A Japanese teenager waits at a train station, reading a trashy magazine featuring an idol enticing the reader with her big boobs. An elderly lady approaches the teenager, asking for directions. The teenager quickly mumbles a non-informative reply while thinking to himself what an annoyance the lady is, why should he give a shit about her? Oh look, a drunken tramp just fell onto the tracks and no one is going to help. Why should they? It’s none of their business, just look away and pretend you didn’t see it happen.
This is Gantz. Hiroya Oku's exploitative, violent and cynical
...
depiction of the Japanese and their behaviour when confronted with moralistic situations. There's also a bunch of ever-increasingly ludicrous battle royales with aliens and vampires that destroy various parts of Tokyo and other cities, but that all comes later.
Back to that train station and that teenager: Kei Kurono. Instantly unlikeable, but oh so real. You either know kids like him, or you recognise your own traits in his character. You'll probably be lying to yourself if you don’t see yourself in some of these characters, its human nature to recoil from awkward situations. Gantz seems to gain great pleasure from thrusting its many random characters into awkward situations, sometimes involving nudity, usually violence, usually spontaneously.
Gantz is about a room somewhere with a black ball and a very infantile presence who gives out childish nicknames to unfortunately-recently-dead and usually unwilling participants in a 'game' that requires them to kill aliens in a kind of real-life recreation of a First Person Shooter. The brilliance is in the mystery and its ridiculousness.
People die and are transported to the room to pick up their suits and weapons, and if they survive the subsequent battle they're free to wander off and return to their lives...until they're transported back to the room for another battle, and so on until either they reach 100 points and are released from the game, or they die for real. Author Oku continually ups the stakes, regularly throwing bigger obstacles in characters' paths, and it becomes a case of “can he top this?” The answer is always: "yes he bloody well can!”
There is a massacre in Shinjuku, Tokyo that beggar’s belief in its astounding ambition to shock the reader with its scope, creativity and viciousness. Once I read this sequence, I knew any anime adaptation would either fail completely at bringing to motion what this manga gets away with, or it would follow it faithfully and probably be banned/censored. Obviously at the time of writing this review, the answer is the former, there aren’t many anime studios in the world that are as crazy as Oku.
This is Gantz's best asset, its secret weapon, the reason for why it's so memorable. It's outrageous. Because it's happening in such a familiar world. Oku's attention to detail, the way people behave and react, either as individuals or as a collective, or even on the internet, is spot on. Whether it's a massacre on a street or in a school, or a small squabble in an apartment or a train, the tension is reminiscent of real life, because the dialogue and body language is grounded in reality, no matter how out there the action and sci-fi ideas are.
The art of the manga is economical and precise; computer aided graphics help keep the locales detailed. The costumes, props and weapons design is a nice deviation from the typical 'dress the characters in black leather' trend that The Matrix seemingly rejuvenated in entertainment media. Kudos to Oku for using his imagination and not dragging the manga down with anything generic. It’s one of his many traits, taking existing ideas that are ripe for generic rip-off but putting his own spin on them. In this case the battle suits are humiliatingly tight, and regularly attract scorn and mockery from bystanders.
The action sequences in this manga are some of the best I've ever read. Oku has a real eye for framing the action from the right angles and positions. His action pay-offs always bring a smile to the face, the audacity and enormity of what occurs on the page, is a sight to behold. The destruction to urban property gets exponentially bigger throughout the manga, no structure or vehicle is left spared. My review is intentionally vague to save the surprises for the reader, but if you like guns, swords, urban environments chopped, sliced and blown up to bits, then you're going to have a blast with Gantz.
The ideas in Gantz are to do with the narcissistic state of 21st century living, the materialism of the masses, human relations in the face of ever disturbing circumstances. There is almost a Hitchcockian vibe in the way ordinary people are pushed into extraordinary situations and thrash around desperately trying to get out of them. The great mystery of Gantz is a sci-fi conspiracy that is always just bubbling under the surface. In the forefront of the story is the cast of lowlifes and nobodies. School kids, street punks, idols, yakuza, tourists, businessmen, random passersbys, random aliens and vampires.
Would you jump onto the tracks and drag the drunken tramp back onto the platform? Oku's humorous retort to that is a train decapitating your head for your troubles. Welcome to Gantz.
Alternative TitlesSynonyms: Gantz/Osaka Japanese: GANTZ More titlesInformationType: Manga
Volumes: 37
Chapters: 383
Status: Finished
Published: Jul 13, 2000 to Jun 20, 2013
Demographic:
Seinen
Serialization:
Young Jump Authors:
Oku, Hiroya (Story & Art) Statistics Ranked: #5952 2 based on the top manga page. Please note that 'R18+' titles are excluded. Popularity: #30
Members: 240,696
Favorites: 18,449 Available AtResources | Reviews
Filtered Results: 103 / 107
Sort
Your Feelings Categories Jun 27, 2008
A Japanese teenager waits at a train station, reading a trashy magazine featuring an idol enticing the reader with her big boobs. An elderly lady approaches the teenager, asking for directions. The teenager quickly mumbles a non-informative reply while thinking to himself what an annoyance the lady is, why should he give a shit about her? Oh look, a drunken tramp just fell onto the tracks and no one is going to help. Why should they? It’s none of their business, just look away and pretend you didn’t see it happen.
