Gantz:O

Watched at Toho Cinema, Tokyo.

While Gantz O follows the Osaka Arc it makes some big changes, ones you can see the reason for and some you can't.

Rated at PG12 in Japan, the drug abusing Kyo Hanaki and Rapist Kazuo Kuwabara are absent, understandable.

Less understandable is that most of the Tokyo team are abscent too, it's faster to say the only ones shown are Kurono, Suzuki, Reika, Nishi & Kato....I'm so sad that Host Samurai was absent.

The movie also incorporates an alternative end to the Oni Arc that starts the film off, which was so awesome it gave me goosebumps.

The CGI is amazing and despite it ... being a PG12 it is still full of gore.

This adaptation of the Osaka Arc is pretty good, despite the changes and overall it's a must watch for any Gantz manga fans.

Watched it today in Tokyo, did not regret it.

Gantz:O is a CGI adaptation of a manga that was an extremely enjoyable piece of work. The CGI was consistent and beautiful, the fight scenes were amazing, and the makers stayed true to the storyline to an extent, which is excellent as well. The gore was something that I had worried about since this movie is PG12, but it was very vivid for a PG12 rated film, and personally it was satisfying enough for me.

There are some changes to the characters and storyline which ... were a little disappointing, but to be honest those changes were understandable, and it didn't ruin the experience at all. Some of the big changes that came to my attention was,

1. The absence of several Tokyo and Osaka team members, including some members who had amazing battle scenes in the manga.
2. Katou's stance in the arc; in the original, he has already experienced battles against aliens, but in this movie he's shown to be a newbie, oblivious to the rules and weapons of Gantz.
3. An altertative ending to the Oni alien arc and Osaka arc.

Overall these changes are understandable because this movie is obviously for newcomers as well as fans, and if they had put all the characters in a 96 minute movie Gantz:O would've become a extremely rushed movie. Despite having these restrictions, the changes managed to fit in very smooth with the entire atmosphere of the Osaka arc, which is one of the reasons I give this movie such a high rating.

In conclusion Gantz:O is a film that you simply need to watch if you're a fan of the original work, and even if you aren't, it's worth the watch with a solid story, outstanding graphics and fluid fight scenes.

Basically, if you don't know anything about Gantz, I'd say don't bother. The movie clearly tries to introduce newcomers to the Gantz game concept but does so in such an awkward and incomplete way that I'd say it's very hard to understand unless you're at least kind of familiar with the rules.

The story makes some drastic changes from the manga, which by themselves wouldn't make it bad, but together make the Osaka Arc a much simpler and more boring experience (You can feel this in particular during the first half of the movie). The new ending is the only change I think affected the movie ... positively. Without spoilers, I'd say that while it wouldn't have had sense in the manga, it makes a perfect fit for the narrative flow of the movie.

I think the most disappointing part of the film was the music. The trailer had this really strong theme going on, but it was absent from the movie except from the credits, and all the music was pretty much the same "dramatic eleventh hour track".

Anyway, I personally enjoyed the movie, but upon thinking about it for a while, I realized it had some very weak points. I wouldn't recommend this to anyone who's never heard of Gantz, but if you want to see the Nurarihyon fight animated, or at the very least have seen some of Gantz and liked it, I say go for it.

TL;DR: Watch this if you want to witness a bloody survivor game between Aliens vs Resurrected Mortals!

Gantz:0, a movie covering the Osaka arc in the manga, acts as a new gateway for newcomers and fans of old Gantz franchise to experience the thrill of the survivor game, Gantz, in a new limelight. Right from the beginning, the viewers alongside the main character, Katou, are thrown right into the meat of the action and are left scrambling trying to figure out what exactly is happening. The story, shown from Katou's perspective, is simple yet complex because it feels like the characters are from different ... timelines whilst at the same time it feels like it's one continuation timeline. The pacing is really good and the gregarious eye-candy fight sequences keeps you at the cusp of your chair. Although the story gets really cheesy and predictable at times, the ending is quite satisfying and all the confusions viewers have throughout the movie more or less gets answered.

