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Gate Thus The JSDF Fought There Episode 3 Review – Quick Summary
In Gate Thus the JSDF Fought There episode 3, “Fire Dragon,” Youji Itami hauled the unconscious elf out of the well. She had been the only survivor or the Fire Dragon’s attack on her village, and she remained unconscious. When Itami and his team returned to Coda Village, they found that the Village Chief could not accept responsibility for the elf. The main reason was he knew dragon lore: Once a Fire Dragon got a taste for human of elf flesh, it began hunting far and wide. They had to evacuate the village immediately. With Takeo Kurata accidentally reminding Itami that the local lords were dead because they’d dared to storm Alnus Hill — and the JSDF dug in there — Itami took on the responsibility of leading the village to safety. But where was safe from a Fire Dragon? And would the dragon just let them travel unmolested?
Note: This post may include spoilers, so be cautious.
Favorite Quote from Gate Thus The JSDF Fought There Episode 3
Lelei overlooked her Master’s more obnoxious traits and still helped him. At the same time, it’s clear who had more raw power. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.
This episode marks the introduction of two of my favorites characters, with Lelei la Lalena being the first. Coda Village had just learned the Fire Dragon had awakened and had destroyed the village of elves in the forest. The village chief knew what that meant: The Fire Dragon had acquired a taste for elves and humans, and it was only a matter of time before it visited their town and treated it as a buffet.
Lelei lived with her mage master, Kato El Altestan. He was serious about evacuating all of his books in spite of the fact there were too many to fit into their wagon. We learned two things about Kato : First, he thought Lelei’s sister was seriously HAWT (to borrow The Overage Otaku’s term). Second, we learned that Lelei was too young to attract his attention. So, points for appropriately directed lust.
Lelei, of course, had a slightly different perspective, or maybe she just didn’t like to reminded how HAWT her sister was. She pelted her master with minor magical attacks until he shut up.
Despite that, she helped him load the wagon. The poor mule couldn’t budge it. So Lelei used magic to levitate the overburdened carriage. Seeing the lengths Lelei went to help him, Kato apologized.
“It’s fine,” she said in a long-suffering voice (06:44). “I know what kind of man you are, Master.”
I got the distinct impression that Lelei might well be the real master in this relationship!
Best in Show Moment for Gate Thus The JSDF Fought There Episode 3
Itami didn’t know what was going on, but that little kid might just have saved his life — and the lives of his entire team! Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.
Setup: Rory Mercury Really Enjoys Her Job
And who’s the second of my favorite characters we meet in this episode?
I’ve said before that I like strong female characters. In fiction, I don’t want to read about a damsel who needs to be saved. I want to read about a damsel who fights beside her rescuer — or maybe is the rescuer herself! Put another way, I hate cliches, and I like to see tropes inverted or otherwise tweaked. So, I really, really like Rory Mercury as a character.
But there’s a problem. Itami sums it up when he first sees Rory in his binoculars and exclaims (13:40), “It’s a goth loli!” I am not a lolicon. I have no interest in lolis. Yet, Rory remains one of my favorite characters. Her figure even has a place of honor in my collection. How do I reconcile these positions?
In my view of the world, Rory Mercury is not a loli. There’s nothing little about her, except maybe her petite frame. But in every other regard, she is every bit the 975 year old demi-god she later claims to be. She dominates every relationship she’s in. Just look at what she does to the bandits when we first meet her (09:50). She doesn’t giggle so much as laugh luxuriantly while she slaughters them. She put those bandits down like it was nothing. There was nothing cute or prepubescent about her. She was the Apostle of the Dark God Emroy, and she was there to accept their “willing” sacrifice of their lives.
When we first meet Rory, she made one thing very clear: She is not cute. She is death. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.
What about Kanna, you might ask? As a dragon, isn’t she powerful? She sure is — but when she’s not in dragon or dragon combat mode, she’s a cute little kid.
There nothing “cute” and there’s nothing “kid” about Rory Mercury. So, I put her outside of definition of loli. I’m not saying you have to buy into that, but I am saying I see her as anything but a loli.
