Tuesday 17 May 2011

Steins;Gate - Episode 7

The Future Gadget Lab's burgeoning roster of staff gained another new member last week in the form of Moeka Kiryuu (even if it is just in the hope of borrowing that IBM 5100), so what next for their experimentation with sending e-mails to the past?

Okarin being who he is, his next suggested experiment isn't particularly surprising in that he wants to use the group's microwave-cum-time machine to try and change the past... indeed, it's even less surprising that his plan to test this is to see if he can send the winning lottery numbers to the past (I like his style, now I come to think about it).  Despite the suggestions of Makise in particular that this isn't really a good idea, and in spite of getting cold feet about aiming for the grand prize in the lottery, the experiment goes ahead.  That, in fact, is where things start to get really interesting....


After suffering a decidedly odd experience upon hitting the save button, Okarin returns from what seems to be little more than a daydream to discover that he's the only person who has any recollection of the projected experiment, with the rest of the group recalling that they never got any further than discussing it before Kyouma raced over to the microwave out of the blue.  Sure enough, the lottery ticket in question was bought (although a mistake robs Okarin of his relative riches), and further investigation suggests that the experiment never took place - it seems that our protagonist really has changed the past, and been moved to a different timeline as a result.  But why can he remember all of this?  It's a question Okarin is keen to put to John Titor (at the suggestion of Amane), and one that yields a decidedly fully-fledged response that sets even our delusional "hero" aback.

After mentioning my hopes for the series clicking up a gear soon following the previous episode, I get the feeling my hopes have been answered well and truly here - yes, Steins;Gate continues to have a huge amount of fun with its various characters, particularly early in this episode, but we're now moving on to another plain entirely in the light of Okarin's latest experience.  It's an experience which harks all the way back to Makise's "death" in episode one and now begs even more questions about what happened on that occasion, while both Amane and Kiryuu's behaviour becomes more intriguing by the week.  As if I wasn't already, Steins;Gate is now very much on my list of currently airing series I simply don't want to wait to watch the next episode of.  If only my future self could send an e-mail to me to let me know what happens next.  In fact, if he could just send over the next week's Euromillions winning numbers too...

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