History Headscratchers / Gate

* Yanagida mentions that Noriko's family was handing out posters about Noriko's disappearance, but he mentioned they were caught "on that day" during the Ginza incident. If that's the case, does this indicate that Noriko was missing/taken across the gate ''before'' the gate incident even happened? If so, how on earth was she kidnapped to the special region if the gate hasn't opened yet.

* Yanagida mentions that Noriko's family was handing out posters about Noriko's disappearance, but he mentioned they were caught "on that day" during the Ginza incident. If that's the case, does this indicate that Noriko was missing/taken across the gate ''before'' the gate incident even happened? If so, how on earth was she kidnapped to the special region if the gate happened opened yet.

* Goblins don't reside near Alnus. In Manga, [[BigLippedAlligatorMoment after Incident of Ginza you don't see may orcs, trolls, or goblins]]. The reason is the regions where those two races reside are not near Alnus or southern Imperial area. While many both agile CuteMonsterGirl workers are Clan Formal's maids or even mercenaries and agile male PettingZooPeople are mercenaries that guard the trade caravan. Meanwhile, slower goblins and trolls are more suited to Empire's Army that battle like Roman Legion. Further evidence in noble POW's memory of Incident of Ginza, the goblins and trolls also marched back to Gate and captured.

** Answered in Volume 3, chapter 6 and 7 of the light novel. The true Praetorian guard was already lost, either captured or killed in the Ginza incident, lost in action upon the attack upon Arnus Hill, or killed as part of the bandit army besieging Italica. Zorzal's entourage was, at that point, composed of entirely of raw recruits, poorly trained, and seriously lacking discipline. In addition, they were all horribly shaken, both figuratively and literally by the earthquake, which is something the imperial capital has never faced before. Even Pina, which was very well trained, and had live combat experience, was completely overwhelmed experiencing the event, and that's with Itami and the JSDF guarding her.

* Finally answered in exquisite detail in Volume 3, chapter 8. While the JSDF are all completely healthy, carefully screened, and closely monitored at base, there are many health problems among the Special Region's population. Most are citizens of "Arnus Town" that have had accidents with unfamiliar equipment, like modern tools. To combat the possibilities of accidental exposure to unusual diseases, including sexually transmitted ones, the JSDF, as part of their intelligence operations, set up a clinic in the Azuko district, ie, the slums of the imperial capital, where they offer medical, contraceptive, and counseling services, in exchange for token payment (because the residents would be insulted if it was free) so they could research, study, and fully investigate the native diseases of the Special Region specifically to prevent a massive outbreak of something truly exotic, and the author specifically mentions the American natives' encounter with Columbus as a reference point.

** [[spoiler: Hardy opened a portal in Alnus and the Emperor mostly thought [[TooDumbToLive "hey look! let's conquer the unknown other side!!"]]]]
*** I wouldn't call it TooDumbToLive. Remember, his nation was the only super power in the world and wins pretty much every war. Thinking he could win by a blitzkrieg of knights, monsters, and dragons isn't that hard to see.

* Goblins don't reside near Alnus
In Manga, after Incident of Ginza you don't see may orcs, trolls, or goblins. The reason is the regions where those two races reside are not near Alnus or southern Imperial area. While many both agile CuteMonsterGirl workers are Clan Formal's maids or even mercenaries and agile male PettingZooPeople are mercenaries that guard the trade caravan. Meanwhile, slower goblins and trolls are more suited to Empire's Army that battle like Roman Legion. Further evidence in noble POW's memory of Incident of Ginza, the goblins and trolls also marched back to Gate and captured.

! Goblins don't reside near Alnus
In Manga, after Incident of Ginza you don't see may orcs, trolls, or goblins. The reason is the regions where those two races reside are not near Alnus or southern Imperial area. While many both agile Cute Monster Girl workers are Clan Formal's maids or even mercenaries and agile male Petting Zoo People are mercenaries that guard the trade caravan. Meanwhile, slower goblins and trolls are more suited to Empire's Army that battle like Roman Legion. Further evidence in noble POW's memory of Incident of Ginza, the goblins and trolls also marched back to Gate and captured.

*** The respective countries could all claim the guns were stolen, which happens all the time in RealLife.

*** Not sure about Japan, but in most of the world night vision equipment ''isn't'' a controlled technology and is freely sold through the nomal commercial channels, mostly as hunting supplies. The fancier thermal vision gear would cost you an arm and a leg, of course, but it ''is'' available, as are the more pedestrian image intensifiers. In fact, sometimes a ''better'' tech can be bought in a hunting store than the country's military is using.[[note]]It got to the point that a subculture appeared among the soldiers, whose members spend most of their income on a commercial gear like better radios, better body armor, better uniforms, better ''guns''… In the current civil war in Ukraine both the rebels, the government troops, and the nationalist paramilitaries are mainly equipped by the commercially available gear funded by the volunteers.[[/note]] And as for the drones, you can buy a reasonably priced quadrocopter, perfectly suitable for a forward recon, ''in a toy shop''. Of course, it hasn't been ''that'' easy to get all that gear [[TechMarchesOn ten years ago when the novels were originally written]], but it ''was'' possible to field the much better equipped team that is still deniable, so it's still probably more of the oversight/haste than the conscious planning.
*** What about their weaponry choice? I see Americans with the Knight Armament PDW and in the manga, they also have a Magpul PDR somewhere, plus the Chinese has the KRISS Vector SMG. Aren't these weapons like the Knight Armament PDW be a really good indication on which country the agent's from?

