I originally wrote a different epilogue to this. Before, it was a declaration that I would believe in the best for what this show could become. For context, this writeup was written before the Wonder Egg Priority Special came out, with the intent of bracing people — but really myself — for whatever fallout there would be.
Boy, there was fallout. Wonder Egg Priority surpassed my expectations of a flawed ending — by being categorically worse.
Yet, I’ve basically rewritten nothing in this writeup before this part, because that would undermine my own message.
No matter what, the finale was going to be disappointing in some way or another. How are viewers supposed to reconcile this inevitability with the time invested in a series they genuinely enjoyed? Wallow in their own disappointment? Do their best to forget all about it? Are we supposed to pretend there wasn’t a core to the story that had promise, that it alone was enough to keep us coming back to this series day after day?
I couldn’t accept that choice. Not with Steins;Gate 0 back then, not with Wonder Egg Priority now.
Sure, bring out your copium memes and call me a fool for defending something undefendable. However, if you found enjoyment in these shows, discarding that enjoyment as if it never happened is simply self-imposed dishonesty.
This writeup is fundamentally a “reparative” reading of the two series. I know these shows are heavily flawed. But I also recognize that I was in love with both series. That is what I choose to preserve. That is what I choose to remember. The holy halo of Okabe’s glowing time machine as he rescues his friends, the rainbow radiance from Ai’s weapon as she strikes down her worst fears – I will never forget the thrill I felt seeing these characters achieve their moment of triumph over everything that held them back.
I stayed for the character, and I got my character resolution. This is all I asked, and frankly, that’s all I really got out of these stories unscathed. And that’s fine. And maybe that’s not what you asked for, in which case that’s fine too. But if there is just one thing that you loved, that you continue to love, then never forget that you stayed for the rest because you loved that thing so damn much.
It’s okay to enjoy a show simply because the parts you like are so central to your enjoyment that nothing else matters. That isn’t ignorance. That’s cherishing what hatches from the egg you laid, no matter what it is. A beautiful chick, an ugly duckling … yourself? Because Ai came out of that egg? Yeah, this analogy has already fallen apart.
But I suppose a flawed story deserves a flawed, uncritical, overly forgiving fan that accepts it for what it is, yet cherishes it for what it meant to them.
Scratch that. That’s what every story deserves.
Every story deserves an Ai.
dya- -gesis 