I actually discovered Gantz in April (watched Gantz O), and it weirdly fascinated me. I chewed through the manga in a week, and while I agree with a lot of Bennett's points about the anime, I think the manga has a different takeaway. I was captivated by the art stye of the manga, and I had a creeping feeling the whole way through that Oka had a point; there was just too much effort on in every panel for this to all be about pointlessness. I think the series really gets going after everyone dies in the temple mission, and Kuruno has to face the fact that he's not hot shit, Because after that he meets his girlfriend, grows the fuck up, makes the hunts (and fellow hunters) his responsibility, prioritizing saving lives and getting people the points needed to free themselves. All the while, there's a new representation of what the audience thought the story was about, the pointlessly cruel and violent Izumi. I feel that the overall point of the manga is that: yeah the cosmos is vast and uncaring, and yeah you the individual don't really matter in the face of all that... but you matter to the people who love you, and you should try your best for them. That's why despite consistently showing us the worst in humanity, I really liked Gantz.
Morgan Hubert well written post, I wish again that there was a sequel to this animated. I would love to see the tenseness between Kurono and Izumi portrayed again, those arcs were amazing.
Yeah, I agree. And while some of the goddamn weird things like the vampires and the telekinetics and the panda do confound and obfuscate the plot and tone, I feel like there's a lot of dramatic potential in scenes like Izumi and Kei's showdown after the Shinjuku shooting, or the earth invasion and the horror-show that followed it, or the little kid that street-fighter-looking-guy adopts. There's a lot of good mixed in there with the heinous and the heinously-confusing.
yeah i agree and i think the biggest flaw of the anime is that it tried to make the same point as the manga but only used to the part of the story that made everyone look like shit. you hadn’t seen a loyal, humbled, caring kurono, a compromised kato, revived and less likeable nishi, yet so the characters didn’t have the same evolution. gants honestly needs an adaptation that will last long enough for the story to make its full go
7:45 It's interesting to note that often people in high stress situations will use sex or fantasy as an escape from the torment and pain. Hyper sexuality often being a lingering side effect of anxiety and depression.
Nerdy Alien which is exactly how a lot of people process their pain. I fail to see the reason for your snark here, the logic is not only strong, it’s supported by science and historically accurate.
Nerdy Alien I agree, it’s hilarious when someone at their lowest and most vulnerable uses an equally vulnerable human interaction to try to alleviate that pain. Someone should write a sitcom about it.
Hence the term "sexual oblivion". There are other ways to achieve an escape from conscious reality. Trances, achieved through music or otherwise. Hormonal extremes, achieved through elevating fear (bungee jumping, physical fighting). The "immoral, psychotic" behavior in Gantz is merely a reflection of anxiety and depression themselves. Once one enters a state of profound terror caused by the accumulation of multiple high anxieties (nuclear annihilation, climate destruction, poverty, political oppression, interpersonal relationship breakdowns) one can only cope through entering a permanent state of psychological escape. Gangs in the real world don't only use violence for profit - even during "peaceful" times they live in states of violence to mollify their own suffering. So far from being "immoral and psychotic", it's ONLY this supposedly bad condition that allows for any remnant of sanity to remain at all. Hence the "psychotic" population of the Mad Max universe. Through escaping from conscious reality, one can then manage the oblivious reality that remains. One can remain sane, albeit within a scope that in a healthy world would be truly psychotic.
@@briankoontz1 honestly, because of how blatant the racism and the overall edgelord shit is presented in the story, is hard not to process the story as just proto-fasci nonsense. Also, even characters who are not in a high stress situation act like vile assholes in this anime, which makes this overall point kinda, but not completely, moot. I guess is because I did read other stories about survivors of stress and violence that were based on actual real events, "War Paintings" comes to mind, but is hard not to see Gantz as just nihilistic nonsense I mean, this is not really an exploration of trauma, is more of the fetish fantasy of a teen that whants all their prejudices, hang ups and sexual fantasies being validated by omnicient beings
Oh the manga got SOOOOOO STUPID at the end there. I'd say about the time we find out where the Gantz Balls are coming from. The whole Alien Invasion arch is also just painful edgelord garbage. And no alien's motivation makes any sense. I'm sorry, they're invading the earth to eat us? But we are basically the size of friggin' cocktail shrimp to them so there's no way that the experience of eating us makes up for the resource cost of the invasion or the aliens humanity murders in the process. I mean we see that they really don't think we taste great. One doesn't even finish her plate of humans over pasta (not a joke) and gives it to her giant dog. And the aliens that were sending earth the technology...Oh jesus don't get me started about that navelgazing bullshit.
@@charlesslaton5924 they came because they wanted to eat us yet they wiped out a couple billions in like 36 hours (absolutely brilliant scene). It would only make sense if these aliens travel throughout the universe consuming everything on their way, If I remember correctly they all live on those huge ships, Earth was just another planet on their way.
I recommend the manga way more than the anime (especially that weird arc where they fight Japanese mythology), but that scene where Nishi begs for his mother still haunts me. And I hated that guy. However, it makes zero sense (they casually include vampires!) and most of the time you feel miserable reading it.
MforMovesets The vampire part still confuses me Are they a result of biological weapons sent by aliens Or are they aliens that had lived with us for centuries.
MforMovesets and the ending to top it all off. It's like the mangaka was like "btw fuck you, reader, and your whole existence for reading this. You're stupid, everything you do is stupid, everyone you love is stupid, everything you believe in is stupid and you're probably going to die in a stupid manner no matter how you much you struggle. Now fuck off." I really liked this manga.
smiley77060 What are you talking about? The manga ends on a happy note with our heroes defeating the massive alien invasion, stopping the corporation from taking over the world and reuniting with their loved ones. How did you interperate such a message from that?
Gantz hasn’t aged well, I preferred the manga for all its hang ups. I do love the new Gantz Film which covers one of the best story arc’s. Shame it’s almost impossible to get the manga these days.
"Gantz: O" is a lot better. It tones down the edgelord writing, the heroes aren't homicidal assholes, and Kurono dies five minutes into the movie while Kato is the protagonist.
Gantz:0 leaves everything out like why kato left if the giants are coming or that why cant they revive people. It’s good for a move but as Gantz its not that good
Fun fact, Hajime (the villain of this anime) is voiced by Greg Ayres...who also voiced Monokuma, who is essentially the same nihilistic sorta character but 100% more entertaining.
Here's a cute animal fact for you: When a male waxwing wants to attract a mate, it brings her a berry. Then she passes it back to him. And they just keep passing it back and forth. Sometimes the berry goes uneaten. It's "noooo, I luv YOU more" Bird version Also, my b-day is Aug 26th. And I love dogs. I am very happy about this BTW Hearing Greg Aryes do evil just always sounds wrong.
freddykisback123 It just seems like that year had a particularly "don't give a fuck" attitude about it. Plus, I thought it was too new for Sage to review it.
R.I.P. Chris Ayres. The perfect Kei Kurono and also the best Frieza. As for the vid itself, I'm really disappointed that you didn't put in the Brett Weaver counter, considering that Brett voiced two characters in the series (Tachibana and the soldier hunter in the Buddha arc).
Personally, I got into Gantz only a couple years ago with the CGI film/sequel "Gantz:0"... It has a strong element of cynicism, as the arbitrary point-system of the game remains intact and the people are overwhelmingly monstrous. However, it's a lot less heavy-handed and a touch more fair. One sect are those who did care, but have learned to adapt. The world doesn't care, the world doesn't reward caring, and caring about others will inevitably result in emotional pain. This is the truth about the Gantz "game", and it's pretty obviously the message which "Mission Control" wants to present. Similarly, but distinct, are those who see this as their afterlife or, more aptly, as a game. There is no moving on, and life itself is boring. The missions, the challenge, offers some meaning to the players' lives. And since "regaining your life" is such a lofty goal that sometimes seems arbitrarily denied (how many people get within like 10 points and then die on what would be their very last mission? Answer: Most if not all of them.) they accept the game as a form of release, something to just do so they don't go bored, something from which there is no escape other than death. And then a last group are the genuine dicks, who just want to kill things and hurt people. Despite these, it's Goody-Goody getting the team to work together who ensures the protagonists' survival throughout the movie. And while characters criticize his decisions, his reluctance to kill unless necessary, and all that shit he's "too weak" because of, he is redeemed as a demonstrated natural leader and strategic mind. He can beat even seemingly-invincible foes, albeit at great expense to his own physical well-being, with minimal loss. Hell, his ultimate vindication comes when he spends all his points, which he could use to leave the game and go to his brother, so as to revive his fallen love-interest/team-mate...he pulls a sort of "Liar Game"/A-like gambit upon which he tries to accumulate the debt of others to free them of their obligation. And the movie shows this as technically viable, even if it's exceedingly unlikely.
