Gantz

Gantz Review


Story (8/10) Very Good

After reading the entirety of the manga story that is Gantz and getting an (at least initial first impressions) understanding of everything that the mangaka tried to portray in the story, I say Hiroya Oku did a very good job at making this story of Gantz. Now trust me I know there are a ridiculous amount of things I could nitpick, critique and not like when it came to all that went down in the story of Gantz, but I do think nonetheless that it came together in the end a very well when the inclusion of all of it's flaws are taken into consideration.


Art (9/10) Great
More Specifically (9.75/10) Great+

Like a lot of Mangaka out there his art skill is superior to the his storytelling, not to take a shot at his storytelling as like I said previously I still think Hiroya Oku is a very good storyteller but I don't think anyone will disagree with me when I say his skill when it comes to drawing environments, alien species, weapons, armor, mechs and obviously his most favorite thing naked women are all handle great and is easily the most impressive thing to be seen in the manga of Gantz.


Characters (6/10) Fair

Going from the strongest point of his manga to (in my opinion) the weakest point, the characters. I will be here probably for the rest of my life if I tried to explain to you my frustration, hatred, dislike and overall negative opinions about every single character that I gave me an issue when reading this manga. Hell the only one by the end of the manga that I found even passable for me not to have any resentment towards Tae Kojima. Man was it a pain to read some of these characters go about doing and making the decision they decided to do. They aren't completely terrible because some of them have minor character developments that make them a bit better to bare with so I'll give a bit of credit there but majority of them do not, but like I said at the start of this category easily the weakest part of Gantz.


Enjoyment (9/10) Great
More Specifically (9.25/10) Great

My enjoyment for this manga I would say was great. Even with the many many plot holes in the story (so many that by the end of the manga my brain didn't even want to keep count nor try to keep track of any of them anymore it gave up completely so don't ask me to prove it as if you've read it yourself you know) and the borderline painfully unlikable characters that the readers are force to follow, it STILL never go to the point (at least for me) of being boring or unreadable to any close degree.


Overall (8/10) Very Good
More Specifically (8.25/10) Very Good

I've heard many many things about Gantz, my cousin held it to high regards and he's read quite a lot far more than I and plus he's read many manga that I've recommended so when it was his turn this was the first he recommended. Many when talking about a gore filled series the first that comes to mind is obviously Berserk but I'll be lying if I didn't say the 2nd wouldn't be Gantz. I definitely wouldn't be surprised if Hiroya Oku told big inspiration from Berserk and I bet he wouldn't deny it if anyone asked him about it too (and that's not a bad thing). Speaking of inspiration you can tell that he also wasn't afraid of mentioning other manga series within his manga series also. I watched Inuyashiki before I read or watching anything Gantz and he did it in that series too. Some of the series I caught a shout out to were Fist of the North Star, One Piece and a whole lot of characters mentioning Gundam (which I found cool since I'm a fan of all of those series especially Gundam). Either way I found this manga read to be a very good one I wish I could give it higher but the objective side of me just couldn't forgive the flaws that the manga also has which I guess is something I going to have to deal with, but I'll be damned if anyone came up to me and said this wasn't a very good read (if they've read the whole thing) because I'll be the first to disagree, it is a very good read and manga.

Ok so this is my first review on MAL and if I make a mistake I apologize in advance. Gantz was the manga that had gotten me into genre of manga itself a couple of months ago. At first when I had saw it I was going to not read it but I decided to give it a shot and I was NOT disappointed. After I started reading I just couldn't stop! :) I'll try my best to write an unbiased review

Story-8
Story wise, Gantz is above average and is basically a mature, sci-fi, action, adventure, and finally a hint of mystery. There were a few loopholes around the end of the series but besides that it was pretty good, well i think so at least.

Art-9
The art is not bad for its time of early 2000's. For some reason, the first two thirds of the series has good art but then for a short period of time it downgraded a little but came back for the finale.

Characters-8
I personally liked a majority of the characters but there were a few that I just hated with a passion and there were some characters who I had mixed feelings for. One of them was Kei, the main character of Gantz. In the first chapter, he is seen as a rude teenager but his reputation improves over time. Another character that I would like to talk about is Tae. So without spoiling anything her actions and her influence of some of Kei's decisions makes me strongly dislike her. I prefer every other female character over her.

Enjoyment-9
Really enjoyable series that was worth my time. Action that had me on the edge of my seat, suspense that had me biting my nails, and finally deaths made me sad.

Overall-9
Overall this series got a overall rating of a 8.5 from me but I wanted to round it up to a 9. If you're thinking about reading the series, please do!

Thank you

Gantz is a manga that is almost impossible to knock off from my Top 5 list. Some reviews capitalise on its gore and sex like its some mindless blood and nudity fest. Which is a real shame, because here I am to tell you that Gantz is so much more than that. I’m pretty sure some of these reviewers (not on this website, but if you've seen some of the more general online ones..) don’t even READ the manga and just regurgitate online summaries, judging from their superficial descriptions.

The art is one of the best I have ever seen. There are two kinds of art I find that gets the most hype: the strikingly realistic combined with superb shading and detail, or the unique. (By unique I mean the drawing style is instantly recognizable, one look and you think ‘oh, so-and-so drew that’. A good example is Nakamura Asumiko, or Nihei Tsutomu) Gantz falls in the first category.