Delivery: Itami Was “This Close” To Dying
Rory’s rapture as she put the bandits down is one of the things that made my favorite moment in this episode so memorable. If Rory decided that Itami and the rest of his team deserved death, she’d laughingly put them into the grave. It’d take an aerial recon to find them again!
As Itami’s team tried to lead the Coda villagers to safety, they came across Rory hanging out in the middle of the road. In the same jovial attitude she’d greeted the bandits, she approached the convoy. Kurata was all excited to see what he and Itami thought was a goth loli. Itami and Mari Kurokawa, meanwhile, tried to figure out what was going on. The village kids in the truck behind them bounded out and ran happily towards Rory. Several of the villagers knelt in front of her. Itami wondered if her unusual outfit (unusual by his standards, anyway) was some sort of ceremonial outfit.
Neither Kurokawa nor Itami knew what to make of Rory or the reception she received from the villagers. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.
Rory greeted the children graciously and asked where they were from. The adults said they were fleeing the Fire Dragon. That’s when Rory caught Itami’s eye. Curious, she approached, and this is where it got cool. Until this moment, I think Itami had no idea how much danger he was in. But then Rory, approaching Itami’s vehicle, asked who these people were. I think she expected them to be an occupying force. But the kid responded (14:32), “They saved us! they’re good people!”
Rory was shocked, then recovered and asked (14:36), “So you aren’t being forced out of your village?”
Rory’s whole attitude towards Itami’s team changed. She got less overtly “happy” and more curious. I think Itami finds out more about Rory’s moods later at Italica, but I seriously enjoyed her introduction here.
What did you think of the first battle against the Fire Dragon? What was your Best in Show moment? Let me know in the comments!
Gate Thus The JSDF Fought There Episode 3: Other Posts
Other Anime Sites
- Reddit: [Spoilers] Gate: Jieitai Kanochi nite, Kaku Tatakaeri – Episode 3 [Discussion]
- RABUJOI: GATE – 03
- Chibi Reviews: Gate Jieitai Kanochi nite Kaku Tatakaeri Episode 3 Anime Review
This Site (Crow’s World of Anime!)
- Gate Thus the JSDF Fought There Episode 1: The Self-Defense Force Goes to Another World
- Gate Thus the JSDF Fought There Episode 2: The Two Armies
- Gate Thus the JSDF Fought There Episode 3: Fire Dragon
- Gate Thus the JSDF Fought There Episode 4: To Unknown Lands
- Gate Thus the JSDF Fought There Episode 5: The Battle of Italica
- Gate Thus the JSDF Fought There Episode 6: Ride of the Valkyries
- Gate Thus the JSDF Fought There Episode 7: The Princess’ Decision
- Gate Thus the JSDF Fought There Episode 8: Japan, Beyond the Gate
- Gate Thus the JSDF Fought There Episode 9: The Hakone Mountain Night Battle
- Gate Thus the JSDF Fought There Episode 10: Despair and Hope
- Gate Thus the JSDF Fought There Episode 11: Visitor
- Gate Thus the JSDF Fought There Episode 12: What Would Itami Do?
My Best In Show moment? “Fighting giant monsters is a JSDF tradition!” First time I saw that, I had to pause the video because I was laughing so hard.
It doesn’t get old, either! I still laugh at that line. It fits so well with the action, too!
Thank you for casting Rory in a new light for me! I’ve watched this show several times, but never thought to question how she’s been categorized.
I think Fred nailed it — Rory turned the tope on its head. She’s a category all by herself!
I agree that Rory is a great character. She looks like a goth loli all right but turns the trope on its head. Give Megumin from Konsuba a variety of skills and a few hundred years to mature and you might have Rory.
Don’t forget to add divinity! Rory’s got that going for her! But Megumin could pick a worse role model…
“Hawt” means “transcendentally hot,” of course, e.g Faye Valentine level hotness 🙂 Thanks for the shoutout!
That’s a high standard!
It’s meant to be. There are hot characters all over anime. We need to be able to distinguish those that are genuinely sexy from those that are just drawn that way 🙂