User reviews

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.

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.

This is an awesome series unlike some people think. Yeah i think they could have taken it farther since the Manga goes on Forever, but i think it was a great series altogether. The voice actors a well done and the animation is great. Nothing is forgotten by these animators and i think that is great. I would recommend this DVD series to the most die hard Anime fans (meaning the like more then Naruto and Inyuasha great but not the best anime's.) So if you like blood, death, and maybe a little sex in an anime this is the perfect one for you. just know you have to watch the last episodes a few time before you completely get what happens unless your some1 who catches on fast.

The Gantz anime series is an amalgamation of events that occurred in the first few volumes of the manga. It's an introduction to the Gantz universe and its inhabitants--most notably, the aliens and their human hunters. Like the manga, the anime centers around the growth and emergence of Kurono (Chrono) as a hero and his effort to win and survive at all costs. There's a good deal of sex and violence as well as long stretches of philosophical banter and social critique, but it often comes across as being so self-righteous and ultimately defeatist that most messages would only be appealing to audiences that already had the same beliefs.

The artwork is dark and is true to Oru Hiroya's concepts down to the intricately detailed weapons and power suits. The characters range from the sexually eager and aggressive Kurono, to the gallant Katou, to the buxom Kishimoto. The animation is mostly satisfying. Since Hiroya's artwork uses 3d models for scale and proportion, they can seem stiff and often lack fluidity. That same flaw is evident in the anime as well.

The story is intriguing, at the least, and seems to be inspired by movies such as The Cube. The sci-fi aspects are cool and even I would like to run around in a power suit for a day or two.

Altogether, it has some great ingredients that are marred by plodding progression and preachy characters. The fan-service is there, though not to an excess, but this is certainly not for children or those that are easily offended by violence, gore, or opinions diametrically opposed to your own. It's definitely worth watching and depending on who you are, you might just like it a lot.

Pretty awesome when I saw it for the first time. A decade later it was fresh again when I saw it with a new girlfriend. It sticks with me and I'm troubled by the hints of lunar occultism. Another case of an anime teasing you with something beyond the veil and doing it with the style you can't get anywhere else.

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.

I don't like to use the word 'masterpiece'...but it wouldn't be an insane adjective to use to describe Gantz. This is one of the best all around anime I've ever seen.

It has an extremely interesting and rather unique concept that is thoroughly explored and discussed through the characters. It has the surface level 'low brow' entertainment like extreme amounts of violence and a pretty hefty amount of nudity. It does an excellent job of going against the typical story clichés. Moments of character empowerment are shot down in the flash, people who seem like throwaway characters come back later, and none of the characters are safe from harm.

Speaking of the characters, they are very dynamic and what makes this show last. Good guy heroes often come off as cowardly, douchebags save the day, etc etc. The characters also come across plenty of moral dilemmas and have plenty of discussions about the nature of society.

Some say they hate the ending, or that it is confusing. I don't see why, if you just pay attention a little bit to the visuals and how the fundamentals of the whole thing works...it's quite clear. Yes, there are some things that aren't fully explained...but the end result, what happens to our hero(and/or heroes) is quite clear.

In conclusion, it's an anime with a great concept, great characters to explore it, great animation, a ton of violence, plenty of nudity, a decent amount of action and some good social commentary. Regardless of the manga, if you've read it or what you think of it, Gantz is a fantastic stand alone anime...and I think I'd prefer THAT to a seemingly endless story.

I've never seen anything like this. The subtle but strong colors, the simple character styles, the AMAZING music, the exciting storyline, everything is great about this tiny little adaptation of a longer (and even better) manga. I even liked the different version of ending that the writers thought of. A definite game changer for me, and it set the bar quite high for me, as far as animes and films go. 10/10 would recommend.

I really like the Gantz manga, I've been reading it for some time and it's become one of my favorites, but the anime in my opinion is kind of bad.

I know what you're thinking, I'm probably being unfair comparing the two. But here's the thing, I watched the anime BEFORE I started reading the manga and still didn't like it. Now that I've read the manga, I'm glad I didn't watch it all the way through (and that I gave the manga a chance).

