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Old 10-05-2011, 08:08 PM   #26
lilboocorsola
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Whoa, Talon. Cool your engines. ^^; I haven't even started episode 03 yet.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Doppleganger View Post
His name's Mamoru Miyano, and behind Fukuyama he's other of the two definitive "young, adolescent, refined villain" types.

I feel his Steins performance was one of his worst. It's not a case of getting used to his performance, as I did Souichirou Hoshi in Muv-Luv (he sucked in ML) he just doesn't get the job done even considering what character he's playing (an idiot).
Mamoru Miyano is apparently one of the reasons my friend is such a fan of the show. I love Miyano for his role as Tamaki in Ouran, though I have to say I'm not quite sold on his performance in Steins yet. Perhaps it's because his voice is forever imprinted in my mind as the King of the Host Club, and while I've been introduced to other characters he's played I've still always heard him use the same dulcet tone (Kida from DRR!! and Light from Death Note). Whether villain or not, I associate him with "young, adolescent, (and) refined", but also exciteable. Hence it's rough listening to him now strain himself to sound gruff, even when he's indulging in theatrics. I know his voice isn't that deep, so instead of listening to what he has to say I try to pick out all the squeaks, which is distracting. In my mind I'm thinking: "Just quit the charade and go into your normal hyper-pitched spaz mode, yeah? You know you want to."

I never heard of John Titor before either.
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Old 10-05-2011, 10:23 PM   #27
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I'm less surprised that you haven't heard of him than I am with Talon.

Titor was posting around 2000/2001, literally when all of we crotcheties were fascinated with internet magic. But he was posting on several obscure forums that became more popular only after people read about him. I didn't hear about him until 2005, when Wikipedia started rising to prominence and his story stepped out of science fiction circles and into public awareness.

This is why I think Steins was written with Wikipedia as a guide, it uses survey depth as far as its "science" goes and the logic isn't very thorough. Many of its non-otaku references were Wikipedia popularized.

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Originally Posted by YUKI.N View Post

Mamoru Miyano is apparently one of the reasons my friend is such a fan of the show. I love Miyano for his role as Tamaki in Ouran, though I have to say I'm not quite sold on his performance in Steins yet. Perhaps it's because his voice is forever imprinted in my mind as the King of the Host Club, and while I've been introduced to other characters he's played I've still always heard him use the same dulcet tone (Kida from DRR!! and Light from Death Note). Whether villain or not, I associate him with "young, adolescent, (and) refined", but also exciteable. Hence it's rough listening to him now strain himself to sound gruff, even when he's indulging in theatrics. I know his voice isn't that deep, so instead of listening to what he has to say I try to pick out all the squeaks, which is distracting. In my mind I'm thinking: "Just quit the charade and go into your normal hyper-pitched spaz mode, yeah? You know you want to."
It's just a terrible performance all around. Daru is voiced by FSN's Gilgamesh, if you'd believe that. He'll break his fat character one time to shout in a Domon Kasshu voice but that'll be it.

Once upon a time someone polled "Steins Fans" on why they thought Okabe Rintaro was a good character-

Quote:
Probably the first reason why I want to continue watching this series ;( His mad scientist antics are attractive to me! Also, he wears a lab coat!
Quote:
"It's the choice of Steins;Gate,Eru Psi Congroo".ALL HAIL HOUOUIN KYOUMA ALL HAIL HOUOUIN KYOUMA!
Quote:
Pretty much any time he picks up his cell and says, "It's me", I start laughing because I know he's going to say something.
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The fact that he has tiny bits of facial hair indicates that he's more mature than average 15-17 y.o. protagonists.
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GAR character of the decade, hands down he is my HERO. EL PSY CONGROO!
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One of the best male leads of our time.
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Old 10-05-2011, 10:38 PM   #28
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That's pretty crazy. Some of the comments are so baseless (like the facial hair one ), and others are just plain wacko ("one of the best male leads of our time", WTH!? ). I don't dislike the character (yet?), but that's some ridiculous praise for such a 2-dimensional, uninspiring caricature.