16:08 Oh, Gantz is cynical, no doubt, but at least it had a sort of upturn. You should see the manga Biomeat. Everyone in the entire story is awful, awful, awful, awful, awful.
BIO MEAT: Nectar was a piece of brilliance and NEEDS an anime adaptation. It's perfect. If you want fucked up, but not quite open-mouth-insert-gun depressing, give Franken Fran a shot.
I'm still waiting for an adaptation of that one. Complete with the "I just got a brand new PlayStation" line. It's hard to take it seriously because it's so ridiculous.
It is kind of funny because I loathe shows/animes where everyone is a monster. Yet I also hate it when shows try to justify a monster who absolutely doesn't need to be justified. Sometimes just having someone be a monster is actually great... For example in Wixoss one of the characters was very simple to understand: What if someone entered the game with the intent not to fulfil their own needs but to hurt people? This shook up the dynamics and made her extremely dangerous. Then later on, in a sort of redo of the original, they make her some sympathetic hurt person the whole time.
I guess it is to say, you need to know what you are trying to tell. A Psychopath among psychopaths just makes the world seem unappealing. MIND YOU! the "I will destroy you, because I like it" isn't done right very often. It just makes me sad that one of the few times it is done well, it is undone.
Generally I don't mind boobs and blood, and grim dark nihilistic outlook of world.. if there is a reason for that. What make edgy things edgy is complete ignorance of teenagers behind the reasons of why world is dark, and acting like those things are what make you mature, what is the exact opposite of being mature alongside with pretentious complaining about it. As a human I need eat, but that doesn't mean that it justify animal cruelty (it is why despite its flaws I like Crybaby, as for example people turning in blood thirsty demons would in fact cause mass paranoia).
I agree. Sometimes people have no utter motivations to do horrible things than being dicks. This reminds of a certain part in One Piece. At some point we see the past of one of the arc antagonists and you would think it would make him sympathetic. Turns out he was a brat who brought disgrace on himself and his family. Long history.
@111 111 Yes, but in this same time such behavior would be punished by society. Specific behaviors would be accepted only in case of either ignorance or ulterior motives of mentioned. Jocks for example profit on fact that sport is prestige thing for schools and teachers cover they digressions, or are incompetent enough to react. In case of Gastone we should remember that his prime goal was to marry Bella. Even if he was a dick, his actions were relay dumb in such case. A humorous teenager dumb as he should try provoke beast and discredit him not himself that way. But if he really suffer on PTSD (what yes, could be portrayed slightly better) it would on fact justify his temporal blindness. Also no one say that he is not evil in the end, only why he failed.
That's my big problem with _Fruit Baskets._ The anime is so charming and hilarious, but then it goes to great lengths to show all the child abuse and we're suppose to sympathize with Akito but he/her (depends on the source) is so monstrous that the maniac doesn't deserve it. I know it's Japanese values to endure and not complain but criminy it upsets me that the show wants us to care for him.
I always found Carrot Glace from _Sorcerer Hunters_ hilariously horny. The guy has actually gotten tortured multiple times by women he pursues yet that doesn't stop him from going after the next hot babe with sinister side.
Glad you mentioned how trippy the manga was, the last 30 chapters or so were just plain weird. Giant aliens in a city ship, harvesting humans like livestock, an attempt to scientifically explain how there's no soul, etc. It was all really nuts.
I read the manga, but never saw the anime. It's interesting the anime (and manga) seem against Kato's attempts at teamwork, but what ends up saving people later is teamwork but only after Kato dies.
Kato didn't take the right approach. The right approach would have been to destroy Gantz. It was the FUCKING BALL that was evil, not the aliens. They took their orders from Gantz as if they were slaves. In this light, Kato is really the overseer to Gantz, managing the slaves under Gantz's command. He's not a good guy at all. He was the most useful tool for Gantz to achieve his ends.
How about no. 300 chapters before the MC shows any kind of humanity is a BIT TOO LONG. Seriously, the anime may drag its feet but its NOTHING like the manga
Never seen a manga/anime that has more of a loyal "I love it!" or "I love hate it!" relationship with viewers, pretty much never anyone in the middle. But even though this was beginning of Sages "TAKE ME SERIOUS! I LIKED THIS AS A KID ONLY CUZ BOOBS! THATS Y!!! TREAT ME LIKE IM NOT REVIEWING JAPANESE CARTOONS AND NOT JUST BEING PRETENTIOUS!!!" that would eventually mature into the insanely pretentious NGE and DN (the making of the "American edgelord" in a video regarding anime, even after watching...you could probably see what you ate yesterday speaking of cringe) videos that could explain the channels analytics on its own (let alone "oMg I hATe AlL THe VidEOs iN tHE pASt ThaT gOt mE WhERe I aM") This is a pretty good summary of the material, I wish he brought up the trope with ppl Mr.BlackF@c3 that are so horrible for some reason they try to give him some sort of heroic ending like protecting someone despite being just detestable. Happens wayyyy too much in media.
I would like to know why most Japanese fiction goes overboard in the nihilistic melodramatic pathos bordering on bathos as thus far it seems that a lot of it has to do with the writers and their respective hangups. Does that say a lot about Japan alone as a culture or just moody creative types in general? I'm leaning towards the latter seeing how Gantz is VERY similar to a lot of bad American comic books of recent memory but it would be nice to get a well researched answer beyond the usual mainstream American assumptions.
I know i'm a year late but i'd also like to know as well. I've read a couple of mangas that basically turn into an edgy nihilistic new atheist kid's letters to the world. I really dislike stories that ram their worldviews down your throat, which is another reason why I dont like christian movies. Saying that, i've seen a lot of good christian movies and have read a few good nihilistic and atheist stories. But what set those stories apart is that they showed and didn't tell.
@@twelve535 Contrary to what a lot of weeb teenagers think , Japan is a very repressed and dark society. The Japanese director Sion Sono said that in his opinion , EVERY film that portrays the culture of Japan is a horror film , because Japanese culture is horror. It's repressed and beats you down , and is a misery machine.
@@adgato75 If Japan is a dark society, then the rest of the world is a living hell. Japan doesn't even come close to having the issues that a lot of countries have.
@@twelve535 You'd be surprised. When I lived there , I found it to be a very cold , sad , emotionally empty place , as a society. Of course it isn't as bad as some countries that have rampant disease or lawlessness , because it is a First World Country. But I still found it to be a sad place.
Dude... If she is living with you, free rent, free food, and is trying to go after another guy you had no chance to begin with and you're being used... Get her to find a new place and get her out of your life otherwise you're going to regret it.
Honestly I think the best ending Gantz could have had is ending it with the Nurarihyon fight. After a dragged out fight with the Final Boss fucker who just wouldn't die (though it definitely had some entertaining battles along the way) you end off with the hope of friends being revived and freedom finally being in reach with the worst of it finally over.
I thought the manga had some genuinely good character development, but the final arc made me feel like the author wasn't sure how to wrap everything up, so it just kind of spins its wheels for a while before abruptly ending all at once. At the very least I think it needed an epilogue chapter of sorts to show where all the surviving characters ended up.
