Gate (Novel Series)

Gate: Jieitai Kano Chi nite, Kaku Tatakaeri (ゲート 自衛隊 彼の地にて、斯く戦えり, Gēto: Jieitai Kano Chi nite, Kaku Tatakaeri, lit. Gate: Thus the Japanese Self-Defense Force Fought in Their Land), is a Japanese fantasy novel series written by Takumi Yanai and illustrated by Daisuke Izuka and Kurojishi.

Originally, it was serialized from 2006 to 2009 on the user-generated novel publishing website Arcadia until it was acquired by publisher AlphaPolis in 2010. A manga adaptation illustrated by Satoru Sao began in July 2011, and three spin-off manga began in 2015. The first half of an anime television series adaptation aired from July to September 2015, and the second half aired from January to March 2016. The series has been licensed by Sentai Filmworks in North America.

A sequel novel series, Gate Season 2: Jieitai Kano Umi nite, Kaku Tatakaeri, began publication in 2017.

Synopsis
In August of 20xx, a portal to a parallel world, known as the "Gate," suddenly appeared in Ginza, Tokyo. Monsters and troops poured out of the portal, turning the shopping district into a bloody inferno.

The Japan Ground-Self Defence Force immediately took action and pushed the fantasy creatures back to the "Gate." To facilitate negotiations and prepare for future fights, the JGSDF dispatched the Third Reconnaissance Team to the "Special Region" at the other side of the Gate.

Youji Itami, a JSDF officer as well as a 33-year-old otaku, was appointed as the leader of the Team. Amid attacks from enemy troops the team visited a variety of places and learnt a lot about the local culture and geography.

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.

(Source: Baka-Tsuki)

Light Novels

 * SEASON 1

Takumi Yanai, a former member of the JSDF, initially published the work on the user-generated content site Arcadia from April 2006 until June 2009 under the pseudonym Todoku Takusan (とどく＝たくさん). In 2010, AlphaPolis made an arrangement with him to publish his work in print. The first two web novel volumes were slightly altered to make them less nationalistic whereas the third, and final, web novel volume was rewritten and expanded into three volumes. These five volumes were published from April 12, 2010, to January 5, 2012, with cover illustrations by Daisuke Izuka. The original web novels were later removed from Arcadia. The series has continued with five volumes of side stories as of October 10, 2012. On January 6, 2013, AlphaPolis began a reprint of the series as a light novel, where each novel volume was split into two small-sized light novel volumes in bunkobon format, as well as new cover and inside illustrations by Kurojishi.

Manga
There are five manga series based on Gate, all published by AlphaPolis. The first manga, drawn by Satoru Sao, began publishing on July 30, 2011. This manga is licensed in English by Sekai Publishing, but only the first two volumes have been translated, with Sekai stating quality problems with the volume 2 copies in 2018. Following the release of volume 2 in 2020, Sekai Project canceled subsequent volumes.

The second manga, titled ''Gate! Yonkoma'', is a yonkoma comic strip comedy drawn by Kuinji 51-gou, beginning on January 15, 2015, and ending on July 23, 2015.

The third manga, drawn by Yukie Shiren and titled Gate: Teikoku no Bara Kishidan - Piña Co Lada 14-sai, which is a prequel story with Piña as the main protagonist, began on March 19, 2015, and ended on April 7, 2016, has 2 volumes. A fourth manga, drawn by Chako Abeno and titled Gate: featuring The Starry Heavens, which depicts the three main female characters becoming music idols, began on March 19, 2015, and ended on April 28, 2016, and has 2 volumes. A fifth spin-off manga, drawn by Tomo and titled Mei☆Company, is based on the in-universe manga in the Gate series, began on March 19, 2015, and ended on October 22, 2015, and has 1 volume.

Character
"Ruling over death means ruling over life. Death is the climax of life. To have the best death, you must honor life."

- Rory Mercury A demigoddess (Subgod) who serves Emroy, the god of death and absolution, and who has gained divine powers while still having a human body. She is also called an apostle of Emroy. Those who are familiar with her name and ideas on the continent hold her in the highest regard. She looks 12–13 years old, but her actual age is 961–962 years old. She has long, waist-length, jet-black hair with Crimson-red eyes, and her lips change color from pink to a dark purple when she goes into battle. She is immortal and wears a black priestly robe similar to a Gothic Lolita. She is light, swift, and strong; she fights even with a halberd that can be wielded by multiple peoples. She is both interested in and fond of Itami, and sometimes she seduces him. She also enjoys drinking, but not very much. She is courted by Hardy, a homosexual goddess, whose persistence disgusts him, and because of this, she is uncomfortable in Hardy's domain, the basement, and at first she is extremely frightened of Risa, who has a similar personality. She also has a feminine side, such as when she and Kuribayashi hug and screamed in fear of cockroach-shaped bugs.

