having all that she needs and wants to learn available to her with minimal effort, or she's silently struggling by herself -- whereas Akko's only option is to humiliate herself in a public setting until she gets it right. Absolutely, by what we're shown, Akko's path is much more difficult to walk.

     Possibly my favorite scene in the TV series is in Episode 13 when Akko is outside practicing by herself, failing over and over again to the point that she breaks down in tears. Before this, a number of the characters (and surely most of the viewers) see Akko's steadfast and driven nature as a one-dimensional trait. "Akko keeps going because she's Akko." "She doesn't get discouraged because that's not who she is." In Sucy's case, "Akko can keep going because she's an idiot."
     When Akko's friends finally bring up to her that she's just not capable of doing some things, every single one of them reaches a crossroads. They have to ask themselves "why does she continue to try when it's so obvious it won't work?" and the answer hurt me when I realized it.

アッコとダイアナ② by Pixiv user た.ま

     Akko doesn't have a path that doesn't hurt. The one she chooses to walk, pushing herself to her limits, failing over and over again until she fails a little less and it works -- the only reason she stays on it is because it would hurt her so much more to give up. That's her two options: struggle and find out how much it will hurt or give up and definitely hurt a lot.
     Ursula/Chariot brings this up at the end of the show too, "Akko doesn't believe in miracles," she says, "but she's always believed in herself." Akko has seen herself overcome things that even she understands is so improbable you can't see it as anything but impossible -- She's never denied that she can't see a way out. She just says "We can't sit here and do nothing though!" and tries. And when you've seen that lead to solution after solution, how can you deny it works? How can she believe in anything but herself?

     So again, Akko tells Diana exactly what has been the case so far: Diana has no idea how hard people are working. Ironically, from this point in the show forward, that seems to completely flip. Everyone starts working with Akko, and Diana time and time again has to rely on herself... except when Akko doesn't let her. 

     Backtracking a little bit to that scene in episode 13, at that moment's climax, Sucy and Lotte approach Akko as she's at her most vulnerable. If you'd allow me to draw a parallel, Riyoga (Riyogaa on YouTube) made a point that's always stuck with me about crying in a review of Toradora! years ago. In short, he says "If a spectacle is going to be made of a character crying, there needs to be a reason for it," and that reason has to be more than "because they're sad."
     In that scene in Toradora!, one of the main narrative reasons Taiga cries is so Kushieda can see her, confirming what she already believed about Taiga and Riyugi's relationship -- possibly changing whether or not she would accept his confession.
     In Little Witch Academia, Akko cries in this moment so that Lotte and Sucy can see her vulnerable. To reiterate, up until very close to this point in time, both of these girls took Akko's strength as a given, and it wasn't until recently that they had the thought of why she's able to continue. Lotte and Sucy have to see this, But Diana isn't there.

信じる心があなたの魔法よ
by Pixiv user 煎薬ジジィ

     I think you're allowed to take two stances on that. Either A), you don't think it's Diana's place, as she's not really a friend of Akko's at this point in time -- but I don't like that reasoning personally. Again, I think Diana really wants to see Akko succeed, and I think her remarks of disappointment in Akko are that entirely -- negative criticism. 
     What I choose to believe is B) that Diana doesn't need to see that Akko is struggling because Diana already knows from experience what Akko is dealing with. She's knows what it means to want to follow in Chariot's footsteps, and she's been unable to perform any significant magic in the past -- for the same reasons as Akko even -- and she overcame it. 

     Lotte and Sucy need to see Akko cry to learn things Diana already knows. Again, I think it's fine to simply believe Diana doesn't belong in the scene, but I think understanding why she shouldn't be there is enlightening. 

Diana is such a good character. 
And Akko was the perfectly executed protagonist. Especially Han Megumi's performance of her. 
Those two things carried this show a long way. 

What Did Little Witch Academia

Get So Right?

     A lot. I'm not so one-track minded to ignore everything else this show had going for it. Akko's back-burner growth as a witch was handled phenominally. The episodes focusing on side characters were loads of fun. The nods to TTGL and other works were great. The animation, though perhaps not on par with quantity of Quality as the OVAs (but even that could be debated) was outstanding in it's own right, and I definitely found it more memorable. 

Little Witch Academia (TV) Episode 24
Studio Trigger

     Some of the characters didn't get enough screen time; I would have loved more Sucy or Constanze -- maybe a better reason for Andrew to exist. But every episode was a blessing. For half a year, Little Witch Academia was a light in my life.