Gantz also incorporates some thought provoking issues into its story. They are always up for debate though, its never a clean cut right-or-wrong; you are left to decide your opinion by your own devices and morals. Which makes Gantz that much more respectable in my eyes, as it does not preach.

The initial story of Gantz revolves around a big black, suspiciously man-made ball situated in an apartment room. When people die, mainly in accidents, they are revived and transported to that room where they are then sent out to kill unidentifiable creatures. Later on, we find out they are aliens. (duh) When you kill aliens, you get points. When you get 100 points, something happens. And when you die while fighting the alien, you die for good.

Pretty simple and basic right? But that’s just the beginning. Lots of things happen after that and the plot becomes more complex and more heavy. The character development of Kei Kurono also deserves special mention. In the beginning I thought he was an absolute dickhead, well in fact he WAS an absolute dickhead, but he slowly transformed into someone worthy of being called a man, he became admirable, considerate of others' feelings and I found myself rooting for him.

Gantz has elements of tragedy, suspense, romance and otherworldliness, woven together beautifully by the constant reminder of the power of humans and their strength to survive, for themselves and for the ones they love. The pain of sacrifice, of losing after even trying so hard, of helplessness in the face of an undying enemy, and all things disgusting and terrifying; all these are illustrated in its unabashed reality. It makes for a tumultuous read, but also a truly unforgettable one.


Bottom line: Impossible to put down (at least for me) and has insanely good art. A balance of characters with unsavory qualities, and characters who are noble and admirable, as well as those with a mix of good and bad. Graphic violence and nudity (look at all that tit service) but if you don’t mind either, or even like it, then please, this is one amazing manga you can't miss out on.

This has to be one of the worst storys I've ever read period.

An intresting premise with death and a game to "come back to life". Seems cool right? Think again. This story goes all over the place (like this review will)

First off we get the mc. He's am angsty horny douchebag. People think his charachter is "so realistic" well if I knew anyone like that is tell them to fuck off. A hot girl gives him sex for no reason at all. He litteraly just met her and asked to have sex and next thing you know she loves him. Lol

This story has no idea what it's doing. Fight aliens to get points to come back to life? Cool. Wait what is this crow monster? Meh whatever. Wait is this jurrasic park? Eh whatever keep reading. A trex that can breath fireballs? This is fucking ridiculous. Oh now vampires out of the blue? That can see the dead guys? .........

Now we move on to the gadgets. There seems to be no limit to what the gadgets that gantz gives the contestants. Or they're too dumb to figure it out. One guy uses invisibility. No one else does. One guy makes a long sword. No one else does. They didn't dven know there was a lock on button of course until later.

The Charachters are almost all shit. Majority just come in to die I guess to show "danger" but the mc is always safe. Even without his supersuit. More Charachters = more deaths = mature right?!? The girls are all sex dolls apparently. Just there to get horny teenage boys to buy it. Every cover page is a provocative girl

Oh yeah and a guy paints his face to look exactly like a black guy to do a mass killing where apparently he dosent need to reload until after 1000 bullets have been shot. Oh and no one screams or anything when 5 gunshots go off killing 5 people. They just walk right past the guy like nothing happened. Did I mention he made himself fucking black?

This is terrible no offense if you like it but I think we read a different story

Story: 10

Human lives holds absolutely no significance. People will die, but in this manga, people's death do hold significance. This work goes against human nature, of the selfishness and greed. People who have died, are given a second chance, in return they kill aliens that are a potential threat to earth. Gantz, is like a Jack-Of-All-Trades. So many things are incorporated into this manga that it is almost a work of a genius. Action, romance, Sci-fi, sex, death, gore, ecchi, horror, drama, and psychological. This kind of story is one of a kind that does not appear many times.

Art: 9

Fan-Service: There is much fan service on this work. Breasts and butts are very well drawn, that it averts almost any males or females eyes towards it.

Realism: The muscles of a typical muscular guy are so well drawn you can make every cut in their muscles and you can tell where the muscles have formed on their bodies. When something is cut in half you can make out the organs that is oozing out. When the players are being transferred you can see every every body part as its own entity.

The art has a big impact on you because the story is horror. A realistic drawing of a gory is what horror manga is meant to be. If a horror manga is not realistic its not horror. Also the realism makes it seem like everything that happens in the manga almost possible in the real world.

Character: 8

The protagonist of the story is a average high school student that is known as a day-time lantern. He can be viewed as us, the readers. We're like every other person, mediocre with no special trait. The so called "average high school student" kills aliens to survive. Everyone fantasies about killing aliens with big fictional weapons. This character is a outlet to the fantasy world that everyone dreams so much of. Everyone is appealed to this manga because they want to be the main character. The author made the main character so close to you that you can literally believe you are him.

Enjoyment: 10

You kill aliens after you died, and when you lose a limb or two, you're good as new when your teammates finishes the job. Girls in the work are beautiful, so beautiful that it is not likely that you will find a girl like that. People die with gore every page you read. I enjoy reading about that kind of stuff. Its a thrill to read something like that when my life has none of those things.

