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
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.
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| 劇場版STEINS；GATE by Pixiv user 宮 |
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.
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| 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,
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]
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]
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| The PlayStation Vita Cover art for the Steins;Gate visual novel |
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.
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]
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| 助手 by Pixiv user あきかん |
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
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.
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| This Side of Paradise |
"With my fingertips,
I outline somebody else's dream...
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]