This is Gantz. Hiroya Oku's exploitative, violent and cynical ... Aug 5, 2013
Gantz is kind of awesome, but in a weird way. A really weird way. Not "weird" because of any kind of originality, but because of how it manages to be awesome.The plot is extremely lazy with blatant holes throughout. It's mostly about the overblown/unrealistic action, and holy mother of god, is it overblown/unrealistic. Ammo clips are infinite, when actual guns are used. The masses are weak, brainless, and easily influenced cannon fodder, to an absurdly exaggerated degree. "The masses," of course, including just about all side characters. In the world of Gantz, gangsters hang out in toilet stalls and collect people's teeth like baseball cards.
...
Oct 29, 2007
Here we have a manga that I cannot help but loathe and love all the same. Gantz being a thrilling Seinen, Sci-fi, Action manga that would take the reader on a gory rollercoaster ride, featuring amazing battles for survival. Yet it also happens to be riddled with poor dialogue and spontaneous plot developments that may stem one's enjoyment.
It all begins as two young Japanese high school boys, meet their end by a homicidal underground locomotive. And that would have been the end for them, if this wasn't a manga. So having been semi-posthumously transported to an apartment, along with others in the same situation; they ... Jul 10, 2014
If you are looking for a series that is 'good' in any way, i urge you to avoid Gantz like the plague.
I should clarify that i'm not necessarily offended by violence or sex; i'm a huge fan of other violent seinen such as Berserk and Vinland Saga. However, the author's main goal seems to have been to shock the audience as much as possible in order to give the illusion of quality. In Gantz, people who die are faxed into a room by a black ball that hands out weapons, talks in 'leetspeak', and tells them to kill aliens. That is literally all the ... Nov 1, 2014
What can I say about Gantz? This dark seinen has been hailed a masterpiece by some, and utter trash by others. I would say that it is a bit of both, having some extremely good qualities and some glaring flaws which is enough to warrant the hate that it gets. However, it is not a bad manga at all, and I'll do my best to point out its pros and cons.
The thing that really stands out for me in this manga is the level of creativity on display. Seriously. It's goddamned glorious, from monster designs to all the crazy situations our characters find themselves in. ... May 8, 2016
This has to be one of the worst storys I've ever read period.
An intresting premise with death and a game to "come back to life". Seems cool right? Think again. This story goes all over the place (like this review will) First off we get the mc. He's am angsty horny douchebag. People think his charachter is "so realistic" well if I knew anyone like that is tell them to fuck off. A hot girl gives him sex for no reason at all. He litteraly just met her and asked to have sex and next thing you know she loves him. Lol This story has ... Jun 24, 2008
Gantz is a masterpiece in my opinion. Even though I love this manga, this manga is definite not for everyone. This manga contain sex scenes, blood, blood and more blood, naked girls/monsters with supernatural and technological twist to everything.
However if you can stand all of the above then, this manga is for you. The manga is about killing aliens with incredible suits, weapon, vehicles and with everything you can think of. The alien are not just standing there doing nothing, the monsters are strong and sometimes, they are way to strong, and makes you wonder if they can be killed or not. From human size ... Jul 24, 2008
I'm going to make this short and simple. Gantz is quite questionable and confusing, because it doesn't make sense at all until you keep progressing throughout the story. Gantz is basically a black ball who chooses who he wants to fight for him. The series is not completed therefore many questions are yet to be answered. When the characters die in the anime, the chosen people appear in front of a black ball given a task to assassinate a certain type of alien/leader. They use futuristic motorcycles, to swords, to extreme never- before - seen guns. The setting of this manga is like a
...
Jun 16, 2023
Gantz is manga's equivalent to the Lost TV show. That's the short version.
If you don't know, Lost was heavily talked about show with a lot of attention and focus on it for five years, many mysteries surrounding it include "Wtf is going on" and at the final season ended, people stopped talking about it, and most people seem to generally dislike the show after that ending. That is the fastest way to describe Gantz... You're still here, so I guess you want to know more. Well, let's go for the long version... I'm going to avoid as many spoilers as I ... Jul 1, 2008
Great story, first manga I've been addict too. Good thing about it, is that you cannot predict anything. Some caracter will die, new will come... I always asked myself what else will happen next page. If you want a gore, bloody, nasty manga, this is the one.
Fight, Monster, Sc-Fi, Sex, Blood... and many dead, many many many !! I start reading after I saw the anime. If you have seen it, the Anime is just a small part of the story, the plot is going much farter. Anime story stop near #5-6... If I remember correctly. Dec 25, 2008
One of the greatest mangas I have ever read, I found gantz to be one of the most outstanding mangas out there. I've never been so hooked on a story ever since Berserk.
