Gate - Jietai Kare no Chi nite, Kaku Tatakeri

people calling it a harem
You people keep using that word, I don't think it means what you think it means.
The only girl with an actual interest in him is Rory, the others are just bystanders.
That aside, the setting is interesting enough, and even if the political part isn't as engaging as vinland saga it's still a fun fantasy manga to read. Miles better than the horseshit berserk has turned into over the last 10 years.

Originally idea is very good. But when the story goes on the details became more and more idiotic. Because of stamps which is everywhere. Typical spineless protagonist, typical harem, typical platonic relationships between hero and other harem, typical mistakes in psychology. If you want to read a standard history about hero and harem with full of stamps then welcome. Otherwise I do not recommend.

Pros and Cons list (for those who are always tl;dr)

• Awesome awesome awesome premise! Love the combining of the different realms into one epic manga! Cool, but...it's terribly executed. Terrible.

• Characters are superficial, there's no depth in them. The main character is a joke, his attitude toward this entire situation does not fit (he acts like he care, but the way he is portray, he comes off as careless, an otaku who stumpled onto this job really).

• The entire story comes off as a joke. Nothing is taking serious in this manga, at last they dont seem like they are serious. The world politics in this is a sham, even a 14 year old can do better :\

• Also the harem surrounding the main character. I dont mind if it's done well and the main character DESERVE one, but this otaku army weakass, no. The plot give him one for no apparently reason! Seems like this manga rather attract male gfless reader with boobs than provide a good story. If this is you, go read To Love-ru Darkness instead, way better manga than this.

• this is seinen, make it realistic (in terms of interactions and way issues are dealt with) please, dont give me any of those shounen crap, this is suppose to be seinen, but it is not acting like one so far.

• Plus for the mix of elves, mages, dragons ect. Now put them to good use please!

+/- Epic battles, I like epic battles between rocket launcher and dragon too, but the sequence and action is poorly written

Bottom line, this manga does not deserve the 9 rating it currently possesses. It's a shallow story with terrible characters, and just plain bad interactions between characters. Go read berserk or vinland saga, they earn their ratings by providing everything above.

EDIT 9/7/16: Ugh this series has taken a turn for the worst. A few months have passed and the story is still stuck in the quagmire of background events/politics and the main characters are of doing random activities irrelevant to the major fubar situation between the JSDF and the Empire.

Got into this via reading about Outbreak Company. This is basically the older, more mature and grittier version of the former. The story is interesting, the portrayal of a competent modern military force in a fantasy setting is refreshing instead of the usual "Oh noes magic makes our bullets useless!". The main characters have equal amounts funny, interesting and awesome. I really hope an English translation of the light novel goes well under way and the scanlation of this gem of a manga to continue at a steady pace. That is if this manga is popular enough in Japan to continue on for as long as the LNs goes (I'm praying.)

Highly recommend you give this a try.

Anybody familiar with the Stargate movie and television series would be fair in making comparisons between this manga and that license. The concept behind both of them is so similar you can't help but wonder if the author was influenced by the Stargate series when he began writing this manga. That of course does not mean this is a bad series, far from it, it is very interesting with great art and playing upon the age-old concept of what would happen if the people, culture, and technology of the past collided with the present/future with a magic twist akin to those seen in fantasy RPGs like World of Warcraft. It's certainly more original to see something like this in a manga series than most of the other shounen stuff flooding the market these days. Highly recommended!

This manga is Seriously UNDERRATED! I didn't even know this manga existed until tumbling upon it by accident and oh boy what a Gem it turned out to be...

The story concept is nothing new or special. Somehow a gate to another world appears in Japan and a small group of JSDF soldiers are sent their to explore the country/continent and learn as much as possible while establishing connections within that world. The execution on the other hand is really good: Likeable characters (especially the squad leader), good humor, nice art and action make this series extraordinary.

The characters are the selling point of the series no doubt about it. The personalities and how they play off each other is always fun to read. LT Itami really makes the series though with his Otaku nature clashing with the more Serious military affairs is really Fun to read

MUST READ!!!

A gothic lolita, JRPG elves, catgirls and a main character that's both an anime and army otaku, though most of the cast seems to cream themselves over this or that piece of military hardware. It's otaku-pandering garbage, which is a shame because the concept is good. But if you're a gun nut or in the military and you really like the military, then some of the scenes in it will appeal to you - Ride of The Valkyries taken straight from Apocalypse Now, comes to mind.

