Comment on [Discussion] Steins;Gate Is Still Influencing Sci-Fi Anime 15 Years Later
Krauerking@lemy.lol 2 days agoSo the point is that he is a nearing adult chunibyo (person with grand delusions that is somewhat common in Japan that is very strict and leaves young people economically behind) he is supposed to be weird and making stuff up because he doesnt care much for the real world. He is bad at being a “real” person.
But, surprise surprise, everything he is making up is real, and he gets everything he could want. A grand conspiracy, evil organizations, even stuff pertaining to his friends, changed to his desired fantasies. He gets it all and is asked only to give up the “real world” which seems easy until it comes with actual loss of it.
It invites you to watch the tragedy of this person trying to find who they are when either version of himself makes him unhappy. And then it is wrapped in the SciFi story where one of the best parts of the show is that everything is relevant to the plot by being true to the characters and their world. Lots of little details to map out how they all work together.
All to say I actually like the tedium. It shows how easy it is to stumble downwards into delusion, how it feels simple and boring unti l you are in it, and then how painful it can be to come back out the other side and how hard it can be to be the same person when you do.
Rottcodd@ani.social 2 days ago
I just had the tragically uncommon experience of reading a response that neatly and concisely outlined and supported a viewpoint contrary to my own, and did so without even hinting that the fact that my own is contrary is a sure indicator of the inferiority of my mind/morals/education/genitalia. So thanks for that.
And considering that viewpoint, I can see how it is that an anime that started with a character who to me is nothing but fingernails on a chalkboard, then built a story around him out of pseudoscience, wishful thinking and macguffins, could impress and even touch someone else even as it left me - a snide, cynical background character in Japanese fiction archetype terms - entirely unimpressed and untouched.
So thanks for that too.
Krauerking@lemy.lol 2 days ago
And I didnt even downvote your original comment because I liked the idea of having a discussion on this because you are not wrong to find the MC grating.
You have your own sonder and I respect that. I appreciate you giving me a place to put my thoughts in this discussion by starting it. And yeah, some of us with our own flavor of life will take different things from it. Its why I think Steins;Gate is great at being art even if it isn’t always easy to watch.
Rottcodd@ani.social 2 days ago
I think the key is that I hadn’t realized, or even teally considered, how much of it hinged on wish fulfillment not as a way to handwave the science and move the story along, but as a way to do a sort of end run on Okabe’s defenses and force him to confront himself. So even though I did appreciate the later parts of it, I didn’t appreciate the parts leading up to that.
And oddly, wish fulfillment puts me in mind of one that I’ve found myself mostly alone in appreciating - Maebashi Witches. A lot of what impressed me about it is that it explores the idea that having ones wishes fulfilled might turn out to not be what one actually needs, or even particularly actually should want.
The first and most notable difference is that it’s not through a brash, self-absorbed otaku, which immediately sets my teeth on edge, but through cute girls doing cute things, which I’ll always welcome.
Huh…
Krauerking@lemy.lol 2 days ago
Yeah, if you pay attention you will see Okabe gets his every wish. So that when suddenly he has to pick what level of pain he is ok with for payment, it puts him in hell. And since he is a loner and doesnt think of everyone else he doesnt have anyone else to talk to to the point that he doesnt even realize that everyone else is still remembering what he did and that his actions have never been without consequences. And he has to live up to them to undo them.
But yeah wild how the wrapper on a story can make such a difference, I mean this is the same story as Its a wonderful Life and yet the method of telling it makes it completely different and makes a slightly different take on the answer. The author clearly thinks its still ok to be absurd with reality at the end as long as you take it seriously.
By the way I don’t know Maebashi Witches but I do love Studio Sunrise and how they do personal stories, so it will go on the list after I catch up to Frieren.