Ranked #903

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

Not so much a new story but a continuation of the previous series, Gantz - Second stage introduces a few new characters to replace the broken original Gantz team.

None of these characters last long or are able to fill the gaps and so this second part does feel lacking in the good character department, it does make up for it in action and good conflicts.

Kurono is back again and in full swing this time, he's ready for anything Gantz can throw at him, or at least, he thought he was.

This second part introduces a few newer issues that extend the "How far are you willing to go to survive?" message that the first part of the series asked.

While Kurono ultimately fails and is not willing to go far enough he does sadly prematurely end his relationship with this new world he was forced to be a part of. That being said, the ending is disappointing, HOWEVER, for anyone who has read the manga, looking back, I believe that this was a good stopping point.

I try not to give up any spoilers in my reviews but... WHEN YOU MESH A SECRET SOCIETY OF VAMPIRES, HIGHLY ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY, ALIENS, AND SERIAL KILLERS WITH GODZILLA-ESQUE MONSTERS the series starts to love it's pizazz.

That being said, the anime is ultimately better than the manga because it knows when to end.

Again, definitely for a more mature audience and there's blood and gore galore, but still worth checking out.

Great anime that's only lacking in a few areas, overall, lovely and worth checking out. read more

Wow, what an anime. Lots of good things, but lots of bad things as well. Sometimes it is awesome, sometimes it is boring and tedious.

Story: 5
The show has a good premise and some pretty cool situations, but it is poorly executed, in my opinion. The fight scenes feel like something out of Naruto or DBZ: long and drawn out. The story could have been told much more quickly, and its a bit disappointing that such a cool premise wasn't taken advantage of as much as it could be. There could have been more games than just two per season, instead of having all the characters standing in front of the enemy about to pull the trigger but chickening out most of the time.

Either way it was pretty good until the infamous last episode... which was filled with boring and stupid dialogue and not the kind of action you would hope to have in the final episode... and then a completely meaningless ending.

Art: 7
The art was pretty good, and the 3D effect was unique and interesting despite the few times in which it looks ugly, as if it was rendered in 3D and the characters are just flat plains facing the camera (which it probably was). But I think they did a good job on the animation besides those parts.

Sound: 6
The sound was good especially the completely freaky monster voices. Besides that it wasn't too memorable except that it fit well. The music is sometimes ugly and sounds like it was a MIDI file.

The music at the beginning is cool, though.

Character: 6
Besides the three main characters, the rest were completely flat. They were more charactures instead of characters, although that seemed to be the point. Gantz did a great job making completely unsympathetic and people (except for a few) to populate the anime besides the three main characters, showing how evil the human race is. In this part, the show excels, since these were never meant to be developed at all and instead just meant to show how awful some people can be.

The problem with the show's characters are the main ones. Although Kei was a pretty complex character that you can both love and hate and laugh at at the same time, the other two were just annoying. Kei was a fun character, though. At first he is not very easy to like but by the end he is likable and cool. His extreme perversion was funny and lit up an otherwise bleak and brutal anime.

Enjoyment: 4
This is the part that annoys me. It could have been really enjoyable with all the cool fight scenes but it just ended up being tedious and painful. In some parts, it was meant to be that way, like the episodes in-between the games, and it was ok because they are meant to show humandkind's evil, but the fight scenes shouldn't have also been painful. I don't like listing to lengthy discussions in the middle of a battle when everything has paused just to hear them speak predictable and repetitive things, or see flashbacks over and over. I also found myself screaming at them to just shoot already. If you want something more enjoyable, read the manga.

Overall: 5
Gantz is an anime that is genius in some places and just plain stupid in others, plus its just too drawn out. I would only suggest this to fans of the manga or for someone with extreme patience or someone who is planning to do something while watching it. Near the end of the anime I was browsing the web and stuff while watching it because it was just too boring.

I wouldn't suggest it to those who are looking just for gore and violence either because the rest of the show is just too tedious if thats all you are looking for.

I don't regret watching it, though, it just could have been done much better. read more

What can be said about Gantz season two that hasn't been said about season one?

Sex.

Gantz really ups the ante in this season by starting out with a bang, or two. *hits snare*


Seriously though, one of Gantz strengths, and probably the majority of its appeal, is that despite its flaws it is still pretty creative. Maybe not in overall plot, but the type of enemies they fight, the weapons they have, their suit's abilities, and the way people die. The range of aliens they encounter are pretty out there and bizarre, and I suppose that's fitting. They have an... interesting assortment of future technology that makes for, let's just say, different fights. The ways in which people die are pretty crazy and... unexpected to say the least.

