How to watch Steins;Gate in order

Time travel is confusing enough without multiple instalments.

By Christopher Megrath

Published: Wednesday, 17 May 2023 at 12:00 am

Steins;Gate follows the larger-than-life Rintaro Okabe, also known as Kyouma Hououin. He spearheads the show with eccentric characteristics, acting as the lead scientist behind the Future Gadget Laboratory with his childhood friend Mayuri and his hacker friend Daru.

A classic mishap results in the group creating a time leap machine which soon becomes the interest of the series’s antagonist organisation, SERN.

Stories with time travel at the forefront are a headache at the best of times – with Steins;Gate following suit.

It’s not drastically difficult to keep track of what’s going on but with the jumping back and forth in the anime, along with several conflicting instalments, it’s confusing even if you’re taking notes.

Here’s everything you need to know about how to watch Steins;Gate in order.

How to watch Steins;Gate in chronological order

"Steins;Gate"
Steins;Gate.
White Fox

To enjoy the canon viewing order, you’ll have to jump between the mainstream anime series. A movie and alternative timeline episode interject themselves rather brazenly into what is already a convoluted situation.

If you take the series step by step, go with the following:

  • Steins;Gate (2011) (Episodes 1-22)
  • Steins;Gate: Kyoukaimenjou no Missing Link – Divide by Zero (2015) (Episode 23β)
  • Steins;Gate 0 (2018) (Special)
  • Steins;Gate (2011) (Episodes 23-24)
  • Steins;Gate: Egoistic Poriomania (Non-canon ending to the 2011 series)
  • Steins;Gate: The Movie: Load Region of Déjà Vu (2013)

How do the OVAs and movies impact the story?

Fans finishing the anime series may still be confused as to what’s going on and that’s without all the added extras.

Steins;Gate: Kyoukaimenjou no Missing Link – Divide by Zero acts as an interjectory retelling of a single episode on an alternative timeline. It stands alone as a “what if” addition but is by no means filler.

Steins;Gate: Egoistic Poriomania is technically the final episode of the series but is considered by the show’s creator as non-cannon.

Steins;Gate 0 and the movie build on the established foundation and go into more depth regarding Okabe’s decisions and their consequences. It’s a series with little to no filler so it’s advised you watch the show in the above order without skipping ahead.