A post on what I think the appeal of Gantz is, taken from my instagram:

Gantz is a manga that is able to draw from every genre imaginable and somehow still tell a cohesive story. There are elements of sci-fi, horror, romance, drama, gore and mystery. All of these genres flow together seamlessly, this means that there is something enjoyable for everyone in Gantz. The mangaka is a master of analysing elements of other popular works of fiction and implementing them into his own work, all while putting his own spin on these elements which in turn elevates them.
Gantz has a very large and diverse cast of characters, for the most part these characters are fleshed out well and give you a reason to care about them, and if the time comes, mourn for them. There is a lot of death in Gantz, at times this makes it hard to get attached to any particular character, this is remedied by the cycle of characters that replace those who have died. The nature of Gantz’s plot lends itself well to having a revolving cast of characters with great backgrounds. The variety of backgrounds also does a great job in providing many different ideologies that often lead to intriguing conflicts between characters.
The art is also superb, it’s perhaps the best art that I have ever seen in a manga, beating out even Berserk and Vagabond. The art is digital and I believe they created 3D models to base the art off of, this gives Gantz the most realistic art I’ve ever seen in manga. This realism also works wonders in telling the story, the fact that the art is so realistic gives the horrific things that happen in Gantz a lot more impact than if they had been drawn in a more unrealistic art style.
Gantz also has a lot of interesting philosophical ideas, this is not the best thing about Gantz but I still thought it was worth mentioning, just to show the sheer amount of content that is present in Gantz.
You may have heard that Gantz has a rather lacklustre ending, don’t be fooled. I would say that the ending is the weakest part of the manga but when it’s going from a 10/10 to a 9/10, I for one am not too upset by that.
I highly recommended Gantz to everyone. Score: 10/10.

Behind the big-bosomed girls on the front pages of each volume and certain chapters of Hiroya Oku's "Gantz", the story itself packs a strong punch. Three to four years after having begun it, I still find myself tearing up and wincing upon recalling how beautifully well-done certain aspects of this series were. On the most general note, it was a brilliant attempt at making a science fiction premise relatable through a certain degree of realism. What I mean by this is that, despite the sci-fi plot, the story itself depicts, transcends, and synthesizes many dichotomies that apply to human nature on a fundamental level. Egotism vs. sentimentalism, immoralism vs. moralism, the individual vs. the pack, self-preservation vs. self-sacrifice–-all of these are thematically portrayed and unified by the plot and characters.

I have a very strong reluctance to even begin to provide any description of the plot, for I feel as though NONE OF IT deserves to be spoiled on account of its surreal nature. To give a very general summary, the premise is centered around the immigration patrol of Earth, its unlikely conscripts, and the literal aliens (as in "extraterrestrials") they have to face.

Now, some of you "tolerant" leftists might be whining to yourselves already about how awful and xenophobic or "racist" that sounds (just as you did with "Shingeki no Kyojin"), however, putting the fact that LITERAL ALIENS are being dealt with aside, the odds are often stacked in these extraterrestrial beings favor. The people of earth are highly unprepared and the aliens are often highly powerful. All the major events within the story-line are incorporated into it at a gradual, subtle, yet not-too-slow pace, which is always nice in a more action-packed story so as to prevent it from becoming too flashy or excessive.

I recall having come across a quote from a review of Gantz awhile ago calling it, and I'm paraphrasing here, "one of the greatest depictions of humanism". I feel quite compelled to disagree. Gantz transcends petty humanism and humanitarianism. There is certainly a degree of acknowledgement, among some of the characters in the story, that humanity and humanitarianism have their place, however, there is also the growing realization that there is more than just humanity out there, and if we want to overcome it (or even face it for that matter), we also have to be prepared to rise above our humanitarianism.

The art within this series was very crisp, clear, proportionate, and anatomically correct. The background and certain foreground elements were done on the computer, but the contrast between background and foreground wasn't too stark at all. There was a general aesthetic that was quite consistent between foreground and background: a dark, industrial-techno, mechanistic vibe. This aesthetic is not only evident in some of the intricate technology that is depicted, but it is also evident in the extent to which the more mechanistic side of human nature - our anatomy - is revealed (esp through gore). Materialism was one strong theme that sticks out in the artwork (just as it does in the plot: "humans are nothing but dust and detritus.") , though it is met with a certain degree of emotionalism in the facial expressions and physical dynamics between the bodies of the characters. I suppose one could say the dichotomy between mechanistic Materialism and emotionism is yet another which is reconciled and unified within this tale.

Character-wise, the story has beautifully developed characters and character-dynamics. The pacing of character development is as perfect as the pacing of the plot. While the protagonist is a sincere-enough character, many of the additional characters are also convincingly introduced with their own narratives and backstories. I found myself thoroughly engaged in all the characters that were covered, and even the more shallow ones still felt very real and radiated with the emotional depth of human reality.

You need to read this series. Your friends need to read this series. It should be state policy that this series is read by university students. It transcends so many conceptual boundaries––it's horizons are as wide as it is deep in terms of its development and substance. It is certainly controversial, amoral, and graphic, but it is also realistic, touching, and so beautiful.

I'm not really a critic who knows every deep meaning, reading manga is for entertainment and I got it with Gantz.

I don't really want to write a long review but if someone reads this then I suggest you read Gantz for yourself. The whole concept is weird, really fucking weird. All the Immigrants (Aliens) are incredibly weird, everything is weird.