Even though people are constantly getting screwed left and right, and the world is devious and merciless, something keeps drawing you in. There's some kind of perverse entertainment in Gantz sadistic nature. No matter how much he toys with people or what cruel conditions he inflicts on them, it's hard to hate the big black sphere. He always has humorous descriptions and nicknames for people, and he always starts off every deadly mission with a cheerful tune and this message:
"Your lives are now over, you bastards.
What you do with your new lives is for me to decide.
So there you have it."

Along with increasing the sexuality and possibly gore, the second season of Gantz actually does a good job of resolving dubious elements of the previous season. Absurd mysteries like guns with two triggers and delayed shots are given some kind of explanation. Characters even out more and the storyline comes to a head and wraps everything up neatly. There's even a good twist towards the end. I also realized that I really like the "next episode" theme and wished it was used in the actual episodes. These things might not be canon, but as a way of capping a series they were just what the show needed.


Of course this season is not without its weaknesses. The dub is still terrible, the dialogue is still belabored and the legendary glacial pacing of the first season is back with even more fervor than ever. The characters are as stale as they were before. The animation still oscillates between good and cheap with plenty of CG inbetween.

Unfortunately this season is still riddled with needless flashbacks and ridiculous bodily blood fountains. And soooooo much "speeching". You get only ONE alien encounter, and the moment ANYTHING happens, it can always be followed up by: "let's talk about it."

"Oh no! Kei is in danger. What should we do?"
...Let's talk about it.

"OMG! Is that an alien?"
...Let's talk about it.

"Hey... guys... I'm dying."
Let's talk about it.

This garrulous orgy is complimented by the shows love of still shots and still standing. You are treated to such action packed scenes as:

* Kei standing still and screaming while slowly shooting a statue, who is also standing still and screaming

* A statue slowly walking towards someone

* A statue waiting his turn to slowly walk towards someone


This actually ceases to be a problem towards the last few episodes where the final arc plays out. This was probably the best part of the season/series. Kei even redeems himself a little by the end of it...

And then everything gets thrown out the window. The last few episodes of Gantz are some of the greatest offenders of the flaws I mention above. They even throw in a debate about moral relativism and modern warfare while they're fighting. By this point the show gets ridiculous and it's obvious where it's going. The nosedive into inane territory is tremendous and the end couldn't come soon enough.

I'm not sure how to feel about Gantz because there are things about it I like, but so many things I don't... I don't necessarily regret watching Gantz, but I can think of many far better and less painful shows to recommend. See this only if you have a real fetish for sadism and ecchi gore, otherwise you are probably better off just reading the manga. read more

This review is for both the first and second season of Gantz, as i watched them not even realizing they were split into 2.

This review is also coming from a big fan of the original Manga which runs looooooong past the end of the anime and is still ongoing so this definitely factors into some of my criticism.

Story: Gantz's story is one i find highly entertaining. Basically its about a mysterious black ball in a random appartment building. At the moment of certain peoples deaths, they are instead instantly transported to this appartment where they are made to stand around for a little while, conversing with each other and trying to figure out what the hell is happening. The ball then begins to play excercise music and displays text on its screen telling these people that they are dead and their lives now are up to Gantz (the name of the ball) to decide.It opens up and give people the option to grab any weapons (which are guns with a time lag that make things explode...yeah really you kinda have to see it yourself) and a suit that give you the ability of super strength agility and what-not. It then teleports them to random parts of tokyo on missions to kill Aliens for points, once you reach 100 points you are set free. If you die while in the game, you die forever, if you live then you can go back to your ordinary lives until Gantz teleports you back to the room for another mission.

This is really the entire plot of the series and it is for sure a love or hate type of anime. If your expecting an extremely deep and compelling plot that will make you think this is not it, there is no real mystery to solve and there are no real hints as to whats goign on, this is pure adrenaline pumping entertainment. Unfortunately it end with a filler arc which sucks if you have read the actually manga and wanted more awesomeness but in an ongoing manga serise, such is expected. Other filler though was completely not needed, such as with Nishi's death and the events leading up to it, i swear it took about 2 episodes while it took only a few pages in the book, it was absolutely ridiculous but you just have to grin and bear it.

