Manga Review: Gantz



Back again with another review, been awhile but I have been really busy. This time however I have decided to review and entire manga series, so unlike my Bleach fight reviews I will be talking about the whole story. Also thought I'd say that I won't be reviewing the Gantz anime because even though I do like it and got it on DVD it does not even compare to the manga because of its low animation quality and just terrible original arc they added in the end. I will try and keep this spoiler free for you because going in to too much depth would just take forever to cover.

The story of Gantz follows the main protagonist Kei Kurono who, while waiting for the train, runs in to his old childhood friend Masaru Kato. However while trying to save a homeless person who fell in to the train tracks they are both run over and seemingly killed but they suddenly awaken in a small apartment overlooking Tokyo Tower. There are several other individuals in this apartment who also claim to have died or been killed but the most strange things that are going on is that they cannot leave the apartment and there is a mysterious black ball in the centre of the room called Gantz. After some time this ball plays old exercise music and shows them an imagine of an alien they have to defeat, it then opens up to reveal futuristic weapons and combat suits and sends them on their mission to various places in Japan. We now follow Kei as he battles numerous aliens and deals with the dangers during these missions and its strict rules and still trying to live a life as a high school student.

What really drew me in to this series is its really violent and serious tones compared to other manga. You see I am a massive Horror/Sci - Fi fan (Alien, Predator, Event Horizon; to name a few) and I am also a big anime/manga fan so I really wanted to find a series that is like the films I watched. That is when I found Gantz, it is exactly what I was looking for and it has not disappointed me at all.

Now I have to say that this series is not for everyone because it is really not for the faint of heart, when I said it was violent I mean it is VIOLENT. The aliens that the characters face are serious monsters who kill them in some pretty gruesome ways and vise versa because they are also being hunted by the characters, from humans and aliens alike you will see guts flying, severed limbs and even some rapes. But it is not just the violence there is also a high level of sex and nudity throughout it (95% of it from the female characters) not just some simple fan service you get in other manga. However do not take this as me trying to put you off the series because like I mentioned earlier this is something I had been trying to find.

I love the story structure in this manga because the story arcs is basically the missions the characters get from Gantz and they can be either short or very long depending on how many aliens they face and their difficulty. It is always interesting to see what design Hiroya Oku (the writer and artist of Gantz) can come up with next, so you look forward to every mission. But the down time between the missions are just as good as we see the characters try and cope with their normal lives. Thought I'd mention that my favourite story arcs in this the Osaka arc and the final Katastrophe arc.

This manga also deals a lot with the theme of death because this like Game of Thrones anyone, even the main characters, can die. Death will claim characters you were even not expecting so there is always the impending threat that your favourite character could be next on the chopping block. I find this really refreshing in a manga series because even though I am a huge fan of the Bleach and Naruto manga you don't feel any threat to the main characters at all because it seems their creators don't want to part with them and sometimes come up with ridiculous ways to keep them from dying.

As for the characters there is a wide array of them each with their own personalities and stories that can appeal to everyone. Take Kei for example he is not like other main protagonists from manga; he is a self - centred, uncaring, sex obsessed high school student which doesn't seem typical for main character traits in my experience. However as the series goes own we see his personality mature and he does find it in him to care about other (though he still is obsessed with sex and girls). There are many more to choose from such as Kato the natural leader, Izumi the sword wielding murderer, Nishi the loner who cares only for himself and many others. Now I have read some criticism before that the majority of the female characters in Gantz are only there to have sex, be naked and fall in love with male ones too easily and while this is a fair view I don't 100% agree with it. Take the two main females Kishimoto and Reika, yes they do have a lot of fan service scenes (Kishimoto for example arrives in chapter three completely nude and that is not the only time as the series progresses) however they are still their own characters with interesting story arcs and they are still badass when it comes to the fighting.

The art in this is also something that really makes it stand out from other manga because it is done using 3D imagining, especially for the backgrounds. It also has a really realistic art style for the character and alien designs which really helps with the horror and goriness of it.

This serious has thirty seven volumes so it is not too short and not too long and it is well worth you reading everyone of them. Overall I highly recommend this series to anyone who likes science fiction, horror and thriller and doesn't mind high levels of gore and sex. While this is a series that may not be for everyone it is definitely one of my favourites and is so unique that I am giving it a perfect score.

SCORE: 10/10

On another note I really hope this series is made in to a live action series for film, I know it has two Japanese live action films but I am talking about American films. Now before you argue against it I already know that America has so far mostly been bloody terrible at adapting manga (Dragon Ball and Last Airbender) however I truly feel like Gantz is something that could work if done right and I am not saying this lightly.

Top 10 Characters in Gantz

For those who do not know Gantz is an extremely violent science fiction manga by Hiroya Oku. It recently ended earlier this year and it is one of my favourite mangas. Here is the list of my top then characters from the series (Spoilers for those who have not read the series).

