Common Sense Media Review
Fluke time travelers try to save the future in sci-fi anime.
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Steins;Gate
What's the Story?
STEINS;GATE is a sci-fi anime about self-proclaimed mad scientist Rintarou Okabe (voiced by J. Michael Tatum) who runs the Future Gadget Laboratory. Rintarou, along with his friends, tries to create technological innovations. A miraculous accident in the lab creates a time machine. As the lab continues with testing trials, they attract the attention of a dangerous organization. Soon, the crew discovers that their invention has caused serious changes to their timeline. Rintarou and friends set out to fix the damage caused by their time machine, all the while facing off against this new enemy.
Is It Any Good?
This sci-fi anime develops slowly but ultimately picks up the pace to deliver a solid story about time travel. Steins;Gate doesn't feature a groundbreaking plot; it follows a standard time travel narrative -- one where characters dabble with time and ultimately must go back to try and fix their mistakes. The pacing in this series can be slow, but it does continually pick up with some nice time travel related payoffs. Character-wise, it's hit-or-miss. Some have interesting and quirky personalities, while others feel one-dimensional. It's also disappointing that there's no explanation for the time machine's creation; it just happens.
Despite these flaws, Steins;Gate manages to remain interesting by providing consistent continuity between events. Things that seem innocuous in previous episodes end up being tied in nicely with future events that give the series a bunch of satisfying payoffs. Overall, Steins;Gate doesn't reinvent the wheel when it comes to sci-fi or time travel stories, it just tells a good and consistent story.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the ways in which science has impacted our daily lives. What is fun and interesting about science? Would you like to conduct science experiments?
If you had the ability to time travel what one event would you like to go back to and witness? Or which historical figure would you like to meet?
TV Details
- Premiere date : September 25, 2012
- Cast : J. Michael Tatum
- Networks : Hulu , Crunchyroll , Funimation
- Genre : Anime
- Topics : Fantasy ( Magic ) , STEM
- TV rating :
- Last updated : September 29, 2025
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