I'm back and this time with a blog about the very little discussed movie, Steins; Gate: The Burdened Region of Déjà Vu. So what's this movie's crime that deprives it of the fame its brethren, the 2 seasons of Steins; Gate, have? And why you should at least give this movie a try once, even if it's not the most renowned of Steins; Gate media, because who knows, you might end up loving it!
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Onto the Movie Review of Steins; Gate: The Burdened Region of Déjà Vu by Wired Ends.
So, what is The Burdened Region of Deja Vu?
It's a feature-length movie that acts as a direct sequel to the Steins; Gate anime, released in 2013. The difference between this and the other Steins; Gate anime is that the plot of this film is not adapted from any Visual Novels, unlike the 2 seasons of the anime. Therefore it's considered by many to be non-canon to the storyline, often treated as excessive and unnecessary.
The film follows our protagonist Okabe Rintarou as he experiences some major hallucinations following the visit of his "girlfriend" Kurisu Makise. These are found to be due to the leftover burden of memories caused by Okabe's travels through the countless worldlines, manifesting as an influence on Reading Steiner. This gets him trapped in an alternate R worldline at a 0.000001% divergence from the Steins; Gate worldline, and effectively erased from everyone's memories.
It is then up to Kurisu to save him, being the only one who still remembers Okabe somehow, leading her to do all it takes. It's only 1.5 hours long so feel free to binge it anytime. But, is the movie deserving of the neglect it gets from fans?
Let's first have a look at the character aspect. All of the characters were consistent, exactly like they were from the 1st anime. Okabe retained his delusionality, Makise her sass, Daru his perviness, Mayuri her innocence. Basically, everyone was the same as we left them in the Steins; Gate anime.
However, the duo that shone in the movie was none other than Rintarou and Makise. I can say with confidence and I'm sure many will agree that the romance we saw them developing in Season 1 hit a high in the movie. This was to me actually a development to the anime, as Okabe & Kurisu's relationship was more or less cemented in it (also remember that back then Steins; Gate Zero wasn't released yet).
Another noteworthy aspect of the movie is the comedy in it. When you see Hououin Kyouma back in action, coupled with Kurisu's tsundere self plus Daru's idiotic perversion, it's a full-on explosive package. There are several intense and terrifying moments, with Okabe's blackouts taking the centre stage among them, so washing them down with the comedy works well. Comic elements worked better in this movie since we already know them from the anime, so the familiarity and the investment made in the characters allow us to just relive and enjoy them.
When it comes to packing a miniseries worth of material into a 1.5 hours movie, one is obviously faced with a challenge. We find most of the fans satisfied with the Steins; Gate anime's ending, and why not, because all the characters we care about have a happy ending. And this has been an age-old fallacy in storytelling because there is practically no such thing as a happy ending. There's always a story after that "ever after". And I applaud the people who materialized Steins; Gate Deja Vu for going into this direction.
The story of Kurisu and Okabe did find quite the twists, turns, and closure in the anime. Yet we also needed equality in this case. What Deja Vu showed us was the case of time leaping/traveling but from Kurisu's perspective. In my opinion, this was the experience Kurisu needed to be truly equal and opposite to Okabe. For even if a person formulates theories, theorizes formulae, and gets the book written until one practically does it, they can't know how it's exactly like. Kurisu was able to step into Okabe's shoes for that one time she went back into the past, to 2005, and failed to save him. But alas, failing to save (and getting hit by a truck) didn't mean he'd die, as Okabe would still live to that point in the Steins; Gate worldline until he disappears on that day in August 2011.
Such was the cruel fate of the worldline he created as a haven for everyone else but him. So, in this regard, the movie was actually very brutal in concept, since our protagonist Okabe would disappear, Kurisu would try to save him countless times, but she didn't only because Okabe told her not to. Why then did it seem to be so easy and inconsequential? I believe that's because of time. They had to wrap all that up in just an hour and a half! They needed at least 6 episodes (or 12) if they wanted to finish it up without rushing, in my opinion. Due to whatever constraints they had, it wasn't possible, so a movie had to seal the deal.
Nevertheless, all that we could indulge into in the movie was something special for hardcore Steins; Gate fans. It's often a problem in modern anime that little closure for the protagonists is provided in terms of romance. Therefore I'm more than glad that the movie provided a proper conclusion for their story, where we don't only see it blooming further but also to fruition. #Okakuri finally reciprocated in the proper way, the way that was needed. And what better to do so than Science? In the film, we also got to know more about Kurisu as a person, how she struggles between reason and will within herself, and how her future self continues that struggle.
It is indeed sad to know that Kurisu never actually recovered from the loss of Okabe, as she even names the time machine as OR 204, after Okabe Rintarou. We see many such people around in life, successful and rich people who seemingly have everything in life, but can never live, because of a mistake they made long ago. Suzuha's reaction to Kurisu's stubbornness (born of Okabe's will for her to forget) kinda reflected my own reaction to similar people in real life. Therefore we saw an amazing number of ego struggles in this one film- of Suzuha, Kurisu, and Okabe. Fans of the Steins; Gate Zero anime airing right now will know how Okabe reacts to a time machine made to interfere with the past even after he explained the disaster that unfolds due to it. That same reaction was seen ages ago in this movie when Okabe got to know from Kurisu that she had rebuilt the time leap machine, looking horrified and hopeless. This is where we also saw the little kid Okabe and Mayuri's friendship in its true depth for the first time, in the graveyard in the 2nd last scene. (And let's not forget Kurisu and kid Okabe's kiss ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)). And finally, we also saw nearly 2D Makise in Okabe's phone for the first time in Deja Vu itself, perhaps a borrowed thing from the Steins; Gate Zero VN.
