Well, it wasn’t the fresh start we were hoping for, but Steins Gate 0 nevertheless used its twelfth episode well. We got to see a little more of the complicated relationship between Kagari and Mayuri, and got a glimpse of the circumstances surrounded the birth of the infamous Hououin Kyouma persona.
Whatever it takes
In episode twelve, Steins Gate 0 shows just how desperate Kagari is to find her adoptive mother. Suzuha recalls a time when Kagari actually threatened her with a gun, saying that by changing world lines, she could jeopardize the search. Glossing over the fact that Suzuha did something very similar to Okabe just a few episodes back, this raises an interesting point: if Okabe had managed to save both Kurisu and Mayuri, would Kagari have even been orphaned?
Threatening her friend in this way seems like a drastic course of action, but it’s actually fairly well justified. After all, war is all Kagari has ever known, so it’s entirely possible she’d react in such a way. We just wish her character could be fleshed out a little more, instead of forcing the viewer to pay attention to an as-yet uninteresting supporting cast member.
Echoes of Dango
Much of this episode was spent trying to locate the source of a song Kagari heard when she was young. With stripped back instrumentals and a simple, catchy melody, the goal was clear: use musical cues to stimulate an emotional response in the audience. This tactic worked crushingly well in shows like Clannad and Anohana, but without a strong attachment to the characters involved, its impact was lessened somewhat.
Let’s be real: Steins Gate has never had a particularly strong soundtrack. Yes, it’s had good OPs, but in terms of background music, there’s never been anything that’s really memorable. This song seems to be a direct rebuttal to this argument, however, so you can expect to hear it again and again as we move through the rest of the season.
Plot Progression
This episode also showed Yuki and Daru’s first (onscreen) date. There’s something a little gross about dating someone when the game is rigged, but it’s possible that to Daru, it’s no different from playing a dating sim. Still, if it’s the will of Stein’s Gate, it’ll happen in the end anyway.
With the Amadeus and Kagari subplots resolved, there’s nothing left to hold back the main story. So far, Steins Gate 0’s pacing has given viewers whiplash, but we’re halfway through now. As such, there’s no reason not to go full steam ahead. There are so many questions without answers: let’s just hope the show resolves them instead of using them as leverage to secure a possible third season.