Diana and Akko's dynamic was a big part of that. 

Akko is best girl.

The (Untitled) One Year Anniversary Piece

     Extra Pulp OJ turns one year old this month, which is very convenient. I could not for the life of me think of a title for this piece, which includes a variety of ideas that hopefully form a coherent thought.

Also, we're going with Futurama pictures, apparently.
Season 2, Episode 5: I Second That Emotion

For Starters

     I think it's really unfortunate how difficult it is to find people who share your tastes. Typically, the more appealing conversations to have are ones over mutual interests, but again, there's only so many things that two people can share opinions on, it seems. 

     I had a question brought to me around a month ago about what it is exactly that I look for in friendships, and like any new, insightful question I'm presented with, I proceeded to overthink it. Initially, I think we all agree that we look for mutual interests, because again, friendships start with a conversation. 

I promise I made this point
before I picked out the picture,
but Futurama is infinitely relatable.
Season 2, Episode 7: A Head in the Polls

     Now, I say "mutual interests," but I mean that in a way that encompasses shared distaste as well. For example, between two otherwise identical people, you may find yourself gravitating more toward the one who shares your desire to avoid political banter. 
     In reality, I think it all comes down to our desire to be validated -- that surrounding ourselves with people who share our hobbies and worldviews is comforting and an escape from hostility, so of course that's what we'd pursue. The more I look at that, however, the less it correlates with the people with which I end up associating.

     The answer I eventually came up with was along the lines of my friendships being the product of circumstance. In school, I was friends with people I took classes with, and very few of those classes were interest-driven electives. After graduating, I enjoyed the company of coworkers, and then friends of friends after people branched out. As I've intertwined myself in online communities, so have my closest friendships similarly migrated. 
     From here, my train of thought detoured to a similar question I was asked in college by an old high school friend: 

"Do you think if we met for the first time now that we would end up as good of friends as we currently are?"

     I think when I was asked that question, my friend who asked already knew the answer, and perhaps she was looking for a pleasant lie -- one that I've never been able to stomach telling. So instead, I decided to work through it with her.

I'm glad my mind went on this tangent.

     My answer was a pretty obvious "no" -- we were two surprisingly different people. But I forced what I think is an interesting dialogue from this; we talked about whether or not that even mattered, and why we became friends in the first place. Would the fact that we probably wouldn't be friends now invalidate our friendship moving forward? Do we still get along like we did when we first met? 
     I think I was really fortunate to have had this conversation before, and to now be revisiting it. The thing is, mutual interests and hobbies are just one (or two) factor(s) of a relationship. Again, I found our friendship to be almost entirely a product of chaotic circumstance, but there was real substance despite it. We had assurance that we could rely on each other, and even when it became obvious that we were far from identical, we enjoyed each other's company regardless.

     I think friendships and relationships in general are kind of nonsensical. I realize now that there were a lot of things I was passionate about -- the Final Fantasy series and music theory for example -- that she had no desire to learn about. The same could be said vice-versa. Among the conversations and moments we shared where we were both particularly interested, there were just as many moments of one person just coming along for the ride. In fact, I remember her sitting through a thematic video-review of Final Fantasy X with me, and then us trying out a workout video (I hate working out) in the same day --

A convenient crossover, Futurama x Final Fantasy X

     What I'm getting at is something really similar to what I've said here in the past: I don't think it necessarily matters whether or not you can validate something with technical merit. The fact that it means something to you at all is reason enough. Of course, personal relationships are much more intricate than things I've talked about with this point in the past, but I think it's a point that's no less valid.

     Anyway, in the words of Digibro, "I hope that's interesting."

Why That's a Problem

     You know how sometimes I make an incredibly obvious point and call it insight? That might be what happens here.
     The problem is obvious; we get frustrated when we want to talk about something specific with someone specific but they aren't interested. Even worse*, when they simply assume that they won't like the topic.
*I'm going to contradict myself in a little bit.

Except for me, apparently.

     Again, just because we're friends with someone doesn't mean that we enjoy the same things. Unfortunately, this reigns true when you get down to specifics, as well. In my case: big surprise! I'm talking about anime.
     A sort of running joke I have with myself is that I have terrible taste in anime. Obviously, I don't believe that, but there are an impressive number of instances where I don't like a show that seemingly every other respectable person agrees is great -- even objectively. It leaves me scratching my head sometimes and wishing I could change a set of opinions so that I could like what everyone else does. 