I really didn't like the final arc, mostly because of the whole "Kei-chan! Tae-chan!" bullshit. I didn't hate Tae at first. I thought she was a good moral anchor for Kei when he was at his lowest, but by the final chapter she barely had any character to her. She's just the "damsel in distress", a plot device, not a character. So now, even though Kei was setup to be this awesome badass leader throughout the series, he just goes off on his own, abandoning the comrades he's fought with this whole time just to look for his girlfriend, while his clone takes over his role as leader. That's already annoying on its own, but what really makes it frustrating is the fact that the majority of the arc is just him searching for Tae, and he only gets to do a couple of interesting things towards the end. His fight against Nishi was pretty cool, but the final battle with the warrior guy was kind of uninteresting. The final arc had plenty of great moments like Sakurai's death, and the aforementioned Nishi fight, but it's overall really weird and too long for its own good. A shitty ending to an otherwise fantastic manga.
For the last few years I've been getting berated by someone close to me about how 'great' this series is. Not gonna lie, having read the manga, I rooted for Kato the entire time and cried when he died. Following that, the series genuinely drove me to hate certain people and it took me years to get over that. I'm glad to know there was a reason for that. Though I'm more glad to have been able to put all that behind me and just accept that it was a fucked up piece to start with. ^^;
Very good and edgy Old man Ichiro Inuyashiki is best grandpa and Hiro Shishigami is literally the shit faced teen you want punched in gantz the themes are the older generations Ideals to the newer generations ideals of everyone is equal and worthy of life vs only my life and immediate family and friends matter.
Man I remember seeing like, 1 or 2 episodes of Gantz on RUclips back when I was in Highschool. I never followed up on it and only now has its memory resurfaced... thanks Sage.
Bennett the sage thank you so much for reviewing Gantz. I've been asking you to review against for a few years now and you finally came through. I hate to hear that you didn't like it because I did, but none the less thank you. By the way that dog joke you made was hilarious as fuck
This is a copy-paste of my older comment and I added a few things now that I finished the video. _____________ In the Gantz manga people aren't as messed up like in the anime. Is weird, but as another comment says, it seems like the anime was made to make you hate the characters. However, I would say that the manga has a more humanistic focus in the plot. It is still violent and has a lot of sexual parts, but you even get to love its character. In the manga you might dislike Kurono at the beginning, but his character develops a lot and you end up loving him even more than Kato. Kurono ends up being a great example of what maturity and leadership is. About the black gay guy and the immigrant stuff: you are overthinking it too much. The manga never stand as xenophobic or homophobic in the whole story. The closest thing to it are the parts you mentioned and as as I say, you may be overthinking too much. I will tell you the things that happen in the anime but not in the manga. 1. Kurono imagining about his whole classroom naked. 2. Kurono activating the suit by thinking in Kishumoto while being beat by the bullies in his school. He activates it, but not by thinking about sex. 2. On the firts round in gantz, that politician guy talking about fucking someone while going at home. 3. On the first round, Nishi telling them that they actually have to kill aliens. In the manga Nishi says that they are in a reality show. 4. In the first round, everyone acting like a bunch of sociopaths (except for the Yakusa guys). The were not aware that that the guns were real or they were actully killing a living being because of what Nishi told them. 5. The bike gangster with black and red hair acting like a virtue signaling bitch. 6. The two guys killing the homeless man and the whole fourth round in Gantz. There are a lot more of little details where scenes are completely the same but the dialogues are different and those little differences contribuite to build our perspective and interpretation of the Gantz universe. In anime's case, that interpretation is completely negative, like your video, for example (with intention to offend), where you even say that its author is misanthrope, when, if you read both Gantz and Inuyishiki mangas, you'll learn that this completely wrong. I really encourage all of you to read the manga, it is a very good story with very likeable characters, and most important, is a story where its author put is heart to give a message.
All of these are fair points. However, Bennett's review was solely based on the Gantz anime and more specifically, the English dub of the Gantz anime that he watched as a kid. You're right though, that Bennett shouldn't have said anything about the manga or mangaka (Hiroyu Oku) since I don't believe he has read it or knows the author very well. He is free to bring up anime director Ichiro Itano's long past of bigotry though. There's really no getting past the fact Itano is kind of an asshole.
I only read the manga. It did present some interesting ideas and I wanted to see the story to completion, but GODDAMN it was a slog to get through. Between reading chapter after chapter where characters were presented as the scum of the planet or just panel after panel of people just standing around, I'm amazed I made it all the way to the end.
I loved the manga, I had heard of the name and thought of it as just some big shot manga that ended, but when I started reading it earlier this year, well I finished it in 2 weeks, that's how addicting the crazy story was Side note: I thought the vampires were cool when they joined forces
The only Gantz thing I've ever encounter was the Gantz:O movie on Netflix. It was probably one of the best CGI films I have ever seen, and even without knowing anything about the manga, it's still a good standalone film that anyone could watch and understand. That being said, I'm really looking forward to the Omnibus volumes that are coming out, since I can now see what the rest of the story is.
Any chance you'll review Black Cat? (Not that weird highschool one you already did; I'm talking about the crazy gun for hire paired up with a superpowered experiment working to stop alien Taoists written by Kentaro Yabuki) That was both bleak and hopeful.
The saddest thing about this series is honestly I think it could work on its premise alone. The Idea of a bunch of random people being drafted to fight aliens with only advanced technology giving them an edge is a neat idea. Gantz didn't need the weird "Everything and everyone is awful" tone it was going for.
Mr Shambleface same, it's just pure shit to watch in my opinion, if you want to see violent schlock without feeling drained by utter confusion bizarre writing and utter despair, then I recommend hellsing ultimate.
judeskater93 Seriously? Black Lagoon is one of my favorite action anime, devoid of a lot of the tropes that plague modern anime (it still has some tropes of course, but no infantalized female characters for example)
Mr Shambleface I'm saying its good, yeah it's violence schlock in areas, but it's still a good anime. I really enjoy watching the anime, though the manga I'm kind of hesitant on.
Gantz has it faults, good lord does it have its faults, but the few promising notes shine more in inuyashiki. While it is still a very nihilistic series it feels more mature in how it handles the subject.
There's that one scene where the two characters with the same name start living together, the girl is despondent while the guy is thinking with his dick. Really think he should have told her happy people usually don't try to kill themselves. There's a lot about her old life she'll miss, but she has a chance at a clean break from what kept her down and enjoy a fresh start. Might not have gotten him laid that night, but it's what she needed to hear.
I find it sad that anime communities haven’t caught up to movie communities collective realization that it’s OKAY to love edgy shit. Edgy stuff doesn’t make you edgy, and edgy stuff can be very entertaining, even if it has an exploitative edge!
I first heard of Gantz way back when I still didn't know much about Anime, but was very into Code Geass and asking for recommendations based on my liking Code Geass, and someone suggested Gantz. Base don your review, that person must have been trolling me. I wonder if the Grenade in mouth scene was an influence on The Dark Knight?
I don’t know if I agree with the homophobia or racism part. Maybe that’s the creators jaded view but prior to anyone (or myself) knowing that, I just saw him as a villain, not because he’s black, but because he was going to Sodomize a dude without his consent. Now if every (or sizable amount) of the villains were black then That would sound the racist alarms. But that’s coming from a dude that never fully watched the show, I’m just going by the impression I got from this video. Good work overall dude 👍🏻
You could say so. There ARE cases of unintended subtext in fictional characters, but many of the crap in Gantz seems completely intentional and a constant of Oku.
26:14~26:50 As much as I may not like Gantz, I fully agree with this. If the plot of the manga hadn't gone all the way past the bottom of the barrel of misanthropy, it could've been a genuinely provocative story about the importance of hope in a seemingly absurd crapsack society. Instead, the majority of it feels more like a vent piece by an edgelord who is in serious need of psychological therapy. Plus: "I was so close, mama." Even when I despised Nishi as a character, that single line somehow still hit me like a bag of bricks.
