- Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
- Video Codec: AVC/MPEG-4
- Resolution: 1080p/24 (23.976Hz)
- Audio Codec: Japanese Dolby TrueHD 2.0 (48kHz/24-bit), English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 (48kHz/24-bit)
- Subtitles: English
- Region: A (Region-Locked)
- Rating: TV-14
- Discs: 4 (2 x Blu-ray + 2 x DVD)
- Digital Copies: N/A
- Run Time: 300 Mins.
- Studio: Funimation Entertainment
- Blu-ray Release Date: December 18, 2012
- List Price: $64.98
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Overall
[Rating:4/5]
The Series
[Rating:4.5/5]
Video Quality
[Rating:3.5/5]
Audio Quality
[Rating:4/5]
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:2.5/5]
Click thumbnails for high-resolution 1920X1080p screen captures
(All TheaterByte screen captures are lightly compressed with lossy JPEG at 100% quality setting and are meant as a general representation of the content. They do not fully reveal the capabilities of the Blu-ray format)
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The Series
[Rating:4.5/5]
Part Two of Funimation’s release of the Steins; Gate: The Complete Series continues on from where the series left off after Part One, which was previously reviewed here. Becoming more complex and delving deeper into the world of theoretical physics and time travel, in these episodes Okarin must time leap multiple times within the same time frame in order to change the time line so that he can save the life of his childhood friend Mayuri. The series also finally reveals who the mysterious time traveler John Titor really is. While over the course of its initial twelve episodes, Steins; Gate established itself as a serious, thought provoking series with major comedic elements, these episodes grow ever darker and dramatic as the stakes are raised. It makes it all the more enjoyable to watch as Okarin descends into despair and almost madness at his inability to change history and save his friends, even as the nefarious SERN is still hounding the lab to obtain the time travel technology he stumbled into. Incredible stuff.
Video Quality
[Rating:3.5/5]
The issues with color banding/gradation issues that plagued this series in the part one release on Blu-ray carry over to this release. I’ve decided to mark this down even further this time around, as I really believe it becomes distracting. It not only overwhelms the image in darker scenes, but can even be seen in brighter color fills at times. Apart from that, there is no aliasing, so this would have been a good release otherwise.
Audio Quality
[Rating:4/5]
The audio remains the same, as one would expect. Audio is supplied in the original Japanese language with a lossless Dolby TrueHD 2.0 (48kHz/24-bit) stereo with literal English subtitles, and an English dub in Dolby TrueHD 5.1 (48kHz/24-bit). The Japanese 2.0 offers clean and full dialogue with active directional panning across the two channels. The 5.1 mix is spacious with a lavish amount of atmospherics in the surround channels and extended low frequencies supported by the subwoofer.
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:2.5/5]
The two audio commentaries are the strongest extras provided on this release.
The supplements:
- Episode 19 Commentary
- Episode 24 Commentary
- Textless Opening Song – “Hacking to the Gate” (Version 1)
- Textless Opening Song – “Hacking to the Gate” (Version 2)
- Textless Closing Song – “Toki Tsukasadoru Juuni no Meiyaku”
- Textless Closing Song – “Sky Clad Observer”
- U.S. Trailer (1.78:1; 1080p/24)
- Funimation Trailers
The Definitive Word
Overall:
[Rating:4/5]
In its first twelve episodes, Steins; Gate took a while to get rolling, but part two hooks you immediately and never lets up. By this point, the series is really on a roll, and the twist by the end of these episodes means there is a lot more in store to keep this series going.
Additional Screen Captures
[amazon-product]B009B82FCS[/amazon-product]
Purchase Steins; Gate: The Complete Series — Part Two on Blu-ray Combo Pack at CD Universe
Shop for more Blu-ray titles at Amazon.com
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[amazon-product]B009B82FCS[/amazon-product]
Purchase Steins; Gate: The Complete Series — Part Two on Blu-ray Combo Pack at CD Universe
Shop for more Blu-ray titles at Amazon.com
Overall
[Rating:4/5]
The Series
[Rating:4.5/5]
Video Quality
[Rating:3.5/5]
Audio Quality
[Rating:4/5]
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:2.5/5]
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