     I was able to have a conversation with a friend the other day, and I mentioned to him that I was probably going to start seeing a bunch of RWBY (pronounced "ruby") stuff everywhere again soon, and that it'd already started on a Discord server I'm a part of. We joked about it for a minute, and he said "...but really, I think you should give RWBY a chance."

     Let me say this now: I'll probably never watch RWBY or even "give it a chance." You're allowed to think I'm being closed minded, but I'm also allowed to understand -- even without seeing it -- that I'm not interested.

I'll Justifiably Probably Never Watch RWBY

     I think a lot of people take this personally, and though I understand why you feel that way, you shouldn't. I understand that there's a degree of vulnerability you allow when you offer a suggestion of anything in entertainment -- mostly fear of being invalidated or ignored -- and it seems like I'm disregarding that vulnerability by shutting down the recommendation, but it honestly has nothing to do with the person who offers it. In this specific instance, I think it's important to understand why I know I won't enjoy RWBY (and to what extent) because I believe it's something different from what people imagine. 

Reason 1
     If we go way back to when I first watched anime purposefully, roughly around middle school, you would note that I didn't enjoy anime hardly at all. Much like my sentiment above, I really felt as if I was unable to enjoy these shows because I simply didn't understand what made them good, and it was my ignorance that was to blame for my lack of enjoyment. This is another point I've talked about before; it wasn't anything more than my failure to recognize what I liked. During this period of my life, I watched a lot of series and played a lot of games that according to my logic at the time, I should have loved. Instead what I got was a bunch of experiences that reaffirmed that I didn't like this medium, and I was going to keep experiencing that until I recognized the real culprit (which didn't happen for years). This relates to RWBY in a unique way, and is tied to a seemingly separate criticism the show tends to receive.

Futurama, mimicking (parodying) the same style.
Season 6, Episode 26: Reincarnation

     One of the more polarizing aspects of RWBY is its animation. Though it mimics a traditional Japanese anime style, it's considered by most to not be anime. This perception and classification is tied to animation methods it uses and its place of origin among other factors that I won't be getting into. Despite that, it is in fact mimicking that style.
     It's important to note that the decision to do was not one made based on personal preference; the creators chose that art direction for a purpose. Again, the types of anime that used that style AND found popularity outside of Japan -- specifically in predominantly English-speaking countries, and where RWBY is created -- are the same shows I spent my early years with anime watching. It's a style that:

1. Had already proven its effectiveness executing specific elements to a specific demographic.
2. Could communicate very strongly who its intended audience is, and what type of show it is thematically. 

     To clarify, it's probably justifiable to say that it's wrong to judge RWBY's art and animation style if you haven't properly experienced it, which is the defense I'm usually met with. However, I can't disregard what I've already inferred from that art style, and that's not the same information that most people assume it is.

Reason 2

     This one's simpler to explain. Rooster Teeth [1] is the production company behind RWBY, and I'm very aware of who they are. 
     What's important to understand is the reason we continue to come back to companies we've grown fond of. For example, I continue to support and obsess over SquareEnix because they've proven throughout my life that they produce services and products that I thoroughly enjoy. Their stories, mechanics, presentation -- All of the things that make up the media I consume from them create an observable personality. Rooster Teeth has its own personality, and I'm very aware of what it is, too.

     When I was younger, I watched -- and loved -- Red vs. Blue. That unfortunately is the exception rather than the rule. I've seen any number of different Rooster Teeth productions, from The Patch to Achievement Hunter to The Slow Mo Guys, and yet the only thing that I can honestly say has a place in my media-consuming life is The Know. Even that isn't necessarily something I enjoy, however; it's comes a lot from my own personal habit to overcome bias by not get my news from a singular source. And though each of these different projects involve different people, they find their personalities compliment the identity of Rooster Teeth; they are compatible with this personality. 
     I am not compatible with this personality. I don't find most of Rooster Teeth's comedy funny, and I don't think its products are particularly interesting. Based on the reception from people I know who do enjoy Rooster Teeth's productions along with those who don't coupled with my understanding that I don't like Rooster Teeth, I can tell you without any further knowledge of what the show is that I won't like it. 

Disclaimer: Morbo the Annihilator of Entertainment and Earth Invasion Tonite
should not be your sole source of news. RIP Jim, Channel √2 News
Season 6, Episode 4: Proposition Infinity

     If I'm being completely honest, I am almost positive that there would be moments in RWBY I would really like and genuinely find praise-worthy, but again, I know me, and I know that those moments will be the exception, and won't justify the experience. I've had this with plenty of shows, like One Punch Man and Konosuba. There are moments in both series that I really liked, but the experience overall was generally lackluster, and it felt like a waste of time. In the end, I wish I would have listened to myself instead of the deafening screams of praise the shows were getting.

