Just before CNY, I completed the S;G VN which turns out to be just absolutely great. There's great artwork by Huke and major branches of storyline that was not covered in the anime series. Well for VNs it's common to have different routes for different heroines but in S;G's case, it wasn't really a case for pure romance, or rather it was Okabe Rintarou's stress that he does not wish to sacrifice anyone anymore, to save Mayuri's life.
So we're all familiar with how the story of S;G goes, just before I head on to the various endings, here are some of the difference between the anime series and the VN which is on the common route. First of, Mayuri definitely died in much more ways that I could recall actually happening in the anime series.
And all that amounted to the enormous pressure on Okabe which he had time-leaped actually more times than he did in the anime. With all the deaths that he saw happening, it was definitely stressful for him, and me as well (I'd get to this later). One of the more prominent difference, other than just vehicle deaths, was that Mayuri was captured and was forcibly sent into the past by SERN after which they sent a Jellyman's Report of Mayuri to Okabe. Now that is just too much :(
Secondly, Mr. Braun's daughter, Nae, was actually SERN's "underlings" and in the Kiryuu Moeka's arc, where in the anime, Moeka was shot as she had to die on that day due to the attractor field convergence but in the VN, she was actually killed by Nae with a knife.
There were 2 different routes to take in Moeka's arc, but both led to the same conclusion. Apparently, Mr. Braun a.k.a. FB, possibly wanted to save Moeka after she found out about his identity and shot himself in the head and Nae happened to saw everything. But since she was too little at that time, she vowed to kill Moeka and Okabe when she grows up to exact revenge for her father. So in the future where SERN rules the world, Nae had used the Time Leap machine to leap back 15 years (which was the year that she had killed Okabe) to kill Moeka and tells Okabe that she'll kill him in 15 years time as the attractor field convergence would not make Okabe die anytime between the next 15 years. Now that was just shocking. It really came as a surprise to see that Nae had become like this due to the IBN 5100 and FB crap and for Okabe to remove that reality by correcting the D-mails, was just the right thing to do.
In the VN, much more were explained about how theories of time travel had worked but there are still some loopholes yet to be plugged in. Firstly, for me, it was rather difficult for me to remember that Time Leaping does not change the world line and only the D-mails will. Since Mayuri's Jellyman Report came to Okabe, when he was hacking with Daru, the Jellyman's Report should have appeared there, or perhaps it was deliberately left out to send it out at the exact time to stir Okabe's feelings. Next, I wonder if Mayuri's death had really placed such a large significance. I do accept the fact that she had died the 1st time due to her presence being unwanted by SERN as she was of no use. And due to the attractor field convergence, she repeatedly dies in various ways but her being turned into a jellyman was the least expected. I mean if the convergence had killed her, why did SERN have to go all out to capture Mayuri, instead of Okabe, sends the report to Okabe, knowing that he'll time leap again. It just doesn't really make sense, unless Mayuri's death had a significant impact to lead to the dystopia just that it wasn't quite explained in the story.
The flags of S;G was really random and really unpredictable. Merely missing a call, or picking it up at the wrong time would just destroy the important flag that was supposed to be captured in order to complete the various endings. Considering this was the very first VN that I had played, it was considerably difficult and reading the full story was just all I had in mind. Not so sure if there were any bad ends to S;G since I didn't get any even in the 1st run when I actually missed a couple of important flags, ending me up at Suzuha's Ending. So for Okabe Rintarou, yes he did suffer watching Mayuri die again and again but I could bet with him that I suffered more after setting wrong flags and having to restart from the previous save point and AGAIN, see Mayuri die.
