{"id":6927,"date":"2018-08-13T13:00:20","date_gmt":"2018-08-13T20:00:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/?p=6927"},"modified":"2018-07-17T12:36:50","modified_gmt":"2018-07-17T19:36:50","slug":"mark-watches-steinsgate-episode-15-missing-link-necrosis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/2018\/08\/mark-watches-steinsgate-episode-15-missing-link-necrosis\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Watches ‘Steins;Gate’: Episode 15 – Missing Link Necrosis"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the fifteenth episode of Steins;Gate<\/i>, FRIENDSHIP. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch Steins;Gate<\/i>.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Trigger Warning: For brief discussion of racism, specifically anti-blackness<\/b><\/p>\n

Y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all know I love this shit, LET\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S GO.<\/p>\n

The Future<\/b><\/p>\n

I honestly didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d get to see what 2036 looks like. Granted, there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s very little shown to us of the world where SERN used time travel to give themselves power, and I think that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s ideal. I like that these characters are choosing to fight against a future they cannot imagine or picture. With the exception of Suzuha, of course. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s an extra layer of motivation, too, since both Kurisu and Okabe are explicit in their desire to save Mayuri, too. Thus, this becomes a personal struggle for everyone rather than the immense scope of a dystopia. Given how this show has tracked the lives of these people in such intense detail, I love that even this conflict retains a personal stake in it. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a brilliant dynamic, and it allows the audience to imagine the worst from just a few images.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

On top of that, Suzuha\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s characterization is given the meaning we were missing this entire time. First, I acknowledged this on video, but it bears repeating here: I just<\/i> realized at the start of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Missing Link Necrosis\u00e2\u20ac\u009d that Suzuha only appeared in the story once the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153satellite\u00e2\u20ac\u009d crashed. WHICH IS WHY NO ONE KNEW HER PRIOR TO THAT. Anyway, it made sense that she would travel to the time when Kurisu\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s influence pushed the time machine to what it was in the future. However, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not that simple! She came to 2010 because she actually<\/i> wanted to meet her father, the man who constructed the time machine and gave it to her, despite that they hadn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t met one another. She only got stuck there because Okabe Okabe\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s world line jumping got her stranded there. WHICH LEAVES US WITH A GREAT PLOT IN THE PRESENT DAY.<\/p>\n

The Missions<\/b><\/p>\n

So, there are two major plots unfolding over this episode: Daru is tasked with fixing the time machine\u00e2\u20ac\u201dwhich, interesting enough, resembles the phone wave in odd ways\u00e2\u20ac\u201din just 48 hours, and the others set out to reunite Suzuha with her father, based only on a strange badge that he used to own. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the second one that seemed to manifest the MOST feelings, and oh my god, this episode is OVERFLOWING with them.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Okabe’s\u00c2\u00a0inability to accept that in the future that he is a resistance leader. I can see why he can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t imagine that in his current incarnation! His whole mad scientist persona might have made it seem like he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d be a natural rebel, but the future that Suzuha presents to him isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t pretend. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not a means of coping with grief, and having to make the kinds of decision you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d have to make while a resistance leader is a lot<\/i>. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s more than Okabe can fathom. How is he supposed to become that<\/i> person when he can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t even save his best friend? Oh god, but then Suzuha is ready to shut that line of thinking down because just wanting to save Mayuri alone<\/i> is powerful enough. RIGHT. And look, I still find Okabe to be a complicated character. He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s gotten better<\/i>, and a lot of his more aggravating tendencies aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t around as much. His dedication to Mayuri is<\/i> a good thing, though, and a sign that he can<\/i> care about the people around him.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Friendship<\/b><\/p>\n

I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m a huge fan of platonic, non-romantic friendships, and any of y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all who have been around here for a while know that this is DEEPLY IMPORTANT TO ME. This episode feels like such a beautiful bit of evidence that these characters have truly grown to be friends. Suzuha put aside her dislike of what Kurisu might<\/i> do in order to work with her; Mayuri, upon realizing that Suzuha was going to abandon her quest to find her father, took it upon herself to try to find him on her own. Even when Mayuri\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s plan hilariously backfires, there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s still such a tenderness in it. Even Daru begins to question his more gross tendencies when he realizes just how much Suzuha is saddened by not knowing her father. This group works together for a shared goal, and LOOK HOW WELL THEY GET ALONG WHEN THEY DO. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s beautiful! It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s so seamless<\/i>.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Suzuha who really puts it into context for everyone, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all. When she speaks to Okabe on the roof, I realized just how alone<\/i> she must have been. She was from twenty-six years in the future, stranded in the past, unable to find her father, and unfamiliar with the world. She had to hide in plain sight from the very person who created the resistance she was part of. And through it all, Mayuri and Okabe were her friends. They didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have<\/i> to be, and they still made it comfortable for her. THEY BECAME REAL FRIENDS. Help??? I have so many feelings?<\/p>\n

The Vendor<\/b><\/p>\n

While I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have any definitive opinions on this\u00e2\u20ac\u201dI\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not black, so this isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t really my lane\u00e2\u20ac\u201dI felt really<\/i> weird about how Okabe spoke to that street vendor. Like… was he just imitating Black American slang to communicate with him? I got the sense from the scene that we were supposed to think Okabe was being ridiculous because the guy just immediately started speaking Japanese to him. Plus, there could have been a weird translation issue, but I figured I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d bring it up for further discussion rather than say nothing at all.<\/p>\n

The video for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Missing Link Necrosis\u00e2\u20ac\u009d can be downloaded here for $0.99.<\/p>\n

Mark Links Stuff<\/b><\/p>\n

– My YA contemporary debut, ANGER IS A GIFT<\/a>, is now out in the world!\u00c2\u00a0<\/strong>If you’d like to stay up-to-date on all announcements regarding my books, sign up for my newsletter<\/a>! DO IT.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"