However, try as you may, the characters in this movie just goes from bad to worse as the story progress. The supporting characters are just one-dimensional, bland and downright worthless. Even with a few characters missing from the original manga (budget saving 101), with the characters present, the director does a poor job at utilizing them well. He tries to use them as a foil for Katou but he fails to realize that a commoner in Osaka city would've served the same purpose. Although the main character goes through some form growth during the movie, he just doesn't react realistically despite having the "typical idealistic MC" personality. None of the main villains have any real purpose for wrecking havoc in Osaka and viewers are just supposed to go with the idea that because they are aliens, we have to kill them. The only memorable characters will be Reika, for her "plot" contribution and Oka, for his utter badass fighting scenes. Credit must be given to the seiyuus for the sub and dub version who tried their utmost hardest to bring life into the characters but it is what it is.

Despite the criticism the story and the characters face, the movie's best selling point is their art and sound. Their 3DCG animation style is just phenomenal. The character design, the fight sequences, the background all harmoniously tie together to give the viewers a complete experience. The animation was blended and the director never dropped the ball in maintaining that level of precision from beginning to end. The OST delivers in hyping every moment of the action and able to portray the characters' emotional state throughout the movie. Definitely worth re-listening to the OST again.

Overall, Gantz:0 is a fun movie to watch for old fans and new. At its essence, it is just a nice mindless action flick where the plot and characters are too contrived for the viewers. Though the story might be confusing and the supporting characters' decisions will leave viewers screaming at the TV, the astounding art and sound makes sure it isn't just a run-of-the-mill movie. Nevertheless, if you want to watch an inception like movie with features from Iron Man, Samurai Jack, Godzilla and Pacific Rim playing Hunger Games in Osaka, Japan, definitely hit this up. If you enjoy it, read the manga to clear up any confusion. Simple as that!

P.S. I’m always open to criticism and suggestions and I hope you found this short but supaishi review helpful.

Story:

Gantz-O takes place in Osaka, Japan, while it is under attack by various and violent monsters who kill indiscriminately. The people fighting these monsters are common civilian plucked from near death by GANTZ, a mysterious black orb inside an apartment. After the rules of this “game” set up by the orb are clumsily explained by the other characters, our protagonist Katou is whisked away on his first mission.
In Osaka besieged by chaos, the group will attempt to survive as best they can by relying on their own strength. Unfortunately, this strength does not amount to much and as such only Katou takes charge to face ... the monsters and save civilians miraculously still alive in the mess.
The problems in this narrative setup are twofold: Katou is a complete novice and doesn’t really understand what’s happening to him, but the people who could be supporting him are completely passive for a large portion of the runtime. What he does is admirable, but the overall feeling the story leaves you with is that it could have been so much more had capable characters banded together instead.
Salting the wound, we are presented with a large group of characters who seem particularly adept at managing the game’s challenges, but they come with their own baggage of problems. The narrative for example is content to use these characters simply for padding the kill count and nothing more.
Compounding these issues is bizarre pacing in which action scenes slow down to a crawl for characters to talk it out while a monster waits a few feet away; and seemingly random inter-character developments that could amount to sweet life changing moments if they were actually backed by something of substance.
Overall the story is disappointingly empty and instead of leaving us with the feeling of wanting more, it leaves us with the feeling of what could have been.

Art:

(Viewed from Netflix – art design only)
The movie makes use of CGI for the animation, and the result is quite excellent.
The textures or materials used for rendering surface details are all high fidelity bar a few handpicked examples (which are due to reuse itself on various proportions). Reflective properties accurately handle reproduction of the various materials things are made out of, such as stone, metal, wet or the almost titular latex suits.
The various effects that populate the picture such as smoke, debris, sparks, blood sprays or sci-fi weaponry effects are also expertly made and perfectly integrated in the environments. Each will appropriately obscure, obstruct, or on the contrary create or modify the lighting due to its presence.
The lighting is also well rendered with even the tiniest of glowing things having some form of specular reflection on its nearest neighbours, and the more global illumination never lets the picture get too dark to see.
Skin and character faces are probably the only noticeable minor downside to this animation production. The overall style aims for a realistic look that it achieves quite brilliantly, but the more stylized faces do not seem to mesh as well with the rest of the decor. They are quite expressive in their own right, but the skin tones and various skin associated animation effects reflect more of a deformable putty look rather than actual skin. The problem also exists for the more stretchy monsters, less grit is applied to the surface materials and some sections look like red or green sludge with some subsurface scattering that seems to make the overall shape glow and pop out of the picture.
Overall the animation production is excellent with minor details that could be ameliorated. It is easily watchable and pleasing to the eyes, pursuing that one is not bothered by litres of virtual blood being spilled.