Question: who penned the script for the game? I'm curious to know how large of (or preferably how little of) a role Urobuchi Gen had in this.
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Old 10-05-2011, 10:56 PM   #29
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Doppleganger View Post
Titor was posting around 2000/2001, literally when all of we crotcheties were fascinated with internet magic. But he was posting on several obscure forums that became more popular only after people read about him. I didn't hear about him until 2005, when Wikipedia started rising to prominence and his story stepped out of science fiction circles and into public awareness.
Come to think of it, it does sound like some trivia I might've come across at one point. Definitely wouldn't have bothered to retain the name though.

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It's just a terrible performance all around. Daru is voiced by FSN's Gilgamesh, if you'd believe that. He'll break his fat character one time to shout in a Domon Kasshu voice but that'll be it.
Pretty much all of the characters' voices sound forced, honestly. I think part-time girl is the worst offender.

Anyway, I'm caught up to episode 07. (Don't tell me you've been watching more in the meantime, Talon. x.X) My theory guesses atm are as good as yours, Talon. Aside from posing the same questions, there's not much information yet to draw conclusions from. Although...

Spoiler: show
Me being the psych addict that I am, I'm wondering if maybe there are mindgames at work? Given part-time girl's reaction to "brainwashing", seems like it's a genuine threat. Dopple's comment about sliding being "closer to the truth than actual time-travel is" also makes me suspect the idea of time travel in itself is a red herring. I'm thinking along the lines of London Underground, catch my drift?


Of course, more likely I'm on the wrong track and should stick with the more obvious/what we know. Will ponder more and get back to you if I come up with anything, though it's doubtful seeing as I'm really reluctant to debate time travel in the first place.
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Old 10-05-2011, 11:05 PM   #30
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Um, Gen had no part in this. Steins isn't really Nitro+, Nitro+ just published it and the association is being used as brand-name promotion. The guy who wrote the story is Naotaka Hayashi, an animator who joined 5pb. as a writer. He was also the mastermind behind Chaos;Head.

Unlike TYPE-MOON, Nitro+ was willing to expand and hire other people for its works, so it's less strongly associated with Urobuchi as TM is with Nasu, or age with Kouki.

I feel I've ranted about 5pb. in the past (how they're trying to be Apple.jp) but it's easier to attack Nitro+ for the same name-brand recognition and because they're legitimately involved.

At least C;H had guro, something Nitro+ loves and BBB hates. There's no guro or loli in Steins.
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Old 10-05-2011, 11:20 PM   #31
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Thru Episode 08. ^^; Loaded up Episode 09 but may close it, it's pretty late.

Episode 08 discussion
Spoiler: show
Awww, Moeka's gone now? I get the impression that whatever they helped her to tell her past self, she's now reunited with her SERN buddies. Then again, in this timeline, Moeka shouldn't have any memories of Okabe's apartment (and the IBN 5100), so it's not like she has all that much dirt on Okabe ... I guess.

Ruka's wish was ... awww. Interested to see how this one plays out. I'll be disappointed if he's still a boy.

That's good to know, Doppel. About the 5pb author, I mean.
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Old 10-05-2011, 11:58 PM   #32
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The episodes you're going through right now epitomize how stupid Kyouma is, but I'll hold back on pointing it out for just a bit longer. There's one episode where it should be obvious the writer is pushing suspension of disbelief on how inane characters can behave.
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Old 10-06-2011, 02:12 PM   #33
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Up to episode 10. Confused about how the Phone Microwave works.

Spoiler: show
How were they able to use the microwave long-distance to send Feyris's message to the past? Up to now I assumed the sender had to be standing directly in front of the machine for the EM waves or whatever to have an effect. Does this mean any other random text messages that were being sent during that timeframe traveled to the past as well?


Or is this just part of where the series' "inconsistent logic" starts to unravel?
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Old 10-06-2011, 03:37 PM   #34
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Kyouma was always able to send it remotely, the first mail of "Makise Kurisu was murdered" was sent to Daru's phone when the microwave-phone was activated, since he started it up to cook something (I think).

The logic doesn't unravel until after "the climax". I forgot what episode it was, but it was big, and it was obvious.

It was also exciting, but the series is just down-hill from there.
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Old 10-06-2011, 03:54 PM   #35
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Doppleganger View Post
Kyouma was always able to send it remotely, the first mail of "Makise Kurisu was murdered" was sent to Daru's phone when the microwave-phone was activated, since he started it up to cook something (I think).
That's true. How do they program it to select which phone to send/receive then? What I gathered from the explanation of the Makise murder message is that Daru's phone was physically hooked up to the microwave at the time(?)

