“Dark, morbid, violent, blood, gore, death, insanity…
Sexy, naked, boobies...
The nature of human beings…”
If you can relate with the terms above, this is the anime for you.
The Story (8/10)
The story has a realistic feel drawn in with an awkward twist of science fiction. The purpose and the origins of what was happening is quite questioning and unrealistic but that makes you wonder and it keeps you wondering throughout the entire series.
Art (9/10)
The realistic theme continues its flow right down to its art. The art is utterly unique whereas most would stereotype an anime as something dreamy or cute and has big puppy dog eyes. The excruciating details of a human being blasting into tiny pieces, the mind boggling shots of a character reflecting on life’s cruelty, that overwhelming moment of a grueling battle shot, their meticulous and oddball costumes and weaponry… Everything was near perfection and well-suited the story.
Sound (8/10)
The intro has a very gangster or badass feel to it which quite suits the entire story and at the same time makes you feel epic. The outro is so-so but the sound effects and the thrilling sounds make the scenes pop out and come to life. The characters voices in the English dub were also well done and distinguishable from the rest especially the one who voiced Kei Kurono who has a quite husky voice.
Character (10/10)
The characters are quite diverse; it ranges from a typically annoying damsel in distress to a perverted selfish little knuckle-head protagonist who most people would hate. Unlike the usual villain-like protagonist such as Light Yagami from Death Note and Lelouch vi Britannia from Code Geass who fights for the sake of justice and goodness of all man-kind, one of the protagonists in this anime is heartless and cruel like the animal he is.
The character development is not that noticeable if you do not have a keen eye unlike in the manga since there are only 13 episodes and two seasons but the way the characters move the story is something that makes the entire anime brilliant and captivating.
*Overall, this is something a glutton who deeply craves for the insane anime showcasing the loathsome nature of man kind; quite the opposite of a standard orthodox anime that you would see in the mainstream.
After experiencing the anime, if you are the kind of being who would enjoy or is fascinated with different forms of literary pieces, I would recommend you to see the live-action film although it is not as great as the anime as there have been a major change in the main character’s personality and the story itself had been stripped down of its own nudity, but unlike in the anime, the movie had a better dramatic ending. The manga is quite similar to the anime, if there are changes; there are only quite a few. The most conspicuous difference between the manga and the anime is the filler ending in the Gantz Second Stage.