*** Not sure about Japan, but in most of the world night vision equipment ''isn't'' a controlled technology and is freely sold through the nomal commercial channels, mostly as hunting supplies. The fancier thermal vision gear would cost you an arm and a leg, of course, but it ''is'' available, as are the more pedestrian image intensifiers. In fact, sometimes a ''better'' tech can be bought in a hunting store than the country's military is using.[[note]]It got to the point that a subculture appeared among the soldiers, whose members spend most of their income on a commercial gear like better radios, better body armor, better uniforms, better ''guns''… In the current civil war in Ukraine both the rebels, the government troops, and the nationalist paramilitaries are mainly equipped by the commercially available gear funded by the volunteers.[[/note]] And as for the drones, you can buy a reasonably priced quadrocopter, perfectly suitable for a forward recon, ''in a toy shop''. Of course, it hasn't been ''that'' easy to get all that gear [[TechMarchesOn ten years ago when the novels were originally written]], but it ''was'' possible to field the much better equipped team that is still deniable, so it's still probably more of the oversight/haste than the conscious planning.

** Two words: Plausible Deniability. In the anime, one of the Japanese operatives mentions that all their gear, except the guns, could easily be bought by tourists in Akihabara, as Cosplay. Even the US president's call to the Prime Minster with the blackmail material could not be used as conclusive proof without damaging a great many sensitive diplomatic contacts and channels, as well as making the blackmail material heavily public. While this might seem good, in the short term, it is in no way a sound maneuver for Japan's long term interests. As it stands, Russia, China, and the U.S. can reasonably claim that they had no knowledge of the operative's actions, or even their existence, as Japan had no proof of their origins. That would be ''much'' harder to claim if the operatives had official gear, like night goggles and drones, which, by military regulations, are all marked with the name of the country of origin and branch of service. Had Japan had conclusive proof of the other countries' misdeeds, they would never have gotten away with just merely cancelling their operations and withdrawing.

** Two words: Plausible Deniability. In the anime, one of the (presumably American) operatives mentions that all their gear, except the guns, could easily be bought by tourists in Akihabara, as Cosplay. Even the US president's call to the Prime Minster with the blackmail material could not be used as conclusive proof without damaging a great many sensitive diplomatic contacts and channels, as well as making the blackmail material heavily public. While this might seem good, in the short term, it is in no way a sound maneuver for Japan's long term interests. As it stands, Russia, China, and the U.S. can reasonably claim that they had no knowledge of the operative's actions, or even their existence, as Japan had no proof of their origins. That would be ''much'' harder to claim if the operatives had official gear, like night goggles and drones, which, by military regulations, are all marked with the name of the country of origin and branch of service. Had Japan had conclusive proof of the other countries' misdeeds, they would never have gotten away with just merely cancelling their operations and withdrawing.

** Two words: Plausible Deniability. In the anime, one of the (presumably American) operatives mentions that all their gear, except the guns, could easily be bought by tourists in Akihabara, as Cosplay. Even the US president's call to the Prime Minster with the blackmail material could not be used as conclusive proof without damaging a great many sensitive diplomatic contacts and channels, as well as making the blackmail material heavily public. While this might seem good, in the short term, it is in no way a sound maneuver for Japan's long term interests. As it stands, Russia, China, and the U.S. can reasonably claim that they had no knowledge of the operative's actions, or even their existence, as Japan had no proof of their origins. That would be ''much'' harder to claim if the operatives had official gear, like night goggles and drones, which, by military regulations, are all marked with the name of the country of origin and branch of service. Had Japan had conclusive proof of the other countries' misdeeds, they would never have gotten away with just merely cancelling their operations and withdrawing.

*** (at two posts above me) [=*facepalms*=] Ever heard of the Black Plague?

** ''None'' of the agents [[WithThisHerring went in well-prepared for the operation]]. Just to drive it home: the Russians used the UAZ-437 4WD van.[[note]][[TheAllegedCar A Sixties design that is still in production]] only because it's dirt cheap and any replacement costs several times more.[[/note]] While the good, ol’ "Breadloaf" ''does'' have some popularity with the Japanese outdoorsmen (that is, about a hundred is sold in a year), the export model is explicitly a right-hand drive, while the one that is used by the agents is LHD, which makes it stand out as a sore thumb.

** ''None'' of the agents [[WithThgisHerring went in well-prepared for the operation]]. Just to drive it home: the Russians used the UAZ-437 4WD van.[[note]][[TheAllegedCar A Sixties design that is still in production]] only because it's dirt cheap and any replacement costs several times more.[[/note]] While the good, ol’ "Breadloaf" ''does'' have some popularity with the Japanese outdoorsmen (that is, about a hundred is sold in a year), the export model is explicitly a right-hand drive, while the one that is used by the agents is LHD, which makes it stand out as a sore thumb.

** In the manga, none of the special forces have night vision. The only advantage they probably have is they are on their home turf and have assistance from the command center with drones and stuff. Though, why the Americans or the other nation did not have the same assets at the time is another matter.