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Reviewed by Barb Lien-Cooper I remember hearing about Gantz back when I was looking around for more "mature title" anime. I wanted something that was sort of horror-oriented, like Boogiepop Phantom was. I'd heard that Gantz was violent, but imaginative. So after some hesitation concerning my husband's low to moderate tolerance for violence, we rented Gantz from Netflix. After watching five episodes or so, we decided it wasn't for us. Oh, it wasn't the violence. It wasn't even the slight filth factor. It was just... We saw from the way the series was set up that we were never, ever going to get a good explanation of what the hell we'd just seen. Now's the time to talk about the set-up of Gantz. A bunch of dead losers...and believe me, they really are losers, in the main...are snatched from certain death. At first, it seems like they've died and gone to hell (always intriguing). They're trapped in a room with other losers. In the middle of the loser room is a round computer like ball named Gantz. Gantz has a potty mouth and a sarcastic nature on him/her/it. In case you think that eternity consists of being told you're a loser by a big black ball (reason enough to quit your low down ways), Gantz isn't just an insult machine. Gantz makes the losers go out and kill space demons, some of which seem to have a fondness for onions (the demons, not the losers). If the losers can kill a demon, they get to survive until the next round. It takes a bloody (and I mean bloody) long time to kill a demon/alien. And most of the losers just lose their arms, legs, heads, and (it seems) their lives. Wait, it might not be hell after all. It might be some alien cloning experiment or... Gantz is the type of experience that could drag on volume after volume like an open-ended Battle Royale without getting you any closer to the truth. Oh my God, it's the video game version of No Exit. Actually Gantz would make a super fantastic video game. I'd play it in a second. Because maybe just maybe if I played it, I'd find out why my loser character is forced to hunt down demons in the first place. Now, I don't have a lot to say about Gantz the manga because it has the same problems as Gantz the anime. The characters are slightly more likeable in the manga, but you still don't have all that interest in whether they survive or not. The demons still take so long to kill (or be killed, as the old saying goes) if you're the impatient type, you're tempted to skip ahead. The art itself is fantastic in a post-Sin City sort of a way. One is reminded of that line from SPINAL TAP about whether a product could be more black. Answer: No. I always complain to my husband that in most so-called violent comics, the artist always skimps on the blood. When I want a violent comic, I want the reenactment of Hamlet in the film THE ADDAMS FAMILY level blood. Gantz FINALLY gives me what I asked for. And I gotta admit, it's impressive. If you're the type that thinks the bloody journey is all the fun, Gantz is for you. I'm not kidding or being sarcastic. I do see its worth. If you're a bit of a sci-fi-tinged horror gorehound, this is way cool. If it's not how we stop Michael Myers but how many characters in the movie he kills before we do that impresses you, Gantz is for you. In fact, for those who are into such things, I'd give it an A PLUS. Only if you're the type who can get into the gore and get into the story but demand (like I did) an eventual explanation to all you've seen, you'll probably get really frustrated really fast. I stopped watching Gantz the anime when I heard rumors online that it wasn't going to give me the "why am I watching this?" solution of what is Gantz and why should I care? Gantz is the type of work that I could see myself reading for seven or eight volumes, getting sick of because I want answers, dammit, and then spoiling for myself on Wiki just to get over with. But to Gantz's credit, if the manga periodically fell out of the sky at my feet like Death Note did for Light Yagami, hell yeah, I'd read it. I'd read it, enjoy the heck out of it, then kick about the frustration I felt about not being told what the heck Gantz is. Like the Elvis Costello song once put it, "I'm in hell." But it's cool. Comment on this review of Gantz v2 on the Manga Life Forums. |
3 November 2009
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