Mark Watches ‘Steins;Gate’: Episode 17 – Made in Complex

In the seventeenth episode of Steins;Gate, Kurisu has an interesting theory on how to find the IBN 5100. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to watch Steins;Gate. 

Trigger Warning: For talk of death, grief

It wasn’t enough, y’all. IT WASN’T ENOUGH. 

But I’m now realizing that, if Kurisu’s theory is indeed correct (and the divergence line meter certainly suggests that), then Okabe needs to undo everything those D-mails did. It’s the only way to find the IBN 5100, to disconnect the team from SERN, and to stop all of this from happening. It’s kind of a fascinating development purely from a story perspective, too. It’s all about these characters trying rectify their mistakes, and in particular, Okabe has to deal with the fact that this wonderful experiment is not-so-wonderful, and he’s complicit in changing the world line enough to push everyone into an existence where Mayuri always dies. 

I’m guessing, then, that the next portion of this show is going to deal specifically with the problem of all the D-mails sent in the early part of the show. “Made in Complex” begins this journey with the most recent D-mail sent: the mysterious message that Feyris wrote that changed the cultural make-up of Akihabara. And honestly, so much weird and traumatic shit has happened since then that I honestly forgot about this being a mystery. But I was ready! I wanted to know!

AND THEN I DIDN’T WANT TO KNOW. 

First, let me just say that I loved that as soon as Okabe time-leapt after the opening, he sought out Kurisu and asked for her help. He’s doing this so naturally now. He’s dropped the sarcasm, and I can’t recall the last time he used his mad scientist persona to ruin a nice moment. I know that’s also because he’s lived every timeline and every version of the past throughout this show. So, in that sense, his character growth continues, while often, the other characters are reset. Even then, Kurisu still was able to recognize how significant it was that he used her actual name instead of some rude nickname. BUT SHE WON’T EVEN REMEMBER THAT IT HAPPENED.

Anyway, Feyris proves to be a challenge not just because of the emotional history at work, but because Okabe forgot about the logistics of what he’s doing. In this world, Feyris never knew about the D-mail. To her, everything is normal! This is just her life, and it’s not the result of time travel; it’s just her. So yes, I’m very fascinated by the seemingly impossible reality that Feyris REMEMBERS OTHER TIMELINES. It took Okabe’s intervention to trigger those memories, but HOLY SHIT. It happened! She remembered the May Queen and moe culture and an entirely different life, and I don’t understand how that’s possible. Does she possess something that Okabe has as well? I don’t know. And I don’t know that I ever need to know! I think it’s perfectly fine if this aspect is never, ever explained to me, and the mystery of it doesn’t detract from enjoying the rest of the show. 

Plus, it’s not like Steins;Gate hasn’t done a fine job with time travel anyway, so I don’t find myself craving more science or more logistical explanations. Rather, I’m drawn mostly to the stories of ordinary people using an extraordinary device and what that means for their lives. In this case, Feyris did something deeply relatable: she used it to prevent her father’s death. (And seriously, I actually thought she had done something similar to that, but then discarded the theory because there was no evidence that her father was dead in the original timeline.) It’s why moe culture disappeared: her father was still in her life and discouraged her from opening up the May Queen cafe. Thus, the whole city changed.

But the tragedy here is that these characters are both torn by the choices they have to make. You can tell that Okabe feels guilty about this, especially after Feyris’s father rescues them all from the Rai-Netters. (And I am a little confused here. How did he know that was happening? And why did the leader say the C203 had arrived? Who called the cops?) He gets to see just how terribly happy Feyris is now that she has her father back. How could he ever ask her to give all that up for Mayuri? The struggle, of course, is even more awful for Feyris, who felt guilt and grief for many years after her father died, especially since her last correspondence with him was so cruel. Her choice to change the past is based on that guilt and grief, and now, she’s got to go through it all again. Yet she’s most likely going to remember this timeline, isn’t she? I liked that she likened it to a dream, one she actually got to live, because it would mean she would still know that her father did love her, that her last message to him had not poisoned his memory. 

So she does it. She lets Okabe un-do the D-mail, changing the world line and bringing everything a little closer to that 1% divergence line. It’s sad, yes, but I was comforted by the idea that she has a special power that only Okabe does, so at least she’ll get to retain her memories of this experience. 

Okay, so what’s next? Kurisu ran through the D-mails so quickly early in the episode that I can’t remember whose D-mail must be undone next. I’M SCARED.

The video for “Made in Complex” can be downloaded here for $0.99.

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