A Conclusion of Sorts

     I honestly don't know if I can properly sum this piece up, because it's a little difficult to see how these two points are particularly related if you don't see it initially. 

     This is something that we all have to experience in our lives. The relationships we build seem to be so randomly produced, so when one of these people in our lives is coincidentally someone we have a lot in common with, we hold them in a special light. These concepts we subconsciously create of best friends and groups of friends is so against this lack of causality that our relationships are born from that when they inevitably show their imperfection, we're left scratching our heads, wondering why this person (or possibly ourselves) is randomly different. When we let emotions run with even these types of should-be-insignificant feelings of unease, we blow things out of proportion. 

     Yeah, it's a bummer when people can't relate to your sentiment -- when people don't share your passion, but it's important to not let that affect what you already know. This person who doesn't agree with you in an instance is not less of your friend. In fact, I would argue they are more-so because they enjoy you in spite of that difference. 
     So please don't take it personally when I say don't want to watch RWBY, just enjoy this OJ with me. 

What do you mean you don't like pulp? We're through!

Artwork by or inspired by Matt Groening's original art. 
Futurama TM and © 2010 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. 
All Rights Reserved.

Steins;Gate Is a Gift That Keeps on Giving

     Steins;Gate is my all-time favorite show; that is a fact I will never shy away from. 
     This piece has a sizable chunk that is spoiler-free and is simply about my infatuation with the series, but the latter half is about a specific, deeply-hidden element of the story.

Introduction

     Before anyone who is thoroughly familiar with Steins;Gate (and for that matter, the Science Adventure Series) asks: yes, I did play the visual novel (VN for short), and it was lovely. For myself however -- who doesn't particularly like visual novels -- the anime series will always be the darling of my eye. Everything about it is exemplary, from the characters to the story and the directing.
      Often times, when I find myself searching for a reference on how a show could better handle any specific element correctly, I look to Steins;Gate. I ask myself how it effectively created characters I cared about, or how it used unique framing to capture different feeling of anxiousness or unease.

劇場版STEINS；GATE by Pixiv user 宮

     As is no secret to Extra Pulp OJ readers by this point, I personally think there's plenty to find value in when you can validate a show, game or book by its technical merits and legitimacy. But I do in fact think it's more important simply that I enjoyed Steins;Gate, and that I continue to enjoy it. In other words, had it been less stellar technically, but my enjoyment levels had been the same, I would have enjoyed the show all the same.

Sometimes I speak in nothings and call it insightful.

     Steins;Gate has a lot of side-content and sequels that expand upon the story, and though I thoroughly enjoy a good amount of these works, they're not really what I'm referring to when I say that "I continue to enjoy [Steins;Gate]." I'm speaking more along the lines of how I can return to the original work(s), whether that be the VN or the anime, time and time again with little to no dip in my enjoyment levels. I chock this up to a few things, such as its hidden story elements that can only be appreciated after multiple experiences, and the fact that the comedy and tragedy are simply just as good the second time around -- but there's another reason.

There's Always Something to Notice

     What I love most about Steins;Gate is how much time I've spent enjoying it. I had a moment with myself a while back where I had to ask myself "Do I think that I like The Monogatari Series more than Steins;Gate?" Not that I really think it matters; I won't enjoy Monogatari any more or less simply because of how I rank it, but I thought it was an interesting question. 

     When I think back to Monogatari, I think it's biggest shortcoming in comparison to Steins;Gate comes in the form of how I handled finishing the series (or at least the part of the series that had been released up until that point, but I digress). When I thought back on what I'd experienced with Monogatari, I was fine to leave the story where it lay. I didn't have the drive to research what I might have missed about the story or the lore, and I didn't think any deeper about character relations, for example.
     I was completely captivated, however, when I finished Steins;Gate. As soon as I finished the series, I remember turning back to my roommate at the time and telling him, "You have to watch this show. I need us to watch this show." This was as much for my sake as it was his.

