History Fridge / Gate

* Zorzal's belief that he can fight Japan is considered by many a sign of his idiocy, but to be fair, the only weapons he actually sees initially are pistols and rifles, which he might simply consider analogous to archery. Unlike Pina and Bozes, he didn't see the tanks, nor did he witness the mortar demonstration with the other nobles. Even with the destruction of the Senate building, he only sees the aftermath, thus may not understand how easily the end result was to achieve. It isn't until a sniper bullet had a near miss, and only because it was ordered to be so, that he begins to realize how dangerous Japan can be to him.

** In and around the Mediterranean sea, many ancient love goddesses had vast portfolios that include war or other devastating events: Inanna is the goddess of love, fertility, and war and later increased her portfolio by outright ''conquering the domains of other gods''; Venus is the Roman goddess of love, purification, fertility, good fortune, and victory in battle; Hathor is always considered the Egyptian goddess of love and the sky and one of the personifications of the Eye of Ra, and thus Ra's wrath incarnate, that in some versions of the myth of the Destruction of Mankind nearly ''wiped out humanity'' in a single day; and even Aphrodite, the "softest" of said divinities, is not only feared by other gods, but two of her children are also the personifications of ''fear and terror''. Rory is already associated with the war god of a culture with strong Roman undertones, becoming a love goddess is a logical extension.

** Not likely. Firstly, even if Zorzal had started research, modern weapons take an incredible amount of training to wield safely. The moment Japan realized what they were doing, they would have immediately jumped in and steamrolled them before they could train their soldiers properly. Using rifles and grenades without knowledge would be just as likely to hurt you as it would the enemy, and Japan ''could'' always enlist major powers to [[NuclearOption nuke the Empire]] if they posed too big of a threat here. Secondly, this tactic cuts both ways; with Lelei and Tuka on Japan's side, they would have cooperated with expert scientists and traded knowledge with them. Even if Zorzal can advance as fast as you describe, Earth with our centuries of experience in the scientific method would always be faster. Attempts to "close" the power gap still wouldn't have closed the ''knowledge'' gap, and the UN would have armed Earth with both sci-fi tech and magecraft/spirit magic in the time Zorzal would need to even get to our present level. All in all, no matter ''how'' smart Zorzal had been, Earth almost certainly would always keep itself one step ahead on the technology tree.

** I don't see this possibility as that threatening. Firstly, with Lelei and Tuka on Japan's side, they could always either place protection charms on the aircraft, or heck, even change them to run on magic alone. Second, disabling the airpower would hardly hinder everything else the JSDF has

* Rory serves Emroy/Emloy, the god of death. Yet as she makes clear in episode 11 and its equivalent chapter in the manga, having a meaningful death means living a full and rich life, and so Emroy (and by extension Rori) is also a god of life (or at least ''living'', which is not the same thing) by proxy. Rory considering choosing to become a goddess of love upon her ascension to goddesshood is a logical extension of this since being born into the world out of love and into a loving family greatly improves one's chances of living such a life and as such having such a death.

* There are some mages in the Special Region that know how to alter the composition of fluids. What if they managed to, for example, solidify the diesel and gasoline used to fuel the [=JSDF=]'s ground vehicles, rendering the fuel unusable and the vehicles immobile. What if they could, somehow, solidify the jet fuel in their aircraft, or worse, solidify the hydraulic fluid that is required to operate the control surfaces on said aircraft? The result of all this would mean that the [=JSDF=] would have no air-power whatsoever.
** Consider that the people who would give the Empire a trump card against the JSDF are largely persecuted by said Empire itself. Most spirit magic users that we have seen are all non-humans like Myute (harpy), Tuka (elf), and Yao (dark elf). All Zorzal would have to do to get them on their side is to give them status in the Empire. It would not work on everyone but there would be enough takers to form the core of his mage corps. The Lindon school of magic has been superseded by cannons as a battlefield force and Leilei's innovations could see them become a force to be reckoned with once again. Basically, Zorzal can entice two currently disenfranchised groups to even the odds but he would never even countenance extending his hand to either one of them.
** I don't see this possibility as that threatening. Firstly, with Lelei and Tuka on Japan's side, they could always either place protection charms on the aircraft, or heck, even change them to run on magic alone. Second, disabling the air power

