Open the Gate!

Gatekeepers Vol. 1: Open the Gate!

Pioneer
Lenght: 80 minutes (according to the box; it�s about 65 in reality)
Contains: 3 episodes
Score: 3.5 out of 5
Reviewed by: Assasin Zero

Warnings: Nothing serious. A little violence here and there and some adult situations.
Nothing worse than your average Tenchi Muyo episode.

What�s it all about?: Well, lets see. The year it�s 1969. The setting, of course, is Japan. In
an era of �hippies�, anti-war talk, and black and white televisions; no one would suspect
that evil alien Invaders have blended with the population of Japan, in their attempt
to....mmm, it hasn�t been explained yet, see future volumes to find out. Anyway, the thing
is this Invaders walk around disguised as normal people (only with really bad attitudes);
waiting for something. Enter A.E.G.I.S. (Alien Exterminating Global Intercept System).
Defenders of the Earth; these guys are our only hope against the evil Invaders. Lead by a
mysterious commander, only they posses the power to defeat the enemy. The power of the
Gatekeepers! Young people with the ability to open gates and gather energy from other
dimensions; the fate of mankind rests in their hands. In this first volume, we�ll meet Ruriko
Ikusawa and Shun Ukiya. Together; they will take on the task of defending Japan against
the evil Invaders and adding new members to their team. That, and dealing with the
feelings they have for each other. Open gate!!!!

What did I thought about it?: Ok, first things first. This anime series was done by the guys
at Gonzo. The makers of Blue Submarine 6 and Vandread; that should be reason enough
for you to buy this, but I guess you want more. Now, you would think that with such an
introduction, this series kicks mayor ass. Well, it does; but it�s not without it�s flaws.
Some thanks to Gonzo, others thanks to Pioneer; we�ll discuss them in detail later in the
review.

Now, why don�t we start by introducing the characters. In this volume, we�ll meet three
Gatekeepers. The first is Ruriko Ikusawa. The only member of A.E.G.I.S. when the series
starts, you wouldn�t guess that cute lil Rurippe commands the �Gate of Life�. Yep; this
chick can not only kick some mayor ass with her bow and arrows, but also heal wounds
and restore energy at the expense of her own (shadows of Dragon Ball Z here). Shortly
after her first battle, she�ll be joined by her childhood friend, Shun Ukiya. An ordinary
school boy with a carefree attitude; you can say he�s our main character. His father died
years ago in a car accident (there are hints that he may not be dead or that his work is
what made A.E.G.I.S. possible; but guess we�ll have to wait to find out), leaving him
alone with his mother and sister. Working as a paper boy to pay for his education; he
walks home one day when he meets the Invaders. Attempting to destroy an A.E.G.I.S. bus
containing sensitive material; the Invaders inadvertely destroy the train station that Shun
and his family used to visit when he was little. The fact that they are still moving toward
his house triggers his anger and in typical anime fashion, unleashes his Gate powers (oh
yeah, he powers up!!!; this series keeps on reminding me of DBZ). Of course, the Invaders
notice his energy and attack, making him run for his life; but after Ruriko gives him some
energy, he�s ready to kick some ass. Of course, he defeats the aliens and after a series of
events involving the Invaders and his family, decides to join Ruriko as a Gatekeeper
controlling the �Gate of the Wind�. Neat, huh. Anyway, our third main character gets
introduced in episode 3 (duh!). A gifted pianist dubbed the �bewitching melody�, you
would never guess ditzy blonde Reiko Asagiri (talk about stereotypes), is also a
Gatekeeper. Living her life in her cute little bubble; there is more to this girl than meets the
eye. Her parents seemed to be either dead or divorced, and she lives alone with what
looks like an aunt. Her piano is the only thing her parents left her and it�s, of course, her
most treasured possession. You should have guessed by now that she doesn�t know about
her gate ability and an event involving her piano and a giant boom box (no kidding)
triggers her awesome power. Cool, now we got three Gatekeepers, but of course, we still
need secondary characters. Enter our mysterious commander, leader of A.E.G.I.S.; his
faithful assistant who�s probably in love with him; the sad, typically Japanese mother; the
cute, perky little sister; the uptight, overprotective aunt; and the mechanical genius aptly
dubbed �Specs� (in the original Japanese version; he/she/it says his name is Megane; since
it sounds like a girl�s name, I still have not been able to ID his gender, but guess he�s a
guy....with a sissy name and glasses to match Oo). Stereotyped. You betcha. And this is exactly one of those flaws that I was mentioning earlier. We�ve seen all of this characters already. Ruriko and Shun can be Akane and Ranma or Usagi and Mamoru. From the start, you know they will end together, but that doesn�t keep them from going at each other�s throats, although these two do it in a rather �friendly rivals� kind of way. Then we have Reiko. I�m surprised she isn�t the main character. In her, you can see everything. From Sae (Magic User�s Club), to Usagi (Sailor Moon), to Miaka (Fushigi Yugi), all the way to our very own Akari Kanzaki (Battle Athletes). I could go on and on about this, but guess I�ll stop here. Gatekeepers is an original show full of original ideas (the Invaders are dressed like cowboys!); but the feeling that I�ve seen all of these before takes some of the enjoyment away.

