Greetings and Happy New Year Ladies and Gents! It is I, The Shaman of Animation back once again! I hope the holidays have treated you all well; they certainly did for me as I took a bit of a break during (a tad longer than I intended it to be), but I'm back on the saddle and what better way to kick off the new Year than to talk about one of the new anime that's come out this Season! Here are my quick thoughts on Episode One of Divine Gate!!
So after finishing One Punch Man (Which I'll eventually do a post on) I went to Anichart and took a look at some of the series that were coming in the Winter season; and one of the few that caught my eye was Divine Gate. The series is an adaptation of a Japanese Smartphone game and it comes from Studio Pierrot, who nowadays are best known for producing both Naruto and Bleach, but their track record is VERY vast, and I could make an entire post covering it.
The premise of Divine Gate is that the living world (Terrastia), the heavens (Celestia) and the underworld (Hellistia), thanks to the effects of the series namesake opening, are now merged, this new combination of worlds granting people magical elements. Because of this Pandemonium, a council was made to create peace and balance in this new world and the Divine Gate becomes something of a fairy tale among people; that fairy tale involves people with abilities (the people are known as Adapters) being called to the Gate and getting their wishes granted.
Now this series has a rather interesting premise in my opinion. It's not the freshest out there (Stories of regular people coexisting with that of the Supernatural world or at least elements relating to the supernatural world) but it's still one that can spark interest and provide an entertaining story. Does it deliver? Well...let's take a look at some of the main players in the show.
First we have, what I'm assuming is, our lead character Aoto or as I've taken to calling him: 'Edgy McEdgerson'. Why have I taken to calling him that? Well, it might have to do with the fact that he's every angsty teen you've seen in a show. Tragic Childhood? Check. Parents neglected him in favor for his brother? Check. Dead Parents? Check. Loner who doesn't want to be a part of the team? Check. Is actually a tortured soul inside? Check. Has a Katana as a weapon because Katanas are cool? Check. Seriously, his character theme song should be Crawling by Linkin Park. If you couldn't tell from all my joking, Aoto didn't really leave a good first impression with me. The character is just "Ugh, I don't care about anything" and "Look at how Anguished I really am" and that kind of character in the right hands can be interesting, but if I were to judge from this first episode, this doesn't seem to be the case here. Sure, there's a phantom of a little boy that follows him around, but that's not enough to spark an interest in him; and I wouldn't rag on him so hard if it weren't for the fact that most of the first episode focuses on him, his backstory, and the other characters reacting to his actions. Not to mention the first episode treats him as someone special whose power attracts others and it makes people want him on their side, and I just roll my eyes at that kind of stuff.
Speaking of Aoto's actions, after taking out a demon who was attacking a train, he meets two other more people: Akane and Insert name here. I call her that because her name isn't actually revealed this episode. Akane is a red head with attitude and with the power of fire (Because the ability to wield fire comes with being a red head in an anime). Insert name here is a cheery and hopeful girl who's actually seen the Divine Gate once before and has a dream of seeing it again and getting her wish granted. Both of these kids are a part of The World Council Academy where other Adapters go and I'm guessing master their abilities and they're taught by those from Celestia (This part is more assumption on my part). Apart from seeing their teacher, they don't do much outside of interacting with Aoto.
The World Council have a discussion of the situation that took place at the train and just what to do about the criminal that attacked it. Of course you have two members arguing a little over what the criminal's deal was and what not. Soon enough, the boss/leader of the council Arthur (In the picture above) leaves the punishment of the criminal to his assistant or the informant of the council, I don't know who she is and him requesting to meet Aoto in person. Now because this is the first episode, you don't really see the council do much outside of their meeting in the scene they're, as a matter of fact, I don't think every member talks. But as a whole they're...a council. Sorry, it's not much, I know, but I don't have much to say about them.
Now Arthur talks with Aoto and offers him a Driver, a little ball that can turn into a weapon that an Adapter can use in battle I assume, and not only that, he offers Aoto a chance in the Academy. Aoto declines and walks out of the Arthur's office and the Boss soon afterwards sees the Divine Gate opening in front of him and he reaches out to it, ending the episode.
The first episode of Divine Gate was not a great start for this series. As I said at the start of this review, the premise isn't a fresh one, but its execution certainly doesn't do it any favors as you already know where the series is going, at least in the next episode or two: The World Council and the two kids are going to continue to convince Aoto to join the Academy, Aoto is still reluctant but eventually joins them, He and Akane are most likely going to butt heads but will come to have a mutual respect for one another, the kids are gonna fight some more demons, and there's a good chance that Aoto is going to meet his brother again and he might know more about the Divine Gate than he. The three kids that are introduced you've seen before in other kinds of series and done more entertainingly.
Now of course, this is only the first episode. The series in the next few episodes could do a complete one-eighty and render everything I wrote in the previous paragraph moot; and if it does, great! I'm an optimist and I hope new shows are good and succeed...most of the time. Unfortunately, from the way it seems to be heading, Divine Gate doesn't look like it'll improve any.
That's all I have to say in regards of this series folks! If there are any series this season you'd like me to take a look at, feel free to let me know either in the comments or on the social media sites posted in the box titled "Follow The Shaman".
Til Next Time Folks, I'm The Shaman of Animation. Take Care...
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