, is a Japanese

manga Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...

written and illustrated by Yukiko Sumiyoshi. The manga was serialized in

Enterbrain , formerly , is a Japanese publisher and division of Kadokawa Future Publishing founded on 30 January 1987 as . Magazines published by Enterbrain are generally focused on video games and computer entertainment as well as video game and strategy ...

's manga magazine '' Comic B's-Log''. The individual chapters were collected into three '' bound volumes'',which were published by

between March 1, 2007, and May 1, 2008. It was licensed in English by

Tokyopop Tokyopop (styled TOKYOPOP; formerly known as Mixx Entertainment) is an American distributor, licensor and publisher of anime, manga, manhwa and Western manga-style works. The German publishing division produces German translations of licensed J ...

, which released the manga as an

omnibus Omnibus may refer to: Film and television * ''Omnibus'' (film) * Omnibus (broadcast), a compilation of Radio or TV episodes * ''Omnibus'' (UK TV series), an arts-based documentary programme * ''Omnibus'' (U.S. TV series), an educational progr ...

on October 12, 2010. The manga is also licensed

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by Madman Entertainment and in Taiwan by Tong Li Publishing.

Reception

Anime News Network Anime News Network (ANN) is a news website that reports on the status of anime, manga, video games, Japanese popular music and other related cultures within North America, Australia, Southeast Asia and Japan. The website offers reviews and oth ...

's Lissa Patillo commends the manga for its "easy to understand plot that takes time to focus on compelling cast of secondary character; attractive artwork", but criticizes it for a "weak opening volume; Hijiri doesn't make for a strong main character and the ending leaves something to be desired". Anime News Network's Carlo Santos commends the manga for its promising start but then criticizes the manga for using '' deus ex machina'' in the grand finale. The Manga Critic's Katherine Dacey heavily pans the manga as being "bland" and that the story "feels like a clip-and-paste job, borrowing elements from more popular series and reassembling them into a less entertaining copy." Sequential Tart's Karen Maeda lightly criticizes the manga with "the art is a little bit rough and could use some more detail, but it’s pretty easy to follow. The dialog also follows about in the same way as the art, but it’s pretty easy to understand the plot and what is going on." Comic Book Bin's Chris Zimmerman comments on the plot of the manga with "the pacing of the series feels off kilter for the first third of the volume, with the main plot seemingly heading nowhere. This changes when the focus shifts to Hijiri and for that reason, the omnibus format actually enhances the readability of the series as a whole. Had the volumes been published individually, the first volume's lack of story progression and overly repetitive nature could have possibly driven readers away before the series had a chance to kick into high gear. As it stands, the omnibus format makes ''Black Gate'' more accessible.

References

External links

* Tong Li Publishing titles Fantasy anime and manga 2007 manga Shōjo manga Tokyopop titles Enterbrain manga {{manga-stub