Gantz Vol. 1: Game of Death
Synopsis
The last thing Kei remembers is the train running over his body, crushing him. Now he finds himself in a room filled with strangers, all recently deceased, all resurrected by the strange black sphere known only as Gantz.
Their reprieve from death may only be temporary, however. Unless they complete the brutal missions that Gantz assigns, none of them will live long enough to leave the room. Is this strange ‘afterlife’ real, or just a dream? All Kei and the others know is that if they fail the mission, they will all die again.
Review
In this advance screener review I will just go over the concept of Gantz. Since only two episodes were included in the DVD, I cannot make a full assessment of the show, other than from what I have seen at this early stage. So let us start it off. This show is gory, but at the same time it manages to maintain a fun atmosphere. What I am most fond of Gantz is that it is exciting; to the point where you feel like you want to be in the world with them. Gantz achieves this because it plays like a game. And most of us have a gamer in us, therefore we tend to attract to the show immediately. This game we call Gantz is like the Matrix, or any adventure game, where the goal is to seek and destroy the designated target(s). If you fail to obliterate the target within the time limit… something bad will happen. (I do not know what will happen since the one hour limit has not full elapsed yet in episode two :P).
The animation is amazing, astonishing, astounding and much more. A simple word cannot do its justice. The sound is great, but the opening theme is just senseless. The story so far is very interesting and has gotten me anxiously waiting for the full version of volume one to be released. Gantz is flat out impressive as I am completely addicted to it. Let us go onto the main characters a bit now.
There are three main characters: Kei Kurono, Masaru Kato, and Kei Kishimoto. Kei Kurono was a brave boy, but as time passed, he became less impulsive and more cowardice. He would stand back when he feels threatened by a situation, and is a bit of a hentai too. But what can we do, he is probably going to be the main focus of the three later on. Masaru Kato is Kei Kurono reversed. He was a shy boy, but now he will stand for what he believes is right. Kato is tough looking, but deep inside he still needs to convince himself badly in order for his body to act. Kei Kishimoto is a sexy babe oops, I mean she is hot, err, I mean she is a character that tried to commit suicide as she was taking a bath and winds up naked in front of a group of dead men that were brought to the Gantz. As she regains her consciousness, she almost gets raped by one of the yakuza in the apartment, but was saved by Kato.
The first mission these players have to accomplish is to kill some onion loving alien. It all seemed too easy as the players except the three main characters destroyed Onion Boy, whom only wanted to eat his onions. But when they thought it was over, the real deal just begins as the father of Onion Boy shows up and sees that his son is blown into pieces. At this moment, the second episode comes to an end and I am left with this show in my mind through my Christmas week. Oh how nice of ADV Films to do that to me :).
The Breakdown
When the show began, I immediately knew it was a show for me. Gantz was more than I expected and it certainly deserves all the hype it is receiving; as it strikes you to a point where a luxury (anime) becomes a necessity (Gantz).