Gate: Jieitai Kanochi nite, Kaku Tatakaeri

Off-duty Japan Self-Defense Forces (JSDF) officer and otaku Youji Itami is on his way to attend a doujin convention in Ginza, Tokyo when a mysterious portal in the shape of a large gate suddenly appears. From this gate, supernatural creatures and warriors clad in medieval armor emerge, charging through the city, killing and destroying everything in their path. With swift actions, Youji saves as many lives as he can while the rest of the JSDF direct their efforts toward stopping the invasion.

Three months after the attack, Youji has been tasked with leading a special recon team, as part of a JSDF task force, that will be sent to the world beyond the gate—now being referred to as the "Special Region." They must travel into this unknown world in order to learn more about what they are dealing with and attempt to befriend the locals in hopes of creating peaceful ties with the ruling empire. But if they fail, they face the consequence of participating in a devastating war that will engulf both sides of the gate.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Mercury, Rory Main

Taneda, Risa Japanese

Itami, Youji Main

Suwabe, Junichi Japanese

Lalena, Lelei la Main

Touyama, Nao Japanese

Co Lada, Piña Main

Tomatsu, Haruka Japanese

Marceau, Tuka Luna Main

Kanemoto, Hisako Japanese

Kuribayashi, Shino Supporting

Uchida, Maaya Japanese

Kurokawa, Mari Supporting

Akesaka, Satomi Japanese

Ducy, Yao Ha Supporting

Hikasa, Youko Japanese

Kurata, Takeo Supporting

Ishikawa, Kaito Japanese

Delilah Supporting

Kusuda, Aina Japanese

Nakayama, Nobuhiro Producer

Oosawa, Nobuhiro Producer

Seita, Jouji Producer

Oota, Teppei Producer

Reviews

Jan 25, 2026

HOLOADDICT

Recommended

Presenting a surprisingly good blend between modern and fantasy elements, GATE manages to introduce two worlds with massively different views and manages to convey the strength of both of them while maintaining a coherent plot that effectively strings the characters along.


The fantasy elements are a strong part of the story, whether it's a new resource, an incredibly strong material or a person so powerful they shift the balance of the battle, there is no one clear side that's at an advantage. I expected to see a clear difference in power between each side, but there actually are compelling arguments that point to the special region ... being strong enough to make the dynamic interesting rather than one-sided.

Beyond that, the story takes the opportunity to have internationally political disputes in both the Special Region and Japan. Neither side can afford to divert all their attention to the new world, because despite their differences, the neighbouring empires/countries want a piece of the pie. The diplomats on both sides actually speak in a normal manner to achieve a common goal, instead of your average hot-headed antagonist that burns bridges at the nearest opportunity.

The characters definitely lean towards the Special Region however, with only a couple of notable characters from Japan. But in general, the characters are thought-out and have their own reason to side with/against the Japanese Forces. There is conscious thought going on in their heads that contribute to a variety of personalities to create a cast of people that aren't completely braindead.

As a standalone anime, it's quite good, but I'm looking forward to the 2nd season to flesh out the cast and stick the landing.

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Sep 16, 2025

Me_Mario

Mixed Feelings

A Decent concept but... a mediocre execution.
It was initially fairly promising considering they didn't seem to just make guns or modern weaponry completely ineffective for no reason like many series like this do. However they did kind of slowly end up moving more and more towards that direction. And basically still ended up under representing the power of modern weaponry. Even though they did pretty okay. Then as for world building and politics it's kind of a mess that doesn't make a lot of sense. I wont go into details you'll just have to read episode reviews in that case but basically I don't think ... it'd go down like this at all. It'd likely have turned into a global issue, from episode 1 and there'd be some sort of agreement formed between the world's super powers and Japan would likely simply have to put up with it and cooperate. In turn I think it would be much more peaceful at least between earth nations the way they currently are or were at the time of writing this show.
Maybe not in the shadows of course. But Japan being the only ones with access to the gate seems highly unlikely to happen. They simply don't have that kind of weight, if it were merely part of Japanese land it would be one thing, but it'd simply be argued that this is an existential threat to all of humanity. If Japan refuses to cooperate than they'd get even less to choose and a cooperation would be forced upon them. So instead they'd likely work together with a ton of countries from all around the world.