For one, the animation, to me at least seems lazy and kind of ugly, and that's without comparing it to the gorgeous art of the manga. It also constantly zooms in and out, making the world seem more artificial. I've seriously seen better animation in Neon Genesis Evangelion and Cowboy Bebop. You know you've done something wrong when animation from almost 10 years ago is better than yours. But even that is only a minor problem.

The story for Gantz is intense and violent for good reason, but with the anime, it felt kind of flat at times. And the pacing was all over the place, it didn't seem to know when to be intense and when not to be, not helped by the fact that it's got almost no music throughout and focuses on things that DIDN'T HAPPEN IN THE MANGA. We start the series off with the main character being a total jackass to everyone he meets and everyone KNOWING HIM FOR IT. Sure, in the manga, he was kind of a jerk, but very subtle and even pretty likeable, the anime just seemed to forget about all of that and make him like an unfunny Peter Griffin. That aside, each of the story arcs are so dragged out, the first story arc probably could've taken 2-3 episodes to complete, not FIVE. Not to mention that the endings to each episode are so sudden and nonsensical and each episode is full of random stuff that slows the plot down drastically, I can literally name at least 10 things in the first episode alone that didn't happen in the manga (for good reason) and screw up the continuity of the entire story.

Also, the ending was complete time filler crap that was VERY similar to the aforementioned Cowboy Bebop at the very end. There's also a lot of random new characters who have little depth or substance by comparison to the ones in the manga or earlier in the show. I know that some anime like Black Butler do that if there isn't any more source material at the time, but that's not the case for Gantz. By the first episode, there was a lot more story than they've got in the entire anime, in fact I'd say they only adapted a third of the existing source material at the time. All that time, I was just asking "did they blow their whole budget on how many unnecessary monologues and scenes there are?" Apparently so, cause I can't think of any other way they wouldn't include more of it.

On the plus side, though, the English voice acting is surprisingly good, Christopher Ayres in particular does a pretty good job as Kei Kurono, even if he kind of makes him sound older than he actually is. So is this a horrible show? That's kind of a strong word, but I personally didn't like it even BEFORE I read the manga. I think this series could use a reboot with a better, more competent production team because Gantz deserves a good anime adaptation. But if you're looking for good English dubs, check it out (I don't blame Funimation in any way, I just blame the original team). Also, I know I'm in the minority, but still, this is my two cents on the show, I enjoyed Gantz: 0 a lot more

"Gantz" (2004) is somewhat of a curiosity within its genre. While it boasts an high-octane action reputation built on almost absurd levels of violence, this is not the end-all be-all of "Gantz". The plot is the vehicle of this absurd tumult, revolving around the dead being coerced into forcibly evicting or executing transient aliens, and is itself somewhat absurd even if it is intriguing. The story itself is driven by the character development, however.

The characters are remarkably well written, having many facets to their psyches complete with strengths and flaws. Early on, the anime begins by exploring the Bystander Phenomenon (many people watching another in distress, though nobody helping) and Groupthink/Mob Mentality through an interesting usage of the Protector Archetype. Best of all, the characters, particularly Kurono Kei, are dynamic.

Though it is easy to get lost in the exaggerated violence, apathy, and cruelty which weave in and out of the storyline, this ultimately serves as a vehicle for age-old philosophical quandaries, though you have to look through the Tarantinoesque bloodshed to see them. Chief among the questions raised, are: "Is life truly sacred?" "Is it kill or be killed?" and, "What, if anything, can one person do to change the world?" While the viewer may make his or her own conclusions to these questions, the director still hasn't given his answer yet, forcing the public to wait for "Gantz" Season 2.

This anime contains adult themes including violence, nudity, and profanity. Not recommended for children.

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.

If you haven't already started this series, don't. EVER! If you have and suffer from the same obsessive-compulsion to complete things that I do then I can only offer my sympathy and hope that the next anime you pick up is not quite so soul-crushingly, moronically, and perversely juvenile in it's utter wasting of your life.

