Overview

Gate: Thus the JSDF Fought There! Fire Dragon Arc, also known as GATE 2nd Season (Gate: Jieitai Kanochi nite, Kaku Tatakaeri 2nd Season / GATE 自衛隊　彼の地にて、斯く戦えり　第2クール), is the second season of the anime series GATE — sort of. I’ll come back to why it may or may not actually be the second season in a bit.

It’s been over a year since I reviewed the first season of this series, and because of that I actually had no idea what was going on when I picked up this season. I knew the protagonist, Itami, was an otaku and I knew Rory Mercury existed, but other than that I had no idea.

Luckily for me, it didn’t take long for the series to remind me that it has a character with one of the best names in all of anime: Princess Piña Co Lada. I guarantee I mentioned how good her name is in my original review, and I just want you to know that it’s still amazing over a year later.

So, the first season was (probably) all about Itami and the rest of the JSDF conquering the people beyond the gate. He made some friends, blew some stuff up, and helped to bring about an inter-dimensional peace treaty — sort of.

But this second season isn’t quite the same. The JSDF no longer need to conquer territory — they have a base camp set up beyond the gate. Now, their primary mission is to strengthen their ties with the empire in which the gate is located. And to do this, they need to defeat some new, and returning, enemies.

First there’s a fire dragon which needs to be dealt with, then a crazy prince, and finally a bunny girl.

Second Cour or Second Season?

However, before I get into the fire dragon, crazy prince, and bunny girl, I mentioned that this might not actually be a second season. Really, it’s more like the second cour of the first season and there just happened to be a break between the two.

The first season aired during the Summer 2015 season while the second aired during the Winter 2016 season. That means there was only the Fall season separating the two. Needless to say, this isn’t exactly normal — though Overlord has done this since then.

The fact that these two seasons were so close together makes me think that they may have originally been meant to be a singular season. Further proof for this is in how the second season starts us off right in the middle of the action.

This is the main reason why I was so confused when I started watching this season. Sure, for those who watched this series as it aired, they probably remembered where the first season left off. But for me, someone who had gone a year without watching the second season, the first episode made little sense.

For example, I had completely forgotten that Tuka Luna Marceau existed, let alone that she was mentally broken due to the death of her father. Basically, I didn’t remember any of the main characters’ origin stories. Well, except for Rory Mercury, but how could I forget about the best girl?

I actually did forget about the best girl, because it’s Piña Co Lada, not Rory Mercury.

“New” Characters

The first new character isn’t actually new. This is Yao Ha Ducy, a dark elf whose clan lives in a forest nestled within a canyon. She plays some role in the first season, but other than showing up and asking for Itami’s help, I’m not sure what else she did.

The thing she needs Itami’s help with is slaying the fire dragon which wiped out Tuka’s village. After killing all of the wood elves, the dragon made its way to the dark elves’ domain. And the reason Yao is seeking out Itami isn’t just because of the JSDF’s overwhelming strength. She’s also heard that he’ll help anyone in need.

The next character is actually new as far as I know. His name is Zorzal El Caesar and he’s the elder brother of Piña Co Lada. That means he’s the prince of the empire — well, one of two princes. The other prince isn’t quite as ambitious as Zorzal is and so isn’t named as the crown prince.

If there’s one thing Zorzal hates, it’s the JSDF. After being named as crown prince, Zorzal takes an anti-peace stance against Japan. He also somehow believes that the empire’s army can stand up against them despite the fact that the JSDF could wipe the empire off the map.

The final character I want to mention is Tyuule, the former queen of the Warrior Bunny Tribe and current sex slave of Zorzal. If there’s one good thing we can say about Zorzal is that at least he isn’t racist — and he has good taste in bunny girls.

I’d say Tyuule is the third best girl after Piña Co Lada and Rory Mercury.

Conclusion

Surprisingly, GATE 2nd Season is better than the first. I gave this season a 7/10, and that was actually mainly due to Tyuule. Zorzal was a pretty good character too, but I think it was the inclusion of Tyuule that made him so interesting. Their evolving dynamic was definitely one of the best aspects.

Unfortunately, I don’t think the series actually ends here. The ending seemed to be in an odd spot with a bunch of plot points left unfinished. I assume the light novels continue the story after this point, but I doubt there will ever be another season.

