Gatekeepers 21 DVD

Thirty-one years have passed since the Gate Keepers of A.E.G.I.S. fought back the Invaders in 1969. Japan's postwar miracle is long over. The economy has stalled, social bonds have frayed, crime has risen, and the optimism that once fueled an entire generation has quietly drained away. A.E.G.I.S. itself is nearly gone — dismantled, forgotten, reduced to a handful of operatives working underground with almost no support. The Invaders are back, but the world that might resist them is far less certain of itself than it once was. Ayane Isuzu is the front-line agent carrying the fight almost entirely alone: a young woman who despises the society she's protecting, continues fighting out of spite for her absent father, and does her job with a cold efficiency that leaves no room for teammates or trust. When the Machine General and the Devil Count — enemies defeated three decades ago — return stronger than before, and a mysterious Ghost Girl begins shadowing Ayane with intentions that blur the line between enemy and something more unsettling, Ayane finds herself drawing in reluctant allies: the childlike Gate Keeper Miu Manazuru, and the ruthless sword-wielder Satoka Tachikawa. What unites them is not loyalty. It is necessity, and the slowly dawning realization that the Invaders this time may not be entirely separate from the humanity that created the conditions for their return.

Gate Keepers 21 is a six-episode OVA sequel to the Gate Keepers television series, produced by Gonzo and set three decades after the events of the TV series. Where the original series was a bright, comedic, ensemble-driven homage to 1960s sentai adventure, Gate Keepers 21 is its tonal opposite: dark, solitary, cyberpunk-inflected, and deeply preoccupied with social alienation and generational collapse. The series was released episodically in Japan between April 2002 and January 2003 and brought to North America on DVD by Geneon Entertainment between April and June 2003. It later aired on TechTV's Anime Unleashed block in July 2003. Both the TV series and the GK21 OVA went out of print in 2007 when Geneon USA dissolved.

Notable Staff & Voice Talent

Director: Koichi Chigira (Gate Keepers TV, Full Metal Panic! The Second Raid, Last Exile)
Original Franchise: Hiroshi Yamaguchi / Keiji Gotoh
Studio: Gonzo

Cast:
• Houko Kuwashima as Ayane Isuzu (Ceres Celestial Legend, SoulTaker)
• Nana Mizuki as Miu Manazuru (Battle Athletes Victory, Vandread)
• Lia Sargent as Satoka Tachikawa / Yukino Houjo (English dub)
• Ron Allen as Reiji Kageyama (English dub)
• Kaneto Shiozawa as original cast (archival footage, TV series)
• Dan Lorge as Inspector Daisuke Hashimoto (English dub)

DVD Features

• Geneon Entertainment Previews

Spoken Languages: English & Japanese Audio, English Subtitles

Edition Details

Japanese Title: ゲートキーパーズ21 (Gēto Kīpāzu Nijūichi)
Runtime: ~150 Minutes (Complete OVA Series, 6 Episodes)
Director: Koichi Chigira
DVD Release Year: 2003 (U.S. Release, Geneon Entertainment)
Original Release Date (Japan): April 24, 2002 – January 8, 2003
Publisher: Geneon Entertainment (Pioneer)
Rating: 13+
Region: Region 1 (U.S. / Canada)
Genre: Sci-Fi, Dark Action, Cyberpunk
Themes: Social Alienation, Sequel 30 Years Later, Invader Revival, Lone Female Agent, Generational Collapse

Media assumed VG+ unless otherwise noted.