10 years after the Gate anime series first debuted, a second season has been announced. The long-awaited second season, which is officially titled Gate 2: Tides of Conflict, will adapt the first two volumes of the Gate Season 2 sequel series, focusing on the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force. The second season will be animated by Studio M2, which also worked on PLUTO.
The announcement was accompanied by the launch of the anime's official website with Oshi, offering a description of the series along with character concept art. The site notes that the images are preliminary character concepts from the upcoming anime adaptation.
"Every story begins with its characters," the website says. "Here's your first glimpse at the evolving designs for the anime adaptation of GATE 2: Tides of Conflict. Become a contributor to unlock additional behind-the-scenes character concepts by renowned character designer Shigeru Fujita," the website reads.
The Gate anime series is based on the military fantasy light novel series written by Takumi Yanai, a former member of Japan's Self-Defense Forces. The story follows Youji Itami an otaku who becomes an accidental hero after a gate to another world suddenly appears in the middle of Tokyo's Ginza District. Promoted to second lieutenant of the Self-Defense Force, he's sent to lead to expedition through the gate and into the other world.
The series was animated by A-1 Pictures and published in North America by Sentai Filmworks, which describes the story:
A gate to another world appears in the middle of Tokyo’s Ginza District, and the citizens of Tokyo are attacked by cavalry, dragons, and demons. Itami, an otaku who was in the area to purchase his long-awaited doujinshi, becomes the accidental hero of the day and gets promoted to second lieutenant of the Self-Defense Force. Not long after, he’s sent on a mission through the gate into the other world with typical otaku-like expectations of what he’ll find there.
Series creator Takumi Yanai offered this message following the announcement of Gate 2.
As the sun rises in the east and sets in the sea of the west—crossing distant time, crossing gates, setting out into the world in leather boots—it brings me great honor to announce the anime adaptation of GATE 2: Tides of Conflict.
This story is built word by word with my own thoughts and emotions poured into each stroke of the pen. To all the creators who bring this world to life with sound and color, breathing life into it with brush and tool—my deepest gratitude goes out to you.
I hope this story becomes a wind that soars across Japan, the East and the West, and beyond to the rest of the world. And so, I humbly ask all of you to receive it into your hearts, across time and space—
Yoroshiku onegai itashimasu!!
The Gate novels have achieved widespread acclaim, surpassing 7.3 million copies in circulation as of June 2024. The series has been praised for its unique blend of military strategy and fantasy elements, although the depiction of international politics and nationalistic undertones have been somewhat polarizing.
More details for Gate 2 will be revealed at a later date. No release window was announced. For those interested, the original Gate anime can be streamed on Crunchyroll.