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REVIEW: GATE Season One


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maximilianjenus



Joined: 29 Apr 2013
Posts: 2858
PostPosted: Fri Dec 11, 2015 6:09 pm Reply with quote
SilverTalon01 wrote:

maximilianjenus wrote:
dunno about the toehr show, but gate is based on a WEBnovel, which, pardon me the snobbery is a huge difference, which is somethign I like to mention because it also serves to explain both the weak and strong points.


So Gate is sort of unique. It is originally a web novel, then a novel, then a light novel. The story is toned down a bit each time, and according to people who have read both the novel and LN, the anime more follows the LN. So it isn't really wrong to say the anime is based on a LN.


yah, I knew and was expecting this answer (would felt left down if I did nto, actually), that is why I added the tl;dr comment on why it is important to note that this roots froma webnovel, as light novel adaptations tend to thread in more familiar lands (though light novel are still far more imaginative than let's say, manga taht gets adapted to anime )
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meiam



Joined: 23 Jun 2013
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PostPosted: Fri Dec 11, 2015 7:24 pm Reply with quote
HeeroTX wrote:

I am American and this is the one point that I CANNOT understand people making. We're talking about a place that you can ONLY get to by going through a GATE that is maybe ~1000 sq yds/meters in area in the MIDDLE of downtown Tokyo. This is like saying ANY country is going to stop ANY other country from doing something inside of a SMALL warehouse. I have no doubt that people would rant against Japan in the press and probably at UN assemblies, but then what? You're going to cut off one of the 5 largest economies in the world over it? You're going to bomb millions of civilians over it? Heck, Russia actually DIRECTLY conquered lands that we CAN get to without going into Russia, and what did we do about that?


On your last question, huge economic sanction that are crippling russia economy. Pretty sure a resource starved area like japan couldn't really support that. Not to mention that japan has far more informed and pacific population, just changing there constitution to to say that they could help an ally under direct attack took years and was deeply unpopular.

Look into what's happening in south china sea and how just claiming that some empty island as your territory is kicking up a huge shitstorm. Now imagine doing that with an entire planet.
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Lemonchest



Joined: 18 Mar 2015
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PostPosted: Fri Dec 11, 2015 7:29 pm Reply with quote
SilverTalon01 wrote:

Lemonchest wrote:
So no, it's no accident that she just happens to be female. It's a tired old trope that was trotted out just to make the MC look good & give the goth loli a chance to grandstand in his defense.


I can see why you might think that, but sorry, no. She isn't female because of some dumb trope. She is based off a specific individual that accidentally exists which the author had an issue with. It has nothing to do with the trope you ranted about. Though yes, it was just to make the MC and what he stands for look good.


Except they changed the artwork so that it no longer looked like her in the anime, & it changed nothing about the character. The manga adaptation artist may well have taken the opportunity to have a cheap shot at a prominent politician they didn't like (who, as far as I can tell, is more involved in restraining pork-barreling & getting Japan to recognize Taiwan than anything to do with the JDF), but it's a straw man character the original author used to rant about left wing politicians & then later someone else added the face of a real person to (& then someone else again removed it). You could put any other face on that character (& I dare say those involved are probably the type to have a list) & it would have been the same. So the trope stands.
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HeeroTX



Joined: 15 Jul 2002
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PostPosted: Sat Dec 12, 2015 12:37 am Reply with quote
meiam wrote:
On your last question, huge economic sanction that are crippling russia economy. Pretty sure a resource starved area like japan couldn't really support that.

In 2007 (BEFORE Russia invaded Georgia) they represented less than half of 0.1% of all US international trade. According to census.gov, they may represent more trade than they did then, but at worst their comparable with any change negligible. Now, Japan represents our 4th largest trading partner constituting over 5% of our total foreign trade. (Only China (obviously), Canada & Mexico represent a larger amount of our trade) Considering the outside impact money plays on our particular form of government and the number of large corporations that due EXTENSIVE business in Japan (and companies like Toyota that are Japanese owned by have HUGE operations located in America), what EXACTLY do you think our government would do to Japan economically?