     And this goes beyond the initial high of finishing a series; I'm not saying I think Steins;Gate is better because of how I felt in the immediate aftermath. More accurately, it's how I continue to feel driven to uncover more about it.

an illustration from
Steins;Gate This Side of Paradise

     When I finished Steins;Gate, I needed a reason to watch the show again. I needed to have a deeper understanding of the subtleties. Even things I understood I knew were laced with hidden significance and seemingly unexplainable nuances. 
     When I finished the show a second time, I bought the source material and completely dissected it. When I finished that, I joined online communities, and when I became well-versed there, I followed insiders on social networks. [1] [2] [3] The craving for more knowledge on this impossibly expansive show only grew larger until there wasn't anything left to learn...

     But that's not how this all ended. In fact, I continue to learn about Steins;Gate to this day. When I least expect it, something will click in my head, and another element of the show I didn't even realize I didn't understand will suddenly make sense. My time spent enjoying Steins;Gate has eclipsed the actual length of the series a hundred times over and that's something unique to a very select group of things.

The remainder of this piece contains spoilers.

A Hidden Antagonist

     About a year ago, this exact thing happened. I was sitting at my desk, mindlessly scrolling through my Twitter feed, when a tweet about Robotics;Notes (the entry that succeeds Steins;Gate in the Science Adventure Series) and it's VN's opening song's lyrics came up. When I read the lyrics that I had never seen translated before, suddenly a layer of metaphors I felt should have been incredibly obvious were finally ready for me to notice them.

     So here we go, headfirst into a dissection. 

     Let's start with the lyrics to Steins;Gate's visual novel's opening song, (lots of possession in that sentence) specifically:

"The world created by God is perfect and absolutely balanced."

     There's a lot we have to infer about and from this line. For starters, this is obviously in reference to the plot of Steins;Gate where Okabe is overcoming the concept of fate and battling with absolutes.  With that frame of reference in mind, we can infer from these lyrics that the world does not have free will, because God has planned everything as he sees right. At most there's an illusion or a façade of free will, but as we understand by the world line theory, there are plenty of things that cannot be changed, held in place by convergence points within the attractor fields. It also says:

"Even the basic concept of time,
denoted by the clock's two hands,

is showing distortion at the observer's will."

     This is more straightforward: Okabe is the observer, and time is subjugated to his will.[4] This is unlike literally everyone else, being that they are governed by time and things relative to it. 

     This next line, however, is easier to misunderstand.

"Among the countless parallel lines,

I settle on "blasphemy" as my choice."

     This isn't about Okabe, and I think I have to explain why it isn't, oddly enough. Hang with me because there are a lot of things it helps to understand.
     For starters, Steins;Gate takes place in a multiverse, and this is something completely separate from the world line theory that we understand governs the story. This multiverse contains multiple observable universes, and the one Steins;Gate focuses on is Okabe's observable universe -- though we do see more than one of them throughout the show (those hazy, dreamlike sequences are part of Mayuri's). All of the universes shown to us operate according to the world line theory. [5] 

The PlayStation Vita Cover art
for the Steins;Gate visual novel

     That's all fine and dandy to know, but it's most important to understand how that affects the story, or how it's used as a tool. Namely, it defines the "Reading Steiner" ability, as Okabe has dubbed it. In Steins;Gate, we see that Okabe has a complete capacity for observing the changes in the world lines. We are told, however that everyone has a small capacity to recognize it, but what exactly determines the extent of the capacity is left a little ambiguous. The easiest theory to prove is that the more involved someone becomes in Okabe's life and the more they are directly affected by his actions, the more extreme their levels of Reading Steiner are. It's safe to assume then, that in a universe we could call "Mayuri's Observable Universe," Mayuri would be the one with a complete capacity for observing/Reading Steiner, and the people directly affected by her manipulative actions would show signs of being able to observe her altering her universe." Again, we see this in the hazy dreams Okabe has early on in the series. 

     So, to bring up my point again, why is this line about blasphemy not about Okabe, which would make the most immediate sense, and who would it be about? 

     I believe it to be about Kurisu. In Okabe's observable universe, Kurisu is not exempt from God's ruling hand. She is the one destined to complete a time machine, but instead, she helps Okabe overcome these "perfect" events put in place by God (i.e. the convergence points) and she does so by moving outside of the Alpha Attractor Field. By doing this, she's effectively willing her way toward a future where that specific reality does not exist, because what Okabe is working toward is a World line in the Beta Attractor Field, where she does not create a time machine.

     Confused? It's simple! "Among the countless parallel lines, I settle on blasphemy as my choice," reflects Kurisu's decision to defy omnipotent powers -- specifically God's idea of perfection. 

     Now that in and of itself is a ride to figure out, but it goes deeper. Enter The New Testament.