As for the OP, it was very similar to the OP of the first season, probably because it was by the same artists. And, since I also felt like it was similar to the Alderamin on the Sky OP, I looked it up and that’s by the same artists, Kishida Kyoudan & The Akeboshi Rockets, as well.

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Overview

GATE: Thus the JSDF Fought There!, or just GATE for short, is yet another isekai anime, although this one has a bit of a twist. Instead of one protagonist being randomly transported to another world, a large gate appears in the middle of Japan which is connected to another world.

From within this gate, a massive army attacks from a fantasy world, and in retaliation, Japan sends the SDF (Self Defense Force) into the other world basically to conquer it. As you might expect of a 21st century army attacking a fantasy world, it’s a slaughter.

Although some of the most powerful dragons of the land can withstand rifle rounds, even they are no match for the tanks and jets at the SDF’s disposal. Luckily for the SDF, the only being who stands any chance of wiping them out is actually on their side, whom I’ll get to later.

I’ve heard people call this anime a propaganda piece, and I can see why, but after completing the first season it’s really just a fairly standard isekai anime. Japan is clearly the “good guy” compared to the U.S., Russia, and China, but at the same time their relationship with the fantasy world is ambiguous.

If this were purely a piece of propaganda as some have suggested, I would expect many more scenes of excessive military force and less peace keeping operations. Military propaganda doesn’t usually balance the two in the way this anime does; it tends to be one or the other.

Characters

The protagonist of the series is Yōji Itami, a (second?) Lieutenant with the SDF and leader of his squad, the members of which I’ll skip over because let’s be honest, they don’t matter all that much. Itami is a hardcore otaku who only works for the SDF as a way to pay for his anime, manga, and otaku merchandise.

Although his age and background as a special forces soldier set him apart from most other isekai protagonists, his overall attitude still makes him “relatable” to the target audience. He’s a white knight otaku who likes tsundere blondes; that’s pretty much as stereotypical as it can get.

Rory Mercury is one of the two “best girls” of the series (pictured below). She’s a priestess of the god of war, Emloy. As such, she’s an immortal being who could destroy the entire SDF on her own if she so chose, but she seems to be interested in Itami, so the rest of the SDF is lucky.

She carries around a large ax which she uses in battle (obviously) and dresses in a gothic lolita fashion (I know some people are going to be mad about me calling it that). Despite being a priestess of war, death, and destruction, the populace seem to be extremely fond of her.

Lelei la Lalena is another member of the Itami harem as I’ll call it from here on out. She’s a human mage and serves as the primary translator between the Japanese and the Empire (although technically they’re all speaking the same language).

The third and final member of the Itami harem (for now) is Tuka Luna Marceau, an Elf whose entire village was destroyed by a Fire Dragon. Like Lelei, I don’t find her to be that interesting, but at least Lelei has a job and doesn’t just wander the streets of the refugee camp.

The other best girl I hinted at earlier along with Rory is Princess Piña Co Lada, which is the best name in all of anime by the way. She’s not the best at being either a princess or a knight, but she more than makes up for it with her attitude, appearance, and most importantly, name.

Conclusion

GATE was a pretty good anime, and I enjoyed it, but was it really that good? No. Did it stand out much from other isekai anime? Not really. Because of this, I rated the first season as a 6/10, but I have hopes that I’ll be able to rate the second season higher.

I think some more world building would go a long way toward making this a better anime. We know that the Empire isn’t the only country in the Special Region (the name Japan gave the fantasy world), but we know nothing about the other countries.

I think it would be interesting to see how the SDF dealt with wars and diplomacy between multiple countries in the Special Region rather than just dealing with the Empire alone.

Also, as a final note, why do Itami and his squad appear to have full autonomy within the Special Region? That’s probably one of the most “isekai” aspects of this entire anime. Despite being a member of the military, Itami is such a white knight that the rules don’t seem to apply to him.

If you enjoyed this review, remember to click the like button down below and follow me over on Twitter @DoubleSama. I tweet out every time there’s a new post, so it’s the best way to stay up to date. Also, join our Discord server to discuss anime with other members of the community.