She speaks in a sweet tone of voice, which, combined with her appearance, causes her to be misunderstood in Japan, but her words and actions during parliamentary hearings and in battle are weighty, as if she were an aged demigoddess (Subgod). On the other hand, she slaughters bandits in order to offer the souls that Emroy seeks. For this reason, she is an object of fear for those who might catch the eye of Emroy, who presides over absolution and madness.

She has a different set of values from humans because she is a demigoddess (Subgod), but she is also very companionable and has extremely good relationships with those around her. For example, she was concerned when Tuka's personality disorder worsened, forced Itami to sign a contract with him to fight against the Flame Dragon, and rushed to the aid of the 3rd Recon Team when they were in trouble due to an attack by DAR.

Immediately after becoming a sublime god and the No. 1 priest of the temple, she was dismembered and rendered powerless by the upper priests of the corrupt Febronian temple of the time. She had her body restored by his close friend, the priest Meghul, and was given the boisterous characters "god of death" and "god of war" for her decisive action against the higher priests and her nature as a god of faith. She has been pacing the temple ever since, terrified that even many of the priests who aren't corrupt could sentence her at any minute. Many of the priests at the Temple of Febron still have a fear of Lohri, but those who were trained by Megur, who rose to the position of chief priest, and who have inherited his training (loh citans), do not have that fear but rather have awe and reverence for him.

She will become a deity in roughly 40 years, and when her friends ask her what kind of god she wanted to be, she hesitantly said, "the god of love," temporarily terrifying Itami, Tuka, Lelei, and Yao. This is an unspoken agreement among the four that they "didn't ask him" until she publicly stated it, and this "didn't ask" causes a bit of an uproar in the outside story.

When Itami dies, the soul of her dependent son dies and comes back to her, so she is more relaxed toward Itami than the other women. However, she has made numerous attempts to have physical relations with Itami whenever he sees an opportunity, but has failed due to the curse mentioned below and other obstacles from the outside world. When she created a temple in Alnus, she built a modest temple similar to a shrine, declaring that this was enough for her. She enjoys being prayed to by Itami and the Japanese people around him by clapping their hands in Shinto style.


 * }

Abilities
"Some questions with no answers cannot be answered even by those who live forever. Yet, the absence of a correct answer does not mean the question cannot be answered."

- Rory Mercury

As an apostle of Emloy, she is granted immortality. She possesses resistance to aging and can survive being torn into bits, yet if the fragments of her body are too far apart, she can be successfully neutralized (at least until she ascends). However, she can make other people immortal for a time, so that every time that person takes damage, Rory gets hurt instead, which can cause Rory to die. She is ruthlessly loyal to her work and beliefs, and her values differ greatly from those of humans. Her fighting ability is one of the best among the characters in the work, and according to Giselle, "By myself, I am at best a five-factor fighter, and only myself and two newborn dragons together have a chance to win.

When Rory was at the hot springs with the others, she could feel their presence from a great distance. She was able to sense the presence of a soldier watching her from 450 meters (1476.38 ft) away from her present location. Rory can also sense that there is a battle going on somewhere nearby or that blood is being shed. Due to a past fate, she has been cursed by the god of light, Zufmuut, with a curse that prevents him from performing marriage ceremonies, which causes a commotion in the external biography of the god.

"To a girl, a man who’s nice to everyone… hm, I suppose that works as an example, to a man, it would be like a woman who opens her legs to anyone. People want companions so they can swiftly satisfy their need for love and affection. A woman wants a man who only shows his love to her."

- Rory Mercury

During the journey to Japan, she revealed she was able to learn the Japanese language with ease. She is also very articulate and was able to shock the politician Mizuki Kōhara into silence during a debate with ease. Her adeptness during her time with the JSDF helped Rory, along with many of the dark elves that chose to side with the JSDF, learn how to drive, albeit very poorly, where she nearly ran over someone. Furthermore, she is also unable to ride a bicycle.