On 14. Good call on one of your theories, Talon.

Spoiler: show
I had a feeling from the beginning that Mayuri would end up being the true focus of the plot. The action's definitely picked up, getting full-on Madoka mixed with MLA vibes now.
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Old 10-06-2011, 04:03 PM   #36
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Jesus, now you're the one who's run away. XD (Don't worry, keep going. Who knows: I may catch up again or surpass you if you slow down, so don't worry, just go at the pace you're going. ) I'm still only thru Episode 08. Guess I'd better go and watch 09 and 10 just so I can read your last post, never mind this one! XD

I gotta give the show credit though. If Yuki watched Episodes 03-14 in under 24 hours, it means she watched an average of one episode of Steins;Gate per every two hours, or that she spent 25% of her day yesterday+today watching Steins Gate. That says something for the show's addictiveness. So as scathing as Doppel's review was, I really gotta wonder if that's how I'm going to see things in the end.

Doppel: CHAOTICIAN, chaotician.
Talon: God dammit. :mad:
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Mcsweeney: You'll have to get used to Dr. Malcolm Doppel.

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Old 10-06-2011, 04:12 PM   #37
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Quote:
Originally Posted by YUKI.N View Post


That's true. How do they program it to select which phone to send/receive then? What I gathered from the explanation of the Makise murder message is that Daru's phone was physically hooked up to the microwave at the time(?)
I have no idea, it's not explained.

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Spoiler: show
I had a feeling from the beginning that Mayuri would end up being the true focus of the plot. The action's definitely picked up, getting full-on Madoka mixed with MLA vibes now.
Unfortunately, that's where the show jumps off a cliff.
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Old 10-06-2011, 04:16 PM   #38
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Just finished 14. I knew I should've posted this theory earlier, but didn't want to sound like I was overly promoting "girl power". ^^;

Spoiler: show
WHAT IF JOHN TITOR IS A WOMAN HUR HUR?

But seriously, it's a pretty easy trick. We've never seen the guy's face or heard his voice. Given the abundance of females in the cast (one of whom was an established trap!), it's fairly obvious they'd pull this kind of stunt.
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Old 10-06-2011, 04:29 PM   #39
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Talon87 View Post
I gotta give the show credit though. If Yuki watched Episodes 03-14 in under 24 hours, it means she watched an average of one episode of Steins;Gate per every two hours, or that she spent 25% of her day yesterday+today watching Steins Gate. That says something for the show's addictiveness. So as scathing as Doppel's review was, I really gotta wonder if that's how I'm going to see things in the end.
I did watch the show weekly despite criticizing it, but it is extremely slow, and if you know anything from the summary (like how CERN is an Illuminati group bent on world domination), it becomes increasingly obvious how contrived Kyouma is acting to put himself in a bad, bad situation.

Where the show really lost me-

Spoiler: show
When Kyouma allowed Moeka to send a D-mail, followed by a D-mail by Feyris. Science is all about controlled experiments, and the implication of time travel when the D-mail information isn't controlled are tremendous. Remember, Kyouma sent a D-mail to Daru that lead to Makise Kurisu somehow appearing alive. Note that-

1. Kyouma's D-mail was broken into pieces, and arrived at different times.
2. Daru ignored it.

The effect (Makise Kurisu appearing alive) does not line-up with the cause (Kyouma sending a worthless D-mail), so you have to consider that sending text messages don't actually accomplish what one thinks they should.

Kyouma makes way too many assumptions for a scientist and is paradoxically stunted in his attention to detail. He's sending D-mails into the past on whims, not pausing to consider any of the potential consequences of that. Why does Moeka have a burning interest in the IBN 5100? Doesn't he find that in the least bit odd? Why did he allow Feyris to send a text-message without asking her what the text-message was about, before asking his slightly less dangerous favour?


Quote:
Originally Posted by YUKI.N View Post
Just finished 14. I knew I should've posted this theory earlier, but didn't want to sound like I was overly promoting "girl power". ^^;

Spoiler: show
WHAT IF JOHN TITOR IS A WOMAN HUR HUR?

