Steins;Gate (2011) anime review

[Simon]

Steins;Gate (2011) anime review

Genre: Sci-Fi, Thriller, Drama, Time Travel
Why it's still worth watching in 2025:

Steins;Gate remains one of the most brilliant time-travel stories ever animated — not just in anime, but in the entire sci-fi genre. What makes it special is how grounded its science feels, how emotionally involved you become with the characters, and how carefully crafted the cause-and-effect consequences are. Even in 2025, viewers still praise the show's writing as "tight and timeless."

The story follows Rintarou Okabe, a self-proclaimed mad scientist who accidentally discovers a way to send messages into the past. At first the experiments feel playful, almost comedic — but slowly, the worldline fractures into darker timelines, emotional trauma, irreversible consequences, and near-apocalyptic stakes.

The pacing is famous:

The first half builds characters, relationships, and scientific set-up.

The second half hits emotional and narrative intensity that still sets standards for modern shows.

The show's emotional weight — particularly its depiction of sacrifice, fate, and the pain of choosing between equally devastating options — remains just as powerful in 2025 as it was in 2011. Newer time-travel anime still struggle to surpass it, and the fandom continues to recommend it to every new anime watcher.