My Favorite Part of this story is the characters. Especially Kuroro. He's our main protagonist and the most reliable MC. At first anyway, but the character development is fantastic. His relations with Tae are also wholesome and we must protect her. We have a incredibly likeable cast and every mission they're assigned are tense. You worry for the characters and how many points you must get.

Towards the end the whole point system kind of gets thrown away cuz of reasons. Like I said, read Gantz and stop reading my review.
(Now I'll spoil some stuff so yeah)
Time after Time I've heard people criticize Gantz's ending but I'm a sucker for happy ones. Gantz deliverers and I'm so glad almost everyone survived. The whole God dude from the room was kinda freaky and he killed my favorite old man in the whole manga. Fuck him dude.

We have some strong female leads here too. This is seinen so yeah, some rape happens and I understand the whole adult tone this was going for but I just didn't like it. Not to say I can't handle it, to me it's unnecessary unless it's during a pivotal moment in the story. I'm lazy so I wanna stop typing this up.

Final thoughts.
Loved the twist and turns the story took, it's cool how the immigrants (aliens) were just trying to live and also had feelings. Loved the characters and the development between them. The ending hit me hard after they all survived.

I'm probably wrong about the 9/10 but I don't care.

If you are looking for a series that is 'good' in any way, i urge you to avoid Gantz like the plague.

I should clarify that i'm not necessarily offended by violence or sex; i'm a huge fan of other violent seinen such as Berserk and Vinland Saga. However, the author's main goal seems to have been to shock the audience as much as possible in order to give the illusion of quality.

In Gantz, people who die are faxed into a room by a black ball that hands out weapons, talks in 'leetspeak', and tells them to kill aliens. That is literally all the story you need to know or will be told.

The first 100 or so chapters of Gantz are nothing less than loathsome, and this begins with the characters. The main character Kurano is an unlikable douchenozzle, and that's his only character trait (besides his misogyny, which we'll get to); his friend Masaru is equally shallow but is instead a 'white knight' to contrast with Kurano. The worst example is Kei, whose appearance is as a naked suicide victim and is shamelessly exploited by both the author and by the other characters. Kei is seems more like the author's blow up-doll than an actual character; she is constantly being molested or threatened with rape, and each of the early chapters is preceded by an official drawing of her in an explicit pose.

Characters don't have to be deep for a series to be good, but Gantz goes out of its way to make each character as shallow and unlikable as possible. Most of the minor characters that come to the Gantz room are gang rapists, and the main characters aren't much better. Somewhere around chapter 120 the main cast becomes somewhat interesting and likable, but at that point the series is caught in a vicious cycle between being really dumb and really offensive. The only character with a real arc is Kurano, and it can be summarized by 'got a girlfriend and became slightly less despicable'.

By far the worst part of this series for me was the way the female characters are treated. Even after the 100 chapters of exploiting Kei have ended, each female character introduced after that is completely defined by their crushes or codependency on one of the male characters, who treat them like garbage. This trend only gets worse as the series goes on.

Almost as bad is the relentless, naive cynicism at play. Every person who isn't a main character is portrayed as mean, stupid, and pointlessly cruel, especially the teachers (gives some insight into the author's life, possibly). Horrible things happen in this series for no reason other than to shock the reader. When a mass shooting occurs, it's because the author wanted to draw a bunch of people being machine gunned to death, not for any narrative reason (it is barely mentioned later on). In short, the world of Gantz is one that is frankly not worth saving, and this becomes tiresome to read.

The sole high point of Gantz are some of the intriguingly weird alien designs, especially early on, and the level that the art gets to later on. I personally found the art to be uninteresting, but you can't complain about its overall quality.

Against all of these criticisms, the other nitpicks i have seem irrelevant. The lack of any narrative flow, the poor pacing of each chapter, and the out=of-place story elements (there are vampires and psychics introduced that have nothing to do with the aliens, without any explanation at all).

If you want to read violent schlock, go read Hellsing (which is REALLY GOOD violent schlock). If what i just described sounds like your cup of tea, then god help you. If you like story, character, or investment on the part of the author, then find something else to read.

Gantz is undoubtedly one of my favorite manga's that I have ever read. I am not even sure what draws me to it specifically. When people ask me what it's about and I give them the basic run down and then I start to talk about the things that would normally turn people off to reading it. Like the main character is totally a jerk and there are a lot of scenes with rape, nudity, and random murder. But then I usually say "Well thats how it is in real life"
And I think that is what I like about it. It is real. There are bad people in life... a lot of them. Even Kei Kurono the main character was a total jerk in the beginning and I hated him to the core. But all the events he goes through and the people he meets, good and bad, really help to shape the person he ends of becoming.
The characters are probably the main reason though I am stuck loving this manga. I love all the characters. Everyone has a role to play. Good or bad you learn to like them.I don't want to give too much away so I will leave it at that.
I really enjoy re-reading this series. It's surprisingly a quick read if you aren't taking the time to look at much else besides the character dialogue. But I would take your time to check out the artwork in this. In the beginning it's fine nothing super special but about 100 chapters in and it transforms into something beautiful.
Gantz is not something I recommend to everyone because not everyone will be able to get past the rape, nudity, and random murder. But if you are looking for something real and you can go from hating the characters to rooting for them, then Gantz is right for you!

I didn't know the series before, except for the movie Gantz:O I watched on Netflix some years ago... I remembered the movie and decided to try the manga just because. I loved it!!!

