The plot of the anime is not expanded enough in season 1. While all of the episodes are linked towards each other (and a cliffhanger at the end of episode 12 for season 2 to follow up), it does not show a clear way towards the determined plot, and most of the time Gate: Jietai sinks into comedy amidst its seriousness. The unique story of modern world versus fantasy-medieval piqued my interest all the time, though apart from that, it does not do well. The episodes are well laid out with parts that have slow pacing. There is a fanservice episode at episode 9 along with an unrealistic event, to my opinion, and what amuses me is the use of Fate references in that episode. I believe certain parts of the anime, especially regarding the interference of other countries, are exaggerated. This will be said more in the characters part next. They have portrayed no sexism in army, which gives a plus point in my book.
I applaud Gate: Jietai for making the other world speaking in another language apart of Japanese in the other world, though that quickly falls apart as they only make one sentence out of it, and the rest of the words are replaced with Japanese. It was amusing to see that a character was clearly speaking Japanese yet the soldiers have no clue what they were speaking of (despite their main language is Japanese itself) as they alter between the "other language" and Japanese. It would be nice to see them forming a new language and use it often, and not altering between one and another once a while. Another thing I find weird is the fact that almost every relevant characters hails MC (Yoji Itami) as the "savior of the other side", which will also be expanded at the character part. Kindness and trust seems to be an overused thing in Gate: Jietai despite taking place in war. What are the odds for a fearsome army to gain trust without the villagers or townsfolk shaking in fear to their request? Why are most seemingly important characters female? I should keep it in mind that it is only an anime.
Most characters in Gate: Jietai have a rather realistic approach (each to their own worlds), but some of their actions are over-exaggerated, particularly the other countries' responses to the appearance of Gate in Japan. The antagonists of the anime, leaders of three different countries, wants a piece of the Gate of themselves, but what they do to have that piece is seemingly exaggerated and poor planning, making their character plain and a foil for Japan. Propaganda? Perhaps, but I am rather lacking to the topic. Then we have Yoji Itami who might seem plain, but he has the main character status. He has the girls, the skills, the brains, and he is also an Otaku. What a coincidence that he is also lazy! Gate: Jietai seems to glorify Otaku for having the MC and someone important to the country an Otaku, but I digress. Yoji Itami is perhaps the weirdest MC I have seen. I quote from him, "I work to support my hobby. So if you ask which I'd choose, my job or my hobby, my hobby takes priority." We know that he is a part of the Self Defense Force (SDF) and his hobby is... anime, manga, doujinshi, I suppose. Why would an Otaku pick to be in the army to support their hobby? They have a higher chance of getting injured, needs a lot of work to be fit for the job, and usually don't have the time off for anything else. Maybe it was the pay that attracted him to be in SDF.
That was a lot about him, so we'll move forward. None of the characters have actually grown, but there are a mutual understanding between the two worlds, though the language barrier remains standing, an odd thing to have since the residence of the other world can speak more Japanese than them speaking more of their "other language", but that might be due to Japan being the main control for having modern technology than them. The other supposedly "main characters" of the other world are a part of the harem of Yoji Itami. Supposedly SDF is a fearsome army, yet most other world characters are not afraid of them because they are "kind", "strong" and "trustworthy". The only characters that correctly portrays how they should react to Japan's soldiers are the Princess and her knights, but towards the end of the season they are okay with each other. I am surprise that they praise a lot to SDF and not wondering of the consequences if the soldiers were to make a move and conquer them, especially when they have little to no knowledge of the other world. I understand that they have helped them, but there wasn't any people, or a small group, that despises their existence out of fear of their power. This is too good to be at a war ground where blood spills as easily as to knock over a glass of water at the edge of a counter. The amount of trust and kindness in the anime is too high.
The art style of the anime is well done. I like the portrayal of wrinkles in the character's faces wherever applicable. Sometimes the anime slips into 3D animation, to which I still am not too fond of. They are easy to spot but it is decently made. It is extremely easy to detect moderate to important characters of the other world as their hair color, clothing, and distinct appearance traits would give away. The important character designs seems to appeal more towards fantasy lovers (e.g. elves and cat ears) and males with the showing of cleavage in some of the female armors and maid outfits. I would like to take the advantage to say that a priestess's clothes should not be what it is shown in Gate: Jietai. It is impractical, unrealistic, and too influence to the modern world they have yet to be influenced. But it's an anime, right? The background of the anime seems rather flat with colors. It is not the best, but it is good enough.
Gate: Jietai's OP does not fit to the tone of the anime as they are flat, and the singer's voice seem to drown in the sounds of instruments. They are not catchy enough to my taste. I skipped the ED so I have no comments about that. It is odd to find Japanese seiyuu voicing over other countrymen, but apart of that they are fine. Reaper's voice does not seem to fit her well in portrayal of a child-like appearance to my opinion. I am unsure of the presence of soundtracks inside the anime as I have a tendency to ignore them, but there is a cue to a soundtrack in episode 6, which I think they have done a great job with, though it does feel off as the soldiers require songs to be pumped up. I have no experience in military, so that is solely my opinion.
My enjoyment with Gate: Jietai is decent, though sometimes it does bug me regarding the main character who seems to be almost perfect to be real (an irony, I realize) yet the only negative thing about him seems to be being an Otaku. While there are things here and there I could relate to, but some of its exaggeration, whether for drama purposes or heighten up the show, that quickly follows after it detaches me from feeling the same as before. The first episode gave a good impression along with its half-hearted comedy that more or less gave me a smile. The anime have, whether purposely or accidentally, glorify the soldiers of Japan and justify killing of others (though they are enemies, even so there was no clear purpose of their attacks, for "plot purposes" again I suppose. It was shown that they could have a peace talk against one another, though when it faces the seemingly antagonistic characters that are just there for a moment, they don't have any discussions). The exaggeration of the other countries' reactions towards the Gate slightly downgraded their appearance when compared to Japan's forces. I understand that this is a work of fiction, but the fact that they somewhat intersect between our world (or rather, Japan) creates a relationship between our world and the world in the anime albeit loosely tied makes them seemingly poor contrasted to Japan.
Overall I am curious of how it would turn out in season 2, as mentioned before, Gate: Jietai left a small suspense for it's next season to follow up to it. I have a hard time determining whether it was slightly above average or good, but at the end I would say this is an enjoyable anime, credit to its unique story of mixing reality with fantasy through a portal. My review may be slightly bias due to thoughts of peacemaking methods and having no experience in war or warfare, but there are definitely bits here and there in the anime makes me raise an eyebrow of the situations. This anime portrays a poor way of mixing comedy into war-like situation, as it takes away its seriousness that was created just a while ago. The overly "kind" and "trust" thing used in the anime draws a fine line between our world and the world beyond the screen. If you are looking for a serious anime regarding war, sadly to say I must say that this is not what you are looking for.