But seriously, it's a pretty easy trick. We've never seen the guy's face or heard his voice. Given the abundance of females in the cast (one of whom was an established trap!), it's fairly obvious they'd pull this kind of stunt.
Spoiler: show
The real John Titor was a soldier, if that doesn't outright confirm your theory.
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Old 10-06-2011, 04:48 PM   #40
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About spoilers:
Look, guys. I think I've said this before. You need to clearly label ambiguous spoiler tags so as to make them not ambiguous. I'll say things like "Episode 05 Spoilers" or "Don't click if you don't know who Archer's Master is!", etc. You guys never do this. Which means I'm constantly laying out the red carpet for you but you never return the favor. Doppel, you were talking to me just now in that post when out of nowhere you whip out a spoiler tag for what looks like could be a huge spoiler. I have no idea what's inside it without clicking on it. I can only assume (if I play it safe) that it's a bomb. I can only assume (if I play it recklessly) that it's meant for my eyes since you were just talking to me before you wrote it. But without any indication which of the two it is, I'm going to assume it's a bomb, I'm going to avoid clicking on it, and it's not going to get read or replied to by me.

I'm not saying you guys should all become my doppelgangers or something , but please: let's adopt some basic appreciation for how spoiler tags are intended to work. Please label ambiguous spoiler tags. (An example of an unambiguous spoiler tag would be the very last one in the post above, or the one which immediately follows this paragraph. )

About Steins:
Just finished Episode 09. Wow. The shit really hit the fan!

Spoiler: show
This was the Feyris-centric episode. She's the character I've trusted the least all along, even less than Moeka or Suzuha or Mayuri, and in this episode we see that she has an abnormal interest in Kyouma's time machine and decides to send a message into the past to change something ... the consequences of which are huge for the entire district of Akihabara. That end-of-episode scene was WOW. If you don't know what Tora no Ana is, it's a famous vendor which sells doujinshi and manga, amongst other things. It suddenly disappearing from Akihabara would be like if ... I guess it'd be like if Macy's suddenly disappeared from New York City. Even with Macy's department stores in Indianapolis and Chicago and the like, you'd be shocked to learn that the one in New York City had vanished, the Macy's. Same sort of thing here.

I was grateful to see Moeka again. Still no idea who or what "FB" stands for. Moeka told Okabe about it earlier in the story and it prompted him to spill the beans to her. So he must already know what it means. Which makes me wonder things, but these things are probably way off base so no point in writing about them for now.

Kind of alarmed that the plot is taking a sinister turn with what seems to be a "runaway global warming" concept as it applies to time travel. It seems like the Butterfly Effects from Okabe's experiments are exponentially increasing in their magnitude. I have to wonder if after the next slide Okabe will be in a world where there isn't even a Daru, or where he never met Daru, or where Daru is a CERN employee, or something. That would be pretty crazy. Like, if Daru never met Okabe, so he put his resume out there and whammo: CERN interviews him, hires him, and next thing you know he's ONE OF THEM, ONE OF THEM. :O Would be pretty crazy.

The fact that Okabe seemed to "slide" from Feyris's apartment would suggest that somehow or other he is "attached" to whatever gate event is pulling him out of one timeline/world and into the next. Because he seems to slide without respect for the location. Most of the "slides" have been in his apartment, but one's been in Feyris's just now and another was the one in the very first episode outside of the radio building.

On to Episode 10!
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Old 10-06-2011, 04:59 PM   #41
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I don't remember the episode correspondence, so it's tough for me to talk about plot details without outright pointing out the details. That spoiler should be OK from where you are in the story.
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Old 10-06-2011, 05:38 PM   #42
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Quote:
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I don't remember the episode correspondence, so it's tough for me to talk about plot details without outright pointing out the details. That spoiler should be OK from where you are in the story.
Well that's when you say things like "(safe to click if you've seen a very tall high-rise apartment where one of the main characters lives)" or "(safe to click if you've seen an elderly butler)" or something. You use descriptions which don't spoil the plot but which would still be identifiable to someone watching the show currently as to whether they've gotten that far. For example, below I could say "Safe to click on if you've seen Kurisu attempt to make apple pie" or "Safe to click on if you've seen Okabe throw a banquet for Suzuha." Neither'd really be a spoiler, the former even less so than the latter, and both would be instantly recognizable as being foreign scenes for anyone who'd only seen episodes 1-9.

