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NEWS: Sekai Project Cancels GATE Manga Release


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Engineering Nerd



Joined: 24 Apr 2008
Posts: 902
Location: Southern California
PostPosted: Tue Jan 05, 2021 5:16 pm Reply with quote
Sekai project, a company whose main focus is visual novel localization, isn’t really the one that can handle manga publications instantly, so that is not really surprising. As they put it, a really good learning experience in chaotic 2020. Also, licensing a propaganda military manga (in terms of genre) that has niche appeal probably doesn’t help either
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Blanchimont



Joined: 25 Feb 2012
Posts: 3533
Location: Finland
PostPosted: Tue Jan 05, 2021 5:28 pm Reply with quote
Engineering Nerd wrote:
Also, licensing a propaganda military manga (in terms of genre) that has niche appeal probably doesn’t help either

From what I've heard, the source novel is even more heavily veered toward that...
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Brainchild129



Joined: 09 Aug 2011
Posts: 307
PostPosted: Tue Jan 05, 2021 5:39 pm Reply with quote
Can't say I'm upset over this cancellation, having watched the series in full only to end up thoroughly despising it. At most, I get a mild bit of schadenfreude watching them suddenly remember this license just a month ago after 5 years of no news whatsoever, only for it all to fall apart in a matter of weeks.

It seems like the only way Sekai Project can handle a manga is to attach it to a crowdfunding campaign as they did with Clannad.
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Ryujin99



Joined: 21 Jul 2010
Posts: 198
PostPosted: Tue Jan 05, 2021 5:57 pm Reply with quote
I'm thoroughly unsurprised that they dropped the license, though I am glad that I finally got the volume 2 I pre-ordered back in 2016.

Something I don't really get about some reactions I've seen to the series ever since the anime aired is the focus on it being a military propaganda series. Having re-watched the anime more than once and having read both volumes of the manga that I have, I'm not sure what about this series is any more objectionable or niche than, say The Saga of Tanya the Evil (aka Youjo Senki 幼女戦記). Both series have events and themes that some may (quite reasonably) find objectionable, but it has long mystified me why GATE seems to get so much more hate for it. If anything, I'd think Youjo Senki would attract far more negative attention.
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Tuor_of_Gondolin



Joined: 20 Apr 2009
Posts: 3524
Location: Bellevue, WA
PostPosted: Tue Jan 05, 2021 6:39 pm Reply with quote
And nothing of value was lost, IMO. Even Rory couldn't save this abomination. While it wasn't actively jingoistic, it wasn't very far from it. I don't know how well-received it was here in the US, but I can't imagine it did all that well. I know I tried really hard to like it, but failed and failed hard.

But, even though I really dislike the show (or, to be honest, the intentions behind it), I do think that those who want to buy this sort of thing should have their chance to do so, and as long as there's money to be made, I expect another opportunity will come along at some point.

As for Tanya: the author of that work is at least familiar with realistic international relations and diplomacy. Also, the world it takes place in is obviously not supposed to be our world (though Tanya, or rather the person who reincarnated as Tanya, *was* from "our" world).
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RockSplash



Joined: 28 Oct 2019
Posts: 499
PostPosted: Tue Jan 05, 2021 7:00 pm Reply with quote
Tuor_of_Gondolin wrote:
And nothing of value was lost, IMO. Even Rory couldn't save this abomination. While it wasn't actively jingoistic, it wasn't very far from it. I don't know how well-received it was here in the US, but I can't imagine it did all that well. I know I tried really hard to like it, but failed and failed hard.

But, even though I really dislike the show (or, to be honest, the intentions behind it), I do think that those who want to buy this sort of thing should have their chance to do so, and as long as there's money to be made, I expect another opportunity will come along at some point.

As for Tanya: the author of that work is at least familiar with realistic international relations and diplomacy. Also, the world it takes place in is obviously not supposed to be our world (though Tanya, or rather the person who reincarnated as Tanya, *was* from "our" world).


The other part is that GATE is a turn off for military fans. GATE is very inacurate when it comes to weapon details, and is extremely inacurate when it comes to matchups. In GATE the JSDF somehow steamrolls Navy SEALS. Now, whether you care or not, Jormungand was an anime that was much more accurate. GATE screams of a guy who loves japanese military and thinks everyone else is useless. Something that is just not true.
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Electric Wooloo



Joined: 19 Aug 2020
Posts: 314
PostPosted: Tue Jan 05, 2021 7:00 pm Reply with quote
"Sekai Project fails to deliver another product" is the least surprising article I've read this year. Not that I care in the least for the machismo colonialist themes of this series.
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srlracing



Joined: 28 Feb 2013
Posts: 87
PostPosted: Tue Jan 05, 2021 8:04 pm Reply with quote
This release is why I refuse to ever do business with Sekai Project ever again. I may or may not have made an inquiry with the FTC a couple months back over this saga.
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Dfens



Joined: 08 Feb 2013
Posts: 460
PostPosted: Tue Jan 05, 2021 8:59 pm Reply with quote
I really wanted to show my support for the series and purchase a copy of my very own but after seeing how volume 2 was delayed so long I didn't want to risk being stuck with a canceled release.

