GATE: Jieitai Kanochi nite, Kaku Tatakaeri

[David75]

Just remember how it is difficult sometimes to go over the hurdles of cultural differences IRL to have two people celebrate a wedding and live it well after that.

Now you have to think that:
Cultures really are different to the point that the concept of marriage doesn't apply at all
Breeding probably is impossible, so no children
Way of thinking, lifespan (longer or shorter) and all kind of subtle differences are in the way.

But like many of you, I think that with the proper atmosphere, if both parties get fun and no harm: Why not ?

[MFauli]

If this is typical fantasy-trope, then there should be no problem in terms of procreation between animal girls and real world men ;>

[Kraco]

Episode 14 - HS




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You know a country has been democratic long enough when a soldier can beat a prince to a bloody pulp without batting an eyelash. They really lost it when they realised there are Japanese prisoners on that side of the gate. Perhaps if the prisoners had been treated well it wouldn't have led to this, considering the Japanese themselves are holding plenty of prisoners used as negotiation pieces.

I personally think one of the best parts of this episode was Pina's distress. She's at loss now, after she saw that in the end her understanding of the Japanese was quite limited and while things had been going more or less her way of late, this was a forceful reminder of the fact that the Japanese are the overpowering enemy and the peace isn't yet there. Perhaps she also understood that even if the peace was there, it would still be fragile as their concepts of peace could be different. An efficient lesson nonetheless.

The emperor really is a cold dude. He didn't give a shit when his son was used as a punching bag. No wonder everything started as it did.

[Ryllharu]

It's say it is pretty safe to say that although the bunny girl is abused...innocent she is not. She either played the idiot prince as well as he believes his father intends to do with him, or she's one hell of an unwilling strategist.

She obviously caught on to the idea that the Japanese are all about protecting innocents, ending Itami's assault on the prince. An obvious slave speaking on his behalf will move them pretty easily. And this was before the Emperor warned them of that very flaw. Then while the prince is convalescing, she's giving him advice on how to take advantage of the situation, telling him exactly how to play it so he can follow in Pina's footsteps as a "peacemaker".

Followed by a little willing lovemaking (this time, or both times?) to distract him. She's clever, that's for sure.

That said, Itami is too. Kuribayashi is a berserker, out of control, and lacking discipline, but having the shortest, and even further, female, member of your team take out all of the soldiers and then personally beat the shit out of a well-known warrior is quite clever. Nothing better demonstrates how outclassed they are than have Kuribayashi take a excellent fighter out while unarmed (at best she was using sap gloves).

[MFauli]

I hated this episode for the most part. Excuse me, but at this point Japan/the SDF aren´t here for peace talks, they´re imperialists, taking over control of a country they don´t like. It´s tyranny.

Hitting the PRINCE in the face? Actually MURDERING all those soldiers? And the king doesn´t give a shit? This was sooo bad. The SDF didnt even warn them, they just went full-on berserk. And then Kuribayashi didnt try to make some non-lethal shots, no, she went on a fucking killing-spree!

This is unacceptable. Itami can be a niceguy all he wants, the truth is that Japan has set out to conquer this land, and they don´t care for opposition.

It´s so stupid. Seriously, you don´t attack another party just like that! If Itami was in charge of US-military, I guess the US would now be at war with Iran, because Itami would have killed the Iranian soldiers that got ahold of those sailors. He´d also start a war when some idiot tourist buys drugs in Malaysia and is then sentenced to death. Who gives a shit about other nation´s laws? Right?!

Sorry, but disrepecting this fantasy world´s laws makes it all way less interesting to watch. Yeah, slavery sucks, but it is normal in that world. And we´re not ones to act all high and mighty, we´ve gone through that shit ourselves. When the prince owns and rapes Noriko, he´s not hurting any of his world´s laws, this is what´s within his powers. Instead of going berserk, the SDF should have complained to the king and then, if necessary, demanded a court session. If that failed, they could have used violence, but then without acting as if they´re negotiaters of peace - they´re conquerers.