So speaking of that , Episode 10 discussion below.
Spoiler: show
Not much to say, but we did learn some important things.

1) We learned that Okabe got very sick as a child and it was around this time that he had an experience which he feels is very similar to the sensations he feels when he time slips.

2) We learned that Suzuha does indeed have a connection to time travel -- though it's still pretty tenuous right now. She said her dad is "Barrel Titor" and that she was planning on meeting him at a time traveler's forum group meeting IRL.

3) We learned that Daru is connected to this same group and that Okabe's not. That's interesting. It would suggest that Daru already knows who Suzuha is then. Even though he hasn't suggested being very familiar with her yet. A result of changing the past? Or just part of the conspiracy since the very beginning? Who knows.

I was confused regarding Okabe's actions towards Ruka in this episode. He specifically was there to help grant Ruka's wish to be reborn as a girl. And he saw that wish come true (even if he didn't get to confirm it with a genital inspection). So I mean, come on: what the hell was up with the "BWAAAAAAA HAAAAA HAAAA HAAA! Didn't I tell you, Christina? Rukako is a guy!" thing? Did he really forget so soon? Or ... was this the show trying to indiscretely point out to us that Okabe, too, is subject to memory loss/modification? I wonder.

On to Episode 11? I dunno, I have to get dinner and I have a report to prepare tonight for a presentation tomorrow. But we'll see. Gotta catch up to Yuki somehow, though I very much doubt it'll happen tonight. If she watches even one more episode (and she surely will ), there's pretty much no chance for me to catch up today.
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Old 10-06-2011, 05:52 PM   #43
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No, he's that retarded.

Talon, think about the name "Barrel Titor" for a moment. To a Japanese audience, this is probably a foreign name. They wouldn't know any better since we also have people named "Hunter Pence". But to we, an English audience, such a name seems pretty improper, no?
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Old 10-06-2011, 05:58 PM   #44
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Well, yeah. I guess what you're intimating is that it sounds made up. Which means ...

(episode 10 discussion)
Spoiler: show
Suzuha is lying about having a father named Barrel Titor. Which begs the question of why she's lying.

It also begs the obvious point which I've been weighing since you first brought this up yesterday, harping and harping on and on about John Titor's presence on message boards, and that is that there is no "John Titor". Or perhaps that, even aside from the fact that whoever claimed to be a time traveler was clearly lying, there were multiple people online who claimed to be "John Titor." Sort of like a Spartacus phenomenon.

Didn't give the name much thought, honestly. I mean, I just finished the episode and she dropped it right at the end when I was already kinda fidgeting to post.

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No, he's that retarded.
Well that's disappointing. Seems like bad writing, as I have a hard time accepting that anyone is that stupid and yet still as high-functioning as Okabe is.
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Old 10-06-2011, 06:07 PM   #45
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I wouldn't jump to that conclusion. While it's glaringly obvious many of the cast outside of the "principle" ones consisting of Daru, Kyouma, Makise Kurisu and Mayuri are suspicious, they haven't said anything that suggests they are liars.

Moeka (cute name, "moe + ka" = "is she moe?", Steins' author likes wordplay and hidden meaning just as much as the rest) for example didn't give a reason to Kyouma about wanting to see the IBN 5100. She could have come up with something, anything, but her simply saying nothing is majorly suspicious. She wouldn't outright lie to him, and I doubt anyone else in the story would do so, too.

Think about other stories involving "time travel" (Remember11, Ever17, 999) and about the relationships of the cast. What kind of stunts do they like to pull, based on a common assumption people have walking into the story?
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Old 10-06-2011, 06:28 PM   #46
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Originally Posted by Doppleganger View Post
Think about other stories involving "time travel" (Remember11, Ever17, 999) and about the relationships of the cast. What kind of stunts do they like to pull, based on a common assumption people have walking into the story?
I guess I'll have to put this entire reply in a spoiler box since some people may not have played those other games yet! So consider this an all-inclusive spoiler box, and not just a Steins spoiler box!

Spoiler: show
Well, the most obvious one of all would be that this isn't really time travel.