Sound:

(JP dub reviewed)
The sound design for the movie is extensive and well produced. Weapons sound like various types of plasma or laser weaponry when fired or active, explosions have quite a bit of depth, monster roars are layered and so on. However, perhaps due to lore that I am not familiar with, what seems to be the heavier weapons do not sound that much more powerful than the basic pistol. The most impressive sounding one is probably the gravity squash effect, but even then it seems quite subdued compared to what monsters can eventually dish out.
Music wise, the movie is very disappointing. The trailer uses [Ningen Video] by The Dresscodes as backing, however that song is never played once during action sequences. The rest of the musical score is competent but I found it unremarkable.
The voice talent for this movie includes quite a few high profile actors in the Japanese anime industry. Unfortunately a lot of the character acting is very flat. The most flagrant offenders are probably the few Osaka team members that have speaking roles, with very unconvincing “この野郎” uttered multiple times. However even main actors such as Daisuke Ono, Saori Hayami or MAO, whom I know can put out convincing emotional performances, are found lacking. Daisuke’s pretty much reduced to an emotionless robot who “has to do it because no one else will” while MAO is a flat and failed tease (even with that local Osaka accent) and Saori somehow unable to vary in pitch and tone despite dire straights or cause for celebration.

Characters:

Probably the biggest failing of this movie, the characters are all extremely unidimensional. The members of the Tokyo team are all passive spectators (or completely absent) for the majority of the runtime except for Katou. He decides he has to do things because no one else will and because he wants to be reunited with his little brother. A somewhat admirable goal if it was declared with a bit more conviction behind the acting.
The Osaka team fares no better. The vast majority are laid back stereotypical Japanese “Yankees” or “punks”, and this is made known to the audience through the frequent use of colourful language, extremely laid back smoking breaks, and “yeehaws!” while riding motorbikes. The game is really a game to them, and while they declare to function as a group they are in fact all self serving single minded idiots.
Somehow the movie wants us to view these buffoons in awe due to the machinery they’re packing, but the mentality they adopt during fights is what apparently rubs off on team Tokyo and transforms them in the passive spectators that they are while someone else is fighting to the death meters in front of them.
Anzu from the Osaka group is the only one that makes some form of step forward, but it is supposed to come from Katou’s robotic involvement with her and thus feels completely artificial. On the other hand, I suppose a robot learning to imitate human responses from a database would respond like he did in that situation.

Enjoyment:

The movie is very middling in terms of enjoyment. There’s some nice action sequences here and there, some funny looking monsters, it always looks pretty, but it’s such a bore and so very bad in terms of characters that it’s hard to say there’s any point in looking at it besides the CGI.
I personally took a pause in the middle of the movie to freshen up my mind before continuing along the dreary path it pointed towards (And it went there). It’s not so far gone that it’s insultingly stupid and completely wasting your time, but I didn’t think the time I spent watching it was that well spent on the other end of it.

Overall:

Bland and poorly paced story; great visual production; middling music, sound and voice performances; and atrocious characters.
If these sound like your idea of a good time, go ahead. Otherwise, try something else. I’d personally recommend doing the latter.

This entirely CGI movie produced by Digital Frontier is everything that the TV show is not. It’s good. It’s so fucking good and cool, it’s difficult to believe they’re part of the same franchise.

The premise is as simple as can be and gets established within the first 5 minutes. Once you die, you get transported to a mysterious room where a mysterious entity called Gantz plunges you head first into an infinite survival game. Armed with fancy sci-fi weapons and donning a black spandex bodysuit, you basically have to act as the Japanese Men in Black and kill hordes upon hordes of demons/aliens.

The film gives ... you about 15 minutes to acclimatize to the situation, after which the movie turns into a non-stop high-octane kill-or-be-killed battle royale full of gore and ultraviolence aplenty. The demons just get more and more outlandish.

