GATE is one of the shows I’ve been looking forward to most since it was announced, this setting is one I’ve always thought is amazing and yet one I feel like I’ve never actually seen in anything. Just knowing it was exactly that made me very hyped up about trying this out. Now after 2 episodes, does it live up to it?
Well, yes and no. It’s definitely fun, exciting, and hitting the right spots in terms of the asymmetrical battles I was hoping for, but we’re probably going to slowly build up a harem, there’s a little bit of a pacing issue (we already have translation books printed for a place we got to a day ago?), and there’s a lot of inconsistencies (“I just killed 130,000 of your countrymen who were defending you against our invasion, but here’s a snack” and being accepted as lovely people without question by the natives). This is a series with a lot of flaws but this unique setting and this so far likable main cast are doing a lot for it. I also really like this mix of fun lightheartedness with the serious action stuff – it reminds me a lot in many ways of Library Wars which is a fantastic fucking series so bringing those feelings back to me even if not entirely makes me feel good about watching this. The art and such is also pretty great aside some of the noses, but it looks nice for the most part.
I really like the OP, it gets across a lot of the stuff the show is about and introduces the most main members of the cast along with some side members in the main group. The ED however feels both boring and lame, it’s ugly to look at, its boring to watch, and the song kind of sucks. I’m not sure what they were going for with this disco-humvee thing but I don’t really like it.
My major issue so far – and one I was worried about from the show descriptions – is that it portrays the US as evil, warmongering, and with a greed fueled intent to invade this other world and take it as their own. Now, sure, that’s fine because I can’t really say it’s not at least somewhat believable. The problem though is that the Japanese from the very first episode have done FAR WORSE and are already continuing that – yet the series is treating Japan like the savior of this other world rather than being aware of what the fuck it’s doing. They’re fighting off an “evil king” or clearly will be, they’re defending it from the “evil Americans” from exploiting it and taking it as their own…all while if you pay attention especially to the press conference in episode 1 just a week or two after the gate shows up the prime minister outright claims the entire other world as Japanese territory then orders the JSDF to actively invade and occupy it, taking a place by force, slaughtering people like crazy, and of course destroying the land and wildlife as well. How can a show that has the old imperialistic terrible historically war-crime-filled Japanese who are acting even worse than Putin over Crimea as the protagonists try making the US look bad for wanting the same things and being LESS terrible about getting them?
Japan’s first reaction was “WE OWN THAT LAND, IT IS OURS, JSDF GO TAKE IT BACK” once they learned of this other world, yet the anti-US sentiment in here is thick when all we’re doing is supporting the Japanese in their endeavor. It’s kind of disgusting and upsetting any time it comes up, especially because all that Japan side of it NEVER GETS SHOWN AS A BAD THING. They are treated as peace loving saviors who are “totally not invading” who just rolled into another world – another nation – brutally slaughtered over 130,000 people who were simply defending their land and world, and who are simply treating the place as if it was theirs from the start. Japan in this show is a brutal invading and occupational force and they’re treated like angels in the narrative. It’s like the author of these LNs isn’t even hiding the fact he wants the imperialistic incredibly violent Japan back from history (not surprising, as far as xenophobia and anti-US sentiment goes, the JSDF and southern Japan are ranked pretty equally in the most hateful especially with the older aged crowd in both), yet hilariously enough the way he shows this is by having Japan go and just tear apart people way less equipped who have no way of fighting back or defending themselves who are all doing nothing but trying to force invaders out as they just take land as their own after killing more and more. He’s blind to the hypocrisy of his own insane anti-american pro-empire-of-japan stance on the world. It feels like some kind of post-war “history is written by the victors” propaganda that we’re reading from the future of the story’s world.
I mean even the idea that this is a retaliatory effort after being attacked first is hilariously inaccurate. Japan already closed the gate off entirely – the other side would never get through again, they were not a threat. Plus what kind of ‘retaliation’ is ‘take it all over’?