<Spoiler> In my opinion the ending was great overall! But I liked Tae pretty much from start and I was glad to see that the author didn't make her pass through so much just to end her up violently with the sole purpose of making Kurono mad - which in my opinion would be even more predictable then the actual occurrences of the manga, and more cliche too. </Spoiler>

I really ended up liking most of the main characters and I really enjoyed Kurono's progression. I also quite enjoyed the author depiction of human being in general (like how he points hypocrisies and even malice), although sometimes I felt they were quite dumber then in real life given certain situations.

It also seems to me that Hiroya Oku enjoyed creating it and didn't hold back in drawing what he wanted about sex and violence, that for me is really important as I enjoy to see an artist making what he wishes to do rather than fearing people judgements and censoring his own work. Maybe it's the time it was created (2000 ~ 2013), cause nowadays I feel like most artistic creations in the medium doesn't take such liberties.

I absolutely loved it!

Would watch the anime, but I didn't like some changes I read about, specially about Kurono's characters.

I'm going to make this short and simple. Gantz is quite questionable and confusing, because it doesn't make sense at all until you keep progressing throughout the story. Gantz is basically a black ball who chooses who he wants to fight for him. The series is not completed therefore many questions are yet to be answered. When the characters die in the anime, the chosen people appear in front of a black ball given a task to assassinate a certain type of alien/leader. They use futuristic motorcycles, to swords, to extreme never- before - seen guns. The setting of this manga is like a video game and for every monster you kill the more points you get and the main goal of Gantz is to get 100 points. If they do not complete their task, they lose all their points, or they are all killed. Kurono Kei is the main character and he's selfish and looks down on everybody. Throughout the series he changes and you''ll see him change through drastic experiences. This manga is quite thrilling. The story is intense and makes you want to continue reading on all day. The art is quite interesting and gorey. It has all the elements you could want in a manga. The love stories, action, comedy. The only downfall of this is the way some characters act. If someone were to pop in front of you with a knife with blood covered all over them, you wouldn't just stand there and be like ''Hey why do you look like you want to kill me'' and let them kill you without wanting to avoid the person. Some characters act illogical and seem to have zero common sense. To wrap it up this manga has more to offer then what is written in this review. I suggest you read a volume to figure out whether you would like to continue or not to. I give this manga a 10

This is the classic basic bitch Reddit bro Seinen manga.

It is overall horribly okay. If the characters were written better it could be stunning.

Pros:

-The manga itself is very well drawn in the sense of the flow of panels and action being paced well.

-It is believable and reads easily where many action manga's cannot do this properly.

-The amount of gore for the topic matter is a perfect balance to the plot.

-The some of male characters and some minor ones are believable in terms of what one would do in that scenario.

- It jumps into the story in a reasonable fashion and tells the story well throughout the manga

- The "aliens" are unique in design and the idea for the story is original

- There's a dog. The dog is cute


Cons:

- I would like to introduce the author to some real life women. He seems to have trouble conceptualizing them outside of boxes.

Big titted Rei Ayanami bootleg is a horrific bland turbo-cuck. She's bland and excessively used as rape-bait in the story to the point its unnecessary and the story screams "this was written by a dude".

Whore Angelina Jolie In Tomb Raider is also a character that had me roll my eyes. Guys who don't know women only tend to be able to write three kinds of women: doormats, semen demons, excessively bitchy, and crazy.

All of these women in the story were poor rip offs from other sexualized poorly written female characters.

- The constant Yakuza guys are annoying. It is the same trope over and over. It's gross and tiring.

- The other characters are frustrating in terms of lack of development and how they act outside the world. It seems too scripted in their "not in the alien fight" time for a manga that is supposed to keep you guessing....except for dog. We love dog.

Anime/Manga have a lot of genres, but the more prevalent ones (at least for westerners) are the battle shounens and the slice-of-life's. Said that, another pretty important genre is the seinen, marketed to older men and can even feature gore and more sexual elements. One of the most famous manga of the genre is, without a doubt, Gantz.

Gantz began serialization in 2000 and finished in 2013. It has 383 chapters and was created, written and illustrated by Hiroya Oku, who had previously created Hen and Zero One.

In the start, Gantz has an unusual and (mostly) unpredictable story. The protagonist is not your usual hero and the action is pretty well-thought. An atmosphere of sadness and uneasiness surrounds every interaction of the cast. The ambiance is dark. but natural. The characters die, but it rarely feels forced. But this only characterises most of the first part.

Thing start to go downhill when the vampires are introduced (yes, there also are vampires), and it only gets worse in the second part. The protagonist becomes a regular hero, a knight in shining armor, if you will. The atmosphere becomes just a whole lot of crazy with no clear sense of identity. The new characters are instantly hateable and die as soon as they are introduced.

The conclusion actually goes against everything shown during the rest of the manga. It just so boringly predictable you would have thought it was taken from one of the hundreds of generic battle shounens that already exist.

But the one thing that really annoyed me was how the shocking moments were all ridiculously forced and there just to shock, with no logic reasoning behind it. The design of the aliens becomes progressively crazier and more explicit and the gore reaches insane levels. The shocks eventually become just a laughable attempt to make the reader uncomfortable.

To make matters worse, the second part tries to be philosophical. That is, only tries, but never accomplishes to do it in an interesting way. The approach is simply just too on-the-face to make it work. Also, it is hard to be philosophical when it also includes casual nudity, insane amounts of gore and nonsensical imagery only there to shock.