Gantz is my #1 favourite manga. I have Kei Kurono tattooed on my forearm. I've written a long article defending it, expressing why I think it's important, whilst acknowledging its flaws. Altogether - personally - I find the manga to a work of art that reflects the journey of a mangaka trying to work out their perspective on the world. And yeah I'm dead serious. The only good adaptation imo though is Gantz:O. I thought the anime got A LOT wrong. Anyways, always good to see people talking about Gantz, and happy to finally see you tackle it Bennett! PS. I guess I'm a 30yr old with a lot of teenage angst XD
If you think that one part of the anime was racist, get this: later in the manga there's a guy named Izumi who completed the game and chose to go free; but as a result he got his memories wiped. But he got a mini Gantz-sphere he keeps in his drawer; and it reminds him that he used to be a part of the game. So he decides he wants to come back; which is a little bit of a problem since he needs to die in order to do that. So what does he do? Disguises himself as a stereotypical black man, acquires a bunch of guns and ammunition, and shoots literally hundreds of people in Tokyo until someone kills him. Yeah...
Even at my most teenage angsty... I never quite got into the appeal of this show. I even liked ultraviolence and sex, but the characters, themes and distressing lack of hope and overall offputting nature of it just made itself so unbearable I couldn't grasp onto it. I just dislike so much about it and that was even before I knew about the prejudices of the author. Fuck. >:[
Don't forget, when it first came out on DVD, ADV originally went with TWO episodes per disc! By way of comparison, every other anime DVD in 2004 had at least 4 or episodes per disc (with the possible exception of 12 or 13 episode titles, which may have had 3 eps). This backfired horrendously, and ADV had to go back to 4 or 5 episodes/disc by the end of the series. Gosh, this title was so overrated back then.
Not gonna lie, i was almost hoping to see you cover the movie that was released a few years ago along with the anime. Its still a gorefest but a little less nihilistic
I liked Gantz so much I took all the episodes, edited out a bunch of crap/recaps/intros/outros, made a 6 hour movie out of it where it ends right after the statue mission. The two bum killer guys get almost completely cut out (Cause their part isn't big in the manga anyway). Only thing I wish I did was put subs under what Gantz says from time to time. I felt the moment he shouts at Gantz to revive everyone before walking off into the rain was a pivotal and nice way to end the anime. I guess you could call it Gantz Kai. But yea, its still a depressing/emotional anime with some good points but I enjoy Berserk and Devil man crybaby too so I'm into those plotlines. Also with my reedit I enjoy coming back to Gantz a lot more and its better off without the horrible last mission. Thanks for reviewing it, maybe I'll rewatch them again.
Gantz is just proof that the band Bobaflex was right with their song "Turn the Heat Up" . . . "You wanna save this country? Kill all the teenagers!" . . . lol The crap we watch when we're young . . . /sigh
I love your work. The first video of yours I watched was the aeon flux episode. I have been a fan ever since. Thank you for reviewing anime it is not only entertaining but awesome to hear other peoples opinions. I just happen to like your opinions a lot compared to other people's
The reason Gantz is cool is the OP song! Other than that, even my teenage gore hound self found it a bit too bleak boring and pointless. If the whole conspiracy side of it, like “Wtf is Gantz?” went somewhere cool, I would have liked it more. That’s what roped me in the first place. Btw Angel cop has Jews as the big bad!?!? I know that one has at least one over the top anti-communist comment before a female cop blows some dudes head off in the first one or two episodes. That’s crazy tho, I never felt any bit of anti-semitism in anime/manga. I’m sure it’s a thing somewhere if one was to research it for say, a video essay, but I’ve never noticed it unless I’m just oblivious.
One thing I liked about Gantz is how Kurono embodies what most would call "incel culture" I don't think the anime makes him out to be a hero. He's a delusional, angry, selfish teen that bitches about everything being everyone else's fault but is also too much of a coward to take charge and take what he wants. He actually reminds me of Dante from Clerks in that way.
The only thing I like about this anime is the English voice actor for Kato: Illich Guardiola. Also, please review Gensoumaden Saiyuki. I first found out about Gantz from HBI2K'S abridged series. And this is one of the darker things I saw Greg Ayres in.
I had heard about Gantz in an anime magazine back when it first came out on DVD in the West, I saw the screenshots including the half-head 3D-print teleportation scene and thought it looked kinda cool, but never actually watched the show. Many years later I bought a copy of the manga's first volume... and until this day I have not looked at a single piece of Gantz-related media. It's just so thoroughly unpleasant from head to toe. Everything you levy against the series was present and accounted for in that one book alone; the cast filled to the brim with complete garbage characters, the ugly artwork, the excrutiating slow pace... Absolutely atrocious! Say what you will about GoT but at least for every Joffrey, Ramsay or Walder there's a Jon, Arya or Tyrion to balance things out, with plenty of supporting characters exhibiting various shades of grey to allow for some dynamic personality clashes and development.
Gantz Abridged said it best (some mid-point manga SPOILERS): Kurono: Well, that whole experience sure did suck, and there are some hard time coming up to and I'm not going to let that stop me! Coming up on Gantz, I'm going to redeem my humanity through the love of a good woman with normal-sized boobs. I'll train a bunch of psychics and super models and street fighters into an elite team of bad-asses that can handle anything Gantz throws at us! And God willing, I might even find a way to see some of my old friends again! It's going to be a wild ride, so don't miss it- Gantz: Not happening, dipshit! Kurono: What?! Why not? Gantz: Because the rest of the show is filler. (cue despair) Seriously, Vol. 9 and beyond is when things get more interesting (even if the final arc was rough), and this anime instead chose to drags things out and end on a 4-episode filler arc, UGH. I get the dislike of the story of Vol. 1-8 as it's unpleasant (and yeah, the racist/homophobic part was really bad) but I do enjoy where it goes after that as it shows how even a little shit like Kurono can legitimately change for the better.
Loved the review, though my one critique would be instead of sunglasses. You could've done a bit with Gabe about you wearing an eye patch. Though I don't understand his and your schedules, and I understand that the sunglasses might've been the only way to go to get this episode out on time. Either way, loved the review as always and keep it up.
One of the few anime where the dub made it 1000% more entertaining.
Gantz Abridged made it reasonably funny.
Herman Cillo Pasafism BARRAGE!
The English dub is shit compared to the original
@@damxcv weeaboo alert
The Dub is truly special
I actually discovered Gantz in April (watched Gantz O), and it weirdly fascinated me. I chewed through the manga in a week, and while I agree with a lot of Bennett's points about the anime, I think the manga has a different takeaway. I was captivated by the art stye of the manga, and I had a creeping feeling the whole way through that Oka had a point; there was just too much effort on in every panel for this to all be about pointlessness. I think the series really gets going after everyone dies in the temple mission, and Kuruno has to face the fact that he's not hot shit, Because after that he meets his girlfriend, grows the fuck up, makes the hunts (and fellow hunters) his responsibility, prioritizing saving lives and getting people the points needed to free themselves. All the while, there's a new representation of what the audience thought the story was about, the pointlessly cruel and violent Izumi. I feel that the overall point of the manga is that: yeah the cosmos is vast and uncaring, and yeah you the individual don't really matter in the face of all that... but you matter to the people who love you, and you should try your best for them. That's why despite consistently showing us the worst in humanity, I really liked Gantz.
Morgan Hubert well written post, I wish again that there was a sequel to this animated. I would love to see the tenseness between Kurono and Izumi portrayed again, those arcs were amazing.
Yeah, I agree. And while some of the goddamn weird things like the vampires and the telekinetics and the panda do confound and obfuscate the plot and tone, I feel like there's a lot of dramatic potential in scenes like Izumi and Kei's showdown after the Shinjuku shooting, or the earth invasion and the horror-show that followed it, or the little kid that street-fighter-looking-guy adopts. There's a lot of good mixed in there with the heinous and the heinously-confusing.