!Fridge Brilliance

* The Oprichnina SecretPolice showed in episodes 19 and 20 have raised some eyebrows, is based on a 16th-century Russian organization in a country based on 9th-century Franco-roman civilization. Still, there is wiggle room in the original work to allow for this. In chapter 39 of the manga, Emperor Malt shows access to knowledge he should not have when negotiating with Sugawara, like being very knowledgeable about Japan's history, up to and including the removal of Japan's emperor by its citizenry. The novels specify that one or more of the books Piñ a brought back from Ginza and had translated covers this aspect of Russian history, and Zorzal not only thought it sounded like a good idea, he decided to implement it as the very first act of his regency to "root out cowardly traitors" in order to cement his Pro-war position.
* Crossing into AuthorTract, why are the Russians depicted more sympathetically than the [[{{Eagleland}} Americans]] or the [[DirtyCommunists Chinese]]? Because of the current Russian government has a pronounced Right-Wing bent, and uses its military power in foreign relations. This is a strong contrast to Communist China, while America defeated Japan and still has a dominant role in the bilateral relationship. Given how right-wing the author is, it would not be out of reach that he actually respects Putin.

* In combat between the Order of the Rose Knights and the soldiers of the Empire and Oprichnina, the Order manages to hold its position (on open terrain surrounded by forest with a large building to protect) despite being horribly outnumbered and previously being considered a decorative unit by the Empire at large. Why? Many of the best soldiers of the Empire were slaughtered during the Ginza incident, so the Imperial troops and secret police are both largely composed of recently trained and inexperienced troops. Since the Order was not part of that operation and only a small portion of its forces were at Italica, it is still intact, organized, and well trained. The Order is primarily composed of women who have trained since prepubescence with Pina co Lada and experienced veterans who joined to train them and as a sinecure reward for their service (good pay, no combat expected). In both training and experience, they have the upper hand, and with Pina co Lada's clear orders and subsequent arrest, clarity of purpose to bolster them.

!Fridge Horror

* The light novel expands and elaborates on Itami's "slacker ant" premise. Although Itami admits that he was just "bullshitting them," his superiors took his premise seriously ''because his stance had merit.'' There was a high rate of suicides among Itami's fellow recruits '''because they were trying too hard!''' This is the reason why he passed Ranger training and went into special forces while the guy who worked harder, and was more competent washed out, as a result of an injury.
* Imagine what would happen if Zorzal '''wasn't''' a completely charmless, brainless, self-serving ass. Leilei has shown just how quickly a keen mage can analyze, adapt and ''replicate'' modern weapons with magic, or at least their destructive power, if not outright surpass them. Had Zorzal been a bit more patient, reasonable, and deserving of loyalty, the empire could have completely negated Japan's tactical advantage in a matter of months, tops by hiring a mage corps. Now can anyone imagine the horror of a culture that sees war as little more than a license to RapePillageAndBurn, and sells prisoners of war into slavery, especially sex-slavery equipped with modern weapons? With official government backing and territory? Without the technological gap, the JSDF would have been completely outnumbered and outmatched, and it would then take outside intervention by the UN and a combined force of many superpowers to ensure victory.

** The Manga reveals that Rory has rank among the JSDF. Myuute, as Military Police, is her direct subordinate, and was trained by Rory.

** On the other side, what happens if the gods piss off the JSDF? It's established that the forces on Alnus are not stupid nor are they willing to take threats just as they are. If the JSDF manages to kill a god, what will the implications be?