Kei Kurono is the only truly interesting character in the gigantic cast between main characters and supporting members. The only one who truly presents a conflicting personality and evolves during the course of the series. The rest is all boring archetypes that are there either to die or to fall in love with the protagonist, most of the times. There were two particular girls who were crazy about Kei and constantly repeated the now-hated phrase: "Kei-chan! Kei-chan! Kei-chan!!! ...". You will be surprised by how much that you will dread this phrase, that is, if you get there.

If there is one thing that Gantz excels in is the action. Intelligent and unpredictable, the fights have a real sense of danger and intensity that is not accomplished everyday. It is pretty gore-intesive, but that is to be expected from the genre. Whenever the characters use swords, the intensity receives an impressive boost, and so does the sense of speed.

A huge part of that is the unusual art. Its process is also quite unique: after the initial story board, Hiroya Oka and his team creat a 3D representation of the scene in the computer, print it and draw over it. This creates a very particular style that is instantly recognizable, if a bit unnatural. This highly influences the design of everything from the humans to the aliens. Despite the lack of liveliness in the art, this not only fits the atmosphere of the manga, but also enhances it.

Even after all that, I still managed to enjoy Gantz. Its action managed to keep me interested enough and it first part was not only enticing, but also highly entertaining. I even enjoyed a bit reading the second part, in a glorious trainwreck kind of way.

Gantz has a great start and an incredible first part, but, sadly, the second part can't hold a candle to the rest. My advice, read the first part and then just drop Gantz. It is not worth reading the second one.

Fans of seinen manga should give it a try, as it pretty important for the genre. If you are looking for an unusual story, this manga will probably interest you.

Gantz is kind of awesome, but in a weird way. A really weird way. Not "weird" because of any kind of originality, but because of how it manages to be awesome.The plot is extremely lazy with blatant holes throughout. It's mostly about the overblown/unrealistic action, and holy mother of god, is it overblown/unrealistic. Ammo clips are infinite, when actual guns are used. The masses are weak, brainless, and easily influenced cannon fodder, to an absurdly exaggerated degree. "The masses," of course, including just about all side characters. In the world of Gantz, gangsters hang out in toilet stalls and collect people's teeth like baseball cards. Characters lose limbs and just joke about it without bleeding to death. At one point, the crew fights off an army of massive evil Buddha statues. No societal or theological commentary there, just shits and giggles.


This was clearly the product of a creative mind, at least at the outset, but a lazy one as well. It falls apart towards the end, it's full of terminated sub-plots and forgotten characters, and it constantly re-writes its own rules. So why was it not bad? Well, it is self-aware to an almost hilarious degree. Okay, it is absolutely to a hilarious degree. I can't imagine Oku (the mangaka) wrote this stuff with a straight face. The aliens are often ridiculously comedic in their odd design, although they got less so as the series went on. They have zero personality besides some funny quirks and rage buttons. Gantz plays with the idea of "hey, what if they're just misunderstood," and then, for the most part, tosses that idea out of the window along with all possible ambiguous morality or subtlety. Gantz first dons a façade of depth via things such as cynicism and death, but it acknowledges this and subverts it over time as if its playing a joke on you. This is actually enjoyable if you have the right attitude and observe it like you would an Ed Wood film or something of that ilk. The amount of tropes it ultimately evokes may be record-setting, and this is, in a way, impressive in and of itself.



Terminated subplots are probably the biggest issue. At one point vampires are introduced. They are never explained, their exact abilities and motives are unclear, they just look like humans, and their whole diabolical vampire organization is forgotten. At one point psychics are introduced. Their abilities are never explained and the limits vary, the origin unclear. Things in this same vein happen again and again throughout the manga. That said, it's somehow a bit refreshing to have a poorly written series that just does not give a fuck about silly little things like "plot," if only in that it harbors no illusion as to its quality and just focuses on delivering good action and fanservice instead. The series is actually near-pure fanservice, in one way or another. At a certain point, if the plot gets bad enough, the author would be better off just not trying anymore. Gantz knows this. It knows where to focus its energy and how to play to its strengths. I wish manga like Bleach were more like that. Hilariously enough, the attitude the mangaka had while writing this manga epitomizes the nihilistic themes surrounding it far better than anything within the work itself.


Unfortunately, the action is marred by inconsistency. Really, the entire manga is, but I think we've established that. The way the weapons and suits work changes inexplicably from chapter to chapter. Hell, even the way Gantz beams people in varies, in more ways than one. Not to mention all of the rules and limits. As the combat lacks proper consistency, it consequently lacks proper tension. It can be pretty entertaining, like some cheap Hollywood popcorn blockbuster, but it doesn't offer much in the way of substance or emotion. Tension is further reduced as more plot points are introduced that make fatal injuries and even death negligible. There is the whole "what if the world is destroyed" thing, but the general populus in Gantz is so stupid that you kind of like it when they die.


