Anime Review
Gate: Complete Series
On August 20XX, a gate suddenly appears in Tokyo's Ginza district, unleashing a portal where monsters, medieval knights and other fantasy beings come from another world and wreak havoc on Tokyo. The Japanese Defense Force take action against these monsters and push them back into the "Gate". Third Reconnaissance Team is dispatched to the "Special Region" lead by officer (and otaku) Youji Itami. On their travels, they are joined by a beautiful elf girl who is a survivor from the dragon's rampage and guide the group across the dangerous new world.
Overall
8.5/10
Story
9/10
pacing
9/10
9/10
Sound
8/10
Characters
Animation
8/10
Overview
In the summer of 20XX (2015) a Gate was opened in the anime world that took us to the space between fantasy and reality. In a different take from the standard Isekai, we get to see a story following that is more than our hero saving the world. Gate’s unique perspective on an isekai brings in grander themes such as diplomacy, slavery, prisoners of war, and more. Gate gave us a different unique take on what a narrative could be. It showed a much grander scale to world-building rather than focusing on the main protagonist’s struggles. Covering 24 episodes, we get to view both sides of the struggle and how intricate diplomatic affairs can be.
Story
9/10
As mentioned before Gate is a story of our world meeting a fantasy world where a series of political disputes break out as worlds collide. For us, this was one of the first shows that took a larger narrative that focused more on the grander scheme rather than just watching our protagonist Itami. This focus on the political aspects of interacting between nations is what made this show interesting in ways that have not been done before. It was a fresh take the pushed the balance. Of course, with the current two seasons it does fall a bit short in completing a narrative but as our world is ever-changing, so is this one. We wish we could see the completion of interactions between the Empire and Japan that really got going in season two. There feels like more is supposed to come, but since the continuation based on the light novels has not continued it leaves us wanting more.
Animation
8/10
Gate has a very polished look to its animation style that gives it a very solid quality through both seasons. The action sequences are great and dynamic keeping you enthralled before switching to a more standard pace without feeling any hiccups in animation. The one thing that really can be jarring for some is the 3D models that get used for some scenes. It is most prominent with the animation of the dragons that show up periodically. While it is no big deal it can pull a viewer out of the emersion of the show.
Pacing
10/10
The nature of the show is very episodic which leads to a narrative where one storyline starts and ends in usually one episode. This lets the show have a good pace throughout without feeling like anything is dragging on for too long. Another benefit to this style of narrative is that each episode has a purpose and even on one-off watching of a single episode, a viewer doesn’t feel lost. The only time where the story is drawn out is at the conclusion of the show which covers a couple of episodes to really round out everything that happened in the show prior. Even in each episode, the story is paced out well to really hit every punchline and illuminate every lesson without feeling overbearing.
Sound
9/10
Let’s talk about audio production. To be honest there is nothing wrong with the audio production in this show. Sound effects are used beautifully to highlight moments of both tension and comedy to great effect. The real reason that we don’t give this show a ten out of ten here is that for us the music just falls short just a hair. When watching it really sets the mood and gets you enthralled by what is happening. But the issue is that it is always just shy of being memorable. The only real memorable music for us is the intro and outro.
Characters
10/10
What makes a great character? For us, it is the ability to create a character that is relatable, entertaining, responsive, and natural character. Many times we get to see characters that are too forced in one way or another. While this is not bad it can distract from what the story is trying to tell. The beauty of Barakamon is that every one of its characters is molded in a way that is never distracting from the narrative while maintaining entertaining qualities. Each character really feels like someone you know and can relate to as if you have met and known them before. While the animation accentuates the comedic elements when needed what is said and done are things we could easily see from people we may know. This is what separates Barakamon’s characters from any other show.
Conclusion
Barakamon was released at a time in our life when we were between major early life moments similar to our main protagonist. Finding one’s own perspective and then developing a future on it is something that many can relate to at any moment. This reliability is what makes Barakamon one of, in our opinion, the greatest anime series of all time. No matter if it is your first time watching or your 20th you can relate to different aspects thanks to the broad swath of characters.