I read some of the review titles for this series and I had to keep checking the top of the page to be sure they were talking about the same series. Words and phrases like 'amazing', 'great', 'best anime ever', and 'my favorite' should NEVER be applied to this utterly worthless pile of refuse. I actually had to stop mid-episode multiple times and go do something else just to cool the frustration that was unavoidably and constantly generated from trying to relate to the undeveloped characters (both one-dimensional and infantile) and enjoy the undeveloped story (again, both one-dimensional and infantile). Only my obsessive-compulsion to always finish any story I start, reinforced by some perverse need to find what one reviewer called 'some shining moments' got me all the way to the end of it. I found maybe four or five of those 'shining moments' throughout the entire 26 episodes, and they really were just brief moments. I only picked the series up in the first place because the movie "GANTZ-0" presented such an interesting basic premise and story idea that I felt compelled to find more material to fill in the massive gaps of character and story-telling that exist in that title (once again NOTHING [characters, plot, story] gets developed at all). What a colossal mistake that was. Hours of my life that I will never get back. There was never a single moment in the entire series that suggested anything other than perverse, slow-witted, socially apathetic juveniles were involved with the project and only perverse, slow-witted, socially apathetic juveniles could possibly enjoy it. Now for some specifics:

Plot: The plot is disjointed and often frustratingly unrealistic. Characters are constantly put into tense, life or death situations and (after WAY too much internal conflict and monologue) end up finally taking action (or not) based on the weakest and most juvenile motivations, or no apparent motivation at all. For example, faced with a gruesome death from a horrifying creature a character might finally do the dumbest thing possible just to try to impress a huge-boobed girl or because someone called them a 'fag'.

Story: The story is at times incredibly slow (think Dragon Ball Z) and sometimes basically non-existent (because for minutes on end literally NOTHING actually happens). These moments are filled with the freaked out, horrified, confused, or just plain blank expressions of the various present characters with no dialogue or internal monologues at all interspersed with moments filled with nothing more than said dialogues or internal monologues, all of which are simple, unsophisticated, and juvenile. Worse still, many of the episodes end in such moments then the next episode actually replays the last five minutes of the previous episode before adding another five minutes or so of the same drivel before anything actually happens so the whole thing can FINALLY move forward to the next of these brain deadening pauses in the action.

Characters: There are only three characters that even persist long enough in the series to have the opportunity for real development and even they are still left one-dimensional and emotionally infantile at the end of 26 episodes. Sex, power and survival seem the only real motivations for any of the characters, with the possible exception of Katou who naturally ends up being the only character of interest by default. Even these very basic motivations are dealt with on the most simple level and in the most juvenile terms.

Action: Even the action (when it FINALLY happens) is left seriously wanting. It is visually fun at moments, but often utterly idiotic in it's execution (I was regularly screaming in my head, "You just did WHAT?!?", or even worse, "Nobody would do that!! NOBODY is that stupid!!"). Even if you disagree with my take on the execution there simply isn't enough of it. Considering the premise this should have been an action-packed and action driven story, but there is nowhere near enough of it for that.

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.

Easily in the top 5 of anime for me, and it's not for everyone. It is crass, it is ugly, gory, lot of nudity, not a lot of purpose, it is NEGATIVITY.

The premise is simple; you lose your life in a dumb way, you get a second chance at it by playing a bounty hunter game. Collect 500 points and you have a chance of a second life. THOUGH, die during the game, and that's it. The enemies they fight are real, and other worldly. This is not a children's anime. I think they call this Seinen. OR adult anime. Where Shonen is like pre-teen to teen. You'll get gore in your Shonen, but usually no nudity. This has it all, any topic you might be uncomfortable with, this will address it and do it in the most offensive for offensive sake possible. One of the contestants that gets tasked to play GANTZ is a dog, that they call "BUTTER DOG" and well it's a special kind of k9 used to do something with peanut butter and women. YEAH, this show is amazingly juvenile. It's edgier than Shadow the Hedgehog or Blink 182. We're surpassing Combichrist level of Edge.

The name of the game is Nihilism and Futility. You may survive the night, get to go back home in a living form, but you're going to be transported back to do it again, to earn that 500 points to freedom. The real kicker is, each enemy they kill barely whittles away at that 500 points to really drive home that futility.