Morgan Hubert this should be top comment
yeah i agree and i think the biggest flaw of the anime is that it tried to make the same point as the manga but only used to the part of the story that made everyone look like shit. you hadn’t seen a loyal, humbled, caring kurono, a compromised kato, revived and less likeable nishi, yet so the characters didn’t have the same evolution. gants honestly needs an adaptation that will last long enough for the story to make its full go
The realism in gantz is something I never seen in any anime story one of the reasons why I really liked gantz
7:45
It's interesting to note that often people in high stress situations will use sex or fantasy as an escape from the torment and pain.
Hyper sexuality often being a lingering side effect of anxiety and depression.
Nerdy Alien which is exactly how a lot of people process their pain.
I fail to see the reason for your snark here, the logic is not only strong, it’s supported by science and historically accurate.
Nerdy Alien I agree, it’s hilarious when someone at their lowest and most vulnerable uses an equally vulnerable human interaction to try to alleviate that pain.
Someone should write a sitcom about it.
Hence the term "sexual oblivion". There are other ways to achieve an escape from conscious reality. Trances, achieved through music or otherwise. Hormonal extremes, achieved through elevating fear (bungee jumping, physical fighting).
The "immoral, psychotic" behavior in Gantz is merely a reflection of anxiety and depression themselves. Once one enters a state of profound terror caused by the accumulation of multiple high anxieties (nuclear annihilation, climate destruction, poverty, political oppression, interpersonal relationship breakdowns) one can only cope through entering a permanent state of psychological escape. Gangs in the real world don't only use violence for profit - even during "peaceful" times they live in states of violence to mollify their own suffering.
So far from being "immoral and psychotic", it's ONLY this supposedly bad condition that allows for any remnant of sanity to remain at all. Hence the "psychotic" population of the Mad Max universe.
Through escaping from conscious reality, one can then manage the oblivious reality that remains. One can remain sane, albeit within a scope that in a healthy world would be truly psychotic.
@@briankoontz1 honestly, because of how blatant the racism and the overall edgelord shit is presented in the story, is hard not to process the story as just proto-fasci nonsense. Also, even characters who are not in a high stress situation act like vile assholes in this anime, which makes this overall point kinda, but not completely, moot.
I guess is because I did read other stories about survivors of stress and violence that were based on actual real events, "War Paintings" comes to mind, but is hard not to see Gantz as just nihilistic nonsense
I mean, this is not really an exploration of trauma, is more of the fetish fantasy of a teen that whants all their prejudices, hang ups and sexual fantasies being validated by omnicient beings
I'm still crushed that the anime didn't reach the alien invasion arc from the manga.
to be fair the manga was only 50% done when it was made into an anime.
to be honest im glad it didnt
I think Gantz:0 is still on Netflix
we need a season 3 of gantz, madhouse need to make it!
I'm glad they didn't.
The Manga actually did make an attempt to show the brighter side of man later on in the series, but then it got really dumb near the end.
Oh the manga got SOOOOOO STUPID at the end there. I'd say about the time we find out where the Gantz Balls are coming from. The whole Alien Invasion arch is also just painful edgelord garbage. And no alien's motivation makes any sense. I'm sorry, they're invading the earth to eat us? But we are basically the size of friggin' cocktail shrimp to them so there's no way that the experience of eating us makes up for the resource cost of the invasion or the aliens humanity murders in the process. I mean we see that they really don't think we taste great. One doesn't even finish her plate of humans over pasta (not a joke) and gives it to her giant dog.
And the aliens that were sending earth the technology...Oh jesus don't get me started about that navelgazing bullshit.
@@charlesslaton5924 they came because they wanted to eat us yet they wiped out a couple billions in like 36 hours (absolutely brilliant scene). It would only make sense if these aliens travel throughout the universe consuming everything on their way, If I remember correctly they all live on those huge ships, Earth was just another planet on their way.
And yes the Lara Croft look alike IS based on Lara Croft as the manga-ka confirmed
Sei's a hotty.
Just as there's a girl based on Sadako from Ringu.
Best girl
There's one that is based on gogo from Kill Bill. Gantz even referrs to her as Kill Bill.
@@tylerdordon99 not surprised....but AWESOME!
I recommend the manga way more than the anime (especially that weird arc where they fight Japanese mythology), but that scene where Nishi begs for his mother still haunts me. And I hated that guy. However, it makes zero sense (they casually include vampires!) and most of the time you feel miserable reading it.
MforMovesets
The vampire part still confuses me
Are they a result of biological weapons sent by aliens
Or are they aliens that had lived with us for centuries.
MforMovesets what do you mean casually include vampires, the manga did the same thing and if you want the nuhuriyon mission, you can watch gantz o
MforMovesets and the ending to top it all off. It's like the mangaka was like "btw fuck you, reader, and your whole existence for reading this. You're stupid, everything you do is stupid, everyone you love is stupid, everything you believe in is stupid and you're probably going to die in a stupid manner no matter how you much you struggle. Now fuck off." I really liked this manga.
The part where even this stone killer breaks down was a good scene, but I think was hurt by him explaining why he was a bastard.
smiley77060
What are you talking about? The manga ends on a happy note with our heroes defeating the massive alien invasion, stopping the corporation from taking over the world and reuniting with their loved ones. How did you interperate such a message from that?
Gantz hasn’t aged well, I preferred the manga for all its hang ups. I do love the new Gantz Film which covers one of the best story arc’s. Shame it’s almost impossible to get the manga these days.
Ulysses Joyce thanks for the heads up. I’ll let my local comic books shop know.
Yup
"Gantz: O" is a lot better. It tones down the edgelord writing, the heroes aren't homicidal assholes, and Kurono dies five minutes into the movie while Kato is the protagonist.
Sound 50 times better than this shit
HUZZAH
Gantz:0 leaves everything out like why kato left if the giants are coming or that why cant they revive people. It’s good for a move but as Gantz its not that good
I loved Gantz O but the story in Gantz is so much better. And Kurono is one of the best manga protagonists for me.
@@tylerdordon99 fax
Fun fact, Hajime (the villain of this anime) is voiced by Greg Ayres...who also voiced Monokuma, who is essentially the same nihilistic sorta character but 100% more entertaining.
Here's a cute animal fact for you: When a male waxwing wants to attract a mate, it brings her a berry. Then she passes it back to him. And they just keep passing it back and forth. Sometimes the berry goes uneaten.
It's "noooo, I luv YOU more" Bird version
Also, my b-day is Aug 26th. And I love dogs. I am very happy about this
BTW Hearing Greg Aryes do evil just always sounds wrong.
Gantz was made in 2004? That actually explains a lot.
Like?
Kosta Jovanovic How incredibly nihilistic it is.
as opposed to another year, that did not incites a nihilisctis outview on the human species ? i do not understand your point.
2004 was also the year the "Elfen Lied" anime came out.
freddykisback123 It just seems like that year had a particularly "don't give a fuck" attitude about it. Plus, I thought it was too new for Sage to review it.
God, the memories here. I loved Gantz! I remember sharing this anime with a friend of mine in freshman year and we bonded over it. Good times.
Read the Manga
If they could remake it closer to the manga then that would be great. I was super intrigued by the manga and has a lot of potential.
R.I.P. Chris Ayres. The perfect Kei Kurono and also the best Frieza.
As for the vid itself, I'm really disappointed that you didn't put in the Brett Weaver counter, considering that Brett voiced two characters in the series (Tachibana and the soldier hunter in the Buddha arc).
Personally, I got into Gantz only a couple years ago with the CGI film/sequel "Gantz:0"...
It has a strong element of cynicism, as the arbitrary point-system of the game remains intact and the people are overwhelmingly monstrous. However, it's a lot less heavy-handed and a touch more fair.
One sect are those who did care, but have learned to adapt. The world doesn't care, the world doesn't reward caring, and caring about others will inevitably result in emotional pain. This is the truth about the Gantz "game", and it's pretty obviously the message which "Mission Control" wants to present.
