Gantz is a popular manga that has been in print since 2000. The creators of the series released the final issue in August 2013, and fans were anything but satisfied with the ending. Gantz was not afraid to push boundaries, offering an entertaining mixture of gore, sex, and philosophy between the front and back covers of each issue. It got to the core of what mankind is capable of, sometimes depicting characters going above and beyond for others, but more often showing the selfishness that is our desire to live.

This series really made one think, questioning religion, mortality, and even what the human soul is. And despite these heavy themes, the series maintained a well-paced story studded with action at every turn and a plethora of characters that you began to really root for.

The creators of Gantz were also bold in their willingness to kill off characters, doing this at the moment you least expected it, and to those who seemed the most untouchable–even the main character was killed off at one point (technically). Almost every time a new group of characters came together in a well-formed, cohesive team, the authors of the series would slaughter them.

As the story progressed over the years, the plot lines became more and more complicated until the story stopped making sense in certain places. A great example was when vampires showed up, meddled in the affairs of the main characters, and then disappeared, never to be mentioned again. Although these holes in the plot existed, it did not detract much from the quality of the overall story.

Until the final story arc, that is.

The ending was pure disappointment. It did not do the series justice, and what was otherwise an almost perfect manga will now be forever marred by its atrocious end. Overall, I'd still give this series a nine out of 10, but it sadly only misses the 10 mark because of the way it ended. Unfortunately for Gantz, it won't sit alongside other series I've given perfect 10s, such as Great Teacher Onizuka (GTO), just saying.

I wrote this in the heat of reading the final chapter and taking a few moments to think it over, but I still feel these are all valid points. I'd like to hear your thoughts on this ending, especially if you can poke holes in any of the points I've highlighted here.