[Kraco]

Uhhuh. The empire's soldiers attacked first. You just didn't notice it. The prince gave the order. The emperor, being the cold dude he is, didn't bother to overrule it because a few soldiers can always be replaced. He probably also wanted to see the power of Japanese for himself. I guess you would have been happier if the main character had died here because he wouldn't have had the guts to protect himself and his troops. Great thinking, man.

The Japanese aren't here negotiating a peace between two equals. They are there to dictate terms and then play some negotiation theatre to make the terms more acceptable. They said that aloud in the previous episode. The other choice would be to slaughter the empire's population, but that wouldn't sit too well with the Japanese voters. So, they would rather have peace. The empire attacked first, Japan won, so the justice is doubly on the Japanese side (since the winner of a war is always right by international standards that most countries in Europe and elsewhere know all too well from history). Things got even worse for the empire when the existence of the Japanese slaves was revealed. The empire suddenly had all the more to pay for.

Kind of strange a German wouldn't get this considering how the USA and USSR split your country after the WW2 and did what the hell they wanted with their shares, especially the Soviets.

[MFauli]

Kind of strange a German wouldn't get this considering how the USA and USSR split your country after the WW2 and did what the hell they wanted with their shares, especially the Soviets.

Totally not comparable at all. Nazi Germany was an evil shit hole, they lost and got what´s coming.

This isn´t the case in this anime. Never has it been stated so far that Japan is there to CHANGE this fantasy world. And that´s what doesnt sit right with me. Itami and his ever friendly face act as if they´re peaceful visitors, explorers et al. But they´re not. Towards the existing world, they´re an evil enemy that abuses his oberwhelming power to oppress all the kingdoms in this world. And that´s not okay.
The only reason why this can work even remotly, is because these fantasy people are soooo weak in combat. If they stood on a more equal footing, what Itami just did would be cause for retaliation and thus war.

Tbh I´m now hoping that the fantasy people will get their hands on a good weapon of their own soon, so we get to see how the SDF deals with the sudden realiazation that they can´t behave like an axe in a forest. It´s not like the SDF is allll powerful. Rory could probably slaughter the whole SDF by herself. And the anime has been completely ignoring magic, other than that of the blue haired girl´s. There could easily be magic spells many times worse than the strongest nuke. I´m hoping we´ll see something like that. It´s simply too one-sided at the moment.

Also, I´m firmly on the side of the prince. He´s not a rotten evil bastard at all. He´s a prince who thinks of himself as a prince, and enjoys the privileges. Maybe he overdid it a bit at times, but that scene where he calmly explain to his brother that even though he isn´t as fit for the throne, he´d become the next king ... that felt like somebody with a certain wit and intelligence to him. I hope they don´t further degrade him to some laughable punching sack, and instead give him more depth. Maybe he could steal weapons from the SDF? Would be interesting.


@edit: also what shinta just said. Killing all those soldiers was petty, unnecessary revenge. "How DARE they kidnapp and, likely, rape a Japanese girl? Death!!!" bollocks

[shinta|hikari]

It's because he wants Itami and the rest to be the good guys, when they clearly aren't.

That military bitch is a psycho. She could have spared most of those enemy soldiers and not brutalize the prince to keep the moral high ground. She basically ignored morality and just went bat shit out of anger. Itami's punch made more sense because it stopped further abuse of a Japanese citizen, but the violence after that was an overreaction and barbaric. The initial melee combat scene didn't make sense. Shoot a guard or two to show them they are outmatched and ask them to surrender.

[shinta|hikari]

Rory is just one unit and can get hurt by bullets. She just regenerates. Use a big enough gun and she'll be minced meat. Then you pack that meat into a metal box and throw it into the ocean. The end.

Magic in their world has been shown as weak and inferior to modern technology. The wizard girl and her master are there to show that. This can change, but so far this is what has been explained explicitly and implied by the people's reactions.

[MFauli]

Maybe so, but if that´s true (even magic being weak), it stands to question: What´s this anime about anyway? Japan entering a theme park? Because at that point the whole fantasy world would be relegated to just that.

