Gate – 14-15
Some much needed development for Tuka.
Things are moving faster than I expected.
Subversion
Don’t mess with Shino.
Gate got around to some things that I thought we wouldn’t see until later on in the season. First, we have the confrontation between Itami’s team and the emperor. It doesn’t end too well for the imperials thanks to Zolzal butting in and revealing that the empire had taken some Japanese citizens as prisoners and slaves. Cue a one-sided slaughtering of imperial guards and a brutal pummeling from the spunky Shino on the unsuspecting prince. Rather over-the-top developments, but par for the course when it comes to the show. We also learn that Tyuule, the warrior bunny chief, might be manipulating Zolzal. Quite a potential role reversal from the introduction of these two characters. I’m honestly not sure how much sway Tyuule has over Zolzal. The crown prince is obviously not the brightest bulb in the bunch, but he’s not a complete idiot. So it’s a bit of a toss-up as to whether he’s just a tool (for Tyuule and his father) or if he’s letting himself be used for now while hiding his own agenda. In any case, it seems that Tyuule wants to prevent peace between the empire and Japan as much as the emperor himself. The emperor’s motivation is probably pride; he stubbornly refuses to bow his head and admit defeat even in the face of a superior enemy. Tyuule, on the other hand, is more bent on revenge.
Tyuule plots her revenge.
Since we can surmise that she’s led a rather terrible life owing to her position as slave/play-thing for Zolzal and we know that the empire is either holding her people hostage or has already done atrocious things to them, it is obvious that she wants to lead the empire to its demise at the hands of the Japanese. Now, the question is how she will accomplish this. Supposedly she has some sway over Zolzal. I can see this, as she’s by his side quite often and he probably lets his guard down around her. But then Tyuule says that she will somehow get Piña to kill Noriko, a kidnapped Japanese citizen whom Itami’s team rescues. And I don’t see how she could accomplish such a feat. Maybe she only plans to have her agent(s) kill Noriko and then pin the blame on the princess? But I feel like those who are in contact with Pina trust her enough at this point to find such a thing incredulous. Whatever Tyuule’s plot may be, we do know that the vengeful warrior bunny has a spy in Alnus. So it’s possible she has more resources and tricks up her sleeve than we might initially expect. Speaking of which, I am pretty sure said spy is Delilah, the bar wench who also happens to be a warrior bunny. But I digress.
Facing the Dragon
A beautifully sad shot.
Moving along, the other big thing is that Itami sets out to confront the flame dragon. This decision is spurred on by Yao, who pushes poor Tuka over the edge by forcing her to acknowledge that her father is dead. This causes Tuka to break down and see Itami as her father. The hero plays along at first as he remembers the pain of his own family troubles, but eventually he realizes that he’s doing her no favors by keeping up with the charade. So now he’s off to face the dragon, accompanied only by the girls from the special region. Yes, that’s right. He doesn’t even have his team with him this time. This is explained as him “going rogue” (albeit with Yanagida covering for him as usual). So it does make sense that he wouldn’t have the usual backup with him, even if that development felt a bit hamfisted. But more so than that, there’s the political issue of bringing Japanese forces into imperial territory and Itami’s unwillingness to put his team at risk since a larger force would be required to defeat the dragon. So in the end, the most logical outcome really is for Itami to rely on his special region friends. Besides, I don’t think he needs much more than Rory. For all intents and purposes, she is a total plot convenience when something needs to die. It’s just that the show would be awfully boring if that’s what it always comes to. So I’m sure there will be some reason cooked up for Rory to not just turn the dragon into sashimi instantly.
Itami tries to help.
Any way, I’m really glad that Yao decided to make Tuka’s father an issue in desperation. I’ve never had a particularly high opinion of Tuka’s character. Yes, her story is rather tragic. But other characters have suffered just as much as she has, and they’ve pulled through and remained strong. Tuka, on the other hand, has to delude herself and avoid facing the truth. So hopefully once she faces the dragon with Itami, she can finally come to terms with her father’s death and the destruction of her village. It won’t be pretty by any means, and I’m not expecting a miraculous instant recovery. But I just want to see her character start to move on rather than stay frozen in place. Because as it is, the whole denial thing is not only boring, but also getting old. It’s high time we see Tuka do more awesome things rather than mope around in her shirt and jeans while searching fruitlessly for someone she will never find. For all we know, she could be a complete badass with the bow and arrow. Or she could show off more of her spirit magic that we only caught a very brief glimpse of during the battle for Italica. Plus, I’m sure we’re in for some hilarious hijinks between the two elves once Tuka has her wits about her.
Extras
I guess it’s off to the races next week as Itami and the girls take on the flame dragon. Given all the promo art and the opening animation, it seems almost too obvious that it’ll end with Itami firing off another rocket at the dragon. But I’m sure what happens before that will be intense and action-packed. I’m guessing that Rory will take the back seat this time (I’ve already discussed how convenient she is) as Lelei and Tuka provide the bulk of Itami’s backup with magic. Not too sure on what Yao can do, since her sword is unlikely to be useful against what’s been described as a flying tank. But at the very least she can provide the group with strategic intel on the lay of the land. No matter what happens though, it’ll be sure to keep us on the edge of our seats.
Bad Rory! Arms are not food!