I fucking loved it. I am not familiar with the manga, and though I am familiar with the TV show, I can tell you for damn sure that you don’t need to see it in order to watch this. In fact, I implore you not to watch the TV show. Save your soul. You can thoroughly enjoy this without being familiar with any of the rest of the franchise.

Have fun!

This 3D reboot is SO GENERIC... weak female character portraying fragility & hence emphasise horrors by contrast? Check. Helpful old man? Check. Arrogant kid getting slapped in the face due to his ego because irony? Check. Arrogant adults that "will never die" but dies anyway to make the monsters look more terrifying? Check.

"You have XXX (insert younger family member) to live for, right?", "I have to do this! Because (insert previous family member/courage/world/pedestrians)!!!".

Some contrived love relationship that's totally not a red flag for the inevitable death to feel heavier? Check. Protagonist finding fury/strength to counter-attack from said death? Check. This final fury as a ... deus ex-machina that finishes the boss because... revenge is the ultimate power in generic anime? Check?

How can anybody find enjoyment in these utterly PREDICTABLE run-of-the-mill fares? Unless you're playing a game with friends to see who can spot the tiresome tropes the fastest? That wouldn't be a game because everybody already knows what's going to happen 3 seconds into the film!

Even the gore fails to shock because you KNOW it's coming, it'd be shocking if it DIDN'T happen!

Watch if you like bleeding edge 3D environment renders (the facial animation of characters are all like robotic mannequins with too much botox injections so they can't move their stiff faces), don't if you dislike the idea of watching a repeat of all the worst generic cliches in animation history.

Story:
If you don't know Gantz, the movie does a good job setting the stage in proper Gantz fashion. Like those in the Gantz game, you're thrust into it with little explanation and told to survive. The issue is keeping that level of anxiety consistent. Unlike early Gantz content, this film takes place in the middle of the manga and animates one of the most memorable arcs. The difficult part about going over this arc is that it introduces other "teams" playing the Gantz game who are far more advanced than the team you are introduced to in the film. Not only does the main team ... we follow feel relieved that other teams are cleaning up, you as a viewer lose any sense of dread you might have otherwise experienced.

One might argue that this sets up how nutso things get in the end. Sure, I guess I can understand that, and to those who KNOW Gantz they will find themselves guessing along since there are significant differences between the manga and this interpretation of the arc, but this doesn't eliminate the fact that the audience has grown used to watching people kick butt.

Part of what made the arc in the manga so impactful was the fact that your main characters were being wiped left and right. There was a big surprise in seeing other teams that succeeded in surviving. That's what made the ending of the arc so powerful, the fact that things were much more than expected. However, in an hour and a half, it's hard to cover that kind of content, and since the film even separates itself from the horrid anime adaption, it's even more disjointed than it possibly should be.

Now, in regards to changes, anyone and everyone should find it easy to excuse them. This is an alternate telling of an exciting arc that still remains quite as exciting. In fact, I'd argue that the film is much easier to enjoy solely because of this. The changes made make exposition feel natural, it makes the heroism of characters seem believable, and it adds a level of excitement that I am glad I got to experience despite having read Gantz. These changes, all in all, made a film adaption possible. Could it have been better? Sure, if you gave the movie another half hour to work with, or perhaps split it into 2 films, but I'm not so sure it needed that. Some of the things that were cut make the film all the more watchable (to those who have read the manga, you know what I'm talking about).

To backpedal a little, there probably needed to be a little more expository dialogue than there was in the film. It all felt rather genuine in the film, but a little more would have been helpful. The reason is this: The final fight feels like a JRPG final boss except without explanation. I can't get into detail without spoilers, but it'd make sense to maybe make reference to similar aliens in previous games. Maybe mention the Onion alien and how the target wasn't actually X it was Y. Something like that would make things flow better and not feel so "because movie" to non-Gantz fans.


Art:
AMAZING animation. I'm talking FANTASTIC. The choice to make a 3DCG film with this quality of animation was perfect. It made the aliens feel much more realistic. When a live-action film has CGI, no matter how good it looks, it is still CGI and disconnected from reality. However, when the reality of the narrative is entirely 3DCG, it makes the monsters feel grounded and real. This added a whole new level to the experience that I didn't expect, as well as brought new horror to enemies I had already come to fear.