The feel in the VN had hit me harder than the anime series. I could actually get a larger feel of how Okabe was feeling. All the stress accumulating, all the unwillingness to be selfish in the various endings, and giving up the one you love after having made a firm decision to save his very own childhood friend. So now let's have a look at the various endings:
Suzuha's End
This was the very first ending I actually got to and it was a good end and a twist to what we originally see in the anime. So after Suzuha realises that Daru was her father and had used the fixed time machine to travel back to 1975 to obtain the IBN 5100 for Okabe Rintarou and the others, and had later failed as she had lost her memories. Due to Okabe stopping her from leaving, her time machine was spoilt from the heavy rain and to prevent that, Okabe would have to send a D-mail to stop himself from going after her on that fateful day. In making the choice not to send the D-mail, Okabe would instead save the mail and time leap back again 2 days ago and instead of fixing the time machine up, everyone in the lab would head out to cycle together with Suzuha and enjoy the wonderful time together. While resting at a overhead bridge, Daru had leaned too far out and after Okabe had alerted him, a truck brushed against Daru and he had survived. After the day had ending and the "end" had arrived, Okabe time leaped again and the cycle continues until he's trapped in his own time loop. He does not want Suzuha to die believing that her life was wasted and by repeatedly repeating these 2 days, it would always be filled with great times, or so is what Okabe believes. Due to the insane time loop, Okabe starts to lose himself and begins to think about what he could actually do in this time loop as anything he did wrong could be corrected if he had just time leaped again. He did not call out to Daru to actually see what would happen to him but with the convergence, Daru was not meant to die and for that, Okabe begins to hate himself as he had hoped to see something different other than the repeated conversations that he had long memorised.
The end of the time loop finally came when Suzuha realises that Okabe had the same eyes as what the others had back in 2036 where it was a dystopia and everyone had lost their heart, or soul it might seem. Okabe reveals to Suzuha about trapping himself in this time loop and that she would fail to get the IBN 5100 as she had lost her memories. Suzuha then helps to get Okabe out of the time loop by asking him to accompany her to 1975 where his presence might change the course of time and that she might not lose her memories at all. Having bid farewell to the others, Okabe and Suzuha then takes the one-way trip to 1975 in the time machine.
It was actually nice to see how this twist might have happened and we got a glimpse of how a time loop would amount to a loss of soul. Certainly that is possible. Would have hoped to see the aftermath though but I guess that would require more chapters to complete.
Feyris' End
Her's was the most unexpected one, or should I say the most consequential of all the endings. I personally do not hate this ending but it came as a shock to me as after how Akihabara had become after a D-mail was sent by Feyris, this twist came as a surprise.
After Okabe decided to change the contents of the D-mail to attempt to save her father as well as save Mayuri, the convergence number changed from a normal 0.XXXXXX to __.04XXXX where the 1st digit actually disappears. Ain't quite sure what it actually meant but the large change of convergence would not mean anything good. In this world line, Okabe Rintarou is officially Feyris' boyfriend and the Future Gadget Lab does not exist. Which means that Daru and Mayuri whom he saw at the maid cafe did not know him at all. What was more surprising to him was that he was a professional Rai-Netter and was Feyris' partner. Having lost his old memories of this new world line, he later reveals to Feyris about what has happened as was glad to have saved both Feyris' father and Mayuri as well, even though they were all strangers now. Having no one to turn to now and him being in this world line all alone with his Reading Steiner, he has only Feyris by his side and together that step up to the Rai-Net stage as a team of two.
And now we got to see another scenario of how a major change in world line would look like and having the ability of Reading Steiner might not be that good as he'd thought it would be. With the justification of the multiple world line theory, people that you might be close to would become hurt if a transition of world line occurs as it's like resetting oneself. This was the most interesting ending among the others that I've seen.
Rukako's End
I hate this end. Totally. Okabe was acting all high and all and with Rukako's feelings on him, he felt that he should not sacrifice her feelings and having did that to Feyris and Suzuha, doing so would be selfish and thus decided to retain her gender and live through Mayuri's death.
So in this end, Okabe decides to finally accept Mayuri's death and accept Rukako's feelings, leading to the both of them having a sense of remorse as they denied the fact to be able to save Mayuri and had instead decided to protect their feelings. Not wanting Rukako to feel much regret, Okabe heads to the shrine and tells her that they're buddies of "crime" now and not to let Mayuri's death go to waste and they would live happily together as themselves. Rukako then pleads Okabe to allow her to use the time leap machine so that she could return to the past and accept Mayuri's pleas of her cosplaying, so that she could see Mayuri smile happily before she loses her life. Back in the shrine, Rukako then shows Okabe a photo of the 3 of them at Comima with Rukako cosplaying and Mayuri with her bright smile. Not letting her die in vain, Rukako and Okabe moves on and have their family of their own.
