Forum - View topicShelf Life - GATE
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Angel M Cazares
 Posts: 5501 Location: Iscandar |
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I was browsing Gurren Lagann's physical releases in ANN's encyclopedia and discovered that there is not a full review of the series with the dub. There are reviews of the original sub-only releases. This latest complete series BD release is a great opportunity to do an updated review.
As far as GATE, I liked it at the start, but it lost me when its pro militarization and pro colonialism went to far. It was definitely entertaining though. |
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zztop
Posts: 650 |
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Gate's source novels were quite infamous for its somewhat far-right, militaristic themes, and IIRC its author also identified as a right-winger. The anime staff admitted at one point they toned down a lot of the novel's rhethoric, including a very obvious jab (in the manga version at least) at (female politician) Murata Renho of the leftist opposition. |
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maximilianjenus
Posts: 2902 |
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note that yes, most of the political problems in GATE dissapear if you are not left wing.
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Yttrbio
 Posts: 3670 |
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Not all of them. I found the complaints about colonialism to be pretty knee-jerk, but the portrayal of Earth was definitely eye-rolling, even to someone like me, who is willing to see the military in a positive light
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meiam
Posts: 3448 |
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Yeah the earth politic definitely killed any interest I had in the show, it really felt like it was written by someone incredibly ill informed. Even the small stuff were ridiculous (spoiler[like when a special team from the USA tries to kidnap some people only to be completely defeated by the JSDF, everything about that is non sense]). Also gotta love the rational that because the gate exist in japan everything on the other side is therefore the property of japan, and the show actually roll with that rational.
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Animegomaniac
Posts: 4157 |
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My favorite show with an awful dub. When your Kamina gets outclassed by both actresses playing Nia, you really should have rechecked actor availability. Was Crispin Freeman busy? You have to believe Kamina, no, you to believe the him that believes in you, you got to really believe him right to the heart... and that is very similar to what Freeman did in Code Geass, especially that one scene from season 2. Yes, it'd be clichéd and easy casting but it would be the right casting. There's also Chris Sabat, David Wald, Brett Weaver, all with "booming voices that issue forth conviction". It's got to be a voice that shakes the heavens right down to the core... because plot. Even if they scored a bullseye in every other role, they didn't but even if they did, that one performance takes down the whole thing. And speaking of David Wald, we have GATE. I like GATE, in fact I'm pretty sure I love it as I've seen the whole thing enough times and already put as part of my Best of 2016 list. In repeat viewings, I keep looking for that one episode I don't like, the one that opens season 2 for example but there's something going on in each of them that comes out slowly, in particular with repeat viewings. I didn't even notice there was a storyline to the Alnus Refugee camp until I put all the episodes together. It starts off as a refugee problem, gets its own economy and then its own political intrigue. Pretty good for a town that doesn't have a government, just the presence of the JSDF.
It also goes out of its way to show how much of a lazy bum its main character is, up to the point he joined the military because it was the easiest way to fund his otaku habit with the least amount of work possible. The rest of the JSDF just is there to balance him out. Maybe? And as a pacifist lefty, even I have to point that it's strange to go and look for cowards in an all volunteer army. There are plenty of jerks though, from Itami's CO to that guy who wanted to get in a dogfight with a dragon as well as Itami himself. This raises a question in my mind though; I've always pictured the JSDF as more of a National Guard than and out and out offensive military force. The kind of group you'd used in event of a national disaster or as a reserve force. So I think of GATE as JSDF wish fulfilment. But should I be watching it as an army just looking for an excuse to unleash the dogs of war!...To retreat back to the Imperial time of Japan where the Military rued supreme!...? Because this show has nothing good to say about Empires and monarchies. In fact, I don't think it has anything good to say about standing armies in peace time as they tend to get an itch to be used.... or the one that turned to banditry after losing the war. This series also reminds me of Apocalypse Now in a different way; That movie was primarily written by a pro military right winger but then rewritten by its leftist director. It's how you have the spectacle of the helicopter strike pushed to parody within its own film, let alone to how it gets used in GATE. "All that death and destruction just to surf" to "We're referencing the most iconic scene of military waste in a strike that ultimately gets accomplished by a single helicopter." How do people not see it as a ironic parody? The peasants and bandits alike are fighting for their lives while the JSDF is... LARPing a military movie scene? With live rounds but it's not like the other side has guns. "Look out, it's an anti aircraft weapon!" Relax, it's a ballista, you should be safe... never mind, you countered with a missile. GG, guys... GG. |
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belvadeer
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Poor Kyle Hebert. Seems like he'll never live being the "wrong" voice for Kamina down, even years after the fact. XD |
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SilverTalon01
Posts: 2417 |
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I like how in a show with a gate to another world, magic, dragons, elves, and demigods, what killed it for you was how unrealistic it was for the protagonists side to beat up some hapless antagonists in a one sided fashion. That happens literally all the time in media whether its anime, hollywood, etc.
They weren't rolling with it? They just didn't have a way to counter the claim without starting a world war over controlling the gate. The other countries were trying to do something about it. That is why for example they tried to kidnap some samples to research. I haven't read the source so I don't know how much they do with that down the road, but from what we saw, they were working behind the scenes to fight that claim. |
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LegitPancake
 Posts: 1311 Location: Texas, USA |
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Yea...I imported the UK Gurren Lagann bluray set a couple months ago for $72, and it comes with an art book. So sorry Aniplex, not sorry.
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Takkun4343
 Posts: 1572 Location: Englewood, Ohio |
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Reminder that we could've had Steve Blum as Kamina. But if that were the case, we wouldn't have had him as Leeron. |
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jr240483
 Posts: 4447 Location: New York City,New York,USA |
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and that is one of the primary complains about gate. its WAY TOO POLITICAL FOR ITS OWN GOOD!!!! and for the US audience ,its even worse considering were hearing non stop political BS whether its from the far left wing liberals , far right conservatives or middle ground moderates. other than that , its not too bad. especially its dub. however what did griped me is that this series like this got a second season while a very solid series like tokyo ravens (which i already ordered my copy) dont get one just because of one reason. its a light novel adaptation and not of the uber popular kind like index , danmachi and others. |
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belvadeer
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And we wouldn't have had those great Leeron bloopers either. You can tell he had fun doing those. XD |
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myskaros
 Posts: 603 Location: J-Novel Club |
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I can understand the complaint since the show used entities we should be familiar with as a shortcut instead of establishing the level of competency of a fictional group. The same way we're expected to believe a medieval army gets completely crushed by modern weaponry simply because the audience "understands" how it's feasible without requiring a detailed explanation, a clash between powerful, trained espionage groups and an all-volunteer armed force has an outcome that popular media has ingrained in, well, at least the US audience. The trained spy group "should" be able to easily defeat the random Joe Schmoe soldiers. When this does not occur, in fact the exact reverse happens, that's a much more grievous breach of suspension than when you go into a work knowing that it contains fantastical fictional elements. Not that everyone will feel that way, but I think it's a defensible complaint, at least. |
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DmonHiro
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Loved GATE. It was so much fun to watch. It also contains one of the most satifying beatings ever animated. And make no mistake, that was not a fight. That was a massacre.
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trilaan
 Posts: 1071 Location: Texas |
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I loved GATE but I am definitely not a military otaku. Actually, I think that term gets thrown around a little too much and I don't think it fits here, as I saw nothing that I would say indicated a true obsession with the military aspects. Its use of modern human technology vs Medieval fantasy technology/magic never went beyond the stage of "Wouldn't it be cool if..." for me.
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