Steins;Gate: The Movie - Load Region of Déjà Vu

Steins;Gate: The Movie - Load Region of Déjà Vu (劇場版 シュタインズ・ゲート 負荷領域のデジャヴ, Gekijōban Shutainzu Gēto Fuka Ryōiki no Déjà vu) is an animated film based on the visual novel Steins;Gate. The film opened in at least 30 theaters across Japan on April 20, 2013 and earned 199,445,318 yen (US$2,013,799) by its second weekend. Film-goers between May 11 and the 24th were given one of two new short novels as side stories to the movie. Novelized and manga versions of the film itself have also been released. The movie is generally not considered canon as it contradicts Holy Day of the Calamitous Birth, which is later referenced in Robotics;Notes.

Funimation licensed the movie in 2014 and released the English subbed/dubbed version on DVD/BD on March 28, 2017.

Plot
The film takes place in August 2011, one year after the events of the anime series. After his painstaking journey across multiple world lines due to the invention of D-Mail, Rintarō Okabe has tricked the universe and the attractor field convergence itself into falsely believing Makise was murdered, effectively creating a new world line he calls Steins Gate; here, the deaths of both Mayuri Shiina and Kurisu Makise are prevented while a peaceful future for humanity has also been provided, simultaneously averting World War III as well as a SERN-propelled dystopia.

On August 3, Kurisu arrives in Japan for a press conference and reunites with all the members of the Future Gadget Laboratory. However, after she and Okabe meet in the lab, Okabe begins to have intense side effects from his past time-leaping, increasingly seeing lengthier durations of visions of some of his previous experiences on other world lines, and even hallucinations of a world line he never time-leaped to. The next day on August 4, a mysterious visitor shows up at Kurisu's hotel room, telling her to remember three things: a cell phone, a microwave oven, and SERN. Later that day, as Kurisu is talking to Okabe at a laundromat about how her own instances of déjà vu may be similar to Okabe's 'Reading Steiner' ability to retain memories from other world lines, Okabe suddenly disappears in front of Kurisu. Furthermore, no one else seems to remember Okabe ever existed, with Kurisu herself barely retaining a faint memory of the original Future Gadget Lab founder.

A week later on August 11th, as Kurisu finds a fork that Okabe had given her and remembers the words the stranger left her, she learns Itaru "Daru" Hashida had for some reason hacked into SERN, suddenly giving her the urge to use it to build a time leap machine. Using the machine, Kurisu leaps back to the night of August 3, when she observes Okabe disappearing from and reappearing into existence, with everyone's memories of him changing accordingly. She is then contacted by the visitor from before, revealed to be Suzuha Amane, who came from the future using a time machine that the future Kurisu built.

She explains to both Kurisu and Okabe that Okabe's strong memories of previously visited world lines are overloading his Reading Steiner, causing him to involuntarily time-leap on his own between the unstable Steins Gate world line and the "R" world line, the only other world line  in which neither Mayuri nor Kurisu die and  which has a divergence difference of .000001% from Steins Gate. Suzuha states the only way to save him from vanishing completely from Steins Gate is for Kurisu to use a time machine to travel to the past and alter his memory in the Steins Gate world line to cement his sense of reality there. Okabe ostensibly refuses, as he emphatically feels neither time machines nor time leap machines should exist, and doesn't want Kurisu to go through the same suffering he experienced, saying he would prefer her and Mayuri continue living in peace even if it meant he would cease to exist. She insists on trying to save him, but Okabe equally urges Kurisu to forget him, leaving her with a kiss.

The next day, Kurisu runs to the lab to confess her love to Okabe and insist to him that she won't be able to forget him ( just like at the end of episode 22, when Kurisu tried to unsuccessfully confess to him right as he broke the 1% divergence barrier). However, he disappears again right in front of Kurisu at the lab before she can tell him her feelings; Kurisu then breaks down in tears and almost uses her time leap machine a second time before grudgingly accepting his warning and deciding to try to forget him. Later, on August 13, as the Future Gadget Lab gets word that it might have to close up, Kurisu is once again approached by Suzuha, who tells her that she is not being honest with her own feelings, and eventually convinces Kurisu to go with her in her time machine.