Whether or not the Japanese citizenry itself would accept the JSDF control of the GATE is a different question, and one that has merit. I'm am specifically saying I don't see how foreign powers in the current world situation would "not allow" Japan to do what they're doing in the show. I think it would be totally different if we're talking land mass of a full nation which means EXTENSIVE area to defend. But we are LITERALLY talking about keeping security and control of an area the size of a SINGLE small building.

I totally believe you'd have something EXACTLY like in the show (which is to say, scheming and back room dealing and extensive efforts to TRY to talk to people from the other side). But I do NOT see that you would have DIRECT, "obvious" attempts to control the JSDF from America. There are too many other nations that we'd have already taken more direct action with if that was our style.
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unready



Joined: 07 Jun 2009
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PostPosted: Sat Dec 12, 2015 2:34 am Reply with quote
zztop wrote:
Quote:
GATE could be seen as glorifying Japan's military, and that may prove a problem for some viewers.

That's because the source webnovel's main intention WAS to glorify Japan's military. The author's a right-winger who used the novels to promote his beliefs on Japanese ultranationalism (usually associated with lingering WW2-era beliefs of Japanese supremacy and might).

Published versions of the novels cut out most of the author's diatribe, but were unable to completely excise the glorification and certain right-wing parts of the story, since the story wouldn't exist at all then.

It's a little more than lingering WW2 beliefs. The ultra-nationalists who want to re-arm Japan and kick the US out of Okinawa seem to think that, given the chance, they can fight WW2 over again right now and win.

The US policy regarding Japan's re-armament is that it wants allies in the region, especially as China's influence continues to grow. The irony is that the Japanese who want to re-arm Japan are also anti-American. The author of GATE is among them.
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Ronin2081



Joined: 28 Jan 2014
Posts: 127
PostPosted: Sat Dec 12, 2015 4:20 am Reply with quote
Quote:
Likewise some viewers may find it upsetting that in two separate instances a woman is told to barter her body for what her people want, using sex as a commodity.


I don't really get this complaint. We are talking about a culture stuck in Roman times mixed in with some fantasy/medieval. Is this really that big of a shock?

The same with the complaint about the series "glorifying the JSDF". What did you expect from a series about the military? Do you expect them to insult and degrade the JSDF? Do you think they would sit and just go to town with the insults towards Japan in general?

Why is it any time an anime series does something like this it is instantly viewed as a bad thing by some of the reviewers here?
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bibotot



Joined: 13 Oct 2013
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PostPosted: Sat Dec 12, 2015 5:47 am Reply with quote
HeeroTX wrote:
meiam wrote:
Similarly the idea that Japan could invade another land just by claiming that it was actually it's territory and that America just sat by and did nothing while scheming in the background shows incredibly poor understanding of foreign policy.

I am American and this is the one point that I CANNOT understand people making. We're talking about a place that you can ONLY get to by going through a GATE that is maybe ~1000 sq yds/meters in area in the MIDDLE of downtown Tokyo. This is like saying ANY country is going to stop ANY other country from doing something inside of a SMALL warehouse. I have no doubt that people would rant against Japan in the press and probably at UN assemblies, but then what? You're going to cut off one of the 5 largest economies in the world over it? You're going to bomb millions of civilians over it? Heck, Russia actually DIRECTLY conquered lands that we CAN get to without going into Russia, and what did we do about that?


Yes you can. Not by waging a war, but through economic sanction. That would be very bad because no more anime for us. But the US and UN can apply sanctions against Japan for this, especially after knowing they kill hundreds of thousand people from beyond the Gate. There is no telling (to the whole world) the Japanese are not committing rapes, forced labor, genocide and other crimes against humanity out there.

This is war matter now, and no war should proceed unchecked without the UN supervision.

