The juxtaposition between a fantasy world and the present day (or future) can be pretty interesting. In one corner, we have a realm with a motif that smacks of the Middle Ages: knights on horseback, quaint villages, castles and kings, while the other side is all about skyscrapers, jet planes, and maybe even space ships. It looks like it should be a decidedly one-sided affair if these two places came to blows. However, fantasy worlds have a really big ace up their sleeves: magic. Forget all of the techno jargon, atom bombs, and legions of robots. Pit those things against a mage academy or some dragons, and the advantage can quickly shift to the other side.
This is what I was expecting when I first started watching Gate. It's a show where a magical gate opens in Ginza between Earth and another dimension where all of the tropes of fantasy are real. Sure, the initial horde of marauders, scaly flying creatures, orcs, kobolds, and the like took everyone by surprise as they poured through the gate, but these folks were civilians, and once the Japanese military showed up they got thumped. Eventually, Japan sends an expeditionary force through the gate, faces off against even more of this fantasy world's army, and proceeds to once again annihilate them.
Moving past the lack of any real explanation as to why the Empire embarked on this campaign, there's still a lot to enjoy about this show, most notably the characters. Itami Youji is the main character, leader of one of the squads exploring this new world. No one would ever guess he's either the military or leader sort given his extremely nerdy tendencies, but he seems to get things done in a pinch. He's likable, doesn't take himself seriously, and always good for a laugh.
As his squad progresses further and further, the show takes on a borderline harem feel with various girls joining their group, though none of them seem to harbour any sort of romantic feelings toward Itami. For the most part, they all have pretty interesting, unique personalities. Lelei La Rellena is by far the most archetypal of the lot, being a studious young mage. Tuka Luna Marceau is hard to figure out so far. She's an elf, is quite kind, helpful, and a bit shy, but hasn't really come out of her shell yet. She's been through some tough times, so it may take a little while for her to develop, but she is a pretty pleasant person to have around
Basically she doesn't seem to differentiate between blood lust and regular lust when near a battlefield. Since Rory is a death demigod, she feels compelled to enter battles she comes up and help people on her way (and by help I mean kill). If she does and is able to destroy an army, she feels sated. If she doesn't get involved, about the only way to calm her is through more carnal means, which leaves Itami trying to fend off her advances on more than a few occasions.
This stuff really bugs me, as I can't stand when anime tiptoes around more erotic content with underage characters. The same bullshit gets bandied about that according to the character's stat sheet, he or she is X years-old, "so totally not a minor!" We all know it's just a tactic dreamed up by a studio's legal department to make things come off as being fine when anyone with half a brain knows that it's absolutely not. It doesn't happen often in Gate, and it never goes anywhere, but the hint of it is there nonetheless, and it's one of the few things that I dislike about the show.
There is other fan service that is a lot more tolerable, and the show makes an effort to present it in a very logical manner, which is easy enough to do since Itami and one of his subordinates are huge nerds that go gaga for the elves, cat people, "enter cute fantasy girl race here" that they come across. The type of manga that Pina Co Lada and her knights wound up being into felt a bit shoehorned in, but it was good for several chuckles, as well.
While the big question is what will happen between the Japanese forces and the Empire, the show is also going for some political intrigue on Earth. Since the gate appeared in Japan, they have jurisdiction over it, but that doesn't mean major world powers like the US, China, and Russia aren't interested or have ideas of their own for the gate and the world that lays beyond it. We saw a bit of cloak and dagger stuff going on in the series, which was pretty interesting, but this area has a lot more room to grow and I see no reason why it won't.
Really, what carried the show for me was the characters in the end. Itami's lackadaisical attitude toward work, yet being quite capable of getting things done and staying in touch with his nerdy core makes him quite the endearing protagonist. All of the girls that wind up surrounding him over the course of the show range from at least being likable to downright interesting. Lelei, Tuka, and Rory are fun to have around (gratuitous Rory fan service not withstanding), and so far feel reasonably well developed. Tuka could probably use some more work, but the story hasn't really had much time to dig in too much with her, so I'm willing to wait that out. As much as Itami spends quite a bit of time around these girls, though, I can't help but feel that Pina Co Lada is the best match for him. Their personalities don't totally match up, but there's enough overlap that I could see them becoming a couple at some point, or at least becoming more interested in one another.
Story aside, Gate's aesthetic was a bit of a mixed bag. The main characters look pretty nice. They adhere to fantasy tropes for the most part with the people from Earth mostly going around in army garb, but there was a decent amount of detail to the outfits people went around it. Environments were occasionally nice to look at, especially large, panoramic views, but often times felt pretty minimalist. Large-scale battles weren't big on detail with simplistic looking beastmen running around and the occasional close-up of Earth military hardware. It was more the smaller battles that looked good, like when Rory would take the field. Those had a lot more visual panache to them both in terms of sheer eye candy as well as choreography. Meanwhile, the soundtrack was fantastic. It's primarily a sweeping orchestral score that added a lot to the show whether Itami and company were visiting a small village, armies were clashing, or folks were getting on with daily life.
The first season does a pretty good job of getting the ball rolling, introducing the characters, the world, and how people on Earth are taking this gate showing up all of a sudden, but that's really all it's done thus far. If anything, it's whet my appetite. I'm interested enough that I want to learn more, and am very glad that a new season will be starting up in January (for a moment I was worried this would be a one-off "Please Read the Manga!" series). Hopefully, the next season will flesh out why the Empire invaded, Earth-side politics, and the girls travelling around with Itami; not just focus on the dragon slaying that the trailer alludes to. In any case, the first season of Gate has been a pretty fun ride, and made me care enough about the series to want more.
