Steins;Gate – 25 (OVA)

When Steins;Gate ended back in September, I did not want anymore.  The roller-coaster adventure that ventured not only through time itself but every human emotion ended in one of the most perfect ways possible.  Its finale was remarkable and one of the most memorable and favorable I have ever seen from an anime.  Anymore and it would’ve been a drop-off of what Steins;Gate 24 was for me.

But that was then, and this is now.  In the short weeks following the finale to Steins;Gate, I realized I wanted to see an epilogue in the current timeline of what Okabe, Kurisu, and everyone else was up to.  What were their lives like now, I’d wonder.  Well, fortunately my wishes were responded to and this OVA, the 25^th episode of Steins;Gate, satisfied my craving for seeing what happens after the conclusion of episode 24.

Year of 2011 – Final Review

Before embarking on another year of anime and adventures, we need to give a proper close to 2011 and give the year of anime an appropriate review.  While the four seasonal reviews provide all my detailed thoughts in a timely fashion, the structure of this post is to give a ranking for the anime of this year, the characters of this year, and a few extra tidbits to recognize this wonderful year and show appreciation it for all it has done.

12 Days of Anime – Day 10 – Joining the Anime Community

This is already enough of a cheesy topic to post about but it would be even cheesier to wait until the final day of the 12 Days of Anime to post it (my original idea), so it’s going up now.

One of the best feelings of this past year of anime has been the general feeling of joining and being a part of the anime community.  Not only has the whole processes been inspirational and motivating, I’ve met so many people with similar passions who express their affection in immeasurable ways and have deepening existing friendships as well.  It is truly one of the best things about anime of this past year.

12 Days of Anime – Day 4 – Overanalyzing Anime

If you’ve been following my blog for this past year, then you know I love to analyze anime.  Doesn’t matter how fundamental or trivial the concepts or details are, I try to flesh out whatever interests me, and what I hope interests my audience, as best I can.  But sometimes I can take it a little too far.  When only ten words can be used to convey a point, I’ll use ten thousand.  When a gag was just meant to be only included for mere laughs, I’ll hypothesize the metaphysics so the joke and use it to explain obscure themes or perceptive character development.  It’s something I just started doing this year and my new love for going overkill on my analyses earns a spot on my 12 Days of Anime.

12 Days of Anime – Day 1 – Lab Coats in Steins;Gate

It’s time for the 12 Days of Anime, a tradition among anime bloggers to recount 12 Anime moments/influences/thingies that affected them the most this past year.  This is my first time participating in such an event with others, so I am quite new to it, but for a quick rundown of the tradition, check out this post by Scamp for its history and what it is like currently.  So with that being said, I hope you enjoy the 12 biggest Anime moments of the year for me!

Lab coats are awesome.  Beyond awesome if you really want to get specific here.  But most anime don’t seem to realize that or utilize them to their maximum influence.  Instead, they are reserved for classic nerds, one-dimensional villains, and insignificant background characters.  The lab coat is predictably used as attire for characters who play marginal roles while reducing their effect to simply being “oh, so that character is smart.”  But Steins;Gate refused to comply with the norm of anime, and its statement on lab coats ignited a spark in me, becoming one of the 12 biggest anime moments of the year for me and the first of my 12 Days of Anime.

Summer 2011 – Season Review

Better late than never, right?  Well, at this point, it might as well be never.  So here it is, the final, all-encompassing review for the Summer 2011 anime season.

Steins;Gate – 24 (Finale)

Whenever the finale to an anime approaches, your mind begins creating various fantasies of how you imagine the ending.  Taking every possibility into account, there are always those normal ones where everything goes right and it ends on a high and happy note, and then there are those depressing ones where nothing seems to go right and it ends in regret and sorrow.  There are those bittersweet ones twisting love and sacrifice together, and those random, unexpected ones that nobody saw coming.  Then, after all that, the finale comes and you see which one, if any, is correct.  As good as it may feel to call the ‘correct’ ending, it’s much more satisfying to get the ending you desire.  And that’s exactly how Steins;Gate ended.