The case of Russia may be different. They are a super-power in terms of military. The US will try to avoid conflicts with them at all cost, which the Russian kind of takes advantage of. Japan does not rank very high on countries with strong armies. In fact, it still has to rely somewhat on the US for protection should a nuclear war with North Korea takes place, same goes with South Korea.
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Princess_Irene
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Joined: 16 Dec 2008
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PostPosted: Sat Dec 12, 2015 7:16 am Reply with quote
Ronin2081 wrote:

I don't really get this complaint. We are talking about a culture stuck in Roman times mixed in with some fantasy/medieval. Is this really that big of a shock?

The same with the complaint about the series "glorifying the JSDF". What did you expect from a series about the military? Do you expect them to insult and degrade the JSDF? Do you think they would sit and just go to town with the insults towards Japan in general?

Why is it any time an anime series does something like this it is instantly viewed as a bad thing by some of the reviewers here?


I personally wasn't "complaining" (or shocked) about either of those things - I believe that part of my job is to point out what might make some viewers (who do not equate to me) uncomfortable. It's not political correctness or anything, just trying to make sure that people know whether or not they're likely to enjoy a given show.
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Ali07



Joined: 01 Jun 2014
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PostPosted: Sat Dec 12, 2015 8:53 am Reply with quote
Enjoyed the review, and this show was a surprise for me. I binged it a few weeks back, and really enjoyed it. Looking forward to the 2nd season...I just hope that it gives me a satisfying ending by the time it is done.
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Northlander



Joined: 10 Feb 2009
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PostPosted: Sat Dec 12, 2015 10:56 am Reply with quote
Princess_Irene wrote:
I personally wasn't "complaining" (or shocked) about either of those things - I believe that part of my job is to point out what might make some viewers (who do not equate to me) uncomfortable. It's not political correctness or anything, just trying to make sure that people know whether or not they're likely to enjoy a given show.

I think one question viewers is going to want to know is how the show itself feels about any controversial issues, like selling sex or using it for diplomatic band-aid purposes like in this show. It's one thing to be upset at a show for featuring something you don't like to see, but it's a completely different thing if said show is seemingly glorifying it or even just showcasing it as perfectly normal. (Which GATE thankfully doesn't do, even if it seems mildly flippant about it in the two situations it brought the subject to the table.)

From the review wrote:
Of those women, only one, Kuribayashi, can be said to be really irritating, and that's less due to her personality and more to her protestations of disbelief every single time anything impressive about Itami is revealed. Granted, this could be due in large part to the way Maya Uchida delivers her lines, but it still grates.

She also points a loaded automatic gun to his head at some point, while drunk and in a car in motion, and threathens to shoot him if he... didn't do something. (I forgot -- I think it was that she wanted him to provide her with some information, but I don't remember the scene all that well.) Even in the case where she'd put the gun safety on, that's still a gargantuan breach of conduct that should land her in jail at best.

I didn't like her very much, and her personality definitely did play some part in that in my case.
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Animegomaniac



Joined: 16 Feb 2012
Posts: 4070
PostPosted: Sat Dec 12, 2015 11:18 am Reply with quote
Ali07 wrote:
Enjoyed the review, and this show was a surprise for me. I binged it a few weeks back, and really enjoyed it. Looking forward to the 2nd season...I just hope that it gives me a satisfying ending by the time it is done.


The whole story is complete so the series should be locked down on how many episodes they need to do it.

I gage my top series of the year by how much I anticipate the next episode and Gate was one of the few series that passed that measure with flying colors... for completely different reasons then most of you and probably even the author's intent. Just reading through some of these posts kind of makes me wonder.

My favorite character? Lelei la Lelena and yes, I had to look that up because I just think of her as Lelei. To explain my fascination with this series and character as simply as possible, the Gate works both ways. For us, it's a world filled with magic and Gods. To them, our world is filled with science and technology. I don't see it as medieval army and its whole world gets creamed by modern military, that's like Spain and the rest of Europe invading the Americas. But imagine what could happen if the Aztec gods were real? What if instead of guns, they had magic, gods and dragons?