助手
by Pixiv user あきかん

     As recorded in Numbers, the Book of the Bible, Moses was chosen by God to lead the Israelites to The Promised Land. Because Moses disrespects God in front of the Israelites, God forbids him from entering The Promised Land which he worked himself to death to reach. [6]

     Much like Moses, Kurisu is the one who action was needed from in order for the "promised land" to become attainable; in her case, Okabe couldn't do it himself, as is proven throughout episode 13. Again, like Moses, when Kurisu acts in disobedience, she is "forbidden" to enter the world line that lies in the Beta Attractor Field -- in those world lines, she dies at the radio building.

     Another point worth making is from Steins;Gate 0, the sequel to Steins;Gate. The technology that Kurisu helped develop when she was in America -- The one that eventually holds her conscience -- is called Amadeus. Along with sharing a name with the prodigy Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, "Amadeus" is literally translated from Latin to "to love God." A more loose translation results in "the one God loves," or "the chosen one of God."

     So, stopping there, God appears to be an overwhelming, inescapable antagonistic presence. However, that's not How Steins;Gate truly ends. In the end, Okabe reaches the Steins;Gate World Line [7], one we understand lies outside of any attractor field and containing no convergence points. It is a world with true free will.

A Note in Conclusion

     Steins;Gate is filled with these sorts of intricacies. I believe it's impossible to learn every satisfying thing there is to learn about the story without investing your time and energy into. A beautiful thing about that though, you don't have to invest that much to get a fulfilling joy out of the series, but even more beautiful, I believe you are completely rewarded for whatever extent of yourself you do invest.

     At this point I wonder how many of you realize I left out the thing that actually acted as a catalyst for this realization: The Robotics;Notes lyrics.

This Side of Paradise

 "With my fingertips,
I outline somebody else's dream...

From beyond the edge of the blue sky,

I feel a gaze so gentle

that it inspires fear in me.

An inspiring promise was made here,

delivering us to this unique World Line.

"Somebody else's dream" is Okabe's dream of a perfect world line by his own definition. The "gentle gaze" that "inspires fear" "from beyond the edge of the blue sky" is God's, who has no omniscience over the Steins;Gate world line. The "inspiring promise" is Okabe's to Kurisu (or arguably Mayuri, but the next line seems to rely on it being specifically the one to Kurisu), promising to not let her die, prompting him to discover "this unique World Line," the Steins Gate World Line. 

     (January 16th, 2017) Chiyomaru Shikura, creator of the Science Adventure series (of which Steins;Gate is a part) is no stranger to this sort of meaning-filled inclusions for the opening themes of the series. Here's a similar look into the opening theme of the Occultic;Nine anime that aired in the Fall 2016 anime season. As Toshi Nakamura, a columnist at Anime-Now! paraphrases Chiyomaru:

"...[Chiyomaru's] proximity with the stories he creates allows him to write more intimate songs that outsourced composers just wouldn’t be able to do. One of his favorite things to do in his songs is to insert meaningful lines and phrases that could be viewed as spoilers–but actually don’t make sense unless you’ve actually seen through a series."

     Maybe it's not a conclusion, but that's a wrap, and a finished glass of OJ.

Reading Steiner (@DistantValhalla)'s twitter account; well-respected JPN>ENG translator credited for the translation of  Steins;Gate. [1]

@2Dphantasm on twitter, a personal favorite follow. Always in the know for all thing Sci;Adv among other things. [2]

Richard A. Eisenbeis (BiggestinJapan)'s Twitter. Probably most well-known as the former writer and journalist on Kotaku, focusing on anime. He's now the Managing Editor of ANIME-NOW! and an enthusiast of the Sci;Adv Series. [3]

The Steins;Gate Wikia entry on Reading Steiner [4]

"In Which I Attempt to Explain Steins;Gate" This is a video that's brilliant if you want to learn more about the science of Steins;Gate, especially the details that are lost because of the fact that the characters aren't all-knowing. This video is completely property of AcidCH, but at the moment, he's dealing with an [unjust] copyright claim against the fair use of footage he used. Thankfully, AcidCH was able to send me a copy of the video, but for this reason, I ask you respect his current situation and ownership of the original content and refrain from sharing this link. Enjoy responsibly! [5]

Some commentary from Theology of Work for anyone who needs to brush up on their knowledge of the Book of Numbers. [6]

A list of know world lines from the Steins;Gate universe, including The Steins Gate World Line, with some basic information on each one, again, from the Steins;Gate Wikia [7]