Fans in Crunchyroll’s now-defunct comment section for The New Gate have been referring to the isekai series as Sword Art Online‘s successor. The season finale dropped a lot of information that actually confirms what these commenters have been saying all along. The problem is that Crunchyroll has yet to announce a second season, so no one will be able to actually see The New Gate live up to its fan-given name any time soon, if ever.
What most viewers of The New Gate attributed to Sword Art Online was just a backstory that they only learned through quick exposition. The New Gate‘s version of Kirito, named Shin, and other players from the real world were trapped inside a MMORPG where they could die, until Shin defeated the final boss. However, while everyone else was freed, Shin remained trapped in a different, and now “real”, version of the virtual world.
The events of the series itself were nothing like Sword Art Online, since there was never an instance where only Kirito was trapped in Aincrad after he freed everyone. However, in The New Gate episode 12, Shin learns that there were other players who were still trapped in the game like him, including player killers. Moreover, it was soon discovered that Shin has an equivalent of Asuna.
The New Gate Kept Its Sword Art Online Reference Hidden Until the End
Based on the Light Novel Series by Shinogi Kazanami; Anime Produced by Cloud Hearts and Yokohama Animation Laboratory
The New Gate flips how Kirito and Asuna are later separated from each other in SAO. After Aingard, Asuna is soon forcibly transferred into another MMORPG called ALfheim, and Kirito is forced to jump there to save her. In The New Gate, Shin’s partner, Marino is greatly implied to be in the real world while he’s stuck in the game. Regardless, it’s just a shame that fans may never get to see this part of the story animated.
Before episode 12, The New Gate was more accurately inspired by In the Land of Leadale, as both series’ protagonists are transported into the future of their respective games and meet the characters they created after all that time had passed. Regardless of the inspiration, that type of dynamic is arguably very intriguing, and, understandably, the best moments in The New Gate follow that story. Unfortunately, after episode 8, the next four installments, including the season finale, completely ignored that aspect of the plot.
In all, The New Gate‘s best qualities are inspired by both SAO and In the Land Leadale, but, unfortunately, the former is not shown until the very end, while the latter has been dispersed sporadically and far apart. This also includes the brief arc in The New Gate episode 3. While fans are undoubtedly interested to see Shin’s relationships with his other supporting characters, they are understandably more excited about the deeper correlations to Sword Art Online, and hopefully, for them, they’ll get it at some point. If not, they can always read the original light novel and later manga adaptation of The New Gate by Shinogi Kazanami.