10 – Oka Hachirou

Legendary member of the Osaka team and has cleared the game seven times. Oka definitely deserves a place on my list for being a complete badass to have survived the games that long. He also introduces much of the new equipment to the series such as the hover bike, heavy suit and mecha. His fighting style is mainly close quarters using hand to hand with the heavy suit and the gantz sword when it is destroyed. He is a very imposing individual and he always goes after the strongest aliens in the hunts, such as his epic battle with the Nurarihyon. The reason he is so low however is because we don’t know much about him due to lack of screen time and for being so legendary he gets killed off screen by being sliced in half.

9 – Kenzo Sakata

Member of the Tokyo team and managed to clear the game once, using his points to bring back Sakurai, though it is hinted he may have been in the game before. The psychic of the team he prefers to use his powers and crush the alien’s hearts or brains which I always found to be cool. Like Oka he is lower on this list because we do not get much back story and also because I think he could have had a better death scene.

8 – Hojo Masanobu

Member of the Tokyo team that was killed during his second mission against the Buddhist statue aliens. I like Hojo mainly because of his funny interactions with his stalker and that everyone acts weird around him because he is gay. He fights with a mix of close quarters with his fists and mid range with the x – gun and he did have some really cool moments when fighting. Also his death scene against the thousand armed statue was one of the coolest in the series.

7 – Hikawa

Leader of the vampires and one of the coolest characters in the series. Has a very cool design too with his tuxedo, hair style and constant smoking. Hikawa is an enemy of the gantz players and is responsible for killing several of them, his most famous ones being Izumi of the Tokyo team and the sadistic trio of the Osaka team. He is always shown to be very calm (even after having his finger sliced off) and is also a sadist that is shown through his sword fighting style. Could have been higher in the list but he has real conclusion to his story and is not shown at all except the end in the Katatrophe arc.

6 – Kazuo Kuwabara

Veteran member of the Osaka team and has cleared the game three times. Kazuo is without a doubt the biggest pervert in the series and is known to rape the aliens in the missions. He has a very cool design and is noticeable that he only ever wears half of the gantz suit. He prefers using the gantz sword his scenes are very cool when using it but he is also known to use the z – gun. One of the funniest parts I think of the series is when Kazuo gets caught by the Nurarihyon when it transforms in to a golem of naked women but when he breaks free he rapes its head lol. Survives the mission but chooses to exit from the game.

5 – Kei Kurono

The main protagonist of the series and victor of the final battle against the giant aliens. Kei is definitely one of my favourite characters because of how much he has done and been through to survive the games. I also liked his character change from someone who only cares about himself and his points to someone who wants everyone to survive the games. He has no real fighting style because he prefers to use all of the gantz equipment and weapons.

4 – Kei Kishimoto

Member of the Tokyo gantz team who unfortunately dies during her third mission before she could even clear one game. She is mostly known for her large breast size and for being naked in a lot of the chapters she is in. However I do like her character for more than just that because she really has been cool in the fights she has been in and her naïve attitude when she was staying with Kurono was really funny. She was not in it for long but I think she was one of the best written characters, I really wished she could have been revived later on in the series.

3 – Reika Shimohira

Member of the Tokyo gantz team and at one time its unofficial leader. Like Kishimoto she is mostly known for her large breast size and for her nudity but this is mostly excused by the fact that her occupation is a model. She is this high on my list is that because unlike Kishmoto she survives a lot longer and has been really badass in all of her fights either with the gantz swords or guns. Disappointed by her death however because like Oka it happened off screen.

2 – Joichiro Nishi

Veteran member of the Tokyo gantz team and one of the coolest characters of the series. Despite being only 14 years old he has killed both aliens and people and has a lot of knowledge about gantz even though he barely shares it. Only cares about himself and his points and his willing to use the lives of his team mates to be the best there is. His preferred fighting still is using the controller to become invisible, waiting for the alien to become distracted (Even if it is slaughtering his team mates) then moves in for the kill. His fate is left unknown because he is last seen stranded on the alien spacecraft.

1 – Shion Izumi

Veteran member of the Tokyo gantz team and had cleared the game at least two times, he is also my favourite gantz character. The first time he won the game he chose to leave but had the burning desire to go back even though he lost his memories of it. After receiving a message from gantz for more players he paints himself as a black man and goes on a massive killing spree, killing hundreds before entering the games again. He cares for none of his team mates and usually goes off after the boss alien for the highest score possible. He was the first one to use the gantz sword and is the best when wielding it. Killed by Hikawa which is a shame because it would have been interesting to see him interacting with the Osaka team or fighting the giant aliens.

So there you have my list, what do you think?