Art: There isnt alot to say about the art, it looks good for when it was made with both hand drawn art and CG animation for different segments and it doesn't look THAT awkward. If anything it adds to the zanyness of the serise. It is clear at segments where corners were cut but this can be found in many anime. There are some segments where i litarally rolled my eyes at the recycled animation though which was kind of a downer.

Sound: The sound fit the series just fine, nothing that stood out as bad really, the theme song alone was awesome and i hardly ever skipped it, another time where i recalled the music being quite good was when the green onion alien was being killed. It was very dark and grungy yet new sounding and "hip" it was very interesting and fit the situation perfectly.

Character: I thoroughly enjoyed the characters, you will be hard pressed not to find a little bit of yourself in at least a few of them and they all have interesting personalities. Its also very nice to see that they react to these bizzare and crazy situations in very realistic ways, such as wanting to run away from the aliens most of the time or just walk away from the mission thinking its stupid. Without giving too much away there is developement ( at least from the main character Kei) while the rest tend to stick to their morals and ideals. Its also nice to see that the author really doesn't care who lives and who dies. This is quite refreshing seeing as how in most stories you can tell whos major and whos going to make it quite far but with Gantz you never know. Also with each mission there are many deaths, which means Gantz has to bring in many interesting characters each new mission.


Enjoyment: The pure crazyness of the plot and the way characters act is the best part of this series. Some of the lines said (especially in the dub) just make you laugh out loud at how ridiculous they are. Its got gore, comedy, hot chicks, crazy aliens and powers....all i can say is its highly enjoyable (just make sure you don't read into it too much).

Overall i'd have to give this series a 7 and thats coming from a huge Gantz fan, the filler and pacing is simply bad at times and if you have read the original material you will be rolling your eyes at some changes and the ending. If you enjoy this series i HIGHLY reccomend you check out the manga, it is way, way better.
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Gantz is a great manga. I didn't like the anime, because the drawing and style didn't match the original manga, which is a looooot better than the anime. i suggest you to read manga, after that, check out the anime.

*spoiler free* i tried hard to give a general idea of the show and not include any spoilers.

Story: 8
The story in the second season is far better than the first one. The concept is still the same, but we are starting to get the whole picture about what is Gantz and the pieces begin to connect. The monsters become more powerful and more interesting and there is a really brilliant and enjoyable twist in the final episodes, which made everything clear to me and did this show justice. There is also much more action that was absent from the first season.
Art: 8
The art is pretty good. I wasn't wowed by it, though I found it had some unique characteristics. Overall it fitted the whole concept of the show and it is surely far above average. I really liked the use of colors, like gold, especially when used to emphasize on something important.
Sound: 9
The sound was what I enjoyed the most in the series. I find it extremely fitting for the atmosphere of this anime. I also love this kind of music and I still find myself humming the Opening song. Very catchy.
Characters: 8
In this season the main characters become far more interesting and there is growth as the story unfolds, which the first season lacked. The supportive characters are more interesting this season as well, and also play a much more drastic and important part in the main plot.
Enjoyment: 8
I am not a big fan of gore and violence. Bust still I found this anime worth watching. It had something completely new to bring to the table and the second season surely made me see it positively. Especially the ending is one of the best and most complete endings in anime.
Overall: 8
I won't exaggerate and label this a masterpiece, I understand how violence "helped" so the series and especially the ending would have a greater impact.
It also gave to the anime its unique character, but as I said that's not my cup of tea. Watching this from an artist's point of view as a whole idea I would give this a 10. It's something original, it is like teasing us people, our taboos, our ethics, our limits, and all for a reason.
But speaking as me, I am giving it an 8, cause I can't enjoy too much gore and violence as I already said. I admit it, it simply repels me, even if it is "justified". For those of you who have strong nerves and stomachs or you want to see something really original, then it's a must! And if you have watched the first season already don't even hesitate to watch the second one. You'll be rewarded.
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First off, there is a lot of boobs/sex in this half. At first I thought it to be unnecessary, but after finishing it I think it wouldn't be the same without it. Secondly, I really hated the main character at first, but by the end my opinion changed and I found myself rooting for him. Finally, I really enjoyed the way it finished. It might have been nice to end it differently, but I felt it was rapped up nicely and left me satisfied. In the beginning, it may fell like you have to force yourself to watch, but once your done you will be glad you watched. read more

This part of gantz was a little better than the first part. but it was still slow and boring. and the characters were still annoying. had me wanting to shoot myself. and the ending was pointless! worst anime i have ever seen.