Suzuha declares that, to keep Okabe in the Steins Gate world line, he must be implanted with a powerful memory that helps distinguish it from other world lines. The two travel back to June 30, 2005, where Kurisu attempts to talk with the young Okabe, only to result in him getting into a car accident instead, leaving her too afraid to attempt another trip to the past. Back in the Okabe-less present, Kurisu discovers that Mayuri and the others also possess faint memories of Okabe when she learns that they would like to try to keep the lab open; their memories are further awakened when she does an imitation of his persona, Kyōma Hōōin. Encouraged by everyone's feelings, Kurisu returns to the past, this time succeeding in her mission by implanting the concept of Kyōma Hōōin into Okabe's mind (which led him to take on his 'mad scientist' persona to emotionally protect Mayuri), and giving him his first kiss. With these experiences cementing his memory in the correct world line, Kurisu manages to bring Okabe back from the R world line into Steins Gate: a transition which is signified when a busy crowd materializes around them during their final conversation at the end of the movie.

Cast
The cast of Steins;Gate is returning for the movie:
 * Mamoru Miyano as Rintarō Okabe
 * Kana Hanazawa as Mayuri Shiina
 * Tomokazu Seki as Itaru Hashida
 * Asami Imai as Kurisu Makise
 * Saori Goto as Moeka Kiryū
 * Yu Kobayashi as Ruka Urushibara
 * Halko Momoi as Faris Nyannyan
 * Yukari Tamura as Suzuha Amane

Production
Kanji Wakabayashi directed the film with supervisor Tarou Deji and chief directors Takuya Satō and Hiroshi Hamasaki. Tatsuya Matsubara and Naotaka Hayashi supervised the story scenario, and Jukki Hanada wrote the screenplay.

Kyuuta Sakai once again adapted huke's original character designs for anime and oversaw the animation process at WHITE FOX.

Novel version
A two volume novelized version of the movie has been released via Kadokawa in print and as an e-book. The series is written by HAMAZAKI Tatsuya (浜崎達也).

Volume 1 (劇場版 STEINS;GATE 負荷領域のデジャヴ 上)Cover Illustration by huke, frontispiece by SAKAI Kyūta (坂井久太), and text illustrations by bun150, ISBN 978-4-04-100809-6, published May 1, 2013.

Volume 2 (劇場版STEINS;GATE 負荷領域のデジャヴ 下) Cover Illustration by huke and text illustrations by bun150, ISBN 978-4-04-100865-2, published June 6, 2013.

Kadokawa  Teaser text vol1.: 幼なじみの椎名まゆり、そして最愛の人・牧瀬紅莉栖を救うため幾多の 過去改変（世界線移動）を繰り返した 岡部倫太郎は、 ついに理想とする「シュタインズゲート世界線」に到達した. Osananajimi no Shiina Mayuri, soshite saiai no hito・Makise Kurisu wo sukuu tame iuta no kako kaihen (seikaisen idou) wo kurikaishita Okabe Rintarou wa, tsuini risou tosuru "Shutainzugeeto seikaisen" ni toutatsushita. In order to save his beloved one, Makise Kurisu, and his childhood friend, Shiina Mayuri, Okabe Rintarou has changed the numerous pasts (moving [through the] world lines) over and over. Finally he has reached the ideal Steins Gate world line. その代償に紅莉栖は岡部との記憶を失ってしまうが、 秋葉原の雑踏で偶然の再会を果たした二人はもう一度絆を深めていく. Sono daishou ni Kurisu was Okabe to no kioku wo utsuteshimau ga, Akihabara no zattou de guussen no  saikai wo hatashita futari wa mouchido kizuna wo  fukamete iku. The cost of which was Kurisu losing her memories(kioku) of Okabe, but in the hustle and bustle of Akihabara their sudden reunion played out in their bonds deepening once again. しかし、いくつもの世界戦を超えた岡部の脳には、 多大な“負荷”がかかり始めていて！ ？ 完全新作の劇場 版がまさかのノベライズ！ ！ Shikashi, iktsumo no seikaisen wo kouta Okabe no nou ni wa, tadai na "fuka" ga kakari hajimeteite!? Kanzen shinsaku no gekijouban ga masakano noberaizu!! However, by overcoming numerous world lines Okabe's brain has begun to bear a great "burden"(fuka)!? A great surprise! The all new movie has been novelized!

Manga version
A two volume manga adaptation with KUGAYAMA Reki (九我山レキ) as artist was also released, via Kadokawa in print and as an e-book. Volume 1 (劇場版 STEINS;GATE (1) 負荷領域のデジャヴ) ISBN 978-4-04-120728-4, published April 24, 2013; Ebook May 10, 2013.

Volume 2 (劇場版 STEINS;GATE (2) 負荷領域のデジャヴ) ISBN 978-4-04-120912-7, published December 26, 2013.

Promotional goods given to movie-goers


Movie-goers between April 20 and 26, 2013 received one of 8 lab-mem stickers.



