Gantz

It has come to my attention that the last reviewer for this Anime series must have been someone between the ages of 12 and 14, still stuck on the "DragonballZ fight, fight fight!" mentality and simply ignored the bigger picture. While this show has it's fair share of action, the show focuses on the inner livings of diverse human types being put through varying dangerous situations. The show presents humanity for what it (in the mind of the creator, that is), a huge group of cowards, glory seekers, murderers and all together selfish people. Among them are thrown a few gems, innocent bystanders (children and the elderly) and people that follow a humane moral code; of course, their only role is to provide hope to the viewer, to show that humanity does have it's good sides, however insignificant.

I am left with the impression that Gantz is in itself, purgatory. Passing judgment on the humans he "saves" from absolute death by forcing them to go through a series of trials. Those worthy, the ones that "survive" the trials, regardless of past crimes, will be rewarded, and those that fail will continue their lifeline by resuming their deaths.

Gantz otherwise known as cringe, is a very frustrating Anime with a somewhat brilliant concept however the way the writers decided their annoying characters should behave really tested my patience, you got extremely menacing aliens charging at characters armed with a powerful suit and ultra effective weapons (albeit still kind of stupidly designed since there's a huge lag between when you fire the laser guns and their impact) but all they do is stay baffled, reluctant to shoot or/and make the most illogical choices, it doesn't help that all of the group of humans basically stay still and rarely ever engage or do something of merit when the alien monsters are ripping one of them apart right in front of their eyes, either fight or run like hell! besides you'd think this kind of behaviour would change later in the show but no these guys are still acting so dumb even after their previous experiences. I have a very wierd relationship with this Anime series since despite of its endless flaws it still has something that hooked me on it, I consumed this piece of sleazy dumb action/horror in a matter of 2 days, I don't think that the creator intended for it to be goofy but I think I was approaching it in the same way I would approach an exploitation B movie, not to mention that this is the most Japenese Anime you'll probably ever see containing alot of perversion and brutal brutal violence, so there's plenty to like here for all you weebos out there.

The story revolves around a changing group of people (other than the main characters) who die but find themselves reassembled in an apartment they can't escape with a large black sphere (Gantz) that provides them with weapons, a power suit, and instructions to kill an alien target within a time limit. Those who survive are free to return to their lives until they are summoned again, with increasingly poor odds of survival each time.

The animation is reminiscent of the R-rated anime more common back in the '80s, with uncensored graphic violence, nudity, sex, and generally mature themes, and it's refreshing to watch an adult-oriented story that hasn't been watered down to receive PG rating (though it does have a jarringly out-of-place JPop theme song). The series covers about half of the story from the manga before concluding with an open-to-interpretation ending that, but that's better than ending on a cliffhanger that never gets resolved.

Gonzo Studios has a tendency to use unnecessary flashbacks or simply cut animation quality when they run out of time and/or money, and I can live with that, but they made a lot of choices which may or may not have been in the manga that simply that make no sense. Why is the population of 2004 Tokyo 95% Caucasian and why would they all look forward to seeing someone get run over by train and refuse to help? How can high school bullies, who look like they're in their 30s, get away with pulling teeth out of their victims? Why would a group of people, including a guy who easily beats up the biggest of the aforementioned bullies, stand around and do nothing when a guy carries a teenage girl away into the next room to rape her? Why do people who just died and see other people being reassembled in front of their eyes act like nothing strange is going on and refuse to listen to the main characters who are trying to save their lives?

The thing that will really have you shouting at the screen is all the times (and this happens a lot) when the characters stand around talking about how they should shoot the monster despite the time limit and immediate threat to their lives, yet no-one actually starts shooting. Two or three people will die before even one of them starts shooting while the rest still just stand there. Then, when half of them do finally join in (the rest still standing there watching), they charge towards the monster, guns in hand but still not shooting, until a couple more people are killed.

Overall, I do recommend Gantz, but it's frustrating to watch something that could have been so much better brought down by things that should never have been allowed into the series in the first place.

When i was thinking that a great part of the animes were looking similar, i watched this one with no great expectations.I got surprised with the realism of the characters' actions. OK the history is NOT the most incredible that i've seen in my life but that's not the point in this anime. Maybe some will think it's shocking,too violent or will not like the strong language etc... However this was the way to show each characters actions and feelings in the worst situations. This anime is great because it is really innovative and explores the characters like no other. There's taboo, so anything can happen anytime, always letting you surprised . If you're bored of the old story of the princess and the magic world and the magic sword and the magic... GANTZ is VERY recommended.

Gantz actually got my adrenaline pumping throughout the series and in effect almost made me feel like breaking in the television screen at some points. It kind of gave me that same feeling that GunGrave did. You feel for the characters that you do not even know just for the sake of wanting him/her to survive Gantz evil game. The series is quirky in the beginning and later on turns disdainful on the viewer. I started to feel hopeless towards the end and although I wanted the best to happen for everyone that's not what necessarily happened. If you plan on watching this then plan on watching cool action scenes that feel like they came straight out of a video game and non-stop violence. Yes, there is much graphic violence and sexual content on this one, but if you are old enough then try to endure it for the sake of enjoying an action packed anime. The only thing that got me kind of mad ws how the characters took forever to actually shoot a villain/alien/evil human. Inside my mind I was like, "Come on already!!!! Don't get yourself killed!" Check this out. I dug it.