People critique this show for the way they go after resources and such, but I think that's just realistic I have no issue with that, you can talk about right or wrong all you want. But it's simply what would happen. I'm not gonna fault it for realism, if anything I only fault it for it's lack of realism when it comes to politics. Yes the "evil" intentions are pretty accurate but the way they go about it aren't, people naturally choose mutually beneficial solutions and will shake hands with their enemies in order to gain the most with the least risk.
There's countless examples of this, even today.
There's also the lack of them not immediately researching things like magic, even all the way up to the end of the season they'd not addressed and only barely addressed the opposite, which is magic incorporating science. While the opposite would likely have been one of the first major research thing you'd expect them to do when they made first contact.

Aside from world building the show is also rather bland, most characters aren't very memorable and some episodes were quite uneventful. The most memorable character (Rory) is simply a stereotype that's a bit more horny than normal.
Some of the characters from Japan are okay as well, but ironically there's almost 0 character development or even character information/building towards any of the Isekai charachters. Some a literally on screen for just the sake of it and have a few lines here and there but we know nothing about them, they don't do anything they just "exist"

And even the characters that get more attention are still not very deep.
The story was still somewhat okay at the start but it got progressively slower, less interesting and more uneventful.
If I had to separate it into three "parts" I'd say the first part of the season was the best, the middle was simply poorly executed but at least not boring. And the last part of the season was simply boring.

I will watch season 2, I'm giving it a 6 for now because it's open ended and I kind of need to watch season 2 to give it a better judgement so it could become a 5. But it certainly won't go higher than a 6. Because I think a 6 is already quite generous. And I purely would give it that because there are some things I liked, I liked the concept initially and that they had a pretty accurate representation of modern weaponry and didn't make guns useless for no reason. Some people dislike it for that reason, but at that point why are you even watching this show. It's quite literally the set-up. Modern weapons and warfare versus Medieval/Fantasy. Which it executed in a mediocre way. But it could have been a lot worse. So it's fine. It's a watchable show, but wouldn't go as far as to recommend it.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Nov 14, 2023

armycat23

Not Recommended

I think the overall idea for a "Modern day meets Medieval" anime sounds really good. This show had a lot of potential, but unfortunately it's very underutilized more often than not. The first couple episodes does a great job of getting your attention and showcasing how vulnerable people in medieval times would be when faced with a tank or a jet. However, the show seems to lose direction on what it really wants to "be" from the 3rd episode and afterwards. Sometimes there are glimpses that remind you how much of a threat the SDF could pose to the new world, but for the most ... part it feels like Itami and his cohorts are sent on "busy-work" that is neither interesting nor deep. Amongst that busy work is a thinly veiled "harem" theme.......which I wouldn't mind so much if it was fun......but it isn't.


As for as Itami is concerned, the be-all and end-all of his character is that he is an otaku. He was in the special forces and even divorced, but those things aren't explored. Those are things that are lazily given to add some background info on him. You don't see any of his past, regarding the military or with his ex-wife. He does not have any kind of character development/growth and what you get at the 11th episode is the exact same thing you get from the 1st episode - a barely workable MC who pushes the "story" forward.

The other characters are mostly enamored with Itami for little to no reason. Like Itami, their characters' backstories/character development is equally barren. In fact, by the end of the season, you may have a hard time recalling the names of Itami's fellow soldiers or traveling buddies.

There are many things done in the show that should be explained. What is the Gate? How did it get here? Are there more of them? Is Japan studying the Gate on the other side? You don't get any answers to those questions. In fact, none of the characters even ask the questions or brings the subjects into focus. This lack of detail and explanation even works on the smaller scale. For example, what benefit is the SDF getting for giving away hundreds of thousands of yen worth of merchandise so it could be sold in the medieval towns?

The cliffhanger at the end of season 1 feels badly placed, especially because it's not exactly a very exciting cliffhanger that would make you excited to see season 2.

Reviewer’s Rating: 4

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