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This review is extremely light on spoilers...barely mentioning the basic premise of the anime, which itself is spoiled in the synopsis on the main anime page. This review assumes you have already read it.

Story: 9/10
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The plot itself is not particularly groundbreaking. Where most of my admiration from the story comes from is the focus on the political and military aspects of not only the conflicts between Japan and the world within the Gate, but also the political pressure of the rest of the world towards Japan's monopolized control of the Gate. The plot is simple but it is executed with such realistic progression that ... it feels very refreshing compared to the all-too-common story where we remind ourselves in the back of our heads that the events that unfolded would not have done so in a paralleled real life experience. Everything is very well-researched and carefully considered in terms of the story.

Art: 9/10
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I was immediately struck by the simple and effective art style in the very first scene. The colors are sharp and vibrant and the detail in scenery is quite good. Characters appear neither bland nor outlandish (in general; those that are outlandish have a legitimate basis to be as such). All in all, no real criticism of the art. If there is a reason that I did not give the art a 10/10 score, it's just that I feel a 10/10 score is not to be given lightly. Lacking room for criticism doesn't necessarily denote perfection.

Sound: 6/10
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Disclaimer: I don't particularly pay attention to the music or sound effects of an anime. Some anime do stand out to me in their music or opening themes; most do not. Gate's did not stand out to me. But I admit that I was not particularly listening for it. As for the voice acting - serviceable? I wasn't particularly impressed but I wasn't disappointed, either. It was good.

Character: 9/10
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The cast of characters for Gate is expansive both in its number of characters as well as the depth to each character. With the exception of a couple, it doesn't feel as though many characters were written solely to serve a particular function in the plot (i.e comedic relief, love interest, exposition, etc). Unlike many anime with a wide cast of characters, Gate also finds a reasonable balance of airtime between the main characters and side characters despite there being so many side characters. Nearly every character exhibits some depth. Visually, the characters are easily distinguishable and have their personalities mostly reflected somehow in their appearance.

Enjoyment: 9/10
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The politically-inclined story and the personable characters makes for an exciting anime. I think that there is a little bit of everything for everyone. Romance, comedy, fanservice, tragedy, action, guns, magic, dragons, tanks...

Since I mentioned it: there is not very much fanservice, if that turns you off from an anime. It isn't exactly minimal, either, though. It's just enough to titillate the perverted while sparse enough not to try the patience of the prudish.

Overall: 9/10
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I was impressed with this anime quite a bit. Definitely worth a watch.