* The fact that the vast majority of prisoners claimed by Itami are female aside, a close rewatch of episode 6 shows that they all have unusual features or abilities. In fact, the last one shown "the one with a feather in her hair" is not only a BeastMan, but is the one who was using spirit magic during the bandit attack back in episodes 4 and 5. Even without humanitarian motives, Itami's choice of prisoners is well justified, tactically and strategically.
* Rory serves Emroy/Emloy, the god of death. Yet as she makes clear in episode 11 and its equivalent chapter in the manga, having a meaningful death means living a full and rich life, and so Emroy (and by extension Rori) is also a god of life (or at least ''living'', which is not the same thing) by proxy. Rory considering choosing to become a goddess of love upon her ascension to goddesshood is a logical extension of this, since being born into the world out of love and into a loving family greatly improves one's chances of living such a life and as such having such a death.
** The light novel specifies that while Rory has no problems with banditry per se, she, and her patron god, Emroy, have serious problems with people who do not live, and are unwilling to die, based on the tenets of their own moral compass. Bandits, by and large, are both hypocrites and cowards. She also shows respect to Japanese civilians killed in the Ginza incident because, traditionally, all souls of those killed in combat or violence/crime belong to Emroy, and she was showing respect for their "sacrifice."
** In and around the Mediterranean sea, many ancient love goddesses had vast portfolios that include war or other devastating events: Inanna is the goddess of love, fertility and war and later increased her portfolio by outright ''conquering the domains of other gods''; Venus is the Roman goddess of love, purification, fertility, good fortune, and victory in battle; Hathor is always considered the Egyptian goddess of love and the sky and one of the personifications of the Eye of Ra, and thus Ra's wrath incarnate, that in some versions of the myth of the Destruction of Mankind nearly ''wiped out humanity'' in a single day; and even Aphrodite, the "softest" of said divinities, is not only feared by other gods, two of her children are the personifications of ''fear and terror''. Rory is already associated with the war god of a culture with strong Roman undertones, becoming a love goddess is a logical extension.
* Explicitly mentioned in the work itself but easily overlooked afterwards: The JSDF expeditionary force has primarily been issued weapons and equipment that are already being phased out of service in Japan, some dating back to the mid-Cold War. This was done deliberately, as such equipment can be abandoned in the advent of a retreat, are already 'paid for' and cost Japan less to support, and especially in the case of aircraft, don't require sophisticated infrastructure like GPS satellites that don't exist on the other side of the gate.
* As mentioned in his entry under the trope OverrankedSoldier, Sugawara is way too young to have achieved a rank commensurate with his role as a national envoy in Japan's seniority-based system. However he is being assigned to a foreign power in another world where an assassination is certainly not out of the question. In other words he's effectively expendable; none of the more senior members are likely willing to risk their hides in an assignment that might literally get them stabbed in the back by a dagger.

* The Oprichnina SecretPolice shown in episodes 19 and 20 have raised some eyebrows, being based on a 16th century Russian organization in a country based on 9th century Franco-roman civilization. Still, there is wiggle room in the original work to allow for this. In chapter 39 of the manga, Emperor Malt shows access to knowledge he should not have when negotiating with Sugawara, like being very knowledgeable about Japan's history, up to and including the removal of Japan's emperor by its citizenry. The novels specify that one or more of the books Piña brought back from Ginza and had translated covers this aspect of Russian history, and Zorzal not only thought it sounded like a good idea, he decided to implement it as the very first act of his regency to "root out cowardly traitors" in order to cement his Pro-war position.

** To expand this logic a bit, Uyoku Dantai, the Japanese Far-Right movement, nowadays is largely composed of two major branches, both of them concentrated on China as their main target, but differing in and largely defined by their opinion of the US and the Mutual Defense Treaty. One, the so-called Old Uyoku, somewhat entrenched in the establishment, [[DefeatMeansFriendship still believes in the alliance]] and strives to maintain it as strong as possible. The other, New Uyoku, is composed of the younger, [[PatrioticFervor more fiercely patriotic members]], somewhat resembling the [[UsefulNotes/KatanasOfTheRisingSun old nationalistic groups of the prewar Taisho and Showa eras]], who see the outcome of the Pacific War as a national shame, and is decidedly anti-US. Ditching the alliance, however, leaves Japan [[ChinaTakesOverTheWorld open and threatened by their major rival, China]], and thus New Uyoku are gradually warming up to Russia as another geostrategic counterweight to Chinese influence in the Far East.
* There's very good reason for Zorzal (and Molto) to want to conquer the JSDF and Japan. If taking captives and enslaving people of a foreign nation, with which the Empire is not at war, is a crime by Imperial standards, then taking Noriko and the other Ginza captives, enslaving, abusing, raping, and killing them makes him a lowly criminal, no better than a bandit, and bandits tend to face the death penalty. Of course, if Japan is conquered, there's nobody left to complain, and Zorzal can go back to doing whatever he wants.
* Why does Itami retain Rory's favor throughout the whole story? Simple; Emloy and, by extension Rory, respect those who remain true to their principles even (especially) in the face of death. Itami has never done anything but live by his principles, going so far as to admit freely that he works to support his hobbies when such a view would be massively unpopular in Japanese society at large let alone the JSDF.
* In combat between the Order of the Rose Knights and the soldiers of the Empire and Oprichnina, the Order manages to hold its position (on open terrain surrounded by forest with a large building to protect) despite being horribly outnumbered anb previously being considered a decorative unit by the Empire at large. Why? Many of the best soldiers of the Empire were slaughtered during the Ginza incident, so the Imperial troops and secret police are both largely composed of recently trained and inexperienced troops. Since the Order was not part of that operation and only a small portion of its forces were at Italica, it is still intact, organized, and well trained. The Order is primarily composed of women who have trained since prepubescence with Pina co Lada and experienced veterans who joined to train them and as a sinecure reward for their service (good pay, no combat expected). In both training and experience, they have the upper hand, and with Pina co Lada's clear orders and subsequent arrest, a clarity of purpose to bolster them.
* In the manga, after the Ginza Incident we don't see many orcs, trolls, or goblins. The reason is that those races don't reside near Alnus or the southern Imperial area.