If it pushes too much of this bullshit agenda I’m sad to say the show will suffer highly for it – most of the other stuff about this is fantastic or easy to forgive EXCEPT that and the retardedly “I’m evil and bad” evil bad king. Thing is, I’m almost certain it will not only continue with this but make it a main focus given how much the description harps on it – and yes this is unedited and “humanitarian relief” is not some kind of ironic joke;
Thanks to their efforts in humanitarian relief, although with some difficulties they were gradually able to reach out to the locals. They even had a cute elf, a sorceress and a demigoddess in their circle of new friends. On the other hand, the major powers outside the Gate such as the United States, China, and Russia were extremely interested in the abundant resources available in the Special Region. They began to exert diplomatic pressure over Japan.
A suddenly appearing portal to an unknown world—to the major powers it may be no more than a mere asset for toppling the international order. But to our protagonists it is an invaluable opportunity to broaden knowledge, friendship, and ultimately their perspective towards the world.
Read as: Japan, the peace loving fellows who would never harm a soul and simply want to coexist with this other world provide humanitarian relief to a foreign locale in the same way they did to Pearl Harbor and Nanking. However, the evil Empire of the United States of America, the villainous land-stealing Chinese, and Putin simply want to abuse this place for their own gains and begin to harass poor Japan who simply wants to help these other people live in peace under their forcibly taken reign! Only the Japanese understand the beauty of freedom, the sanctity of life, and how important it is to protect this other world from the evil Americans who want only for resources and more power – ignoring the knowledge, friendships, and new thoughts on the world one can gain from being such a peace loving friendly nation.
It entirely ignores the complete fucking opposite that the prime minister of Japan said himself (and even after his passing, the new people in charge said they were continuing his plans) and pretends none of the actions GOING ON RIGHT IN THE SHOW are something perfect little Japan would ever do, let alone the fact that Japan hasn’t even contacted NATO about this and just decided to invade and take over an entire world as their own without hesitation and slaughtering hundreds of thousands of people for it. They’re killing these people who have no chance to even fight back TO DEFEND them, they’re invading and taking over FOR THE GOOD OF THIS WORLD. OF COURSE! JAPAN SIMPLY WANTS FREEDOM, HAPPINESS, AND SAFETY FOR ALL – AND TO ACHIEVE THAT THEY MUST PAINT THE WORLD OVER WITH THE BLOOD OF THOSE THEY SHALL PROTECT FOR THE ONLY SAFETY AGAINST THE EVIL AMERICANS AND CHINESE IS DEATH BY THE HANDS OF THE ALWAYS HONORABLE AND PEACEFUL JAPANESE. CULL THOSE WITH PURE SOULS, END THE SUFFERING OF THE OTHER WORLD BEFORE IT COMES TO THEM.
WE THE PRIDEFUL JAPANESE WILL STRIKE DOWN ALL THOSE WHO NEED SAVING EVEN IF THEY SIMPLY DO NOT UNDERSTAND, AND EVEN IF THEY ARE TOO ILL EQUIPPED TO HAVE ANY DIFFERENT CHOICE IN THE MATTER OR STAND ANY CHANCE AT STOPPING US. HONOR IS WHAT WE LIVE FOR, PRIDE IS WHAT WE LIVE FOR, AND PROTECTING YOU AND YOUR WORLD IS ALL THAT MATTERS TO US. ONLY THOSE WHO BOW TO US AND LET US TAKE OVER AND ANNEX THEIR WORLD AS OUR OWN WILL SURVIVE FOR THEY ARE THE CHOSEN ONES.
NIPPON! NIPPON! NIPPON! FOR THE HONOR OF THE EMPEROR!
