Gate 7 oneshot
Within the space of about 48 hours of the chapter being leaked, there are already scans, translations, and actual scanalations of this chapter! Wow! And not just that, but there is already a Gate 7 fan community! With over 50 members! Including me ^^
The main character of this series is a high school student called Chikahito. The chapter starts with him sightseeing in Kyoto, which is a part of Japan that he loves, and where he wishes to go to university, though his mother is reluctant to let him go. He decides to go and pray at a temple, but while he is walking through the temple grounds, his surroundings suddenly vanish, and he finds himself facing three mysterious robed figures standing in a tree; a rather hench guy with spikey hair, a more bi-shonen-ish guy with black hair, and a young girl with long black hair. Suddenly these spirit type things appear (e.g. think of the thing that attacked Watanuki in that recent XXXHolic chapter), and the girl jumps down from the tree, and destroys them with a rather impressive sword that she summons by magic. Chikahito then faints, after understandably wondering what the hell is going on.
When Chikahito comes round, he finds himself in a futon in a traditional Japanese room, with the girl from before resting her head on his chest (yeah, the first couple of frames do look a little dodgy at first glance). Chikahito freaks out a little, and the other two guy from before come in, though all three of them are dressed in modern clothing. The hench guy, who is called Tachibana, tells the girl, Hana, not to surprise people like that, and asks Chikahito to join them for udon. The bi-shonen-ish guy, who is named Sakura (0.0), then reels off lots of in depth information a Chikahito, such as his full name, living arrangements, job and personal life. Very taken aback, Chikahito asks how he knows all this. Sakura says they looked through the contents of his shoulder bag and did some research about him. Chikahito get's pretty upset about having his privacy invaded. Chikahito asks where he is, and Tachibana says they are in Kamishichiken, in a hanamachi, but it doesn't matter as he will soon have his memories erased. Tachibana then restrains him while Sakura does some sort of spell, though afterwards they claim it was a prank. Chikamoto then demands answers about what happened earlier, and Tachibana and Sakura are shocked that he still remembers (apparently the memory removal 'prank' wasn't a prank afterall). The girl, Hana, suddenly pulls Chikahito outside, and tells him (pointing to the building they have just left) 'This is the place where Hana lives ... Name is Hana' (she speaks strangely, in first person). Then, for no apparent reason, she kisses him. Chikahito is left speechless, and Tachibana and Sakura then rush out calling for Hana. Hana tells them she is here, waiting. Chikahito then says in a monologue that he only fully understood the reason for Hana's actions 3 months later. He then says that some time after this, for some reason, he was assigned to a high school on Kyoto, and was sucked in to the lives of Hana, Tachibana and Sakura.
Impressions
I've got to say that I really like this! My eager expectations haven't been disapointed! The art is beautiful, the story is intriuging, and I already love the characters.
I was surprised about Chikahito being the main character, rather than Hana. It seems a lot of the focus will be on Hana still, though it will be through Chikahito's perspective. I already really like Chikahito. He's quite cute, especially with his glasses off ^^ He's quite spazzy and emotional; he really reminds of Watanuki. He also crys a lot - I've lost count of the number of times he was drawn teary eyed in this chapter. But it ends up being more cute and endearing than annoying and crybaby-ish. And an interesting thing that was noted in this chapter was that he goes to the same high school as Watanuki and the others! I wonder if he knows Watanuki (XD)? Or maybe if it's in the more recent storyline, Kohane. I wonder if any of the XXXHolic characters will make an appearance in this series (I doubt it though)?
I'm also already liking Hana, though I was slightly disappointed that she was not as mysterious and refined as I first thought before. They seem to have taken a slightly cute angle with her; she acts rather catlike (which explains her eyes), and doesn't really talk too much. She's very likable though, and has a definite aura of mystery. She looked pretty cool during that spirit destroying scene at the start ^^
As for the other two characters, Tachibana and Sakura, I was a little disapointed at first as they were not as hot as I had hoped XD. However, they are quite likable characters, who have the potential to be pretty interesting. Sakura looks a bit like Kamui from X. I wonder why he is called Sakura? It is a interesting choice of name, considering the other Sakura's from past works.
So overall, this chapter has simply stirred even more interest and intrigue for this series for me. The series starts being properly serialized in febuary, and I think the wait will actually kill me. I can't wait to find out more about these characters and what happens to them! I will definitely be following the future instalments of this manga, and am waiting with much anticipation for the proper serialization of this series to begin!!