The only "good" part I had seen from this ending was that the time leap machine appears to work well with everyone. Considering that this ending is obtainable before Nae actually using it, it was refreshing to see how Kurisu's invention was really perfect. However the sacrificing thing and accepting thing was just out of way. Having gone so far to sacrifice Suzuha and Feyris, stopping here would also meant that both their feelings were sacrificed as well. Honestly I just don't really like this ending. Not much has been developed for Okabe and Rukako as well so it's real weird to see them together IMO.
Mayuri's End
This end would be the next best ending (behind the true end), and so with the IBN 5100 in hand after much reversing of the D-mails, the final hacking was about to commence when Okabe realises that by doing so would mean to sacrifice Kurisu and save Mayuri instead. After holding the decision off, Kurisu gives him the push to save Mayuri and when the dateline of Mayuri's deaths nears, Mayuri sees Okabe in pain due to the painful decision that he has to made and tells him that he could always share his problems with her. After careful deliberation, Okabe reveals everything to Mayuri, about the people he had sacrificed to save her and now, Kurisu as well. Kurisu would return to America and Okabe brings Mayuri along to send her off.
Mayuri rushes forward to hug Kurisu and tells her that she does not wish to see Kurisu die just to save herself and it was then that Kurisu realises that Okabe had told he the truth. She however declines Mayuri's offer to die instead and insists that the decision is already made since Okabe loves Mayuri. Having said that, she tells Mayuri to find her happiness and leaves the city. Having completed the hacking and returning to the original world line, Mayuri and Okabe now continue their lives a couple now rather than "kidnapper" and "hostage" and Mayuri tells Okabe that she feels like she's forgetting someone important to her and that person had told her to find her own happiness. Okabe know that it was Kurisu who had told her that in the previous world line and decides to bring Mayuri happiness like what she had hoped for.
This was just a sweet ending where Mayuri actually knows what exactly was going on. Having sacrificed the memories of so many others just to save her life is definitely not something that one can feel easy about. Furthermore sacrificing a dear friend is just too difficult for Mayuri to bear. Which is possibly why she was able to remember faintly what Kurisu had told her in the previous world line. This ending had given me the largest impact other than the true end which was shown in the anime, so this felt original and impactful at the same time.
Kurisu's End
Christiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiina! Now this ending went on about the same route as Mayuri's end, just that the flags triggered were different and before removal of the 1st D-mail was done, there was the romantic moment between Okabe and Kurisu where they both acknowledge their feelings for each other and as Okabe presses the enter key reluctantly, Kurisu rushes in but fails to finish her proper confession before Okabe switches back to the original world line. He accepts the lost of Kurisu and discards the Phone Microwave and lives together with Daru and Mayuri, while not forgetting his precious assistant.
True End
As above, this is what one would see if the flags to the true end were triggered correctly and after the supposed credits of Chapter 10, the reversing of credits begin and we'll enter Chapter 11 which holds the story to the true end. There isn't any flags in the last chapter, just pure story which is exactly what happened in episode 23/24 of the anime. There was much more graphics though, the scene where Okabe was the one who had stabbed Kurisu was much much more gory than the anime itself. Acknowledging his pain and mistake, he returns yet again and saves her this time, leading to the true end where he got to reunite with her again.
Having patched to the incomplete english version, the true end is not registered as after Kurisu turns back to see Okabe, the game crashes :( oh well. At least the whole story of S;G is now complete.
S;G would be much more memorable than the other anime series to me since I've been able to get hold of the other endings as well and serving as my very 1st VN ever played, it really is more significant to me. It was a great addition to the anime as well after the anime had focused on 1 particular end and it would be more "complete" if I went through the other possible routes as well. Overall, S;G is a really good series worth watching and playing. Would hope for an official english version to get my hands on it as well. Great storyline!
"No one knows what the future holds.
That's why its potential is infinite,
just as this meeting demonstrates.
This is the choice of Steins Gate."
*just a note: there would most likely be 1 or 2 more updates before I get officially enlisted into NS next wednesday. been stuck at home before CNY (and had completed S;G), and after as well. so that's that.*
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