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.

... Last updated on July 25th, 2013, 5:42pm

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.

... Last updated on June 26th, 2013, 12:31pm

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.

... Last updated on June 6th, 2013, 11:59pm

This is really addictive manga. Love the mixture of Fantasy + Human realm jemmed into create a wonderful story coupled with Great and appealing Characters (selling point of the series)

i am really enjoying the conversation between the group, their exploration and adventure of the great universe the author has created

great read overall!!!

There's nothing unique in the world anymore, particularly in manga where everything's been done a million times over, but Gate is probably as unique a tale as you can get in manga nowadays.

RPG'ish, quasi-realistic, a military that actually behaves like a modern military (for manga anyways), and a fairly well thought out fantasy world.

Quite enjoyable, probably not suited for shoujo fans and younger teen boys due to the pace and concept.

It's amazing I had never seen this series before, it seems to be lacking in ways to find out it exists for now, normally people find out about series through tags, updates per release, and various other things, but this manga has only had 3-4 updates here since it started scanlation and I've never once seen it on the front page of the updates pages.

The tags, genres, and related manga also don't seem to bring it up in many searches, or it gets buried under related similar series about parallel universes or the same old stories.

However, having seen countless series become big over the years, I felt right away, this series has the potential to become main stream, if more releases are made, and it's spread around more on readers it will definitely catch on big time.

It has everything a series needs to draw one in from the start and keep them wanting more, even after reading it once, it's still fun to re-read countless times, there are many ways it can go from here, but it would be very difficult for the series to go downhill, at the very least there are countless aspects that provide entertainment so even if it fails in one direction it will still certainly still please in the other ways.

I suggest starting it now, for anyone into fantasy, RPGs, other worlds, medieval vs modern war strategy/technology, time skips, comedy/romance feel as well as knowing when to be serious, it even has a hero/demon lord feel to it, even though it hasn't come up yet as that specifically, in any case it is a very fun read up to current, and will most likely continue to be good for a good while, if it becomes more known it will definitely become popular in the near future.

Do you really think that The other superpowers would let any country to gain superiority of any kind, especially if it is about strategic resources. US(especially), Russia, China, Germany, France would rather crumble Japan to dust than to let that happen, so I think that in this aspect of the story is lacking. I don't want to see the manga turning int a boring political commentary but it will be rather interesting to see the interaction between JSDF and other armies from our world and the other world beyond the gate.
Plus the the story so far is starting to turn towards harem which (if happens) would ruin the manga for me.

You know how you've always had WHAT IF if fantasies about going back to the Roman world with a company of modern troops? although not technically time travel (a portal opens to another realm with Roman and middle ages cultures), this is close enough.

The premise is that the other realm sends a invasion force of legions to one of Japan's cities, slaughters many civilians, and gets annihilated by the eventual police and JSDF. Japan sends in an modern exploratory force to negotiate with the new world's leaders. Oh, that realm also has some elves, dragons, and low powered magic. Luckily, the story stays mostly realistic and we don't have 1-man-nukes slaughtering armies (I'm looking at you generic and soulless fighting shonens). There is also a notable absence of spineless brats screaming I NEED TO BE STRONGER, useless female characters, and high schools.

The main character is the CO of one of the teams sent out to gather intel and win hearts and minds. Really fun adventure so far.

... Last updated on September 8th, 2012, 8:19pm

Only read the first volume so far, but good stuff! The story keeps things simple at first, mysterious gate opens up in Japan with a medieval army invading. But this isn't your typical shounen action story with superpowered fighters. No, once the police and JSDF (Japanese Self Defense Force) get their act together, the medieval army is ANNIHILATED.

But this isn't your typical, "the whole world gets along" story either. A subplot of American-Chinese-Japanese-International political maneuvering quickly brews over the control and exploitation of the world beyond the gate. And if thats not enough, theres political maneuvering on the other side of the gate as well.