GANTZ: The Big, Black, Badass Sphere
I've read a manga review of Gantz in GAME!, a gaming magazine in the Philippines. It was quite interesting, knowing that Nino would be one of the actors in the live-action adaptation of the manga.
GANTZ
The Big, Black, Badass Sphere
Remember when Yusuke Urameshi died on the first episode of YuYu Hakusho? Sure, he was a brash, young kid, who only knew trouble and was a delinquent at school, but he laid down his life to save a little girl from getting hit by a speeding car. In the end, instead of dying and going to hell (or purgatory, if you’re Catholic) for being a bad seed, Yusuke got a second chance, became a Spiritual Detective, and saved humanity a bunch of times. However, in the world of Gantz, dead people don’t end up in heaven or hell.
High school student Kei Kurono was waiting for the train, while staring at a bikini-clad woman on a comic book. Suddenly, a drunken guy fell off from the platform on the railroad. Masaru Kato, Kurono’s childhood friend, witnessed what happened and decided to help the guy who had just passed out. The kind gesture proved easier said than done for Kato, so he sought Kurono’s help, who was hesitant at first. Their act of heroism turned out as their final judgment as an express train approached and ran both of them over.
The two found themselves in an apartment in Tokyo, instead of some place where the dead shoul end up. Numerous dead people as well as a huge black sphere called “Gantz” were also inside the apartment. After a short while, the sphere opened up, revealing a bald, naked man wearing a breathing mask, with wires attached to his head. The sphere’s surface read, “Your lives have ended. What you do with your new lives is entirely up to me. That’s the theory, anyway.” It then showed a picture of a creature named “Onion Alien” and ordered the people to kill the alien using the equipment Gantz provided, which included body-fitting suits, swords, and guns with X-ray capabilities. Confused, but hoping for their second chance in life, the dead ones set off, not knowing that few would survive the attack. And that the survivors would only find themselves coming back to the apartment and once again following Gantz’s orders.
Gantz is the brainchild of mangaka Hiroya Oku. The manga, published by Shueisha, started out in 2000 with the individual manga chapters appearing in Weekly Young Jump magazine. In June 2008, Dark Horse released the manga in English, and since then became a New York Times bestseller. With the success of the manga, Gantz has already spawned two anime seasons and is set for an onscreen adaptation starring Kazunari Ninomiya and Kin’ichi Matsuyama, who played L in the Death Note movies.
With all the oddity and craziness going on in Gantz, one thing is for sure: this manga is not for the faint-hearted and the overly pious. The first volume alone involves flying, decapitated heads and implications of the act of suicide. Reading the manga further, one will see more graphic scenes that can make conservatives cringe: naked, beautifully endowed women, mass murder, and even sex scenes. One character in particular, a male Gantz member from another team, rapes an alien before killing it. If that’s not twisted enough, then I don’t know what is.
Despite the squirting blood and cut-up (naked) bodies, though, the manga still has some comedic moments, most of them coming from Kurono’s very sarcastic and coarse attitude.
But if you are simply a lover of action, violence, and more importantly, manga and comic books, then you will definitely find Gantz a good read. Not really a must-read, since I’m sure there are other action mangas out there that will appeal to a broader audience. Let’s just hope that the film adaptation won’t ruin the gore and violence elements that made this manga unforgettable.
By: Louis Myjel Guevarra
After reading this, I got pretty excited! I wonder how Nino would appear in that movie... I guess everyone would anticipate Nino in a body-fitting suit XD. But I read in an article from Tokyograph that they would make the film suitable to general audience so it will lack the gore and violence of the original manga. Awww~ Anyway, as long as Nino's in there, I know it'll be good.
(I hope subbing teams would sub this movie *pleads*)
GANTZ
The Big, Black, Badass Sphere
Remember when Yusuke Urameshi died on the first episode of YuYu Hakusho? Sure, he was a brash, young kid, who only knew trouble and was a delinquent at school, but he laid down his life to save a little girl from getting hit by a speeding car. In the end, instead of dying and going to hell (or purgatory, if you’re Catholic) for being a bad seed, Yusuke got a second chance, became a Spiritual Detective, and saved humanity a bunch of times. However, in the world of Gantz, dead people don’t end up in heaven or hell.
High school student Kei Kurono was waiting for the train, while staring at a bikini-clad woman on a comic book. Suddenly, a drunken guy fell off from the platform on the railroad. Masaru Kato, Kurono’s childhood friend, witnessed what happened and decided to help the guy who had just passed out. The kind gesture proved easier said than done for Kato, so he sought Kurono’s help, who was hesitant at first. Their act of heroism turned out as their final judgment as an express train approached and ran both of them over.
The two found themselves in an apartment in Tokyo, instead of some place where the dead shoul end up. Numerous dead people as well as a huge black sphere called “Gantz” were also inside the apartment. After a short while, the sphere opened up, revealing a bald, naked man wearing a breathing mask, with wires attached to his head. The sphere’s surface read, “Your lives have ended. What you do with your new lives is entirely up to me. That’s the theory, anyway.” It then showed a picture of a creature named “Onion Alien” and ordered the people to kill the alien using the equipment Gantz provided, which included body-fitting suits, swords, and guns with X-ray capabilities. Confused, but hoping for their second chance in life, the dead ones set off, not knowing that few would survive the attack. And that the survivors would only find themselves coming back to the apartment and once again following Gantz’s orders.
Gantz is the brainchild of mangaka Hiroya Oku. The manga, published by Shueisha, started out in 2000 with the individual manga chapters appearing in Weekly Young Jump magazine. In June 2008, Dark Horse released the manga in English, and since then became a New York Times bestseller. With the success of the manga, Gantz has already spawned two anime seasons and is set for an onscreen adaptation starring Kazunari Ninomiya and Kin’ichi Matsuyama, who played L in the Death Note movies.
With all the oddity and craziness going on in Gantz, one thing is for sure: this manga is not for the faint-hearted and the overly pious. The first volume alone involves flying, decapitated heads and implications of the act of suicide. Reading the manga further, one will see more graphic scenes that can make conservatives cringe: naked, beautifully endowed women, mass murder, and even sex scenes. One character in particular, a male Gantz member from another team, rapes an alien before killing it. If that’s not twisted enough, then I don’t know what is.
Despite the squirting blood and cut-up (naked) bodies, though, the manga still has some comedic moments, most of them coming from Kurono’s very sarcastic and coarse attitude.
But if you are simply a lover of action, violence, and more importantly, manga and comic books, then you will definitely find Gantz a good read. Not really a must-read, since I’m sure there are other action mangas out there that will appeal to a broader audience. Let’s just hope that the film adaptation won’t ruin the gore and violence elements that made this manga unforgettable.
By: Louis Myjel Guevarra
After reading this, I got pretty excited! I wonder how Nino would appear in that movie... I guess everyone would anticipate Nino in a body-fitting suit XD. But I read in an article from Tokyograph that they would make the film suitable to general audience so it will lack the gore and violence of the original manga. Awww~ Anyway, as long as Nino's in there, I know it'll be good.
(I hope subbing teams would sub this movie *pleads*)