Similarly, but distinct, are those who see this as their afterlife or, more aptly, as a game. There is no moving on, and life itself is boring. The missions, the challenge, offers some meaning to the players' lives. And since "regaining your life" is such a lofty goal that sometimes seems arbitrarily denied (how many people get within like 10 points and then die on what would be their very last mission? Answer: Most if not all of them.) they accept the game as a form of release, something to just do so they don't go bored, something from which there is no escape other than death.
And then a last group are the genuine dicks, who just want to kill things and hurt people.
Despite these, it's Goody-Goody getting the team to work together who ensures the protagonists' survival throughout the movie. And while characters criticize his decisions, his reluctance to kill unless necessary, and all that shit he's "too weak" because of, he is redeemed as a demonstrated natural leader and strategic mind. He can beat even seemingly-invincible foes, albeit at great expense to his own physical well-being, with minimal loss. Hell, his ultimate vindication comes when he spends all his points, which he could use to leave the game and go to his brother, so as to revive his fallen love-interest/team-mate...he pulls a sort of "Liar Game"/A-like gambit upon which he tries to accumulate the debt of others to free them of their obligation. And the movie shows this as technically viable, even if it's exceedingly unlikely.
16:08
Oh, Gantz is cynical, no doubt, but at least it had a sort of upturn. You should see the manga Biomeat. Everyone in the entire story is awful, awful, awful, awful, awful.
i read biomeat you can sum it by "this monsters almost kills us lets make them stronger!"
Doesn't the word "meat" sort of imply "bio?"
Sure, but I guess the distinction is that this was created in a lab.
BIO MEAT: Nectar was a piece of brilliance and NEEDS an anime adaptation. It's perfect.
If you want fucked up, but not quite open-mouth-insert-gun depressing, give Franken Fran a shot.
I'm still waiting for an adaptation of that one. Complete with the "I just got a brand new PlayStation" line. It's hard to take it seriously because it's so ridiculous.
2:15-2:16 Heh, to be honest. I still miss ADV Films...
There are still some things they could have done better...
SSB&AnimeCrossover sentai filmworks
kirby, did you sub to me little one ?
From all anime that they had licensed I love Full Metal Panic! (first season) most.
Except handle their money
I loved ADV and I miss them
"5 rounds with Mike Tyson".
Really, REALLY Sage? you honestly think you'd last 5 rounds , :~/
Tyson just kept piling him up and punching Sage out for 5 rounds. Dude went full on sadistic
11:36 basically, Kato is a cinnamon roll to good for this series
It is kind of funny because I loathe shows/animes where everyone is a monster. Yet I also hate it when shows try to justify a monster who absolutely doesn't need to be justified. Sometimes just having someone be a monster is actually great... For example in Wixoss one of the characters was very simple to understand: What if someone entered the game with the intent not to fulfil their own needs but to hurt people? This shook up the dynamics and made her extremely dangerous. Then later on, in a sort of redo of the original, they make her some sympathetic hurt person the whole time.
I guess it is to say, you need to know what you are trying to tell. A Psychopath among psychopaths just makes the world seem unappealing. MIND YOU! the "I will destroy you, because I like it" isn't done right very often. It just makes me sad that one of the few times it is done well, it is undone.
Generally I don't mind boobs and blood, and grim dark nihilistic outlook of world.. if there is a reason for that. What make edgy things edgy is complete ignorance of teenagers behind the reasons of why world is dark, and acting like those things are what make you mature, what is the exact opposite of being mature alongside with pretentious complaining about it. As a human I need eat, but that doesn't mean that it justify animal cruelty (it is why despite its flaws I like Crybaby, as for example people turning in blood thirsty demons would in fact cause mass paranoia).
I agree. Sometimes people have no utter motivations to do horrible things than being dicks.
This reminds of a certain part in One Piece. At some point we see the past of one of the arc antagonists and you would think it would make him sympathetic. Turns out he was a brat who brought disgrace on himself and his family. Long history.
@111 111
Yes, but in this same time such behavior would be punished by society. Specific behaviors would be accepted only in case of either ignorance or ulterior motives of mentioned. Jocks for example profit on fact that sport is prestige thing for schools and teachers cover they digressions, or are incompetent enough to react.
In case of Gastone we should remember that his prime goal was to marry Bella. Even if he was a dick, his actions were relay dumb in such case. A humorous teenager dumb as he should try provoke beast and discredit him not himself that way. But if he really suffer on PTSD (what yes, could be portrayed slightly better) it would on fact justify his temporal blindness. Also no one say that he is not evil in the end, only why he failed.
That's my big problem with _Fruit Baskets._ The anime is so charming and hilarious, but then it goes to great lengths to show all the child abuse and we're suppose to sympathize with Akito but he/her (depends on the source) is so monstrous that the maniac doesn't deserve it. I know it's Japanese values to endure and not complain but criminy it upsets me that the show wants us to care for him.
Sage Please Review Black Lagoon
Seconded.
Aw hell yeah.
I dont know...he might have to buy an aloha shirt, and I don't think he's ready for that.
Its past the 2004 cut off.
Robot Infection The cut off isn't 2004 anymore. It would be 2008.
18:15-18:29 inb4 OldTaku New Tricks on Inuyashiki
"The biggest horndog in anime history"? Debatable. In my opinion that title goes to Ataru from Urusei Yatsura
I always found Carrot Glace from _Sorcerer Hunters_ hilariously horny. The guy has actually gotten tortured multiple times by women he pursues yet that doesn't stop him from going after the next hot babe with sinister side.
@Instrumentality1000 Ataru's lechery has survived everything thrown at it, up to and including psychic surgery.
10:35 I laughed my ass off. And it sounded very strained and awkward because I was inhaling at the time.
So Hiroya Oku is basically Japanese Frank Miller.
Things have been going well Hiroya Oku, and poor Frank Miller is still going through an large downward spiral.
He's more like a reverse Frank Miller. He started off nihilistic, but his later works were more optimistic.
Frank Miller without the rampant bullying that haunts his work to this day?
What about Garth Ennis (Preacher, Crossed and The Boys)?
Garth lets the good guys so I don't understand the comparison.
Glad you mentioned how trippy the manga was, the last 30 chapters or so were just plain weird. Giant aliens in a city ship, harvesting humans like livestock, an attempt to scientifically explain how there's no soul, etc. It was all really nuts.
I read the manga, but never saw the anime. It's interesting the anime (and manga) seem against Kato's attempts at teamwork, but what ends up saving people later is teamwork but only after Kato dies.
Kato didn't take the right approach. The right approach would have been to destroy Gantz. It was the FUCKING BALL that was evil, not the aliens. They took their orders from Gantz as if they were slaves.
In this light, Kato is really the overseer to Gantz, managing the slaves under Gantz's command. He's not a good guy at all. He was the most useful tool for Gantz to achieve his ends.
@@briankoontz1 you do realise gantz could have just blown his fucking head off right?
Poor Christopher Ayres, he gets one lead role, and it's Gantz.
CornishCreamtea07 He was also Chouji Suitengu from Speed Grapher, who despite being the main villain, had alot of influence in the narrative.
At least he still gave the role his all
He voices Kei Kurono, I meant gantz as in the show where he has the lead role, not as in the lead role itself.
CornishCreamtea07 which sucks since hed be much better as the other kid whos name i forgot
Zachary Erickson gantz never talks
7:36 I thought that scene was better than the manga's equivalent.
But truly, only that one single scene.
Yo, I love gantz the manga was good in my opinion
That's nice.
Mr. Dexter's Dad or Sir
What was/is your favorite arc/mission?
What are your options on the last arc?
The manga is amazing. The anime does it no justice
How about no. 300 chapters before the MC shows any kind of humanity is a BIT TOO LONG. Seriously, the anime may drag its feet but its NOTHING like the manga
Plutoburns the protagonist doesn't have to show humanity, or morality I'm assuming you mean to say.
Never seen a manga/anime that has more of a loyal "I love it!" or "I love hate it!" relationship with viewers, pretty much never anyone in the middle.