So the reality is whoever can cover the gap first wins rather than Pina Co Lada's "Oh no, we lose!" view of the technology gap.

Trying to embargo an island nation that has a portal to another world filled with resources? Decrying a politician who wants accountability in a battle a world away? No, the really unrealistic thing in this series is any government or military organization allowing someone of unknown origins and from alien, enemy territory and unspecified abilities free access to advanced tech... and then they make her the official translator?

The way she quietly takes everything in should put her on a watchlist of some kind, not make her the lynchpin for political negotiations. That time she popped up in a gas mask for some reason? I both wondered what she was doing and why they were allowing her to do it. Hey, there's this DxD spell called "cloudkill"...

Rory's amusing if only deadly on a personal, in your face level, the elf girl was underwhelming from the start to say the most about her... she's introduced into the series unconsciousness and she had more affect on the show in that state... but Lelei is the most dangerous and interesting with her intelligence that is only lacking in information, information being readily supplied by the JSDF. Oops.

So far, she's only used science to improve her magic... bit of a red flag there... but she should soon have the knowledge and position to affect her entire world. Good thing she's kind of good, right? Right?

None of this actually happens because the author doesn't have that much ability to see outside his own perspective... it's not a bad thing for Gate but it does make the show seem "Woot, JSDF!" even when it's not... but it's still there. And I thoroughly enjoyed watching what the little spy could be up to in each new episode. I also liked Itami and his gang of green so that helped.
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maximilianjenus



Joined: 29 Apr 2013
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PostPosted: Sat Dec 12, 2015 11:22 am Reply with quote
there are only two reasons to like kuribayashi, and they don't show up until the japan arc.


Princess_Irene wrote:


I got that feeling this time, hence why I did not mention that before; personally things like that, or the more common scape goat of fanservie shall be mentioned in teh review, as an example even if I like fanservice, I still want to know if a show has it or not, as to know whether I want to watch while I have certain visits on home , so mentioning those things is good, putting them in the minus or plus part of the review is not (taht was not the case here),
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Ali07



Joined: 01 Jun 2014
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PostPosted: Sat Dec 12, 2015 11:01 pm Reply with quote
Animegomaniac wrote:
The whole story is complete so the series should be locked down on how many episodes they need to do it.

Huh, I had no idea that the novels are complete. You've gotten my hopes up that the whole series will be adapted...

Anyone know how much of the source they went through in this first season?

Also, I do agree with your thoughts on Lelei. She's the only one that is really trying to learn about the other world, and while I see it more as curiosity over her being a spy, I've no idea where it could lead.

Of course, the more common thing is that she just wants to learn, with no ulterior motive.

But, I can't help but love Rory...and while I've not seen much discussion on this series, I'm sure there would be some out there rolling their eyes and saying, "Of course you love Rory...typical guy."

Still, I've not seen many anime where the woman (which she is mentally...but seemingly not physically?) is so assertive. The other thing I like is that Itami isn't oblivious to her advances, he knows exactly what she wants. And, that is something else I don't really see often...

It's an aspect of the show I enjoy, and I would love for it to actually lead somewhere with those two, but there is more to this show that I've latched onto beyond the potential for romance. So, I won't be disappointed if nothing happens there. Laughing
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neozxtc



Joined: 25 Jun 2015
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PostPosted: Tue Dec 15, 2015 2:12 am Reply with quote
As a disabled Army Veteran I loved the show. And yes to anything Rory haha.

Can't wait for Season 2 and I hope that Sentai pick it up and dub it maybe. Or even just release it in general.
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Thespacemaster



Joined: 03 Mar 2012
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PostPosted: Tue Dec 15, 2015 9:57 am Reply with quote
neozxtc wrote:
As a disabled Army Veteran I loved the show. And yes to anything Rory haha.

Can't wait for Season 2 and I hope that Sentai pick it up and dub it maybe. Or even just release it in general.


They already have the second season for sure....and most likely will dub it..it is one of there top 10 most popular 2015 anime.
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