GATE (2016)

[ゲート 自衛隊 彼の地にて、斯く戦えり]

Volume 9

Author: Takumi Yanai
Artist: Satoru Sao
Publisher: Alphapolis

Synopsis:
Leaving Yao behind, Itami goes forward on his own to save Rory from the Minotaur.

Story/Characters:
The fact that Yao was given to Itami as a slave was only glossed over in the anime, but here and in the previous volume it receives deeper treatment as Yao has to navigate through her relationship with Itami and her motivations for remaining with him. The Minotaur fight provides a good opportunity to sort through that. From there we move on to Rondel and explore the scholarly culture there and are introduced to Mimoza and Arpeggio. Arpeggio makes an interesting contrast with Lelei and Mimoza's backstory is quite intriguing. Honestly, I wouldn't mind a spinoff about her adventures back in the day. From there we move into the main thrust of the current arc where Lelei becomes the target of mysterious assassins with Grey and Shandy from the Rose Knights coming in for the assist.

Art:
As the cover should indicate, a lot of attention goes to the voluptuous Arpeggio for fanservice purposes whenever she's on panel. The Minotaur fight is quite well-done and throughout there are some really good reaction shots for Yao. The wizard's duel between Lelei and Arpeggio is also pretty good and Arpeggio's magic style is rather interesting.

Other:
We get more 4-koma. The one with Persia and Kurata is perhaps my favorite of the bunch.

Conclusion:
We get a good action sequence, a new setting, some intriguing insights, and the setup for the next stage of the story. I'd say this volume sufficiently delivers for anyone invested in the story and characters and that makes it worth getting in my book.

Rating:
Own It