Something really great is the lighting in this film. Not only does it have excellent effects for all of its lighting but there are also very "film"-esque lighting. For instance, there is eye lighting. In film, this is the act of putting a light on the eyes despite it not likely making sense in the real world. This is something I love. A scene can be crowded and busy but not only are we greeted with someone's face and their reaction, we're drawn to it with more focus solely because there's a light source reflecting against their eyes and skin. It's so classic noir but it feels great to see this employed in an animated feature, no less.

The film also does a good job of being gory without being explicit. For instance, heads explode, bodies break, limbs are missing, but it never gets exploitative, something the manga felt quite often. It wasn't ever ridiculously tasteless and there was still impact to the events that unfolded based on what took place. You felt the damage that characters felt, you didn't necessarily need to see it.


Sound:
The OST is forgettable and didn't have much of a theme at all. I'm not quite sure why this was the case. There could have been some kind of theme. I would have really liked that. However, the OST does its job and isn't invasive and doesn't detract from the film at all.

VA work is great, as to be expected from an anime.


Character:
Likely the weakest point. Characters aren't fleshed out all that well. That said, I got to see one of my favorite characters in animated film (I'm sure you can guess who!) despite his character being a hard-support rather than taking the mantel in any fashion.

In fact, a lot of characters take a hard support role and aren't really given a lot of screen time. That's the difficulty of having a story that tries to feel big but doesn't really succeed. You have so many characters and by the end of the film I turned to my friend and asked, "Who are these people, again?"


Enjoyment:
Pretty enjoyable and the animation alone makes for a great experience. I'd recommend it to anyone due to how solid everything looks paired with the fact that it's a fun action flick. I'll definitely be seeing this film again and might even purchase a Blu-ray in the future. It's a cool film and super accessible.


((If you liked this review, feel free to check out my others! I review most manga and anime I finish!))

This anime is a great choice, if you are looking for a visually stunning action-packed movie that includes rollercoaster of emotions.

1) STORY
The plot slightly differs from the one described in the original manga. If you are a Gantz fan, beware that it might disturb you a little.
If you are new to the Gantz title, there is no need to worry, because the most crucial concepts of the world are explained. However, some points might seem to be crazy or completely nonsense. That is why, for a broader comprehension of what is going on there, I recommend you to get acquainted to the parent ... story at least in outline.
It's hard to rate the anime for the story, but as a knowing person I give it 7/10, because it would have been better, if the movie followed the original script more precisely or was a complete spin-off.

2) ART
Blatant splendor, enough said. It includes spectacular 3DCG with high level of detalization, epic slow motion use, incredible camera angles and extremely smooth animation. However, I can imagine it being even more impressive. 9/10.

3) SOUND
Very fitting sounds that make you live through every moment of the piece. Brilliant. 10/10.

4) CHARACTER
Characters have strong non-trivial motivations that drive their behavior. They are also very different from one another - we got pure cynics, selfless heroes, unprincipled egoists and helpless passerby. 10/10.

5) ENJOYMENT
The anime follows the Pareto principle: 80% of the anime is non-stop action and 20% is all the rest. This is what makes the film so terrific and awesome. 10/10.

Don't bother watching this movie even if you have or haven't seen Gantz before. I particularly liked the TV anime and this just shows you why it HAS to be a TV show because I did not care at all for any other character even the protagonist because he's so damn one dimensional. In fact everyone else are just one dimensional side characters that don't even build an emotional connection with the viewer.

Suffice to say I really, REALLY disliked this show. After the first 15-20 minutes I had to start using a Bullsh*t counter to see how much of it is soooo stupid, as in ... the choices that each character makes. The top bullsh*t which occured multiple times was the, 'but your brother needs you' and the protagonist was like, 'that's why I have to do this!' which made no sense at all. In total I ended up with about 15 but there were could've been more had I started earlier.

