After the Divine Gate opened, our world and the worlds beyond became connected, bringing an era of chaos. To restore order, the World Council was formed and the Divine Gate fell into legend. Now, a select few have gathered to attempt to reach the Gate and remake the world. But what will they find when they open the door?
The story revolves around 3 main characters (at least at first): Akane, Aoto and Midori. They all live in a world where a supernatural gate appears and causes multiple worlds to become connected. Gods from other worlds begin to influence things happening on the human world. Each student has an ability and are known as adapters. Akane is a fire user, while Midori is an air user. They both are asked to recruit a new student with a mysterious past who is a water user, Aoto.
As the series continues we learn the dark and twisted past of Aoto and the others and why they were picked by Arthur for the quest to find the Divine Gate. The legend is that anyone who makes it to the Divine Gate can have their wish granted. However, everyone has their own plans for the gate and what wish they want granted. The series itself takes a long time to get going. For only 12 episodes, it took more than 7 episodes before it became compelling enough to want to finish.
There was a lot of threads they created and wanted to address to world build. The issue is, with only 12 episodes, they attempted too much. While we eventually do learn enough about our main characters back story, its almost the last episode before that happens. There are even moments where you question who our main characters really are. The use of mythological figures like Loki, Arthur and the knights of the round, and the wizard OZ, it felt like the show wasn’t sure which mythology it wanted to take advantage of.
Once the series does finally get moving towards the Divine Gate, things do get fun and interesting. The series has the potential to be something more. The ending suggests there is more story to be told and sets up the possibility for more. The series itself is based on a mobile phone game. The source material was limited to begin with. If they do not continue it, I feel like I got a ‘life lesson’ anime instead of a serious fantasy anime.
The one character who said the least, Aoto, had the most interesting story to tell. He has a twin brother, though he is older by a few seconds. Their eventual meet up which was teased the entire season, was way too short and accomplished very little. However the final scene suggests there is a lot more to that story to tell.
If I had to give it a rating I would put it at stream it. If a season 2 ever does happen I may upgrade that because there is more they could do with it. However, with the ending they have, it felt a little rushed as the majority of the reveals happen in the last 10 minutes.