New comment after reading the most recent chapters

I still very much like this manga I find still enjoyable and entertaining however I have decided to rerate this base one my new rating system.

out of 10 I give it an 8

2/3 for art. The art is alright, its nice and detailed to a degree and I like some of character designs. The artist puts more bg art in his panels than most mangas do however, the art isn't anything super amazing and they don't have much of style.

2/3 for story. I really like the story, I found it to be a unique and original when compared to all the other isekai mangas out there. The do well explaining the world and the different situation and events and it isn't to difficult to follow the story. However, despite it not being difficult to follow, there are parts in the manga where I'm left confused about certain events. The overall flow isn't too bad but I do find that it get messy here and there. It also get a little confusing when they transition from one scene to another but not all the time. I enjoy the overall story a lot but there are scenes when I find it a bit confusing and/or boring.

2/3 for characters. There are a lot of characters in gate, I like some while others are pretty generic. My favorite character is Rory, if anything I feel she alone makes this this manga better than it is. I like how most characters have a pretty distinct personality but I'd prefer it if it didn't follow the common anime troupes we see today. However, I do like most characters in the manga there isn't a character I particular dislike. Even the prince although he plays a generic villain there is a little more dept to his character. Overall the character design has enough dept and personality for them to be interesting but there isn't anyone with the exception of Rory who stands out.

I give an extra point for my overall enjoyment and to the fact that I've reread this manga more than once.

I give another extra point because of it's originality for it's plot. Modern military forces vs fantasy world.

It loses a point because there are a lot of aspect that can be improved, as well as how some aspects of the manga feel a little unrealistic and even childish.

The last point is reserved for those mangas I consider to be a masterpiece. I do not consider this manga a masterpiece however, I consider it to be one of the better mangas out there as well as a good and enjoyable read.

I must admit that the author is a genius "bartender" who can mix different flavor into one beautiful taste... Mixed genre usually creates an interesting story setting but weak story development, but not this one... I dunno, but i usually found many interesting manga based on novel adaptation. Is it just me or the light novel in Japan is really that good?

Absolutely amazing. This manga is a wonderful piece of work that sparks your imagination and envelops you in spellbound lust.

And the thing is it achieves all this by taking the same very likable tropes and vaguely familiar cookie-cutter fantasy characters that you'd see in the likes of Gunslinger Girl or Spice and Wolf. But here, the author is truly Japanese in his style by having the attention to detail to pepper in the EXACT right amounts of attention to detail for its many characters and topics. It's just the right combination of technically competent artwork, the cuteness of the girls, just the right touch of moe factor without being distracting, putting an effort towards language and cultural logistics, and of course the remarkably accurate military strategy, tactics, and the specialization of reconnaissance for such a fantastic situation.

The military and political scaffolding in the back story is riveting and reminds me of The Hunt for Red October. Who knows who is supporting who and where do we start with all the disinfo? I can only hope the author can subdue himself enough to truly draw out a cold-war scenario instead of HURR DURR AMERICA VS BEAR VS TIGER with Japan being the conniving middleman. The reviewer down below asking why the world's super powers wouldn't just demolish Japan and pave the way clearly has a limited understanding of successful global warfare, even if you are capable of being the uncontested aggressor. That's why I appreciate this story's willingness to go into proxy warfare, tradecraft, and also tap into the very uncomfortable topic of Japan's incredibly underrated and overlooked competence in military force (you don't think one of the richest, most diligent nations in the world sat around with its thumb up its ass with N. Korea, PRC, and USSR so close, do you?).

Beyond all the geekery, my personal nerdgasms and biases though, there is one compelling reason to check this out:

It has heart. It's made with love. It's been crafted by folks who give a shit, and it shows in the magic of exposition and storytelling that transcends any single medium, let alone manga. Let's hope it keeps its going.

I greatly await how this series will go and can only hope that it continues at the caliber we've been seeing as of the time of this review.

This series is very interesting!

It is well thought out with great characters and plot twists and really keeps you wondering what the fate of the "other world" will be when so many world super powers are pressing for control.

If the series can maintain its current caliber of storytellng for a reasonable number of chapters (at least 100-150), I would have no problem placing it alongside Gantz, Claymore, and Berserk as one of my all time favorites.

PS: After you finish reading this, I highly recommend reading "Drifters" next. It is another time warp fantasy fusion type story that I found to be equally as awesome as Gate.

Not your typical cross-world manga. It doesn't dwell on magical explanations that would make reading too boorish. It also sticks to a what-if situations when the modern and medieval age meet. Art is also great for a war and political manga, and the dialogue is also ók.