Why do I like it? It scratches that Nihilistic itch. And even though it's a very bleak and depressing anime when you ruminate on it, it's great. Also Super Shooter by Rip Slyme is amazing as the opening song. The thing this anime does well is the animation, it's fast and kinetic. The first hunt in the show, they play with the idea of morality, and then after it, quickly forego it. There doesn't seem to be a deep message here, or it trying to say anything too profound, save for everything is futile save for the connections you make with your fellow man. Since as shallow as this anime comes off, the main character grows more cynical as the battles go on, but still grows as a person. Not in this anime, but in the material, he does get the 500 points and chooses to stay in the game acting as a sort of guide for the other players that come into the story later, hoping the more he plays the more he can find out about what GANTZ is and how to stop it. They breifly go into the "LORE" of GANTZ in this series but not enough to direct you down a path. Which I kind of respect. I respect this anime due to its narrow-mindedness and singular focus it has. Monster of the week battle royale anime and that's all that really matters. You get slight player backstory glimpse but what amounts to a blurb on a baseball card for most. Some get some indepth look. Like the supporting "actor" gets a great family abuse backstory. As I said, every taboo you can think of, every edgy topic they cover it, and usually without tact or nuance.

My suggestion, go on YouTube and watch Supereyepatchwolf's video essay on this property to see if you're into it, since he also does a better job of explaining the philosophy of the story since he read and saw all the GANTZ projects and goes into the Author of it as well. I love it, but it is far from being recommendable.

Gantz is something of a confusion. It goes back and forth and in the end it reveals something of an unsure director who really doesn't have it all together. It dons the mask of a drama and of a satire during the course of its duration and it can get a bit unclear.

Does this make Gantz bad? well it depends on how you look at it. There is some very offensive material in this anime and it definitely doesn't justify it completely. There also isn't a lot of plot fluency or direction and the ending is very uncertain. Not to say that Gantz doesn't have it's good moments, cause it does and they shine quite brightly; but it's just what you have to go through to get there.

I would never recommend Gantz, being how touchy it is. In the end it's something only to pursue if you really have your own mind made up.

Seriously think before you watch this, it could make or break you.

7.3/10

Fan service... strikes again. Not as bad as Witch Blade, but bad enough. This is an excellent anime. Original story and that is very hard to do. Love the artwork, editing, music, especially the opening song... I love just about everything about this anime except for the gratuitous fan service.

It's shown often and in scenes where it is completely unnecessary. Huge boobed teens oozing into skintight suits and shown completely naked. The only girl in the first half is, of course, only there for the fan service. They don't really give her much of a personality. She is in love with another character and seems to only exist for him.

Why? Isn't the anime industry aware that their audience has long ago expanded from teen boys and socially inept men? Just tell a damn good story, with great artwork, voicing, etc. and leave the fan service to a minimum. Seriously.

Oh wait... pardon me. I take it back. I forgot who makes these things. Inspired by teen boys and made by socially inept men. Sometimes they get past the fan service and actually come up with a great series.

Gantz is one of them.

For those who have read the manga - this was a decent adaptation of the manga to anime format.

For those who haven't - please go do read the manga. You will realize that gantz is much more than just killing aliens.

As we all know how it starts, people die & are brought to the gantz room & send on missions to kill aliens. This is where it all starts.

Imagine if you died in some way & you were transported to this room & told to go on missions killing "aliens". I would imagine most of us who haven't killed would question what is happening & those of us who are more tainted & aren't in the norm in life wouldn't find killing anything a problem.

Gantz goes into the human physique & shows how the characters think like real human beings. Well if I died & this hot girl started talking to me & we knew that we definitely died before we came into the room, I would take my chances & hit on her & see how far I could get. Don't anyone of you people say "I would never do that". This is what gantz is all about it puts people in situations where they have to overcome what they've been told in life & break the norms to survive & protect who they care about.

The last mission is how this world is. The biker who died from drowing after he saved that womans child. She could've saved him but she chose not to & just ran off with her baby. The girl who got killed by her stalker & the 2 killers. The old man believed that everyone needed guidance in life to become good but the kid with the blue hair wiped out almost everyone even his own partner. Just shows how gritty it is.

I was watching this with some friends and we were having a good time poking fun at the really bad animation. For what its worth, the concept is really interesting and if anything, we agreed that this made us want to read the source material. We can understand what they were going for despite not sticking the landing most of the time.

This show is definitely carried by the voice acting. The voice actors really gave it their all and it shows, even if the animation doesn't match it. The Temple arc in the second season was actually really great and made slogging through season 1 worth it.

But the cardinal sin this show made was that the ending was absolutely terrible. Random political commentary coming out of nowhere and the very ending was just awful. Read the source material instead or watch Gantz O.