But even though this was beginning of Sages "TAKE ME SERIOUS! I LIKED THIS AS A KID ONLY CUZ BOOBS! THATS Y!!! TREAT ME LIKE IM NOT REVIEWING JAPANESE CARTOONS AND NOT JUST BEING PRETENTIOUS!!!" that would eventually mature into the insanely pretentious NGE and DN (the making of the "American edgelord" in a video regarding anime, even after watching...you could probably see what you ate yesterday speaking of cringe) videos that could explain the channels analytics on its own (let alone "oMg I hATe AlL THe VidEOs iN tHE pASt ThaT gOt mE WhERe I aM")
This is a pretty good summary of the material, I wish he brought up the trope with ppl Mr.BlackF@c3 that are so horrible for some reason they try to give him some sort of heroic ending like protecting someone despite being just detestable. Happens wayyyy too much in media.
I would like to know why most Japanese fiction goes overboard in the nihilistic melodramatic pathos bordering on bathos as thus far it seems that a lot of it has to do with the writers and their respective hangups. Does that say a lot about Japan alone as a culture or just moody creative types in general? I'm leaning towards the latter seeing how Gantz is VERY similar to a lot of bad American comic books of recent memory but it would be nice to get a well researched answer beyond the usual mainstream American assumptions.
I know i'm a year late but i'd also like to know as well. I've read a couple of mangas that basically turn into an edgy nihilistic new atheist kid's letters to the world. I really dislike stories that ram their worldviews down your throat, which is another reason why I dont like christian movies.
Saying that, i've seen a lot of good christian movies and have read a few good nihilistic and atheist stories. But what set those stories apart is that they showed and didn't tell.
@@twelve535 Contrary to what a lot of weeb teenagers think , Japan is a very repressed and dark society. The Japanese director Sion Sono said that in his opinion , EVERY film that portrays the culture of Japan is a horror film , because Japanese culture is horror. It's repressed and beats you down , and is a misery machine.
@@adgato75 If Japan is a dark society, then the rest of the world is a living hell.
Japan doesn't even come close to having the issues that a lot of countries have.
@@twelve535 You'd be surprised. When I lived there , I found it to be a very cold , sad , emotionally empty place , as a society. Of course it isn't as bad as some countries that have rampant disease or lawlessness , because it is a First World Country. But I still found it to be a sad place.
Miserable people write miserable shit.
The manga was better. You get attached to the good characters and their desire to survive and be with their loved one.
Ye
Dude... If she is living with you, free rent, free food, and is trying to go after another guy you had no chance to begin with and you're being used... Get her to find a new place and get her out of your life otherwise you're going to regret it.
I don't care if it's 12am, I need my pulpy ultra violence
Salokin love the avatar, just finished Hyper Light Drifter last night
b1ack c0wboy respect!
The Gantz anime had opportunity...but its ending was hallow. Thank goodness the manga ended a little better.....kinda...
Honestly I think the best ending Gantz could have had is ending it with the Nurarihyon fight. After a dragged out fight with the Final Boss fucker who just wouldn't die (though it definitely had some entertaining battles along the way) you end off with the hope of friends being revived and freedom finally being in reach with the worst of it finally over.
Keyword a little bit better.
I actually really enjoyed the bizarre, nihilistic ending. Like the author had just finished reading some Lovecraft and wanted to throw it in the mix.
I thought the manga had some genuinely good character development, but the final arc made me feel like the author wasn't sure how to wrap everything up, so it just kind of spins its wheels for a while before abruptly ending all at once.
At the very least I think it needed an epilogue chapter of sorts to show where all the surviving characters ended up.
I really didn't like the final arc, mostly because of the whole "Kei-chan! Tae-chan!" bullshit. I didn't hate Tae at first. I thought she was a good moral anchor for Kei when he was at his lowest, but by the final chapter she barely had any character to her. She's just the "damsel in distress", a plot device, not a character.
So now, even though Kei was setup to be this awesome badass leader throughout the series, he just goes off on his own, abandoning the comrades he's fought with this whole time just to look for his girlfriend, while his clone takes over his role as leader. That's already annoying on its own, but what really makes it frustrating is the fact that the majority of the arc is just him searching for Tae, and he only gets to do a couple of interesting things towards the end. His fight against Nishi was pretty cool, but the final battle with the warrior guy was kind of uninteresting.
The final arc had plenty of great moments like Sakurai's death, and the aforementioned Nishi fight, but it's overall really weird and too long for its own good. A shitty ending to an otherwise fantastic manga.
Speaking of Inuyashiki, are you going to do an Oldtaku, New Tricks episode about the anime adaptation?
For the last few years I've been getting berated by someone close to me about how 'great' this series is.
Not gonna lie, having read the manga, I rooted for Kato the entire time and cried when he died.
Following that, the series genuinely drove me to hate certain people and it took me years to get over that.
I'm glad to know there was a reason for that.
Though I'm more glad to have been able to put all that behind me and just accept that it was a fucked up piece to start with. ^^;
Ok, you got me with the Bumblebee bat. That was fucking precious.
Well, now you HAVE to do Inuyashiki on Oldtaku, New Tricks
Is it good? And is there a dub now?
Very good and edgy Old man Ichiro Inuyashiki is best grandpa and Hiro Shishigami is literally the shit faced teen you want punched in gantz the themes are the older generations Ideals to the newer generations ideals of everyone is equal and worthy of life vs only my life and immediate family and friends matter.
Thanks, I'll give it a go. Hopefully it's bee dubbed, I do like the original dubs but I read a lot so prefer to watch in English.
Man I remember seeing like, 1 or 2 episodes of Gantz on RUclips back when I was in Highschool. I never followed up on it and only now has its memory resurfaced... thanks Sage.
I still have trouble eating green onions because of Gantz.
Bennett the sage thank you so much for reviewing Gantz. I've been asking you to review against for a few years now and you finally came through. I hate to hear that you didn't like it because I did, but none the less thank you. By the way that dog joke you made was hilarious as fuck
One thing I loved about Gantz? The opening theme.
Two things I loved about Gantz? The juicy tits.
It's actually really catchy. ruclips.net/video/SJ5ICtGn6u8/видео.html
You’re so right. I loved Gantz as a teenage edgelord too, but when I got around to reading the manga a few years ago, I was entirely turned off by it.
Tokyo Ghoul is the teenage angsty of today's anime generation.
No,it s just edgy
No that goes to akami ga kill
This is a copy-paste of my older comment and I added a few things now that I finished the video.
_____________
In the Gantz manga people aren't as messed up like in the anime.
Is weird, but as another comment says, it seems like the anime was made to make you hate the characters.
However, I would say that the manga has a more humanistic focus in the plot. It is still violent and has a lot of sexual parts, but you even get to love its character.
In the manga you might dislike Kurono at the beginning, but his character develops a lot and you end up loving him even more than Kato. Kurono ends up being a great example of what maturity and leadership is.
About the black gay guy and the immigrant stuff: you are overthinking it too much. The manga never stand as xenophobic or homophobic in the whole story. The closest thing to it are the parts you mentioned and as as I say, you may be overthinking too much.
I will tell you the things that happen in the anime but not in the manga.
1. Kurono imagining about his whole classroom naked.
2. Kurono activating the suit by thinking in Kishumoto while being beat by the bullies in his school. He activates it, but not by thinking about sex.
2. On the firts round in gantz, that politician guy talking about fucking someone while going at home.
3. On the first round, Nishi telling them that they actually have to kill aliens. In the manga Nishi says that they are in a reality show.
4. In the first round, everyone acting like a bunch of sociopaths (except for the Yakusa guys). The were not aware that that the guns were real or they were actully killing a living being because of what Nishi told them.
5. The bike gangster with black and red hair acting like a virtue signaling bitch.
6. The two guys killing the homeless man and the whole fourth round in Gantz.
There are a lot more of little details where scenes are completely the same but the dialogues are different and those little differences contribuite to build our perspective and interpretation of the Gantz universe.
In anime's case, that interpretation is completely negative, like your video, for example (with intention to offend), where you even say that its author is misanthrope, when, if you read both Gantz and Inuyishiki mangas, you'll learn that this completely wrong.