Movie-goers between May 11 and 17, 2013 received the short novel STEINS;GATE 承認共鳴のパードン (shouninkyoumei no paadon - Pardon of recognized resonance/sympathy?). Written by scenario supervisor Naotaka Hayashi. The story centers around Kiryuu Moeka. Its preview text reads: ラボメンになって1年. ・・・萌郁の日常 Labomem ni natte 1nen. …Moeka no nichijou The first year as a lab-mem. …Moeka's everyday 「いずれ意味が分かるときが来る」 岡部くんは私にそう言った. "Izure imi ga wakaru toki ga kuru" Okabe-kun wa watashi ni souiita. "Eventually, the time to understand the meaning will come." That's what Okabe-kun told me.

Movie-goers between May 18 and 24, 2013 received the short novel STEINS;GATE 承認共鳴のスーヴェニア (shouninkyoumei no suuvuenia - Souvenir/token of recognized resonance/sympathy?). Written by scenario supervisor Naotaka Hayashi. The story centers around Kiryuu Moeka and Shiina Mayuri. Its preview text reads: それは、悔やまれる 萌郁のデジャヴ Sore wa, kuiyamareru Moeka no dejyavu That is, Moeka's déjà vu filled with regret. 「なぜ私は、椎名さんの厚意を 無下にしてしまうのだろう」 "naze watashi wa, Shiina-san no koi wo mugeni shiteshimau no darou" "Why did I, completely refuse/reject/disregard Shiina-san's kindness?" The two short stories were also published in the special book that comes with the Japanese Limited Edition Blu-ray bundle of the movie, released on December 13, 2013.

Drama CD's
The Japanese Limited Edition Blu-ray bundle also includes drama CD's to accompany the film.

A special drama CD featuring Hashida Suzuha, Makise Kurisu, Hashida Itaru and Hashida Yuki, entitled 『現存在のアポステリオリ』(Gen sonzai no aposuteriori - A Posteriori Existence/A Posteriori Dasein). It tells the story of Kurisu and Suzuha in the years after Okabe's disappearance, as Kurisu builds a time machine and Suzuha decides to time travel for Kurisu's sake.

The Amazon Limited Edition includes a second special drama CD featuring Makise Kurisu, Shiina Mayuri, and Okabe Rintarou, entitled 『隠晦曲折（いんかいきょくせつ）のシンフォニア』(Steins;Gate「隠晦曲折のシンフォニア」inkaikyokusetsu no shinfonia - Symphonia of Meanderings Hidden in Ambiguity)  One week before Kurisu's trip to Japan in 2011, she and Okabe are coincidentally shopping for gifts for each other at the same time, when they both end up calling Mayuri for advice.

Both types of bundles also include a bundle of drama CD's originally distributed with Comptiq and Comp Ace magazines, including the movie special drama CD from May, 2013.

These drama CDs are meant to be lighthearted comedy. Those who reserved their copies of the movie early received a bonus gift of the drama CD 『意材言外のフラクタル』(I-zai gengai no furakutaru - Fractal of Unexpressed Thought Material), featuring Tennouji Yuugo, Kiryuu Moeka, Tennouji Nae, and Shiina Mayuri. Set before the film, Nae is a first year middle school student when one day she spots her father and Moeka shopping together in Ueno and becomes suspicious about their relationship.
 * 1) Steins;Gate Comptiq Original Drama CD, July 2011. Okabe helps Kurisu to conduct an experiment where he projects himself into one of Daru's galgames, only to find out things didn't pan out exactly as expected...
 * 2) Steins;Gate Comptiq Original Drama CD, October 2011.
 * 3) Steins;Gate Comp Ace Original Drama CD, November 2011.
 * 4) Theater version Steins;Gate Fuka Ryōiki no Déjà vu Audio Drama: Inevitable Blushing Gossip, Comptiq May 2013,  (コンプティーク2013年5月号付録「劇場版 STEINS;GATE 負荷領域のデジャヴ オーディオドラマ 赤面必至のゴシップ」), featuring Makise Kurisu, Feiris, Hashida Itaru, and Kiryuu Moeka.  The day after Kurisu's arrival in Japan in 2011, Feiris and Kurisu grill Daru for answers about his new online "girl friend", Amane Yuki. Moeka reveals that Okabe had her snoop for information on Daru's budding friendship. As she proceeds to tell Feiris and Kurisu the details, Daru diverts the conversation to talking about Kurisu's own relationship with Okabe.

General

 * Steins;Gate Film Titled, Slated for Spring


 * Latest "Steins;Gate" Anime Movie Trailer


 * Steins;Gate Film Slated for April 20


 * "Steins;Gate" Anime Movie Home Video Release Scheduled - UPDATED
 * Funimation Stream English-Dubbed Steins;Gate Film Trailer