The characters are all either one dimensional or they ended up having development that was completely contrary to everything we had learned about them previously. They sometimes work as semi-clunky plot devices, but they are hit or miss overall. Any development they experience is to serve the plot, contrived, and spontaneous. They all invoke the "parents do not exist" trope to some extent, because Oku considered the prospect of writing more characters and was all like "dude, fuck work" and then I imagine he smoked a joint or two and had a marathon Idolm@ster watching session with Kentaro Miura and Yoshihiro Togashi. That said, a lot of the characters do manage to be entertaining, and, due to the high body count, only a few of them overstay their welcome. The few that do, I want to stab, but I also get some kind of masochistic pleasure out of watching them succeed and I imagine Oku bestowed plot armor upon them for this very purpose.


The art is, surprise, surprise: inconsistent. Some faces are far too similar, or just generally not well drawn. Early on especially, they often looked really wonky. Landscapes are usually lackluster in terms of scope, and creativity during battle. I remember in a scene that took place in Italy the art was just chaotically beautiful, and repulsive simultaneously; the atmosphere was incredibly unique as well and I found myself wishing it was like that all the time, but alas, it was not. The different settings were usually not disparate enough, atmospherically. The aliens are mostly creative and detailed, with some exceptions, such as the entire final arc. The action is sometimes a bit hard to follow, but is generally fluid and well executed from panel to panel. The fanservice was generally alright, albeit forced as all hell, but I found myself thinking that Oku believes all titties are identical and are all the size of basketballs. I was gonna fly out to Nippon with my porno collection to teach a nigga about the vast spectrum of areolas and give him a tit diversity tolerance course and shit, but he eventually learned the concept of "DFC" and I was reasonably satisfied.


The rushed ending and drawn-out final arc is where Gantz went completely wrong. Expect to hear a lot of name-yelling by tragically separated lovers, expect the concentration of plot armor to reach unprecedented levels, expect one of the least subtle manga ever to get even less subtle, and expect to watch the only truly interesting character in the series turn into an annoying and generic Hollywood hero. Every single character morphed into a complete cliché, for that matter; even if they were somewhat cliché before, they still had some individuality. In the end, there isn't a single compelling character.


If you want answered questions, then this is not the place to go. The plot points that were resolved (most were not) were all resolved with a ridiculously random deus ex machina evoking the age-old maxims of "it was [more] aliens" and "don't read too much into it." The ending itself is not only a complete shift from everything that came before in the manga, it is completely devoid of all logic to an extent that I had never seen before this manga. Trust me, no exaggeration, wait until you read it.


If you want mindless—and I do mean mindless—action, then you're in luck, because that's all Gantz really delivers on. That said, it delivers on this somewhat well and with a sense of humor. It is actually at its best when it's overblown, unrealistic, exploitative, and absurd. If you go into it knowing what to expect then you should end up enjoying it somewhat. I have to admit, the only other manga this length that I have reread as many times is probably One Piece. The final arc and horrendous ending drag the final product down pretty significantly, but it's still not bad


Additional comments:
I said "Hollywood" three times in this review, but don't get me wrong, it isn't really like any Hollywood film. There are just some similarities in the intent.

What can I say about Gantz? This dark seinen has been hailed a masterpiece by some, and utter trash by others. I would say that it is a bit of both, having some extremely good qualities and some glaring flaws which is enough to warrant the hate that it gets. However, it is not a bad manga at all, and I'll do my best to point out its pros and cons.

The thing that really stands out for me in this manga is the level of creativity on display. Seriously. It's goddamned glorious, from monster designs to all the crazy situations our characters find themselves in. This is a rare and fascinating glimpse into an extremely inventive mind, and I guarantee you that some of these vivid images will stay with you. Crazy, crazy things happen in this manga that you will not soon forget, and some of the monster designs seen will undoubtedly crop up in your nightmares sometime. It's that remarkable.

Another great strength is the art. A lot of it is done digitally, and this creates a unique feel not seen in many other manga. Environments, faces, monster designs, everything looks pretty amazing, especially towards the end. There is the occasional visual clutter or stuff-up of human proportions, but overall the art is really really great.

I also liked the characters, which is something of a controversial opinion, given that many of the complaints regarding this manga has to do with the characters. Protagonist Kei Kurono is a complete douche-nozzle, but we see him evolve greatly and change as the story goes on, until he's a pretty great dude. Many other douche-bag characters exist, but I believe that these are deliberate social commentaries made by the author. He is trying to bring out the worst in people, highlighting the kind of scum that exists in society. I don't want to bring out any specific examples, but overall the use of characters in this manga is very good.

Now let's get to the story, which is the most bumpy element of this manga. At first, it was amazing. It genuinely felt like a horror to me, with shocking unpredictable moments at every turn. The social commentary was in full swing, and there were plenty of moments of complete badassery. I consider this the best stage of the manga, a kind of social horror that is full of moral choices and dilemmas that make even the reader question their own morality. The social commentary and badassery continue for a long time, but after a while you begin to notice the bad planning of this manga. Many story threads are picked up and then suddenly dropped, creating plot holes and too many unanswered questions. Things are left poorly explained or simply not explained at all. After a while, it feels like the author was really just freestyling the story. Sure, a lot of creativity and badassery remains, but it never recovers fully to the standard of the earlier chapters. I kept reading for the sake of it, frequently getting bored and not feeling the same kind of excitement I did before. Eventually it loses its horror edge and becomes more like a Michael Bay film in the last hundred or so chapters, which allows for some great action but overall is quite dull. Some extremely awesome moments still remain, but you'll likely be yawning frequently, despite the badassery on display. At this point the series has lost it's edge, becoming nothing more than dull gore and occasional sex.

