Ranked #882

Gantz - Second Stage

I think overall, the second season of Gantz was my favorite. However, I watched it without even realizing there was a second season at first (I watched all 26 episodes straight.) There wasn't really a break in between the first and second season, at least I could barely tell. If it showed in the opening song, I didn't really watch all of that. Otherwise, this is really a great series.

I started watching this only a few days ago and I finished yesterday actually and I really wanted to write a review for it but I couldn't access the site for some reason. And going to work in between watching this series only made me anxious to continue it yet again. In other words, it was good enough for me to want to go home immediately and watch.

Story: The story was good. The characters may irk you but the concept of the story was great. It talks about death and sex a lot and with the topic of death, it certainly gets you thinking, well, if you care about it at all anyway. There's a lot of blood, guts, violence, and gore in this. So...if you're liable to vomiting, get sick, or something like that, then you shouldn't watch this. Otherwise, the story's good besides it's only flaw: the ending. And you all know how that goes usually. Starts out great but ends in a questionable manner. Yeah. Of course, I've heard that the manga is better.

Art: I liked the art for the most part. It was good. It wasn't choppy or anything like that. However, when compared to the manga, I guess it just didn't make your stomach turn as much. A few years back, I read the first chapter of the Gantz manga. I was a lot younger but I remember it being quite graphical that I didn't like it and I put it down. But I think it was mostly because the drawings don't move like an anime in which you see the scenes for merely less than a second. Since the drawings don't move, you focus on certain images and it makes it more gory and disgusting. Anyhow, I certainly liked the art went it got further making Kei look really cool.

Sound: To be truthful, I don't remember much of the sound effects they used but I'm supposing they weren't using effects that made me cringe with incompatibility. I loved the opening song by RIP SLYME.
By the way, I watched the Japanese version and I though the voices were compatible.

Character: This is one of those series where you really hate/dislike the character at first (at least in moral sense, some may find them amusing instead) but then later you start to really like them. Well, I'm mainly talking about Kei, the protagonist, who went through the most character development. You start to like certain characters but they soon die off making you mad or sad but they are soon replaced by new members of the Gantz team once again. The most puzzling character is Gantz, and this is also a flaw in the story which doesn't tell us what exactly is going on in the Gantz world.

Enjoyment: If you can take blood, guts, violence, sex, immorality, and anything related to that then it's all good. (You might hate some things, but you'll get over it)

Overall, I give a 9 because I really liked this anime. I hated the ending since it's so obscure but this certainly helped me give a shot at the manga once again. read more

Story:
Well, this isn't really as much as a new series as it is a SECOND STAGE, as used in the title. This is pretty much the second season of GANTZ, picking up were the last one left off. No story changes. The story to me is rather original, and you probably won't find many other stories like this one. The only problem I have with the story is how slow it moves. In total, GANTZ SECOND STAGE is 13 episodes long, but the story moves along at a pace more suiting to a 43 episode long anime. Very messed up pacing, and it uses flashbacks more than it did in the last season here, which gets annoying.

Art:
Not much to say here, your typical 00's era art is here, but with terrible CGI mixed in. Most people wouldn't mind some CGI, but the CGI they used in here literally looks like a Playstation Game from the 90's. Bad Quality CGI, and the regular art doesn't have much to say for itself, although I will say that some parts of it are very detailed.

Sound:
Watch this series subbed, and the subtitles are very good. The Japanese voice actors are very suiting for each character that they portray. The only bad point is that the dub isn't as good as it should be. The monster's noises are very convincing and creepy, and if you watch this at night, be prepared to be creeped out.

Characters:
The main character is a hit or miss kind of guy. Some times you will like him, sometimes you won't. Characters in this series die and appear rather rapidly and realistically, so don't expect any cop outs from the producers where a character is 'magically' saved at their 11th hour. Most of the characters I enjoyed, but don't get to attached to them -- They don't hang around for very long.

Enjoyment:
I enjoyed this series very much despite some of it's flaws. The series ended when it started getting boring, which is always a good thing. If you have the time, I suggest watching all of GANTZ SECOND STAGE in one sitting. Very enjoyable.

Overall:
A good series that has it's flaws, but is brought back up by excellent action, a good plot premise, and lot's of blood. I would say that most people as long as they aren't offended by sex, nudity, blood, or exessive violence would massively enjoy this series as much as I did. I would say this series would be alright for a mature 13 year old or older to watch. Main Verdict: Go buy this series. read more