Gantz, Volume 1

This is for the whole thing. I have no idea what people are talking about. This was recommended on a youtube video from a thirty year old adult, calling it well written. Come on, bro. This is not even well written camp. The problem is that the mangaka writes a story through the gaze of evil and despite of it, giving really lazy, cheap shots of drama and romance that are so terrible you start to wonder if this guy's ever talked to another human being in his life. You can't tell a story like that, usually evil is the abcense of good where your characters iluminate their way through the plot. In Gantz evil is the substance and everybody is swimming in it, and there is a glimpse of light here and there when a characters falls in love show more (usually out of nowhere) or starts crying because everything is so hopeless. The problem is that because everybody is so cynically written and the world they live in they don't behave like human beings, they behave like disposible secondary characters in a bad soap opera, you just can't care, and the mangaka puts himself in these melodramatic dead ends. At the end there is some new atheism philosophy, sprinkled with the religious theory of metempsychosis, the horrors of war, and the deep longing for your father's validation (I swear to God) and everything is so cheap, lazy and done in such bad taste that you can't take it seriously or make fun of it. It's just bad. The action scenes and alien designs are cool, I guess, when you understand what the hell is happening, the pages are so busy sometimes that it looks like a big ink stain. show less

If a series cannot interest me in the first book, it loses me. Problems:

1. The concept seems to be wrapped around the idea of some alien technological thing with a person inside that sends people out to murder aliens just because they smell funny, or something along those lines. It was lacking in any meaningful plot-hook, as far as I saw.

2. There were only two people who displayed any redeeming qualities at all by the end of it. One died without actually contributing to the story except as a warning for others. The other was completely over the top in how he was portrayed as making difficult decisions, and instead of coming across as a complex character making difficult decisions he came across as a whiner.

3. The reader gets treated to show more the thoughts in one character's head -- someone I started hoping would die after only a couple of pages, and the feeling only intensified as this volume wore on.

4. Out of a group of eight or nine (not counting the dog, and I'm not interested enough to open the book again and count), only one was a female. Okay, whatever -- but the only contribution she made to the story was obviously as a sex object and an excuse for men to behave in various ways around a woman. Almost the first view of her is of her pubic hair; she arrives by appearing out of nowhere, draped over the perspective character; she gets sexually assaulted within a couple of pages (three times if you count the dog licking her crotch, prompting some idiotic joke from the perspective character) and gets rescued once by the hammed-up caricature of goodness; she's completely useless throughout the story; she never puts on any clothes that are not actually handed to her (just a jacket); and the way she is drawn at times is obviously meant to show physics-defying gymnastics performed by her cartoonishly wobbling breasts. Did I mention she has the personality of wet cardboard?

5. Onion men. Seriously. I don't even know what to say.

It comes off like it's just trying entirely too hard to be "edgy", but pointlessly so. All femininity is strictly gratuitous. One moment of sexual theme might have actually been "edgy" in a good way, and non-gratuitous, except the writer fucked that all up. The gore is absurdly exaggerated and, at the same time, not convincing at all.

Ultimately, I just did not find anything worth wasting my time reading in this, so I'll stop after one volume. There are many better manga in the world than this.

I watched the CG anime feature, Gantz:0. I have not seen the anime series. That CG anime seemed to be based on a world with superficial similarities to this manga, but wildly different in all the ways that mattered. I rather enjoyed it. I have nothing to say about the anime series, which I haven't seen, but if you have a choice between the Gantz:0 anime and this manga, choose the anime. show less

One of the biggest reasons why adults in Europe and the US hesitate about stocking manga in their bookshops or libraries is concern about content. Partly this is historical: the first manga (and anime) to be available in translation back in the 1980s here in the UK (where I'm from) were often violent and exploitative, and though those kinds of stories make up only a small proportion of manga production in Japan (where romance manga, sports manga, even business manga are the norm) the perception that all manga are like that still continues among adults to this day.
It's wrong. Manga is “only” a form: manga can be about anything. If, however, you’re determined to cling to the perception that all manga contain strong bloody violence, show more bad language, gratuitous titillation and no clear moral compass… well: Gantz by Hiroya Oku is going to confirm all your worst expectations. And you know what? I'm going to recommend it here anyway, because I think Gantz is a blast. ;p
When horny, jaded teenager Kei is reluctantly coerced by his moral and honourable friend Masaru into saving the life of a drunk who has fallen into the path of a subway train, two surprising things happen. The first is that Kei and Masaru are both killed for their trouble. The second is that the pair of them (plus various other misfits) then both wake up in a strange room containing a mysterious black sphere.
In letters appearing on its surface the sphere explains only the following: its name is Gantz, Kei's and Masaru's lives are no longer their own, and from now on they and their unlucky fellow victims will be forced to hunt down and kill (or be killed by) various bizarre aliens that seem to be roaming the city. Gantz equips Kei and the rest of the group with some spiffy-looking but dubiously functional sci-fi weaponry, plus some costumes that (the sphere neglects to explain) will give their wearers super strength and speed. Then, with no further instruction, Gantz zaps the characters off on their way to take their chances. Who will survive? Who will die? Will intolerably, desperately one-track-minded Kei ever persuade someone to have sex with him or will aliens rip his limbs off first? Read Gantz to find out.
Let's face it: Gantz is unlikely to be stocked in libraries – or not without restricted access. Parents will probably not buy it for you; your granny will (almost-!) definitely not give it to you for Christmas. Gantz is violent, sexy and probably “too old for you.” But it’s enormous fun – a gleeful, gory, guilty pleasure that I heartily recommend. And to any adults reading this post who are appalled by my recommending this series here I say only this: reading that you disapprove of is still infinitely better than no reading at all. show less

An interesting beginning to this series, and since it leaves in a cliffhanger, I may well have to hunt for the next series. A group of individuals are brought together, seemingly at random, by a mysterious orb. They are kidnapped just as they are about to die. Fans of things like Battle Royale and similar game/hunting dystopias, maybe even things like The Hunger Games or "The Running Man," or maybe even better "The Long Walk," will probably like this given the story is one where the kidnapped are given weapons and ordered to kill certain aliens hiding in society. The folks cannot leave the game (is it a game? is it a reality show? It is a question that is often raised). This first volume raises a lot of questions. It has a pretty good show more pace once you get started. The art complements the story nicely. I found the story engaging and entertaining; I pretty much read it one sitting, and I am curious to find out more.

As a side note, I am coming to this as a new reader. No, I have not seen the anime for it (which I am guessing there is one based on some comments here on GR), nor am I a manga "geek" (and I don't mean that in a good way, but more in the sense of the overly OCD readers who pore over every detail like their lives depended on it. I do read mangas, manwhas, etc., and enjoy them, but I don't overly obsess over them). So as part of my reading experience I am trying not to read too many of those comments just to see how I like the series. So far, I like what I see. show less

The cover (back and front) says it all. Guns, gore, and a girl in a hyperstylized story of a mysterious survival show. Though at first glance it all might seem either just crass fanservice (which it has) and/or brutal violence (ditto), but somehow it all fits together that effectively balances both action and service, with the story in a mind-blowing package that leaves you wanting to know more.

I originally gave this book 2 stars, but, after thinking about it. I give it one. The "fan service" is an immediate turn-off for me. And I'm assuming the "fans" are thirteen year old boys considering what happens to that poor girl in the beginning. The thoughts that are in most of the males' heads during most of the book... not to mention the dog. Crass is an understatement. I don't know if I should donate this book or throw it in the garbage. Maybe recycle it with the newspapers.

Damn this manga is SO messed up! I really like it!
I wouldn't recommend it for female readers though.