Story - I gave Gantz a 9 because the story is just magnificent and very different I mean how many mangas start of with the character dying, but it does have some flaws. One being the beginning of the story to go on a bit slow, but once you get through the first mission the story will get clearer. Art - The art for Gantz is also one of the best I've seen, the ... May 8, 2013
Seeing as most reviews praise Gantz wholeheartedly i find it worthwhile to express my opinion which is different .My review will contain some minor spoilers as i ll need them to make a point for my opinions .
Gantz up to chapter 280 seems like an entirely different manga when compared with what came next .That will be my main point . Let's take it from the beginning : The story is a story of horror,mystery,survival and - above all- character development . And as every story it is mostly dependent on the charm of the characters to be successful-if the characters are unnatural or boring even the best ... Feb 8, 2011
Story: 4
The story revolves around these 2 kids who faced a unfortunate mishap in the train station, but the story as a whole moves from arc to arc without never getting the feeling of any real progression. In short you wont be reading Gantz for its story. Art: 8 The art is pretty good, When i first saw this my thoughts where "WHOA I CANT BELIEVE SOMEONE HAVE THE TALENT TO DRAW SUCH DETAILED LOCATIONS BY HAND" The characters, guts & gore, boobs & muscle tone are well detailed. It'll leave you in Awe at times. But my only gripe is it was not drawn by ... Aug 9, 2013
I've been reading Gantz for the past 2.5-3 years and finally on aug 9 2013, a week after my birthday, I've completed reading this amazing series. I've at least read the first 200 chapters three times over and I still love it just as much as the first time going through.
My biggest take from the manga is the character development. I feel like I grew onto the characters. Each character, good or bad, has their own distinct features that make a lasting impression and make me feel like I'm reading an original masterpiece. As soon as you cling on to a character and you appreciate ... Jan 10, 2023
Gantz starts like a wet dream of a sci-fi nerd and grows into an uncooked narrative, with zero pointers, made up as the story rolls forward. You know, bare bones "cool" stuff: edgy characters, their dumb decisions, weird happenings, aliens, vampires, unabashed gore — inventive at times, I concede — and breasts. Lots of breasts.
Barring all that, it spiraled into some genuinely toe-curling moments. Those were far too far and spread out though. Later on in the manga, Oku started slapping some awesome ideas around, but with unsure hands. His use of CGI-inspired art looks clean, detailed and alien designs are commendable. But you may ... Jul 15, 2011
Gantz
- A story about a horny teenager. Upon reading the first pages of this manga, many people would consider Gantz's story, to be a simple and straightforward one. A tale about Kurono Kei, a horny teenager, that is selfish, self centered and obsessed with sex, and big breasted women. That is until he dies, gets revived, and forced to partake in a alien killing death match, with futuristic suits and weapons. From that point on the reader starts to understand that Gantz story is nothing but straightforward. Story: 9 ... Aug 11, 2015
Anime/Manga have a lot of genres, but the more prevalent ones (at least for westerners) are the battle shounens and the slice-of-life's. Said that, another pretty important genre is the seinen, marketed to older men and can even feature gore and more sexual elements. One of the most famous manga of the genre is, without a doubt, Gantz.
Gantz began serialization in 2000 and finished in 2013. It has 383 chapters and was created, written and illustrated by Hiroya Oku, who had previously created Hen and Zero One. In the start, Gantz has an unusual and (mostly) unpredictable story. The protagonist is not your usual hero and ... Apr 27, 2023
PT - BR
A obra promete muito incialmente, mas é só algo repleto de sexualização das mais baratas e parca reflexão que o mangá proporciona é ofuscada pelo alto número de desfoques que o autor faz ao leitor: sexo e nudez a todo momento, violência gratuita e personagens mal trabalhados, o tempo todo! A arte é até diferenciada(creio que o autor inverta algumas cores usuais(o que é branco fica preto e vice-versa). A explicação de como tudo acontece é fraquíssima e é apresentada em "poucas pinceladas", enfraquecendo ainda mais um enredo que prometeu muito e não cumpriu. O final é extremamente arrastado e seco. Fuja ... Jul 9, 2010
What is a good attention grabber to immerse the reader into the story? Gantz, like Yu Yu Hakusho, starts out with the main character getting killed. Kei Kurono and his childhood friend Masaro Katou are run over by a train and are iinstantly transported into a war zone where people are violently slaughtered by strange aliens.
The man who wrote this story, Hiroya Oku, is truly a genius, as he heavily immerses the reader into a breathtaking story. Whenever I read Gantz or any of his other works like Hen, I find myself unable to stop reading. Gantz has an amazing story and is very unpredictable, ... Nov 26, 2013
A manga masterpiece and quite possibly Oku's Magnum Opus. Sort of blown away by finally finishing this manga, so I'll just share my input on what I found amazing.
The technical skill in the art here far outsripts many things that i've seen. I can't imagine how much work it would take for the artist to make something. As always, story comes first when enjoying something in art, but the effort that this man put into this can absolutely not be denied. Fantastic. The manga has 3 major arcs, and they truly, truly up the scale and almost change the whole landscape of the manga. 3 phases ... |