TV Anime
An anime television series adaptation was produced by A-1 Pictures and directed by Takahiko Kyōgoku. The series’ character designs are based on light novel illustrations. The first 12 episodes aired in Japan between July 4 and September 18, 2015. The second half aired on Tokyo MX from January 9 to March 26, 2016. Sentai Filmworks in North America holds the license, and Crunchyroll provided internet streaming of it. From episodes 1 to 12, the opening theme song is "Gate (Sore wa Akatsuki no You ni)" (GATE:～それは暁のように～) by Kishida Kyoudan & The Akeboshi Rockets, and the ending theme song is "Prism Communicate" (ぷりずむコミュニケート Purizumu Komyunikēto) by Hisako Kanemoto, Nao Tōyama, and Risa Taneda.


 * Staff
 * Original Author - Takumi Yanagiuchi (published by Alphapolis)
 * Original illustrations - Daisuke Izuka, Kurojishi (paperback edition)
 * Director - Naohiko Kyogoku
 * Series composition -Tatsuhiko Urahata
 * Chief Director - Ryo Ando
 * Character design/general drawing director - Jun Nakai
 * Sub-design - Yuji Hosokoshi
 * Military Supervision - Takaaki Suzuki, Kenichi Kaneko, Mr.B
 * Firearm setting/Firearms/Weapons Animation Director - Yu Aoki
 * Action/effect drawing director - Kengo Matsumoto
 * Color design - Takahiro Motegi  (Part 1: Episode 1-Episode 12)
 * Art Director - Maho Takahashi
 * Art setting - Takeyuki Takahashi
 * Cinematographer - Masaharu Okazaki
 * CG Director - Yusuke Noma
 * Editing - Daisuke Imai
 * Acoustic director - Yukio Nagasaki
 * Music - Yoshimasa Fujisawa
 * Music Producer - Go Kojima
 * Music production - Five Eighth
 * Producers - Nobuhiro Nakayama, Teppei Ota, Nobuhiro Osawa
 * Animation Producer - Joji Kiyota
 * Produce - GENCO
 * Produce Cooperation - EGG FIRM
 * Animation Production - A-1 Pictures
 * Production - "Gate Part I" Production Committee ( Warner Bros. Home Entertainment, Alphapolis, Bandai Namco Entertainment, Showgate, Clockworks, Genco)

Sentai Filmworks released a complete collection of the series on Blu-ray and DVD on July 11, 2017.

For the second half, the opening theme is "Gate II (Sekai o Koete)" (GATE Ⅱ ～世界を超えて～) by Kishida Kyoudan & The Akeboshi Rockets, and the ending theme is "Itsudatte Communication" (いつだってコミュニケーション) by Kanemoto, Tōyama, and Taneda.


 * Staff
 * Original Author - Takumi Yanagiuchi (published by Alphapolis)
 * Original illustrations - Daisuke Izuka, Kurojishi (paperback edition)
 * Director - Naohiko Kyogoku
 * Series composition -Tatsuhiko Urahata
 * Chief Director - Ryo Ando
 * Character design/general drawing director - Jun Nakai
 * Sub-design - Yuji Hosokoshi
 * Military Supervision - Takaaki Suzuki, Kenichi Kaneko, Mr.B
 * Firearm setting/Firearms/Weapons Animation Director - Yu Aoki
 * Action/effect drawing director - Kengo Matsumoto
 * Color design - Yumi Yutani (Part II: Episode 13-Episode 24)
 * Art Director - Maho Takahashi
 * Art setting - Takeyuki Takahashi
 * Cinematographer - Masaharu Okazaki
 * CG Director - Yusuke Noma
 * Editing - Daisuke Imai
 * Acoustic director - Yukio Nagasaki
 * Music - Yoshimasa Fujisawa
 * Music Producer - Go Kojima
 * Music production - Five Eighth
 * Producers - Nobuhiro Nakayama, Teppei Ota, Nobuhiro Osawa
 * Animation Producer - Joji Kiyota
 * Produce - GENCO
 * Produce Cooperation - EGG FIRM
 * Animation Production - A-1 Pictures
 * Production - "Gate Part II" Production Committee ( Warner Bros. Home Entertainment, Alphapolis, Bandai Namco Entertainment, Showgate, Clockworks, Genco)

Trivia
'' to be added. ''

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