* Combined with FridgeBrilliance. Remember which god judges the souls of those that died in battle? Well consider what happens to [[spoiler: Zorzal and Tyuule,]] Well, the "charming" prince is probably going to be paying his karmic debt, with interest, for eternity, and it's '''huge.'''

* The light novel expands and elaborates on Itami's "slacker ant" premise. Although Itami admits that he was just "bullshitting them," his superiors took his premise seriously ''because his stance had merit.'' There was a high rate of suicides among Itami's fellow recruits '''because they were trying too hard!''' This is the reason why he passed Ranger training and went into special forces while the guy who worked harder, and was more competent washed out, as a result of injury.
* Imagine what would happen if Zorzal '''wasn't''' a completely charmless, brainless, self-serving ass. Leilei has shown just how quickly a keen mage can analyze, adapt and ''replicate'' modern weapons with magic, or at least their destructive power, if not outright surpass them. Had Zorzal been a bit more patient, reasonable, and deserving of loyalty, the empire could have completely negated Japan's tactical advantage in a matter of months, tops by hiring a mage corps. Now can anyone imagine the horror of a culture that sees war as little more than license to RapePillageAndBurn, and sells prisoners of war into slavery, especially sex-slavery equipped with modern weapons? With official government backing and territory?

** Consider that the people who would give the Empire a trump card against the JSDF are largely persecuted by said Empire itself. Most spirit magic users that we have seen are all non-humans like Myute (harpy), Tuka (elf) and Yao (dark elf). All Zorzal would have to do to get them on their side is to give them status in the Empire. It would not work on everyone but there would be enough takers to form the core of his mage corps. The Lindon school of magic has been superseded by cannons as a battlefield force and Leilei's innovations could see them become a force to be reckoned with once again. Basically Zorzal can entice two currently disenfranchised groups to even the odds but he would never even countenance extending his hand to either one of them.
* The second season ending is a minor FridgeHorror, and maybe even a slightly comedic one. But the idea of Rory going through basic training is terrifying. Imagine what she would be like if she actually worked out, knew modern, military martial arts on top of her natural experience, was trained in modern weapons, and knew modern tactics and strategy.

* Crossing into AuthorTract, why are the Russians depicted more sympathetically than the [[{{Eagleland}} Americans]] or the [[DirtyCommunists Chinese]]? Because of the current Russian government has a pronounced Right-Wing bent, and uses its military power in foreign relations. This is a strong contrast to Communist China, while America defeated Japan and still has a dominant role in the bilateral relationship. Given how right-wing the author, it would not be out of reach that he actually respects Putin.

* Pina and Bozes calling yaoi doujinshi fine art is meant as a joke, but historically isn't too far off considering the Greco-Roman influences on their society. This could also explain why the empire is tolerant of same-sex relations within the military aside from the obvious consequences of heterosexual relationships.

* In combat between the Order of the Rose Knights and the soldiers of the Empire and Oprichnina, the Order manages to hold its position (on open terrain surrounded by forest with a large building to protect) despite being horribly outnumbered an previously being considered a decorative unit by the Empire at large. Why? Many of the best soldiers of the Empire were slaughtered during the Ginza incident, so the Imperial troops and secret police are both largely composed of recently trained and inexperienced troops. Since the Order was not part of that operation and only a small portion of its forces were at Italica, it is still intact, organized, and well trained. The Order is primarily composed of women who have trained since prepubescence with Pina co Lada and experienced veterans who joined to train them and as a sinecure reward for their service (good pay, no combat expected). In both training and experience, they have the upper hand, and with Pina co Lada's clear orders and subsequent arrest, a clarity of purpose to bolster them.