**SPOILER**
Lastly, I really despise the protagonist. Like how many f*cking times do you have to die?

REVIEW WITH NO SPOILERS

Gantz: 0 offers a great CGI, a simple but interesting story and a bizarre but creative premise.I know nothing about the manga, but the film is cool and does not leave the viewer bored (which is great for a movie).
But there is not much development of characters and the work itself is not very ambitious, which can be good but which also makes the film well forgettable. But the universe CAN BE very rich of contet.
6 is a fair note in my vision and if you're looking for a 96-minute fun with some action, Gantz: 0 will be great fun.

Gantz:O Review


Story (7/10) Good

Adapting arguably the best and most favorite arc from the Gantz manga (as far as Gantz fans say) and starting from scratch so that newcomers to the series aren't 100% confused, I felt they did a good job keeping it a close to the original version. Sure the story in this version that took place before this movie was drastically changed and if you compare it to the manga sure it's inferior but like I said I understand why they changed so much, to mitigate as much confusion for newcomers watching a CG adaptation of an arc of a manga they've probably ... never heard of that takes place like 230+ chapters inside the actual manga. This is also the case for people who might have just been original anime only watchers to the early 2000s anime adaptation as this arc takes place so far ahead of were season 2 of the anime ended, other than Kato, his little brother, Gantz and Nishi everyone else they should know not of, hell the main character they were following for all of that anime isn't even alive in this one. So like I said above I felt they did a good job trying to making sure everyone is on the same page.


Art and Animation (10/10) Masterpiece

This is by far one of the best CG looking movies based off an anime I've ever seen. It's on par with Final Fantasy 7 Advent Children, Saint Seiya Legend of Sanctuary and Captain Herlock. And like I said when it came to those other CG anime to this, this is the only CG that I want to see anything else (like Beserk, Kingdom and/or even anything by Polygon Pictures) is borderline unacceptable and will leave at least one person unsatisfied.


Sound (7/10) Good

The sound was good, I even decided to watch it in english dub and it felt far less cringey than the early 2000s anime's dub as at times that one was painful and I regret watching it in dub but they grew on to me but man it took a hell of a while.


Characters (7/10) Good (Minor Spoilers)

All the characters were good and quite accurate their how they acted in the the manga. Although even though they are accurate doesn't mean they were very good. I still urk sometimes when I see certain characters act the way they do like Kato at times. Anzu Yamasaki in particular I didn't like in the manga and the reason I didn't like her in the manga was pushed even further in this version. In this version she's even more annoying and about the same level of rash and useless. And then Kato decides to revive her great worst girl lives. I mean I understand why Kato revived her that's something he would do in that situation (at least this version revived her and kept his promise the one in the manga said "fack dat I'm revive my boi Kurono lmao).


Enjoyment (7/10) Good

The most enjoyment I got out of this adaptation of the Nurarihyon Alien Mission/Osaka Arc was how amazing the CG was since I just finished reading the manga counterpart of this arc the same day and jumped straight into the movie a lot of the shock factor moments wasn't there (as they shouldn't be). Which I don't mind I was just looking for a good adaptation because like I said I felt even though with the changes they decided to make for this version at least they did a far better job than the live action 2011 movie.


Overall (7/10) Good
More Specifically (7.60/10) Good+

Before going into this I heard many many good things, did it live up to the hype? I mean I guess, I enjoyed it for what it was and not to sound like a broken record but like I said about two times before this adaptation did a good job and keeping all viewers whether you are an anime 2000s watcher only, completely newcomer to the series or a manga reader all on the same page to present this arc as a standalone more movie adaptations should follow suit.

Gantz o is the ultimate guilty pleasure anime,this is the best way to describe it,the whole premise is kinda dumb and makes no sense but it was a lot of fun,if you aren't familiar with gantz franchise then don't worry there's enough info dumping to make you grasp the story of dead people ,resurrected by a black ball to fight aliens,the characters are mediocre and forgettable ,we have Kato as the main character ,he is a moral guy who has all the requirements to be a hero,he isn't that complex or deep of a character but he stands out among that sea of assholes and ... jerks AKA other gantz players,we have old man Suzuki for exposition purposes and info dumping,we have that asshole from the tv series i dont even remember his name,oh there is also reika ,she has a shiny hair and a big jugs ,she is in full EMO mode after her beloved kurono got killed in the previous mission(thank god he was dead cuz I couldn't stand him for a minute ) then we have Osaka team which is a bunch of douchbags who defined by how many times they won the game and where stupid enough to continue it instead of freeing themselves and get back to there normal lives,there is also a girl among them to provide a cute love story with kato so we could have a speech of heroism and sacrifice for your beloved ones at the end of the movie,the villains are shallow and unoriginal (they look like they've been ripped out of a book of Japanese mythology instead of coming from space ).
the animation was the best aspect of the movie ,the action was intense and bloody,there are some genuine horror moments that would send chills through your spine and some disturbing ones that would leave you scratching your head.
overall fun to watch,easy to hate ,just don't overthink it,turn off your brain and enjoy the damn thing.