[shinta|hikari]

Japan invading another world through a GATE?

[Buffalobiian]

It's say it is pretty safe to say that although the bunny girl is abused...

She's not abused. The prince stopped their S&M play immediately on the safe-word. He even said "if you want to serve me", suggesting she took on that role voluntarily. Of course, it's still the case that she took on that role "voluntarily" instead of being a nobody-slave.

As far as the message-of-the-show goes, I agree for the most part with MFauli regarding colonisation practices - not that I mind their big "Don't fuck with us" message. Their interests are that of Japan's, not humans in general necessarily. That's more of an Itami thing.

[shinta|hikari]

Huh? Weren't her family/friends held hostage? Or when you say abuse, do you limit it to physical abuse (like the S&M thing on the bed)? Even then, we don't know if the prince beats on her when he's in a bad mood. He was pretty rough with the beat-up Noriko, and the bunny did say that Noriko should be happy with that treatment. That at least hints that she has received similar treatment before.

[Buffalobiian]

Weren't her family/friends held hostage?

Hmm, true. I forgot that part. "Your comrades' lives depend upon your efforts." That could mean they'd live if she performed, or that they'd live better lives if she performed. Either way she's forced into this more or less.

In my previous post I limited abuse to physical abuse. That is correct.

[David75]

A machine gun is used for killing.
Not "safely" incapacitating people like the tools used in a strike for example.
Itami knew what he was doing when he sent the psycho.
You can tell your people all the sweet lies you want provided you save your ass/ political image.
Going to war to protect peace is an oxymore that has been overused for a long time, because it works so well it would be a shame not to use it again.

[Kraco]

I'm pretty sure Itami knew what he was doing when he gave the order with the psycho woman in tow. He needed to create an example, as bloody as it was, since the prince and especially the emperor don't care about lives. It was too bad for the soldiers, but they knew what sort of people they were serving. A few lives lost here will save countless later. It's not like they would be wantonly killing people, either, considering they made sure the senate building was empty when they bombed it. Like I said before, they weren't there to make friends, even if it seemed like that for a while.

The empire opened the gate and immediately proceeded to attack, slaughter, and kidnap civilians in Japan. Whatever happened later is a direct consequence of that. If they hadn't wanted to risk anything, they wouldn't have attacked in the first place. There's practically no way a country starving for natural resources like Japan wouldn't want to keep the gate open. The other world seems to have plenty of space free of civilization, so the Japanese don't particularly need to conquer the existing countries. They just need to make sure there's peace, even one born out of fear.

[Ryllharu]

Mess with a bear while it's minding its own business, don't be surprised if you get mauled a little bit before it gets bored and moves on.

Grab a bear's cub? Well, you only get to try that once.

That's what happened here.

[MFauli]

Mess with a bear while it's minding its own business, don't be surprised if you get mauled a little bit before it gets bored and moves on.

Grab a bear's cub? Well, you only get to try that once.

That's what happened here.

So we can stop pretending that this anime is even trying to depict semi-realistic international relations? Because that´s not how you do it.

If Russia had an American in prison, the US wouldn´t start an attack against Russia. Because that would mean war. They´d start negotiations, make an official complaint and proceed.

Again, all of this only slightly so works because of the enormous power imbalance.

Fuck the SDF, I hope some World Class Magic evens out the battlefield soon.

[shinta|hikari]

You guys are talking like killing people one-sidedly is fine as long as they "started" it. The power imbalance is severe and obvious. Itami or psycho girl didn't need to kill almost everyone there or torture (because that's what that was, and I'm pretty sure this is not allowed even in RL, openly at least) the prince to make that point. I'm not saying it's completely ridiculous because it does leave a lasting impression. But it is definitely not the humane thing to do.

Japan has been doing this all along, but it was kinda disappointing to see Itami being no different.

[Kraco]

It's an unfortunate cultural difference. These folks understand nothing but power and violence along with it. Or at least those ruling the place. I'm sure lots of the common folks would do just fine without a constant threat of some lord beating or killing them arbitrarily.