Now, what about the animation. This is from Gonzo, so you can guess it�s kick ass.
Everything in this series looks great, and little details, like the reflection of Shun�s dad in
the rim of his car�s tires or the way Ruriko�s arrows travel toward their target, only serve
to enhance a series that is already way above average in the graphics department.
Sometimes, the CG backgrounds doesn�t blend well with the cel characters and you will
notice a lot of still shots and cel recycling here and there (don�t worry, this isn�t Eva); but
when you see Ruriko fighting the 2nd Invader with her arrows or the level of detail in
Shun�s dad old garage right down to the dust in the air, you will forget about all that crap
and just start to enjoy the show. This series is all about eye candy and believe me; it more
than delivers in that department.

Now, you mentioned some flaws thanks to Pioneer? May I ask what you�ve been
smoking? Now, some of you must be thinking, how can I find flaws in what most people
believe it�s the perfect anime company. Well, I found one; it�s important, but it�s not
entirely their fault. You see; this DVD contains 3 episodes and according to them, about 80
minutes of animation (I counted 65). That may seem like much, but when you consider
the fact that this is a 26 episode series and that this volume ends with Shun not being able
to concentrate enough to use his gate powers; it kind of leaves you really disappointed.
The story doesn�t end on a cliffhanger (it kind of goes from non-episodic to episodic in
this disk); but still, I would have wished for one more episode to wrap everything up
nicely and lower the disk count which will probably be approaching the 8-9 disks. The fact
that there is no episode preview also hurts, because you have nothing to look forward; but
guess that�s Gonzo�s fault. Although this flaws won�t keep you from enjoying this first
volume of Gatekeepers; they certainly hurt this awesome series in the long run. A pity.

Now, an aspect of this series that I feel is also worth mentioning is the music. First of all,
the opening and closing animations are incredible and kick mayor ass in both the graphic
and sound department. The opening is really stylish, with big, bold white letters for the
credits and incredible animation that showcases the members of A.E.G.I.S. (you can see
the whole cast here; even characters that haven�t been introduced yet), their awesome
vehicles, and of course, the bad guys, wrapped in flames to make them look more evil (it�ll
take a couple of volumes for us to meet them; so far, only their foot soldiers, the dreaded
Invaders, are being casted as the bad guys, but you know someone must be controlling
and sending this guys. That�s them. Don�t let their weird names scare ya when they are
formally introduced; I�ve heard they kick butt and are extremely evil.). The opening is
accompanied by the melodies of �For the smile of tomorrow�, an upbeat theme sung by
Yumi Matsuzawa. The closing is equally kick ass, although not for the same reasons. Shot
using washed out colors (think Boogiepop Phantom); we have a lonely Ruriko watching a
beautiful sunset. Everybody is involved in their own activities and she�s up there;
memories of her childhood with Shun passing by. Suddenly, the Gatekeepers appear
behind her and she smiles as she sees Shun holding her bookbag. Running toward them,
everybody walks away while Shun stays behind and hands her the bookbag, holding out
his hand to her; a hand that she grabs as the animation ends. It�s short, it�s cute, it�s sweet,
and may I be damned if it ain�t romantic. Accompanied by the melodies of �From today to
tomorrow�; a bittersweet ballad also sung by Yumi Matsuzawa, it�s got to be one of my
favorite anime endings of all time, right there with Battle Athletes Victory (the song is so
cute, �honey bee!�) and Revolutionary Girl Utena (the animation may not be all that, but
the song kicks ass).

All in all, Gatekeepers is an impressive series. Backed by the power of Gonzo; it certainly
got enough eye candy to attract countless otakus on animation alone. The story, although
cliched and falling on the �find new member and kick the �Invader of the Week�s ass"
formula, certainly has potential and I�m looking forward to meeting the rest of the
Gatekeepers and see the forces behind the alien Invaders. Of course, I also want to see
how the Shun/Ruriko love-hate relationship is played out (they look so cute together!).
Anyway, guess the question in your mind is; do I recommend this series? The answer is
simple. Damn right I do! It may have it�s flaws, but after five minutes of Gatekeepers kick
ass animation and likable characters, I can assure you that you will want more. With 3
volumes already out and more to come; this is one of the better series coming out this
year. What are you waiting for? Go get it now and open the gate for yourself. Highly
recommended.