The plot mostly takes a backseat to the many action sequences. Characters have no depth and it's hard to care about any of them. If you aren't familiar with Gantz, the story will almost certainly be lost on you in the last 5-10 minutes of the film. The ending works for this kind of movie, but it's still unremarkable. BGM is unobtrusive. Sound effects are right out of an action video game's soundbank: a bit silly, but it works.

Where this film truly shines is the monster designs, action sequences, art and animation. The CGI is really damn good: stylish ... and striking. There's a lot of attention to detail in facial animation and character reactions. The monsters are really cool, and they really nailed the "video game boss" feel with all of them.

So overall, it's easy to appreciate how awesome the movie looks and 'feels'. That alone makes it worth the watch. Unfortunately, it falls short everywhere else.

I’m glad I had the opportunity to see this on the big screen. I usually prefer traditional animation over 3DCGI but the 3D was really well done here and it let the movie go all out with action, which is something that Gantz needed. Because let’s be honest, action is all the manga had going for it. Its a shame that they left out some badass characters for this adaptation, specially Muscle Rider.
Also the movie tries to be as standaloneish as possible, but its still a product for the fans. It will not make a lot sense for newcomers as the main plot is fastly ... explained in the first 5 minutes and it pretty much relies on you already knowing the characters beforehand even if it poorly tries to introduce them.

If you are expecting this to follow the manga just don't bother watching.
If you were thinking about reading the manga or watching the anime but wanted a decent preview to what to expect. Watch it !

Overall it does pretty well for a movie that literally starts in the middle of the manga. If you know nothing about Gantz it does it's best to explain it all to you.

The good thing about this movie is that it doesn't really spoil anything for you if you haven't read it yet since it changes quite a bit.
My only warning is prepare yourself for a lot ... more intense nudity and sexuality explicit content if you decide to read. Overall worth the watch .

I went into Gantz O knowing very little about the franchise as a whole. I was worried there'd be a whole lot of convoluted nonsense to wade through as Gantz is a pretty old and well established brand, with an entire manga, some live action films and a couple seasons of anime all dating back quite a few years.

Fortunately, the film spends about 10 minutes introducing the rules of its world and then it's pretty much non-stop alien (or are they demons?) slaying until the credits roll.

It reminds me of old 80's and 90's action films - here's your gimmick; here's your hero; here's your ... hot girl; let's see how high the body count gets.

The film is not without it's flaws though - the CGI is good but still evokes an uncanny valley effect, and there were a bit too many instances of the ol' "hide a character off screen for 10 minutes so he can swoop in and save the hero from seemingly inevitable death" trick.

It's all in good fun though, and overall Gantz O is an excellent popcorn flick. Gather some friends, then gather some beers and enjoy!

The best movie or series about Gantz, unfortunately to be brilliant it should have been an NC 17 movie, something very difficult to happen because of the amount of audience and benefits that would be lost.

It is the most realistic animated film I've ever seen (GitS 2 the most impressive) and this opens a path or an important question. If you can already create an animation like the one seen here, does it still make sense to make movies with actors about superheroes, or comics?
In my opinion it would not be necessary, because they can not be compared to something like 'Gantz: O' (I repeat, ... in terms of spectacularity and fidelity) but the box office dictates, and an animated movie does not attract the audience in the same way than a movie about a comic or manga starring trendy actors can make, that's it.

To not go any further if we compare this film with the first real image Gantz movie, 'Gantz: O' raised a tenth that that one, therefore while the public continues to support the real image for this type of film everything will continue like this, just look how popular the movies about superheroes in the USA are.

