is a tactical role-playing game developed by Entertainment Software Publishing and published by Kadokawa Shoten for the PlayStation. The game was then adapted into a manga series written by Hiroshi Yamaguchi and drawn by Keiji Gotoh and an anime series produced by Gonzo, and first aired on April 3, 2000. A six episode original video animation (OVA) sequel, Gate Keepers 21, was released in 2002. The main characters in the OVA sequel were the next generation of Gate Keepers.
All Gate Keepers series follow the same basic premise and share most of their characters, with some major discrepancies (mainly involving the character Reiji Kageyama). A character from the game, Francine Allumage is completely absent from the anime. Another character from the game Misao Sakamori, was replaced in the anime with the new original character Megumi Kurogane (though Misao does make a guest appearance towards the end of the anime).
Plot The story is set in 1969, a period of time in which Japan is experiencing intense economic and social development after the end of World War II in 1945. Unbeknownst to humans, alien/interdimensional beings have emerged with plans to take over the world by sending numerous agents to wreak havoc in cities, turning people into robotic minions. They are referred to as .
In an attempt to confront the Invaders and defend the planet, an elite but highly secret organization of peace-keepers called the Alien Exterminating Global Intercept System (more commonly known as A.E.G.I.S.), was set up with special funding from the government. They rely on the ability of "Gate Keepers", who have the power to open dimensional "gates" of a paranormal energy that give them their superpowers. These superpowers are the only weapons that have any effect on Invaders.
Although A.E.G.I.S. has branches around the world, the series focuses on the Far East division in Japan. The headquarters of the Far East branch of A.E.G.I.S. lies beneath Tategami High School, a facade created by the organization to mask the active recruitment of new Gate Keepers. Since many of the candidates were High School students, the location allowed the agents to be enrolled in school and be available for a mission at a moment's notice.
Characters A.E.G.I.S. members Names with asterisks indicates an anime-only character.
Shun Ukiya, the focus of the series, is a young Japanese schoolboy (who permanently wears a bandage over his nose, the only exception being his appearance in the final chapter of Gatekeepers 21) with a deep passion for kendo. Shun discovers that he has the ability to open the Gate of Gales in a chance encounter with an Invader attack near his hometown, where he meets fellow Gate Keeper and childhood friend, Ruriko Ikusawa. He is subsequently invited to join A.E.G.I.S. after discovering the existence of Invaders and of A.E.G.I.S. Skills he developed after discovering his Gate includes 'Ultra Senpuu Kiri (Ultra Whirlwind Slash)' and 'Shinkuu Missile (Vacuum Missile)'. Its later revealed near the end of the tv series that he has secretly held romantic feelings for Ruriko since childhood. They become a couple at the end of the TV Series. His Gate is considered to be among the most powerful Gates to have been discovered. It's later revealed that he inherited the Gate of Wind from his father. His Gate color is blue.
Ruriko is one of the first Gate Keepers recruited in Japan by A.E.G.I.S. and controls the Gate of Life. Ruriko is the unhappy bearer of the nickname 'Rurippe' (pronounced "RU-RI-PE"), which Shun relates it to her childhood appearance as the one who always has a runny nose. Viewed as a model student and an active participant in school activities, Ruriko only snaps when Shun uses her nickname in public. Her original ability involves a healing light and she utilizes it for combat through the materialization of a bow and arrow. She is taken by Reiji Kageyama and is convinced to hate others, thus changing her Gate into the Minus Gate of Genocide (a gate, according to Misao Sakimori, that should never be opened because of the devastation it brings). When she discovers that her secret love for Shun is reciprocated, her hatred fades and restores her Gate of Life. She and Shun become a couple at the end of the TV Series. Her Gate color is yellow.
Despite the fact that Reiko is an extremely forgetful and absent-minded girl (perhaps a result of the shock from the divorce of her parents), she is an extremely talented pianist who discovered her Gate of Illusion when Invaders attacked her during her very first public recital at a theater. Her ability to create illusions while playing music does not go unnoticed by Invaders, who suffer intense agony when they hear her melodies. She is the only Gate Keeper other than Shun Ukiya who has operated the prototype Unit 00 Gate Robo, and the only one to pilot a jet aircraft. But, individually, she utilizes any keyboard musical instrument as a weapon (like a melodica). In the final episodes, after seeing one of her comrades getting hit, she snapped, unleashing the full force of her Gate's powers. Her Gate color is pink.
A tomboyish athlete, Kaoru was tormented by her previous stint in the track team. She awoke her own Gate of Close Combat, which increases her natural physical abilities to insane proportions, to create such a logic defying world record for sprinting that it was revoked. She jumped at the chance to join A.E.G.I.S. so that she could use her abilities without restraint, and to 'steal Shun from Ruriko'. She wears her PE uniform; a white shirt with her class tag and blue burūmā, when fighting Invaders. Her skills include 'Kaoru Punch' and 'Kaoru Kick', among other self-named close combat fighting styles, and her incredible lifting and stopping abilities (like her Hustle move, where she lifts heavy objects and turns them into projectiles) Her Gate color is blue, like Shun's.
