Although this anime has an interesting concept, and a pretty well done realistic storyline, it does feel too much like propaganda. (The video review is up on my channel, here is the written)
Story - 7/10
The premise of this anime, is that there is GATE which appeared out of nowhere and opened in Japan. Now invaders from the other side of the Gate started attacking Japan, little do they know, they have invaded a world that is far beyond them, and they get destroyed by the Japan Self-Defence Forces. Yes it is the modern technology of world vs. a fantasy medieval world, so in short its Guns vs Swords, and that’s not going to turn out well for one side, at least. And so follows the story of Itami Youji of the JSDF and Japan trying to form a peace treaty with the world beyond the Gate.
The pacing of this anime feels kind of weird. At times it will feel fast, on flowing fine, but there are also times when the pacing just feels slow and drags on. GATE feels likes a war drama, as even though we do follow one of the main characters, there are multiple stories within the anime that play different parts in the whole entire plot. And when there is too many stories, there is quite a few that few rush and incomplete, in fact that is what happened to some of the stories in GATE. Some of the side story is completely forgotten and left out leaving you wondering, what actually happened. And the problem comes in during the second half, when it was a really long drag to the finale and they didn’t really completed it properly, there was so many things left undone, because they focused too much time on one thing, the other is swept to the side. The storyline in general, starts out as an adventure, but soon becomes a political story involving the government of both factions.
Characters - 7/10
Itami Youji is the main character of the show, and he is the one we follow the most. On the surface he is just an otaku just trying to read doujinishi. But in actuality he is a First Lieutenant of the JSDF, and a really highly regarded one at that. However he does imply he is only in the military because it pays well, and he can use that pay check to fund his otaku life, which he would preferably prioritize. Over the course of the show, we get to know a little more about his character, but unfortunately we don’t see a lot of development from him, for the reason being, he always seems to know what to do. There is a slight development around the middle, when he decides to do what’s right than just follow orders, but even that was kind of really done very quickly. Itami pretty just follows orders half the time and is there to represent a soldier, who is caught in everything, including his own harem.
Speaking of his Harem, there are 3 main girls who are part of it; Lelei, Tuka and Rory. Rory who is best girl probably gets the least amount of attention during the show, but she makes up for it for her badassery. Lelei gets some subtle development, as she learns more about the human world she applies her knowledge to help Itami, and is sort of a translator for the JSDF. Tuka probably gets the most attention out of the main girls of the harem, being very fragile at first, not accepting her reality, comes around later to see reality. These characters are pretty much around to fill out Itami’s fantasy harem, which he gains.
Another character that needs some mention is Pina co Lada, yes she sounds like a cocktail. She plays a major part of the peace treaty, as she saw the difference in strength between her army and Japan’s and rather than having a pointless conflict, she is searching for peace between the two countries for the good of her own country. And she would probably get the most development in the show as she learns about Japan, but also learning about her own country and learning how to be a leader.
There is a lot of characters in GATE, because there is a lot of stories. There are few characters that get quite a bit of attention and some that don’t as much. Which really bugs me because some characters’ stories get forgotten, when they felt like they were going somewhere. Especially at the end when some stories just concluded very abruptly and conveniently. What I do like about the characters are their interactions with each other. Seeing the two worlds connect can lead to entertaining and interesting conversations. And I like how all the characters are rather likeable, and the ones you hate, you really hate.
Animation and Sound - 7/10, 8/10
I expected decent standard A-1 animation for this show, and it delivers in that aspect. The art style is rather standard, most the animation is smooth, and they look fine. If you look closely, it does look like the art style was pencil drawn and coloured, because you see slight pencil line marks in the backgrounds and characters. What did bother me were the dragon scenes in the show, when a far the dragon would not look right, it doesn’t look part of that world. The shooting effects is fine, it can be really flashy of course. What impressed me the most was some the magic used in the world, and when a spell or a field starting lightning up, it would like amazing.
The OST is fine for what it is. It is a nice mixture of fantasy and military music. You get quite a few strings here and there. The OP has a nice rock vibe track to, which gives you a conflict and adventure vibe. However the ED is completely different, it’s a more pop track featuring the main 3 girls singing the tracks. It’s a nice catchy dance track and I love it, but there are times during the anime when it would end of a gritty or tense cliff-hanger, and suddenly some happy pop music starts playing, which completely kills the vibe. The sound effects in the show is quite good, the sounds of bullets vs swords really shows us that these are two different worlds conflicting with each other.
Enjoyment - 8/10
I much rather enjoyed the concept of GATE. It was an interesting idea, mixing the two worlds together and putting it in a realistic setting, by getting the politics and military involved. However I wish the story was a bit faster, because at times it will drag and you just want to see how the 2 worlds interact with each other more, which was the most thing I enjoyed about the show. Seeing the 2 worlds react to each other’s culture. But there is one major problem I find with this anime, and that is, it’s TOO one sided. Everything is completely in favour of the JSDF. They can literally do no wrong, in the show, they never feel like they are in trouble at any given time in the show. Except when they were facing a dragon, but that was short lived. And it kind of annoys me because its propaganda, they want to show how great the military is, but it doesn’t lead to great story telling, because there is false suspense. Like I said the most enjoyment of this show is seeing the 2 worlds interact with each other.
Verdict - 7.5/10
As we draw closer to the end of the review, I give the story a 7. It has an really interesting concept and executes in main plot rather well with its realistic story. But the pacing can be off at times and there were a lot of different stories, which feel forgotten.
For the animation and sound, I give it a 7 and 8. The animation and art style is standard for A-1, and the pencil style sort of works, but I was never really wowed by many things except the magic. The dragon looked like it didn’t belong in the world. The soundtrack is fine and does a good job of mixing the 2 genres together. The OP is pretty good and the ED is really nice catchy, but it can kill the vibe sometimes at the end of a tense episode.
For the characters I give it a 7. There is a lot of likeable characters in the show, with slight development for every character. And that is still impressive, for such a huge cast. But some of them are left forgotten, unfinished and rushed. I do like the character interactions, but I felt like there could’ve been more.
For my own personal enjoyment, I give it a 8. I was really interested in the concept and hooked into the world. I enjoyed watching the two worlds interact and learn about one another. However, it felt too one sided for me to really be suspense of anything during the time this anime was aired, it’s kind of predictable.
So for the overall score of GATE, I give it a 7.5.10 after round it all up. I recommend this show to people who love military genre or those who love fantasy, or people who like watching alternative dimensions, because this is probably for you.