Say what anyone will, the Okabe-Kurisu dynamic was top-notch in the movie. (Let's also have a standing ovation for drunk Kurisu :clap: ). Taking all these aspects into consideration, one will surely find it hard to even ignore the movie, let alone neglect its storytelling significance. Quite a few things like these are what gives weight to the film, despite it not being an official "canon" adaptation to the franchise. We find a lot of themes that were dealt with in the 1st season reprised here in similar manners. For example, the concept of fatalism, which Kurisu was always apprehensive against, was brought up again. Except that, in Steins; Gate she was the one to deny it completely, even in the penultimate worldline. And in Deja Vu, Kurisu accepted it, perhaps due to Okabe's persuasion of her to not leap repeatedly. Was this purely Kurisu's hopelessness, or did she not want to do it? We found a portrayal of that conflict in her. I was again glad to see Suzuha (literally) smack some sense into Kurisu, much like what Okabe does to Moeka in S1 and Daru does to Okabe in S2 (but who knows with what effect). So, we find some borderline philosophical themes clearly played within this film.
Now let's have a little talk about the music and animation. While Steins; Gate S1 had a great animation quality, all thanks to Nitro+, mixing in damp with dark and faded colors effectively, Deja Vu was another level of detail, adding a couple of years of improvement on. We get a few special shots with detailed animation here and there, like the blue flowers with insects flying on them, the shots with the cicadas, the cityscapes, and trains, etc. What makes the Steins; Gate experience so wholesome though, is the dampness of the picture, that almost blends the scenery with our own mind. It's so easily possible to immerse into Steins; Gate for this very reason, and Deja Vu just beefed it up to produce some quality animation. Now, music. It was incredible. I'll have to admit, there are a few pieces especially that are burnt in my brain, even after 5 years, since I watched the movie first in 2013. For example, the penultimate scene with Mayuri and Okabe in the graveyard and the "birth" of Hououin Kyouma with its piano-themed background music pops into my head a lot of times I remember Steins; Gate. Then we have the incredible soundtracks in various scenes, like when Kurisu runs over to the lab to try to save Okabe a 2nd time.
And in total honesty, the OP and ED themes are some of the best Steins; Gate OSTs ever, especially the ED called Itsumo Kono Basho De (Always at this Place). Kanako Itou once again delivered an amazing track, which her vocals made powerfully, and the accompanying visual of the worldlines converging along with Kurisu traveling to Japan just made it perfect. While all was hale and hearty, Deja Vu dealt with the dismal topic of the unimportance of a life. Many fans consider Mayuri to be useless and are okay with her dying, or some hardcore ones say the same for Okabe, without understanding that it's one life, after all, no matter who they are. I'll also take this chance to correct myself about a thing I said in my earlier blog Is Okabe going mad? There I'd proposed that Kagari overwrote the memory of Okabe's Hououin persona being born, as a result of Professor Leskinen's plans. I'd also proposed that Leskinen himself was the original Kyouma, and only implanted this memory into past Okabe just to make all the events happen again. Upon rewatching Deja Vu I realized that Kurisu only put that memory of Kyouma into Okabe in the Steins; Gate worldline and in no other, so the birth of Kyouma in all the others was due to Okabe himself. So, Gomen Ne.
Lastly, let's talk about the central aspect of the movie. We all know Steins; Gate is a science-fiction time travel story. There are several laws and theories of real-life Physics that built up the concept of time mechanics in the series. While a lot of fans rage about how the movie butchered a lot of the established time travel logic, here's what I have to say to them: it doesn't matter. I mean, if you're a fanatic about the time mechanics being accurate (like me), then yeah you'd be pissed about it. But, through the passage of time, I also understood that Deja Vu is not to be seen as time-travel anime solely. At its core is Okabe & Kurisu. This movie should rather be seen as a romance between 2 ill-fated lovers instead of a sci-fi adventure. With that perspective, many if not most fans will perceive it in a brand new way. As a romance between 2 lovers fighting against time and Nature, this movie does an excellent job. As a time-travel movie with concretely established Science, maybe not so much. However, in my opinion, it shouldn't take away the emotional impact, the character depth, the happiness of Steins; Gate, the happiness of knowing that our protagonists got a good ending. As a story that treads beyond the "happily ever after" milestone, Deja Vu does a nice job.
Well, that was it for my ramblings on Steins; Gate: The Burdened Region of Déjà Vu. All in all, I'd say to the hardcore Steins; Gate fans out there to give it a try at least once. Especially if you like to invest in your characters and feel empathy for them.
There's a ton of sequels, interquels, and prequels that don't quite do well because they're not as good as the first season. I don't believe that's the case for Deja Vu because there was a concept, there was a purpose, a theme to be explored and it was delivered effectively.
However, many will disagree and that's completely fine, as I'd love to have some varying opinions in a fandom instead of everyone universally loving/hating something.
El Psy Congroo
That was the movie review of Steins; Gate: The Burdened Region of Déjà Vu by Wired Ends.
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