A small German-Japanese girl from A.E.G.I.S. Germany who maintains the Gate of Perception. She operates Gate Robo Unit 03. In the game she plays a bigger role and is one of the first characters to join the player. In the game Misao controls the Gate of Walls. Her role was replaced by Megumi in the anime who is an anime only character. In the anime, her Gate of Perception gives her powerful and accurate precognitive abilities. Her Gate color is green. *
This mumbling asocial girl has the ability to set up force fields around herself with her Gate of Walls (Gate of Steel in other translations). She resembles Misao Sakimori in some aspects but their personalities are totally different. Megumi has a secret loathing for Ruriko — she is bitterly jealous of Ruriko's wealth, intelligence and popularity (which contrasts with her own state of living, being a delivery girl for a noodle shop) and hates it when Ruriko outshines her without seeming to put forth any effort. She is a member of A.E.G.I.S. but does not appear to be particularly interested in socializing with her fellow Gate Keepers. She eventually joins Reiji and the Invaders when Reiji promises to 'recognize her true abilities.' She gains a Minus Gate, the Gate of Invasion (which allows her to invade into the minds of others), but Reiji betrays her when Ruriko becomes good again. Megumi replaces the role of Misao from the game though both characters share the same gate they both have very different personalities. Her Gate color is green.
Wielder of the Gate of Fire, Fei hails from the Chinese (Shanghai) branch of A.E.G.I.S., and joined the Japanese branch to help out with the high concentration of Invader activity. Her companion, a golden monkey called Shun (a licensed A.E.G.I.S. agent—but was once confused with Shun Ukiya), often helps her target Red Invaders. Her skills include 'Da Xiong Mao' (Exploding Panda Fireball) and a fiery dragon (Shocking Fire Dragon). According to a flashback, her brother and grandfather were taken away from their house in China by unidentified men (possibly a reference to the Cultural Revolution), never to be seen again. Her Gate color is red.
A fashion model from the United States of America who is affiliated with A.E.G.I.S. (in the game she actually joins the A.E.G.I.S. branch quite early on as she has been transferred there from the American branch). She controls the Gate of Lightning and is the operator of Gate Robo Unit 02. She plays a bigger role in the game and has a lot more character development since she is one of the main characters. Her Gate color is violet.
Francine only appears in the game and manga. She controls the Gate of Heat and Explosion (Fei actually uses this gate in the anime whereas in the game Fei's gate was the Gate of a Hundred Animals). Francine was originally assigned to the French branch since she is French. She is later assigned to the A.E.G.I.S. branch. Despite being French in origin, she is actually a western film lover and speaks fluent English. In her game image song she mentions two of the most famous western film stars (John Wayne and Clint Eastwood). Although she likes America she has never actually been there despite the fact that she usually cracks American jokes. She is a cheerful, fun-loving girl whose goal in life is to make 1000 friends.
She is the oldest Gate Keeper in Japan, having been born in 1169. However, she has stopped aging and appears in 1969 as a young girl in a white kimono (and again in Gate Keepers 21 without any trace of aging). Like her name Yukino suggests, she commands the Gate of Ice and Snow, being able to summon blizzards and hail. She is one of the most powerful Gate Keepers in the series, being referred to as a 'top-secret, High-Level Gate Keeper A.E.G.I.S. has been hiding' by Reiji Kageyama. One of her unique traits is the fact that she converses in Tanka poetry. She does help the A.E.G.I.S. members, despite being not an official member of A.E.G.I.S. She also has her pet ermine Hisame with her. She returns in Gate Keepers 21. In the game Yukino is actually a hidden character, but if she joins, she interacts more with the main characters and actually attends the same school as them (she joins the same class Fei is in) unlike the anime where she usually keeps her distance from the rest of the characters. Her Gate color is white. (a.k.a. Bancho or Big Boss)*
The over-enthusiastic Osakan gangster-turned-good, Bancho was recruited into the team only because Shun believed Bancho 'has the eyes of a Gate Keeper'. With the mindset of a samurai, Bancho likens the girls in the Gate Keepers team as princesses and himself as their hero. It is only much, much later in the series that he reveals his latent Gate Keeper ability, the Gate of Solid Crush, which seemingly attracts Kaoru (perhaps because of the similarity of their gates). His Gate color is orange. Voice actor Koyasu also appeared as himself in one of the later episodes.
The head of the mechanics department of AEGIS. Megane, as he is fondly called, is a genius kid who can easily repair machines. In both the game and anime he helps the Gate Keepers by bringing the Gate Engine or Gate Robo to them, even restoring an out-of-commission Gate Robo (after the battle at the Tokyo Tower). In the anime he is good friends with Bancho who often helps Megane with the mechanics. "Megane" is Japanese for spectacles or glasses and is a common nickname for kids who wear glasses in Japan; he is called Specs in the English version. Voice actor Kozakura also appeared as herself in one of the later episodes.