When comparing the storytelling of Steins;Gate to other anime, you immediately realize how intense the focus is on the main character compared to other characters on their own.  An example of it toward other characters would be having ‘meanwhile’ scenes showing the villains doing something or minor characters performing some task that then affected the lead or sets off a chain reaction of events or ends in an entertaining joke or whatever.  You see it in [C] The Money of Soul and Possibility Control when Mikuni goes over his backstory to develop his character while introducing Takako, in Dog Days to show Leonmichelle’s true purpose and plan and develop her half of the story, and in Softenni for various gags on all the other members of the soft tennis club.  But for Steins;Gate, the camera can’t leave Okabe, not even for a scene, let alone a meaningful one.  You could say the camera in Steins;Gate has Super Mario 64 syndrome (still can’t believe that game is 15 years old now).

Had Steins;Gate followed the storytelling path of so many other anime and other media, we probably would have seen various shots involving other characters.  There could have been some non-sequential shots to further develop Faris’s history as well as provide clues to her D-mail.  We could also have seen Ruka get bullied or hit on as a male providing a visual assertion to why he wants a free sex-change.  And perhaps more interestingly, there could have been shots back at SERN where employees detected Itaru’s intrusion and then began the process that began spying on the inoffensive lab and its innocent members.  But no, we see everything through Okabe and the events that go on around him.  And I’ll tell you why I like that over these previous examples.

Rather than conveying the story point that Okabe is being stalked by SERN by showing SERN learn about the hack and then acting, we see Okabe receive these troubling messages from unknown sources that would send a chill down anyone’s spine.  For one, it’s more dramatic and, therefore improves the story.  While the series could be content with both scenes and providing clear answers to our questions, the series goes for a more intriguing and stimulating twist.  It piques the audience’s interest and I probably will be a major discussion point on the blogosphere or wherever we anime fans choose to converse about our beloved shows.

Same thing for the Faris and Ruka situations.  Not knowing Faris’s backstory or her text starts a new mystery for us to consider, especially considering the magnitude her D-mail had in the world Okabe crossed into.  I prefer it like this, especially in an anime that thrives on mysteries like Steins;Gate.  As for Ruka, the bullying aspect would help supplement his character but would be unnecessary.  The point was already conveyed during the forced-cosplay, the suggestive looks by his male friends, and lastly by Kurisu’s sexually-driven inquiry.  Anything additional would be unnecessary, especially considering the storytelling, but would be interesting and enjoyable nonetheless.  However, everything we learn about everything comes through Okabe, which I feel is one of the charms about the storytelling of Steins;Gate.  But this is no accident; the story is structured to be told this way.

Steins;Gate (the anime) borrows heavily from Steins;Gate (the visual novel) and the storytelling reflect that.  There are very evident elements of video game storytelling in Steins;Gate and following the main character the whole time just so happens to be one of the more obvious traits that copied over when transcribing across media.  The reason we follow Okabe so closely is because the game did.  Without this derivative structure, we may see the storytelling of Steins;Gate more like other anime where we have Okabe-less (aka boring) scenes that introduce, develop, or conclude plot points.  The storytelling following the main character and seeing the story and characters develop before his eyes all the time is one of the key positives that I enjoy about Steins;Gate.

However, while I’ve seemingly gone on and on about following Okabe, there have been other scenes where Okabe is not present.  The first one I thought of was when Moeka was happily (?) texting across the street from the fallen satellite at the beginning of the sixth episode.  This short scene, however, added to the mystery of Moeka’s character as well as reinforces her timid and soundless persona.  The scene never showed or mentioned Okabe.  So it kinda puts a dent into what I was mentioning earlier about how the story always revolves around Okabe, and there are other scenes, too, but I feel my point still stands.

Oh, and while we’re on that forgotten scene (I guess I pay more attention to Mokea than most) we still haven’t gotten any closer to figuring out what was going on in that scene, although we know she only talks to Okabe out of the main cast (she never acknowledged Mayuri in this episode, even after a joyous tutuuru).  Hopefully we see some development with her, especially since all the pictures she takes will definitely come in handy for future endeavors.  But there have been a lot of mysterious scenes like that which easily get forgotten or ignored.  I almost feel like the anime wants us to rewatch the series when it is over to catch these clever and subtle hints and allow us to see what’s going on once we know everything.  Either that or we get flashbacks to refresh our memory, which I’d prefer, before continuing on those overlooked topics.  Either way, I enjoy those mini-mysteries even if all they do is stimulate my brain for a few minutes before moving onto something relevant or something funny.  Or more importantly, something Kurisu.