The problem with pulling off a good time travel series or movie is that they have to establish their own rules and then not break them, otherwise turning the plot into a bit of a contrived mess. Steins;Gate almost avoids this, but unfortunately, I felt it fell a bit short in that respect - I don't want to ruin anything so I won't discuss it further, but it was a decent effort. The voice acting is good, the story is alright, I don't have any complaints about the pacing, and the series was definitely funny when it wanted to be - perhaps its strongest point. It does the drama-comedy mixture well, not going to far in one direction at a time.
I loved the protagonist, he was a really likable character, and amazingly voiced. Most of them were, but I didn't enjoy Mayushi as much as the series wanted me too; just not my cup of tea. I'm not a fan of over-the-top cutesy characters just for the sake of being over-the-top cutesy characters. It just felt a bit lazy and forced here. I mean, maybe if they made her younger, as I don't think the age disparity between her and Okabe would really affect their sister-brother relationship. I mean, she was cute, but also came off as having some kind of medical condition at times.
It also bothered me that the other characters were as young, but at a completely different level of maturity, I'm not sure what making them all of high school-aged accomplished, they're never shown going to school. One of them, who is 17, even owns a cafe. Maybe it's a cultural thing, maybe in Japan people of that age are REALLY independent and do things like rent out a place as a pseudo lab, give lectures to doctors thrice their senior, wear their jacket halfway on, and open cafes. But for me, it was a lot of these small things that just pull me out of the story a bit.
With that said the story was intriguing and clever at times. It definitely kept me watching until the end, although I felt the series lasted two episodes too long, I was still okay with the final conclusion; it wasn't bad by any means, nor was the series. I'll say it was good, but it could've been great.
I loved the protagonist, he was a really likable character, and amazingly voiced. Most of them were, but I didn't enjoy Mayushi as much as the series wanted me too; just not my cup of tea. I'm not a fan of over-the-top cutesy characters just for the sake of being over-the-top cutesy characters. It just felt a bit lazy and forced here. I mean, maybe if they made her younger, as I don't think the age disparity between her and Okabe would really affect their sister-brother relationship. I mean, she was cute, but also came off as having some kind of medical condition at times.
It also bothered me that the other characters were as young, but at a completely different level of maturity, I'm not sure what making them all of high school-aged accomplished, they're never shown going to school. One of them, who is 17, even owns a cafe. Maybe it's a cultural thing, maybe in Japan people of that age are REALLY independent and do things like rent out a place as a pseudo lab, give lectures to doctors thrice their senior, wear their jacket halfway on, and open cafes. But for me, it was a lot of these small things that just pull me out of the story a bit.
With that said the story was intriguing and clever at times. It definitely kept me watching until the end, although I felt the series lasted two episodes too long, I was still okay with the final conclusion; it wasn't bad by any means, nor was the series. I'll say it was good, but it could've been great.