I want to say fuck this show because at times it feels like straight up Japanese nationalistic propaganda and it’s clear the ex-JSDF guy who wrote it put that all in intentionally and is blissfully ignorant of the rampant hypocrisy (there’s an incredibly tiny possibility he’s aware of the jingoistic imperialistic shit in this and is trying to make some kind of social commentary – but it sure as fuck doesn’t come off that way at all and it’s meaningless if he doesn’t make it somehow noticeable, so I don’t think it’s the case), but it’s entertaining and this setting is one very similar to what I’ve always dreamed of writing a story about. I can’t help but keep watching and keep enjoying it for now and really even those issues SO FAR are not drawing away too much from the overall quality. This is what I expected, but in many ways equally as much what I feared, I just hope it doesn’t let that ruin everything else about it by focusing on this shit more and more and instead makes this whole post moot and silly to look back on. Not to mention the only other ‘antagonist’ they have so far is the most lazily thrown together “I’m an evil king guy look how evil I am I’m being mean to a cute girl and I don’t care about my people’s lives and really am just using this all as a way to expand my power go kill innocent villagers look how evil I am oh I’m just so evil” big bad imaginable. Oh, and of course as long as it doesn’t turn into a harem.
Sadly I don’t see this going beyond just an entertaining and alright series rather than the amazing thing it could have been. I still greatly enjoyed both episodes so far, and I do highly recommend checking it out as it’s probably my second favorite show this season next to Gakkou Gurashi which is miles above this already with even only one episode so far but yeah. This is alright, watching a bunch of tanks blast knights and anti-air mobile attack platforms blasting dragons is pretty fucking cool, and it’s well worth spending the time with so far to check it out if you haven’t yet.
I didn’t get that vibe about their presentation of Japan at all. The focus on the little girl at the funeral and the displays of the carnage they created (alongside America wanting Japan to make ‘mistakes’ – if I remember that correctly – before they enter the fray), in contrast to the celebration of being the ‘defense force’, made me feel incredibly uneasy about the SDF’s approach to this issue of invasion, and the MC’s lax approach foreshadows, for me, a debate over Japan’s decisions rather than a pure celebration or denunciation of them.
An anime’s portrayal of world powers doesn’t always have to be an absolute commentary on them. Gate more seems like it’s raising questions through what-ifs regarding political approaches to new land/people/power/etc. What happens when this country is like this and this country is like that? It doesn’t have to be a judgement upon them (though it could grow into one from the viewer’s perspective), and it hence doesn’t have to detract from your enjoyment of the show’s themes.
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That would be a possible perspective except for the fact the non-meta non-in-universe descriptions written by the publisher themselves state America, China, and Russia are bad and Japan simply wants to protect this new world.
If this was something brought up in-universe, sure. Even if this was treated as perhaps a way of hiding that sort of “twist” of the Japanese invasion being bad, again, sure. However the way the plot descriptions are written out clearly speak of the future of the series we’re not even at yet – so unless this is 50+ episodes and the ‘reveal’ is over halfway in, the likelihood of this being the case is incredibly low.
Also, you seem to have forgotten the show already proves this view wrong. Look at episode 2 when they roll into a village – the people are a little scared purely because something ‘different’ is there, but they happily greet them, help them, tell them where other villages are, give them maps, and speak with them as friends moments later. The show itself proves that, as much as I’d want what you say to be true, it’s not the case. The JSDF is already being treated as saviors even in-universe by the other world even in villages that likely lost men to the Japanese during the battle. If Japan and the JSDF weren’t perfect little angels according to this the random villagers wouldn’t magically be written to love them instantly like they were.
If it’s trying to do what you’re saying it’s trying to do – it’s just fucking terribly written in that case, just like this antagonistic King guy who is the most pathetically thrown together big bad possible. Which, actually, makes me less certain it’s not just terrible writing and Japan really will be shown as bad later too. Either way it comes off as shit because the writing behind it is either nationalistic propaganda or bad – and it’s definitely bad when it comes to the king which leans me towards both or at least that.
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I still prefer to distance authorial intention while I enjoy a work. If they really did want to celebrate Japan and its military, I’d argue that they’re already screwing up big time.