Remember11's twist was that while it was true that they were in fact switching bodies:
(1) it wasn't so much that they were switching bodies as it was that a spherical volume in which they were found was switching places in space-time with a corresponding spherical volume elsewhere in space-time and the only place their disembodied consciousness could go was into the body left behind by the other now-disembodied conscious mind; and
(2) it wasn't just the two of them

So there's that. I guess that could factor in. The assumption in Steins so far has been "OMG, Kyouma keeps changing the past." But is he really changing it? Or even if he is, is he really the main changer of the past? It seems unlikely. If SERN has really been at this since the 1950s, then it stands to reason that they've done a hell of a lot more to change history than Kyouma has. Not only that, but what about people from the future? If Kyouma is just one man in 20xx changing the past, what about the tens or hundreds of people doing it in some later 20xx, or even 21xx?


Something we saw in Ever17 which may be cropping up here is are the people we see really the same people as the ones we last saw? Ever17's way of playing with this was (a) the onscreen Yuubiseiharukana vs. Yuubiseiakikana and (b) the offscreen Takeshi and Kid. It wasn't until Coco's path that things began to come together as we were confronted with some critically incorrect assumptions we had made. So for example, in Steins this could be cropping up with Moeka, Suzuha, Daru, even Mayushii. Okabe may gate-jump to a new world and run into Mayushii and be like "Safety! " only to get tazed by a CERN-employed Mayushii. Or something.


In 999, Ever17, and Remember11, one thing we see is that everyone is related somehow. I thought this was already kind of apparent in Steins;Gate -- they're all related to one another by way of Kyouma's apartment and the research he does there -- but I guess not, huh? Perhaps they're all related in some other way. Like ... perhaps Suzuha is Daru's cousin. Perhaps Kurisu is Suzuha's mother. Perhaps Okabe is Suzuha's father. Perhaps Mayushii is Okabe's daughter. Weird interrelationships which might be made possible by the whole time travel angle. Just like how Santa and Jun were related (999) or how, more generally, everyone onboard that boat was related to everyone else. (Well, ironically Junpei had the weakest relation to the events from 10 years ago out of anybody else there. XD) Likewise, everyone in Remember11 is related, with Yomogi's wife being Utsumi, with Yukidoh being Rin's ex-fiancé, etc.


To be perfectly honest, though, I'm not trying to draw comparisons between Steins;Gate and other visual novels right now. I'm just watching the show all on its own and trying to decipher its mystery all on its own. I wouldn't randomly bust out Ever17 or Remember11 in trying to figure out Romance of the Three Kingdoms or Saving Private Ryan, and I'm not really doing it here either. I see the parallels, certainly, but for now, I'd rather try and figure out Steins;Gate based on the clues it itself provides and not figure it out by way of induction using previous games I've played plus your testimony that Steins is LOLNOTCREATIVE.

Forgot to mention two theories I have which I wonder if we'll see.
Spoiler: show
Theory 1: SERN's name will change back to CERN. Perhaps it became "SERN" because of the influence of time travel. Or perhaps according to this game it's the influence of time travel which gave us the name "CERN" we all recognize.

Theory 2: at some point, Dr. Pepper is going to vanish from existence. It'll be replaced with, I dunno, Mountain Dew or something. But it'll vanish. And that's when Kyouma will be like X_x;;;;;;;;.

Last edited by Talon87; 10-06-2011 at 06:31 PM.
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Old 10-06-2011, 06:55 PM   #47
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All I have left to say is consider the nick-names:

Shiina Mayuri → Mayushii
Okabe Rintaro → Hououin Kyouma (?)
Hashida Itaru → Daru
Makise Kurisu → Christina
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Old 10-06-2011, 08:08 PM   #48
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On to Episode 11? I dunno, I have to get dinner and I have a report to prepare tonight for a presentation tomorrow. But we'll see. Gotta catch up to Yuki somehow, though I very much doubt it'll happen tonight. If she watches even one more episode (and she surely will ), there's pretty much no chance for me to catch up today.
Don't worry, I haven't watched anymore (yet). This is payback for yesterday though. XP You want to challenge the champion marathoner? Bring it on!

Although I think it would've been more fun to watch one episode at a time and discuss in between. When I get in stride I don't want to stop to write down my thoughts/questions and instead just plow through to find out the answers. Hence why I missed my opportunity for bragging rights earlier. ^^;

Anyway, if you're still on episode 10, you ain't seen the real shit hit the fan yet. Episode 12 is when the crazy stuff really starts to go down.

