Oh, man! What an episode!
A couple of days ago, I posted somewhat of an appreciation post for episode 8 of Steins;Gate 0. I loved it so much that I thought it surely deserves a post to express how much it moved me. I thought there wouldn't be any episode in the series that could be better than that one. Thanks for proving me wrong, HOUOUIN KYOUMA!
The first ten minutes of the episode were really dense and well-executed. No opening, no time-pass, nothing. It was probably the most concentrated Okabe had ever been in his plans. The Amadeus scene, the Rukako meeting, young Suzuha's appearance, going back through time, the episode was going on perfectly well. That was until... Okarin asked Daru to slap him. That was the moment after which everything changed. That was the return of the most loved, cherished, Kyouma!
My eyes were glued to the screen; every single line after that made me so utterly nostalgic, words cannot explain. I'm sure many of you felt the same. Whether it's the narcissistic lines filled with pride and wit or the iconic hand movements, everything was perfect. I'd just chuckle when these happened in the original show, finding Okabe immature or humorous. But, here, after 20 episodes, meeting the mad scientist so spectacularly was not expected by me. The best episode and the highest artistic peak of the show, hands down!
While episode 8 made me tear up due to the emotion and beauty, the sheer brilliance of this episode lay in the writing of the anime. It was hype, it was iconic, but most of all, it was well-executed. This episode made me constantly shiver and have goosebumps every two minutes. Phenomenal writing.
Thanks for reading the post. El Psy Congroo :]