For instance, that scene with the villagers only made them seem more savage to me. Here they were being ‘nice’ when they’d likely just blown people from that village to bits, and the village can hardly be unkind to them in return even if they were aware of what had happened on that battlefield. When has being two-faced ever looked good? Furthermore, they’re clearly only being nice to the locals so that they have a smooth ride towards fulfilling their retaliation against this kingdom, and probably eventually subjugating it too.
As for the King, I wouldn’t argue that his writing is incredible, but the deviousness of his plots have already made me see him as a prick that I want taken down – not, however, by the SDF.
I’m enjoying this show mainly because I’m not siding with anyone. I’m just casually picking holes in every side’s approach.
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And here we can see the entire problem with believing authorial intent is not absolute. You’re giving this show much more credit than it deserves, because you’re seeing things that the author didn’t mean to do or just outright aren’t there.
If you ignore authorial intent and just look at what is accidentally shown, you end up having a much higher opinion of something that’s actually really poorly written. This is really what I hate about you pseudo-intellectuals, you come up with bullshit theories based entirely on coincidences, and then claim it must be the factual case.
Again, this is why authorial intent is important. You’re gonna end up looking at shows that are actually BAD and thinking they’re good because the author accidentally implied something he didn’t mean to. That doesn’t make it good, that makes it incompetent.
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Actually, seeing authorial intent as absolute is a pretty outdated perspective, something the intellectuals of earlier centuries would hoot about. Nowadays we are able to view a story from multiple axis – the relationships between work and author, work and recipient, work and context, and the relationships between those relationships – to come to a more reasoned conclusion.
You should call Roland Barthes, celebrated structuralist and writer of ‘Death of the Author’, a pseudo-intellectualist before you direct that silly insult towards one of your blogging contemporaries. You should also do some research into ‘New Criticism’. Most of art theory has shifted against your ancient approach to storytelling.
I’m not interested in giving a show ‘credit’. I’m just enjoying myself, and I do that more if I avoid thinking of one axis of interpretation as ever absolute.
Like, get with the times.
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The conversation between you two sure makes me happy I’m not part of the current college generation, I was able to get an actual education and not be told everything is good as long you imagine it’s good and was actually taught pretending what you hear in some overwrought lecture shouldn’t be believed as how the real world works and that following it will not make you some sort of superior intellectual being that ‘gets’ what others are simply too slow to handle.
Being a prissy self-important type who’d consider even using a phrase like ‘blogging contemporaries’ or name-dropping people nobody gives a shit about to feel like your ‘knowledge is so impressive’ is just proving Monty’s “silly insult” more and more true. Let alone your entire argument there essentially saying “everything is what I think it is as long as I believe it and can tell myself it’s true”, which is fucking hilarious and is totally something I’d believe being taught these days by retards who have to make excuse for why people just “didn’t get them” and why they’re stuck now teaching instead of actually making a living in their field. It’s not outdated to tie INTENT with CONTENT, you’re essentially defending shipping and yurifan logic wherein “if they looked at each other in a way I personally see as loving or lusting then they are canonically lesbians”. Nobody is impressed by the fact you took English courses and so easily believe pseudo-philosophy.
In fact what you’re saying works against your own point. You talk about criticism but your entire point is ANTI-CRITICISM. You’re outright stating “What I think this is showing IS what it is showing because it’s what I WANT it to be showing even if it is objectively factually even stated by the author if that is the case NOT what is being shown”. You’re saying your opinion has more value than the actual writer and that criticism is invalid because your personal interpretation even if it has nothing backing it up, conflicts with the actual content, or is outright factually wrong.
This “new criticism” you speak of is the fear of actual criticism, a world where you simply say a piece of shit is an amazing piece of art because you saw the golden turd that was simply a golden turd with no meaning as a commentary on youth and the hardships of the elderly in today’s technologically filled society, and even if the author tells you otherwise he’s wrong because the ‘axis’ you’re viewing it on is not his.
