Warning: The following contains spoilers for The New Gate episode 1!!
The majority of comments on Crunchyroll for the first episode of a brand-new seasonal isekai called The New Gate understandably say that it’s a ripoff of Sword Art Online, but it’s actually more inspired by another lesser known isekai called In the Land of Leadale. On the surface, the setup for The New Gate definitely revolves around the premise of Sword Art Online, since players can’t log out of a VMMORPG where they can also die for real. It also doesn’t help that the protagonist’s outfit is more than a little reminiscent of what Kirito wears in Sword Art Online.
However, that part of The New Gate is just the backstory, and the meat of what’s left is much more like In The Land of Leadale. In fact, The New Gate‘s main plot essentially begins right where the first part of SAO ended when Kirito was still trapped in Aincrad after everyone else logged off. It could even be said that it starts in The New Gate’s version of SAO‘s ALfheim Online, since the new world Shin finds himself in feels more realistic.
However, the fact that Shin still can’t log out of the game isn’t just proprietary to Sword Art Online; that’s actually how In The Land of Leadale opens. Moreover, who Shin is trapped with is also another major part of the latter isekai franchise.
The New Gate Takes Place In The VMMORPG’s Future With NPCs Just Like In The Land of Leadale
Based on the light novel series by Shinogi Kazanami; produced by Cloud Hearts and Yokohama Animation Laboratory
Essentially, In The Land of Leadale revolves around a woman from the real world whose mind gets trapped in her game that she plays constantly as a character named Keino while on life support at a hospital. However, she gets transported far into the future of that world, and the only people left are the non-playable characters after everyone else from the real world logged off for good. More importantly, the opening episodes revolve around Keino not only learning how much the world has changed, but how much more overpowered she is as a result of being from an earlier time, and that the children she created as NPCs are still there and have all become successful.
Like Keino, Shin has been transported into the future of his own game world and there doesn’t appear to be any real-world players anywhere. More importantly, he is not only learning how much everything has changed in the game since the time skip, but that he’s more of a rarity because of the time period his character comes from and that one of his own support characters named Schnee is still there and has quite a bit of influence in this new world. Additionally, much like Keino’s digital children, Shin doesn’t meet Schnee immediately and still hasn’t by the end of episode 1, a state that will likely persist for at least a few episodes, like In The Land of Leadale, to build the suspense and mystery of how much Schnee has changed.
Since the part of Sword Art Online that The New Gate borrows from is mostly relegated to the backstory, it’s more accurate to say that it’s more influenced by In The Land of Leadale. However, what The New Gate does have more in common with Sword Art Online is that Shin will likely end up teaming with a cast of female supporting characters. This is where In The Land of Leadale will never be like either series, since Keino is a female and obviously not attracted to bodacious females, while Shin definitely is a guy who has such proclivities.
The New Gate is simulcasting on Crunchyroll
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