Warning possible Spoilers!

Gantz:O is basically made to be an introduction to the Gantz universe for a newer audience since hardly anyone is going to remember the first two series from more than 10 years ago. However, I feel the film would've been better if they had just rebooted it from the very beginning.

The story begins with Masaru Katou heading home to celebrate his brothers birthday until he is suddenly murdered, but he is miraculously alive and in a room he doesn't know with a black sphere called Gantz along with people he doesn't know and together they must survive a horrible game.
Now the story will ... go two ways for people who watch this, the first is people who read the manga like myself and know how this'll end and then there is the people who don't know anything about Gantz, but both sides will probably be confused anyway.
This film adapts the Osaka Arc which is a pretty epic arc to adapt, but there is a lot of differences compared to the manga, the first thing is how the film starts which decides to create it's own ending to the Oni arc by having Kurono killed and Katou being a newbie to the whole Gantz mission's, but once you get past the first 20 or so minutes it starts to take the course the manga took which then brings me to the other section of the film that changes stuff from the manga and that's the characters involved, there is only really 3 members along with Katou that are part of the Tokyo team so characters like Kaze, Sakurai, Hanaki, Takeshi and even Hoi Hoi the panda aren't present so there are some things that won't be in the film like Takeshi being chased by that weird maid monster, but to be honest the Tokyo team didn't do much in this arc anyway apart from Katou himself so the extraction of characters doesn't change much.
The Osaka team on the other hand does have most of it's members except Kazuo which is probably a good thing since he rapes everything and my personal hero Megane so we don't get to see him destroying a sh*t ton of aliens with an aliens head.
Other than these few things the show mostly follows the events of the Osaka arc and with what is shown it was done pretty well as an adaption for a new and veteran audience.

Now the characters that were in the film/movie did put on a good show and acted pretty much like I was expecting, however the thing that always annoyed the hell out of me with the first two seasons was the stupidity in the characters decisions whereas here that isn't a problem well with the Tokyo team at least, but the Osaka team are basically a bunch of drugged up assholes except Anzu.
Katou actually fought back very quickly and made good decisions that were extremely risky, but they managed to help out the team immensely which allowed them to survive the intense battle.
The Osaka arc does mainly focus on the Osaka team so you'll be seeing them a lot throughout the film/movie along with Katou, but the Tokyo team does manage to pull in a few shots near the end of the battle and shows how well they can work together.
I think the one thing that didn't fit with the characters is the dub and yes I did watch this in dub and honestly I don't know what the voice actors and actresses were doing because for some reason they decided to try and make their characters sound Japanese which didn't fit at first, but slowly grew on me apart from Anzu's voice hers was the only one that just always felt off for me.

Now the fact it was done in 3D CGI actually worked well for this film/movie, I liked the design of the monsters especially the ones that had a big part in the manga they were created to almost exact detail and it surprises me they decided to include the giant breasted monster which must've been fun to make. The suits and weapons looked kickass and the detail was very accurate to the manga though the only problem I had with the weapons is some of the new rules implemented to them like reloading and ranged attacks which from my memory didn't exist in the manga.

The action was done very well since it was intense and very destructive much like the arc is and the gore was up to standard of the Gantz name too although there wasn't as much blood as I was expecting well from the human characters at least. The mild nudity in the rating doesn't mean you'll get to see bare human breasts the only breasts you'll see are from the giant breasted monster, but Reika and Anzu definitely have jiggly breasts which makes me feel the animators had fun or really tried to make the character models accurate to the manga.

Overall this was a decent take on an epic arc in the Gantz manga aside from a few things that were taken out or changed it was still a good enough watch for me and hopefully will create a reboot or something for the Gantz franchise which I would like to see in the future.

This brings an incredible new view to animation and is definitely a movie that is one of a kind. I can't think of any other CGI movie as incredible to watch as this one, it is truly an experience. While at first this movie is confusing, the story comes together overtime and will have you trying to connect each piece of it as you watch. And afterwards, it brings a bit of confusion with a conclusion too. Overall, this movie will keep you as a viewer curious and wanting to see more. Definitely give this a watch, you will not regret it.