You are not above the creator, nor are you above the content. You, myself, and anyone else who is simply commenting, criticizing, or critiquing something take third seat to both of those. What you think will never outweigh what is actually happening or what was intended to happen even if it’s done poorly. No matter how good or bad something is or how well or shittily it’s executed, all that can only be properly analyzed or looked or commented on or called good or bad on any level if, and only if, you consider the intent of the creator and the way the content was handled by him or her. You don’t get to throw in your imagined up theories that clash with what the creator was going for as ‘criticism’ or an equally correct point of view to watch/read/play something from. That’s masturbation, not criticism or analysis.
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Ok. I’ll bear your elitism in mind in the future and blog about this on my own prissy self-important site when I get the time.
I was meaning to write about this debate in Gate anyway, so thanks for giving me a great article and follow-up discussion to springboard it from.
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You’re the one acting like an elitist little shit who thinks spouting what his professor told him a week ago makes him appear intellectual and superior and running around shooting down opinions based on the content as wrong because of your opinions that are entirely baseless apparently being more important. You don’t seem to have any grasp on what elitism even means, just like you don’t know what criticism actually is. Have fun sucking your own dick in your circlejerk with surely plenty of others who are all busy doing the same. You types who can’t even identify what you’re acting like or what you’re saying properly and take everyone who doesn’t rub your cock how you like it as ‘elitist’ or some kind of villainous person are the reason I don’t bother with the blogging community or really anime fans in general. You’re a bunch of fucking idiots who think you’re smart when really you’re the stupidest of the fucking bunch. You sit there telling me my based-on-the-content thoughts are invalid while saying YOURS are more valid because you simply say they are even though you even openly admit those opinions are based on absolutely nothing within the content and even clash with it.
You’re a fucking idiot. Being in college mixed with just being a shitter in the first place will make you act that way, so I forgive you, but when you’re older you’ll look back and realize what an insufferable retarded little cunt you were.
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Will do!
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http://gfycat.com/HarmlessImportantKakarikis
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>resorting to shitposting images
I’m sorry, I can’t click that as it’d paint you as a child for acting how you are right now if I did and I know that would deeply offend your personal belief that you are an incredibly educated and intellectual adult.
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I honestly don’t know who’s trolling who at this point.
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I almost forgot to mention how much everything you’re saying here clashes with what you said to me in my Toradora review as well – wherein you quickly tell me how wrong I am because I just viewed it wrong, didn’t pay attention, and completely missed the intentions of the author, characters, and story.
Don’t sit there bitching about someone’s review being too personal or “wrong” when your entire argument here is saying all reviews and criticism are 100% personal and thinking they are anything but is ‘wrong wrong wrong’ and that everyone has their own axis to shove their head up their own ass in and so on.
You aren’t even consistent which is just proof you’re spouting the retarded shit you think you “know” and pretend to believe in because you heard it in your classes and want to appear like some special snowflake who is above it all.
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>It feels like some kind of post-war “history is written by the victors” propaganda that we’re reading from the future of the story’s world.
Oh yeah you know I couldn’t have said it better myself? That’s exactly how it feels.
I was so disappointed when that “UH OH EVIL AMERICA WANTS TO DO THE SAME THING JAPAN WENT IN TO DO… EXCEPT N-NO JAPAN IS HERE TO ESTABLISH FRIENDSHIP!!!”. I’m not saying American wouldn’t do this, because we probably would, but you can go saying we’re wrong for it when YOU YOURSELF are doing the same thing.
Oh and wow yeah, that king is just so fuckin lazy? I didn’t realize you could have a piece of cardboard as a character.
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I’d say Japan is on even worse footing here – America wants resources but that doesn’t necessitate us slaughtering everything that looks at us angrily once we move in. Japan did just that though. Even in the middle east we don’t just blow everything up.
And yeah? This king is pathetically written and he’s clearly the main villain alongside America which makes me feel bad for the show.
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