Gate Keepers 21
| Gate Keepers 21 | |
Gate Keepers 21 DVD Cover in North America
|
|
|
ゲートキーパーズ21 (Gettokipazzu21) |
|
|---|---|
| Genre | Drama, Science Fiction |
| Original video animation | |
| Directed by | Hiroshi Yamaguchi |
| Studio | Gonzo |
| Licensed by | |
| Released | April 24, 2002 – January 8, 2003 |
| Episodes | 6 |
Gate Keepers 21 (ゲートキーパーズ21 Gēto Kīpāzu Nijūichi?) is a six-part sequel OVA series to the Gate Keepers animated TV series and has a darker and more serious plot than its predecessor. Some of the questions left unanswered in the TV series are answered in this sequel. Linking the two series are the characters Reiji Kageyama, Yukino Houjo, and the former Far Eastern AEGIS Headquarters setting, Tategami High School.
Thirty one years have passed since the Far Eastern Branch of AEGIS and the Invaders waged war in Japan. Big businesses thrived until the eighties (when the Shōwa period ended with the death of Hirohito). The heyday of growth and prosperity have passed, the crime rate has increased, environmental problems have worsened, and the international situation has become increasingly unstable. The bright future that people hoped for is spiraling out of the reach of the common citizen. Coupled with the decline in the values and morals of the Japanese people comes the emergence of a new type of Invader. No longer an alien entity, the Invaders can now absorb ordinary humans into their ranks.
Officially disbanded and discredited, the few remaining remnants of AEGIS have formed a clandestine network of operatives to hunt down and destroy the Invaders. The premier agent of the AEGIS Network is the antisocial Ayane Isuzu who collects the crystal remains of Invader in exchange for money doled out by the mysterious Reiji Kageyama.
Gate Keepers 1985 (-C0193) tells the story of the 15 years leading up to Gate Keepers 21.
The OVA's were periodically release from April 24, 2002 to January 8, 2003. Geneon USA licensed the series and were released on DVD. North American cable network TechTV aired the series in July 2003. In 2007, Geneon USA was dissolved which left the series (and the main Gate Keepers TV series) out of print.
Reception to Gate Keepers 21 has been mixed. Mike Toole of Anime Jump praised the show, showing "Japan's current cultural zeitgeist, where otaku rarely leave their perches on message boards and mobile phone networks, and apathy and self-centeredness are slowly breeding a newer, scarier "me" generation. This raises the question: are the "invaders" an insidious hidden enemy, as some characters believe, or simply the manifestation of abhorrent human behavior?"
...
Wikipedia