Don't know why the series gets so much hate, being called pro Japanese propaganda? Is it wrong to like ones own military and your countries values?

As for the whole steam rolling Navy Seals I don't remember that part. Unless that was in the novels it certainly was not in the 18 manga volumes released.

At the very least if someone was willing to re-license the series I would gladly buy the whole run of the current 18 volumes.
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El Hermano



Joined: 24 Feb 2019
Posts: 450
Location: Texas
PostPosted: Tue Jan 05, 2021 10:13 pm Reply with quote
Ryujin99 wrote:
Something I don't really get about some reactions I've seen to the series ever since the anime aired is the focus on it being a military propaganda series. Having re-watched the anime more than once and having read both volumes of the manga that I have, I'm not sure what about this series is any more objectionable or niche than, say The Saga of Tanya the Evil (aka Youjo Senki 幼女戦記). Both series have events and themes that some may (quite reasonably) find objectionable, but it has long mystified me why GATE seems to get so much more hate for it. If anything, I'd think Youjo Senki would attract far more negative attention.


Some people are a bit sensitive to topics like the military, especially ones that portray it in a positive or empowering light. The same thing happens with any anime about topics like the police, gun violence, or just general fanservice and treatment of female characters. Seeing media endorse things they disagree with will no doubt upset some people and lead to criticism.

As far as the Navy Seals thing goes. Maybe it's unrealistic, but you may as well complain about any action movie where one guy takes down an army by himself when logically he would be killed pretty quickly like Indiana Jones taking down an entire platoon of soldiers and tanks while riding a horse in The Last Crusade. A Japanese work portraying Japan as the heroes or strongest fighters shouldn't be surprising at all. I haven't seen the movie yet, but I did kind of joke how the Monster Hunter movie looked like an American version of GATE with the US Military being transported into the Monster Hunter world.
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JonDoe



Joined: 14 Oct 2019
Posts: 243
PostPosted: Tue Jan 05, 2021 10:25 pm Reply with quote
I was gonna say "and nothing of value was lost" but someone already beat me to it. Either way it's a fitting fate for a hateful turd of a series. Good riddance.
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Hikifroggy



Joined: 08 Dec 2016
Posts: 86
PostPosted: Wed Jan 06, 2021 12:45 am Reply with quote
as someone who read the mnaga plus anime

i mean to be Fair if i remember correctly during the scene between Americans and Russians at that hotel they were using third rate weapons to not be tracked back to there country with no air/communication tactical support....
the jsdf had better equipment plus communication support is it really far fetched they had the upper hand there?

was it BS? yup but so is loli maniac demi god swinging a axe around lol
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Rentwo



Joined: 05 Oct 2019
Posts: 184
PostPosted: Wed Jan 06, 2021 3:48 am Reply with quote
Dfens wrote:
Don't know why the series gets so much hate, being called pro Japanese propaganda? Is it wrong to like ones own military and your countries values?


I'm not one of them, but there's a lot of westerners who want Japan to adopt more western values and forego their own culture and heritage. Hopefully it can be picked up by another company. The anime was quite interesting and I never read the manga or light novels. At least it seems to be cancelled due to the company's ineptitud rather than any kind of political motivation.
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Thespacemaster



Joined: 03 Mar 2012
Posts: 1155
PostPosted: Wed Jan 06, 2021 4:19 am Reply with quote
Its funny that people are calling out this series for its pro japanese propaganda when the western nations have literal thousands of literal work that pretty much do thing, how many times have they portrayed themselves as the heroes or saviors or comp people of their respective nation.

Gate might be a little more heavy than most on its pro japanese storyline but it is not anything major that other nations have not done, so why should they complain about this? let them have it, everyone likes to showcase a little pride for their own nation and military.
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stefand



Joined: 24 Mar 2015
Posts: 56
Location: Germany
PostPosted: Wed Jan 06, 2021 6:52 am Reply with quote
As a german i always tend to compare the history of the military in japan with the one in germany. As a result of this history i am very suspicious of any tendencies to promote military.

The difference between Tanya and Gate is: Yes, Tanya is a military fiction and it might be fun to watch. But you do not want to be a part of it, no way.
In Gate it seems to be fun, being part of a well functioning military machinery. And that is the propagandistic part i am very wary of.

Dfens wrote:
Is it wrong to like ones own military and your countries values?

If you need military to promote your values, yes it is wrong. I strongly believe, millitarism is the root of many evils in this world.
Nevertheless i somehow enjoyed ´Gate' (but were feelng bad about it).
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