About Sumairii
POWUH: 400-499 with 462 comments
Just as a note, this is an ancient flame dragon they’re hunting. Such creatures are recognized as natural disasters, and instruments of divine punishment. They are accepted as the single most dangerous creatures in that world. Rory can certainly smack the snot out of it, but even she will have trouble piercing its hide, and being eaten or incinerated by it would cause her to have a bad bad day.
She’s a good shot, certainly.
Heh. Heheh. Heheheheh. Just you wait. If they do this right it’s gonna be awesome. Awesome for everybody, really, the whole crew gets to be kickass, but Tuka is worthy of note because, as you’ve said, she hasn’t had a chance to shine until now.
POWUH: 800-899 and Mad Scientist with 814 comments
Great! I’m looking forward to this even more now. =)
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Glad I decided to wait until at least 3 episodes were out before jumping back into Gate. The tension’s much higher than memory serves. A good thing to cheer for.
No matter how it’s looked at, negotiations between two completely different cultures is always a powder keg on a short fuse ready to spark off. Only this spoiled, idiot prince Zozal is sure to make things worse unknowingly being Tyuule’s puppet. Plus, I was naïve thinking she’d fall being a captive. Anything/Anyone with a title that has “Warrior” in it should be assumed not to break so easily. You know what they say: “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned”
What Yao did to Tuka to get her way was beyond bitchy. I’m still fuming at the means but at the same time it’s hard to ignore that she, herself, was being pushed to the end of her rope. Therefore, she can’t be scolded as much as she rightly should for causing the unnecessary chaos. A genuine sense of conflict from the characters based on motive that’s undeniably impressive.
So now we’re forcing blood contracts on unsuspecting people to have them all to ourselves? Underhanded but Rory has just gotten even better!!
Next episode looks like it’ll get down to business on the focus of the arc right away. So I’m wondering if it’ll be a multi-episode commitment or will it be dealt with in a small span of time.
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1692 comments
Tuka’s insanity has gone on too long. It got rather tiring and has prevented her from becoming a full character. The anime is following the manga in this regard, but I wondered why the JSDF didn’t call in a psychiatrist expert in dealing with trauma to help her. After all, she’d be a valuable source of information regarding elves. You’d think Japan would want as much information as they could get about the various intelligent species inhabiting the Special Region.
If it follows the manga, the actual battle with the flame dragon will require more than one episode. I’m pretty sure they’ll devote at least two episodes to the battle so the first episode can end on a cliff-hanger. But even three episodes would not be too many, especially if they cutaway to the other things going on at the same time. In the manga it was a long, hard fought, brutal battle.
The following is a minor spoiler, so you might not want to read further. Before the battle takes place Itami does get an addition to his force. Who the addition is makes sense. So don’t expect the battle to start next episode since he has to get the additional forces.
POWUH: 400-499 with 462 comments
“If you can’t see something through to the end, it’s better not to do anything.”
The question of treating Tuka was raised before, by Kurokawa, and Itami countered it by asking if Kurokawa was prepared to take complete responsibility for Tuka. What if she started therapy with her, and then the JSDF received orders to withdraw back to Japan before she was finished? Depending on what point they reached, that could leave Tuka in a worse state than she’d been on her own. The JSDF has not attempted to address Tuka’s problem, because for this reason, and others, they are not certain they have either the time or the ability to do so.
POWUH: 400-499 with 462 comments
That’s two comments stolen by spammy… shall I keep a tally?
POWUH: 400-499 with 462 comments
PS: in case that isn’t clear, that’s two of MY comments, at least one of which I’d like someone to retrieve.
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1692 comments
Either Spammy or an ancient flame dragon ate my comment.
POWUH: Beginner (20-35) with 23 comments
I really want to like this show but damn it makes it hard to. The constant slack jawed medieval hillbilly wonderment at all things Japanese and the chest thumping JSDF is hard enough. I mean the Japanese seem to have no interest in anything other than mineral rights or the like. These guys have magic and dragons and shit. They opened a portal across dimensions. Wouldn’t you like to know how that all worked?
Now with Itami pretending to be Tuka’s dad (What? That was what your heart told you to do?) I feel as if this show is slipping out of control. I’m hopeful it rights itself but I’m not super optimistic.
POWUH: 800-899 and Mad Scientist with 814 comments
You do bring up a good point about the magic. I don’t recall ever seeing the Japanese investigate the workings of magic. Which is rather strange, since the show makes a point to show Lelei incorporating scientific knowledge from our world into her magic. Since we’re supposedly going to see Tuka display the effectiveness of her spirit magic against the fire dragon, perhaps the JSDF might become more interested in learning about the workings of magic in the aftermath of the battle?
As for Itami deciding to play Tuka’s father, I suspect that some of the source material was cut or condensed in that regard. So all we see is a very brief flashback to his childhood instead of getting a longer story on how his own past experiences might lead him to essentially contradict his own words to Kurokawa. That said, no matter what happened in the source material, I do agree that the way it played out in the anime was a bit lacking.
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
It took me a while but this show is an allegory, albeit a little subtle.
Japan
Vs
China.
If you read between the lines, it’s basically a modern Japan against a feudal China as per the 1930s/40s and the justification of the establishment of the Greater Asia Co-prosperity Sphere!