Now don't get me wrong. This is still a great manga. However, given the length and the dullness of the later chapters, it does become kind of hard to recommend. This series contains some of the most awesome, creative monster designs, chaotic, mindblowing situations and really gripping, emotional drama, but it becomes increasingly more 'meh' as the series comes to a close. It's still pretty cool, just nowhere near as gripping as it used to be. Despite ending this review on a quite negative note, the manga's good parts are enough to warrant this a solid 8/10.

So just began reading Gantz, I'd avoided it for quite some time because of the many mixed reviews I had received from friends as well as those I've read online, well like anything else, you won't know until you actually try it for yourself, it runs out that this is truly an amazing story and what a great premise, this could easily be turned into a great live action film if done right, e.g., good acting, good screenplay and director, anyway the whole context of how everyday people put in this extraordinary situation and how they cope with it is very well done, and how the whole idea of life and death is handled, one could imagine how would we ourselves react when confronted with this dilemma, and as I often do, I watch the anime parallel with reading the manga to compare the depth of the story, since we all know that sometimes one is better than the other, that having been said, both have much to offer; the manga of course going deeper into detail, but the anime hold up on it's own level although I personally find the episodes too short.

Gantz is not for the squeamish given the graphic and brutal violence, but the story keeps all the carnage in context, and for those who appreciate "fan service", there is plenty of it here.

What is a good attention grabber to immerse the reader into the story? Gantz, like Yu Yu Hakusho, starts out with the main character getting killed. Kei Kurono and his childhood friend Masaro Katou are run over by a train and are iinstantly transported into a war zone where people are violently slaughtered by strange aliens.

The man who wrote this story, Hiroya Oku, is truly a genius, as he heavily immerses the reader into a breathtaking story. Whenever I read Gantz or any of his other works like Hen, I find myself unable to stop reading. Gantz has an amazing story and is very unpredictable, as characters you bond with can be killed at any moment. This manga is still ongoing and I have yet to witness the closure to this manga.

The art is one of my favorite aspect of Gantz. The weapons, the armor, and the vehicles are completely original and add depth to the story. The aliens, likewise, are completely innovative and have intricate designs. This show has tons of gore and sex, yet none of it seems disgusting or repulsive and actually adds to the story.

There are a lot of interesting characters to be found in this manga. Kei Kurono, the protagonist, starts out as a pessimistic and horny high school student who only sees the negative in society. As he fights in more battles, he transforms into a hero who values human life, but is not blinded by justice, like his friend Katou (who has trouble even fighting the aliens). Other characters, like Nishi and Izumi, tend to be a lot darker (antiheroes), yet I found myself cheering for them.

Overall, this manga is a masterpiece and anyone who wants to read a great and original story, should give Gantz a try. The amount of gore and sex scenes can put off some people, but it really isn't that bad. This is one of my all time favorite mangas, so give it a try!

(Spoiler free)

My commentary focusing on the relationship between the leading male and main female protagonist:

In chapter 2 an event takes place that should deeply traumatize the entire cast. The unconscious, naked female main protagonist is introduced. The leading protagonist's only thought is of arousal. We immediately discover that she has just attempted suicide. His only thought following this discovery is "This chick is hot!"

She is then dragged away into a back room by a "bad" male side character who attempts to rape her without explanation. The scene is only depicted by 2 panels of the man unzipping his trousers. She is eventually saved by a member of the group. This traumatizing event is never mentioned or referenced again and the victim seems totally unaffected. Despite the severe psychological consequences of having just attempted suicide and then immediately being forced upon, the main protagonist continues to think objectifying, sleazy thoughts about her.

A few volumes in, (these characters have barely spoken a word to each other) she declares that she wants to be "his pet", but states "you shouldn't have sex with your pets." He eventually thinks "I might as well just rape her." I've left out so many glaring examples of rampant misogyny, delusion, and entitlement displayed by the leading protagonist who we are arguably encouraged to identify with and support.

I completely support an individual's decision to read hyper-sexualized manga, but I would argue something like Gantz goes beyond the taboo of incest-corpse-rape Hentai (I'm sure that's probably a thing) as the writer seemingly makes no attempt to fetisize the emotional depravity, it's simply presented as an every day common occurrence that has no impact on the characters.

Read the first volume of Gantz to remind yourself of some of the most unintentionally immoral, depraved, unintelligent and delusional themes that manga (as a medium) has to offer.

I read this manga front to back in about 25 hours. I feel like in this world of constant Isekai anime and classic cash grabs going back to something older was a really great change. did it break out of classic manga tropes and revolutionize the world when reading it in 2019, not really but it was still more of a breathe of fresh air than most newer reads. I really enjoyed the art style which was shockingly gritty. The story wasn't anything brand new but had some fun twists that I didn't see coming although I did have some issues with totally random plot twist's. the main character development has a really great flow and he is super easy to route for as the manga progressed but sometimes you find yourself just sitting there asking why, why did you do that? Like wear your GOD DAMN SUIT TO SCHOOL PLZ. Overall I really enjoyed this manga one criticism is the rape and nudity was a bit much but I guess that goes with the really dark story line. If you don't have a manga your currently reading and want something a bit out of the ordinary and very dark id give it a try you'll know if you like it by chapter 50 or so.

peace