Dopple, do the name hints require any intimate knowledge of Japanese to understand?
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Old 10-06-2011, 08:17 PM   #49
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I'd play around with a Japanese dictionary.
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Old 10-06-2011, 08:56 PM   #50
Talon87
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Doppleganger View Post
All I have left to say is consider the nick-names:

Shiina Mayuri → Mayushii
Okabe Rintaro → Hououin Kyouma (?)
Hashida Itaru → Daru
Makise Kurisu → Christina
Quote:
Originally Posted by YUKI.N View Post
Dopple, do the name hints require any intimate knowledge of Japanese to understand?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Doppleganger View Post
I'd play around with a Japanese dictionary.
I didn't think anything of any of the nicknames until you told her to use a dictionary. That's when something jumped out at me:
Spoiler: show
Anagrams.

I don't know what relevant anagram forms from ma|yu|shi|i or from ta|ru, but the name Kurisu is an anagram for kusuri 薬 medicine. So like, if Okabe is a psych patient (or something), then there's that angle. If you look at Daru's name (Itaru) and make the anagram from his nickname's D instead of the T in Itaru, you can get darui だるい lethargic, listless. That's, uh, not nearly as ominous an anagram. ^^; And like I said, I've no idea what one ought to form from Okarin or Mayushii or Feyris (Feirisu, or however it's spelled in Japanese). Yeah, maybe this is totally barking up the wrong tree. ^^;

Btw, Okabe Rintarou --> Okarin, not Hououin Kyouma. The latter is his self-given alias, the former his nickname given by Mayuri. At the time, I didn't think much of the pattern their nicknames form, but now that you're stressing we look at nicknames, well ... (more speculation on nicknames follows)
Spoiler: show
I don't see how this would be relevant, but Shiina Mayuri, you take the first two Japanese letters from each name to form the four-letter nickname Mayushii. Similarly, you take the first two letters each from Okabe Rintarou to form Okarin. So like, Makise Kurisu's nickname as given by Mayuri (were she to give one) would be Makikuri or Kurimaki. Neither of these are words that I recognize, though. Similarly, Hashida Itaru would produce either Hashiita or else Itahashi. Doesn't mean a thing to me.

Just finished Episode 11. This seems to be putting some pieces of the puzzle into motion.
Spoiler: show
The suggestion that they change people's memories, and Okabe's explanation to Mayuri on how he expects it ought to work, makes it sound like this is the very thing which has been happening to Okabe all along. Every time he thinks he's sending things into the past, it just so happens that what he's really doing is having his memory altered by CERN or somebody else. And so:
(1) he's not time traveling after all. He's staying perfectly put.
(2) someone else is the puppetmaster, not him. He's merely the puppet.
Maybe he's a patient of Kurisu's. She let slip this episode that her education is actually in neuroscience. Well, as someone who got his B.S. in neuroscience and has since taken his fair share of quantum chemistry coursework, let me tell you: the crossovers are few and ridiculously far between. For a neuroscientist to go into quantum physics would basically be little different than having a psychologist do so. It would require a completely secondary education to their initial (or primary) education in neuroscience. Is this possible? Well sure, people do stuff like this in the real world all the time. But not all the time all the time: maybe only a small handful of people do it out of 7 billion we've got. (That is to say, go from something like neuroscience into quantum physics.) So what's more likely?
(a) Makise Kurisu is a quantum physicist who was previously a neuroscientist; or
(b) Makise Kurisu is a neuroscientist conducting active neuroscience research?

So yeah. I wonder. I wonder if B is what's going on.

Another highlight of this episode was Okabe getting his second text message from the anonymous sender who sends the creepy ominous messages. Last time it was "I'm watching you right now" followed up with a photograph of blood red gelatin. This time it was "You know too much" followed up with a creepy picture of a doll's head, decapitated, bloodied, and riddled with holes.

Also interesting was when Suzuha told Okabe that Makise Kurisu works for SERN. If that's not true, then we know Suzuha is trying to confuse Okabe and she's actually the one working for SERN. Even if it's true, though, Suzuha could still also be working for SERN. So who knows. I want to like Suzuha, just as I want to like Moeka, but these are some of the more suspicious characters the series has got to offer.

Yuki says the shit hits the fan next episode? Guess I should hold off on that for now then. We'll see.
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