I really encourage all of you to read the manga, it is a very good story with very likeable characters, and most important, is a story where its author put is heart to give a message.
All of these are fair points. However, Bennett's review was solely based on the Gantz anime and more specifically, the English dub of the Gantz anime that he watched as a kid. You're right though, that Bennett shouldn't have said anything about the manga or mangaka (Hiroyu Oku) since I don't believe he has read it or knows the author very well. He is free to bring up anime director Ichiro Itano's long past of bigotry though. There's really no getting past the fact Itano is kind of an asshole.
Though the anime version of the leader of biker gang became more likeable than the manga where he just bad as his other friends.
21:21
"Sho Aikawa"
**Bursts in indignation**
**Calms down** Ok, I'm fine, I'm cool....
I only read the manga. It did present some interesting ideas and I wanted to see the story to completion, but GODDAMN it was a slog to get through. Between reading chapter after chapter where characters were presented as the scum of the planet or just panel after panel of people just standing around, I'm amazed I made it all the way to the end.
I loved the manga, I had heard of the name and thought of it as just some big shot manga that ended, but when I started reading it earlier this year, well I finished it in 2 weeks, that's how addicting the crazy story was
Side note: I thought the vampires were cool when they joined forces
The only Gantz thing I've ever encounter was the Gantz:O movie on Netflix. It was probably one of the best CGI films I have ever seen, and even without knowing anything about the manga, it's still a good standalone film that anyone could watch and understand.
That being said, I'm really looking forward to the Omnibus volumes that are coming out, since I can now see what the rest of the story is.
I keep waiting for an explanation why the girl looks so much like the protagonist.
Any chance you'll review Black Cat? (Not that weird highschool one you already did; I'm talking about the crazy gun for hire paired up with a superpowered experiment working to stop alien Taoists written by Kentaro Yabuki) That was both bleak and hopeful.
6:18 ....so basically he's your average teenager? Lol 😂 .
I was expecting like a eye patch or dark sunglasses like ray bands but Bennett put on those Brett Hart shades lol
I wonder if Bennett will take a look at the author's follow up work with Inu Yashiki for Oldtaku New Tricks
I am really for that, it still has some cynicism but it has a moral center that makes a whole more rounded than Gantz.
The saddest thing about this series is honestly I think it could work on its premise alone. The Idea of a bunch of random people being drafted to fight aliens with only advanced technology giving them an edge is a neat idea. Gantz didn't need the weird "Everything and everyone is awful" tone it was going for.
Even when I watched this as a teen the "main character' made my skin crawl.
What's the guitar music that plays in the second half of the video? It's fucking gorgeous.
This anime seems like it was designed just to piss me off.
Mr Shambleface same, it's just pure shit to watch in my opinion, if you want to see violent schlock without feeling drained by utter confusion bizarre writing and utter despair, then I recommend hellsing ultimate.
Mr Shambleface that or black lagoon.
Same.
judeskater93 Seriously? Black Lagoon is one of my favorite action anime, devoid of a lot of the tropes that plague modern anime (it still has some tropes of course, but no infantalized female characters for example)
Mr Shambleface I'm saying its good, yeah it's violence schlock in areas, but it's still a good anime. I really enjoy watching the anime, though the manga I'm kind of hesitant on.
Hey Ben, are you someday perhaps going to do Texhnolyze? I'd be curious about your take on it.
Gantz has it faults, good lord does it have its faults, but the few promising notes shine more in inuyashiki. While it is still a very nihilistic series it feels more mature in how it handles the subject.
Sage please check Bokurano as fast as You can. I watched it just after Gantz years ago.
There's that one scene where the two characters with the same name start living together, the girl is despondent while the guy is thinking with his dick.
Really think he should have told her happy people usually don't try to kill themselves. There's a lot about her old life she'll miss, but she has a chance at a clean break from what kept her down and enjoy a fresh start. Might not have gotten him laid that night, but it's what she needed to hear.
Sei Sakuraoka liking Otakus???? FUCK YES!! BEST CHARACTER IN THE ANIME!!! LOVE HER NOW!!
Wow...this makes Hellsing Ultimate and Psycho Pass look positively upbeat by comparison.
I find it sad that anime communities haven’t caught up to movie communities collective realization that it’s OKAY to love edgy shit. Edgy stuff doesn’t make you edgy, and edgy stuff can be very entertaining, even if it has an exploitative edge!
If anime communities doesnt liked edgy stuff then anime series likes berserk and tokyo ghoul wont be popular.
I read the whole manga series
I first heard of Gantz way back when I still didn't know much about Anime, but was very into Code Geass and asking for recommendations based on my liking Code Geass, and someone suggested Gantz. Base don your review, that person must have been trolling me.
I wonder if the Grenade in mouth scene was an influence on The Dark Knight?
Well.. Code Geass also has some edgelord vibe in it, even if it generally is superior show in almost every way.
To me Code Geass is an ultimately optimistic show. And certainly at times very light hearted.
I don’t know if I agree with the homophobia or racism part. Maybe that’s the creators jaded view but prior to anyone (or myself) knowing that, I just saw him as a villain, not because he’s black, but because he was going to Sodomize a dude without his consent. Now if every (or sizable amount) of the villains were black then That would sound the racist alarms. But that’s coming from a dude that never fully watched the show, I’m just going by the impression I got from this video. Good work overall dude 👍🏻
The male rapist happens to be black is a common racist stereotype, and the fact this particular villain fits all the bills is hardly unintentional.
Scissorman I suppose if the creator has a history of that portrayal, that is warranted.
@Scissorman By that same scrutiny, is any character being what they are in the story warranted?
You could say so. There ARE cases of unintended subtext in fictional characters, but many of the crap in Gantz seems completely intentional and a constant of Oku.
Read Gantz it is constantly homophobic and racist. But great art
If I remember right, didn't the last couple of volumes of DVDs have like two episodes per disk?
A new review on my birthday. Neat.
StevetheWizard happy birthday.
StevetheWizard happy "edgy" birthday courtesy of Ben the sage
26:14~26:50
As much as I may not like Gantz, I fully agree with this. If the plot of the manga hadn't gone all the way past the bottom of the barrel of misanthropy, it could've been a genuinely provocative story about the importance of hope in a seemingly absurd crapsack society. Instead, the majority of it feels more like a vent piece by an edgelord who is in serious need of psychological therapy.
Plus: "I was so close, mama." Even when I despised Nishi as a character, that single line somehow still hit me like a bag of bricks.
Bennet isn't wrong. He hits EVERYTHING I felt when I first watched it years ago.
Yuuup
Hey there could you please tell me the back round instrumental that started at 19:35 in Your video ? It’s was so soothing
Gantz is my #1 favourite manga. I have Kei Kurono tattooed on my forearm. I've written a long article defending it, expressing why I think it's important, whilst acknowledging its flaws. Altogether - personally - I find the manga to a work of art that reflects the journey of a mangaka trying to work out their perspective on the world. And yeah I'm dead serious. The only good adaptation imo though is Gantz:O. I thought the anime got A LOT wrong. Anyways, always good to see people talking about Gantz, and happy to finally see you tackle it Bennett!
PS. I guess I'm a 30yr old with a lot of teenage angst XD
If you think that one part of the anime was racist, get this: later in the manga there's a guy named Izumi who completed the game and chose to go free; but as a result he got his memories wiped. But he got a mini Gantz-sphere he keeps in his drawer; and it reminds him that he used to be a part of the game. So he decides he wants to come back; which is a little bit of a problem since he needs to die in order to do that.
So what does he do? Disguises himself as a stereotypical black man, acquires a bunch of guns and ammunition, and shoots literally hundreds of people in Tokyo until someone kills him.
Yeah...
Even at my most teenage angsty... I never quite got into the appeal of this show. I even liked ultraviolence and sex, but the characters, themes and distressing lack of hope and overall offputting nature of it just made itself so unbearable I couldn't grasp onto it. I just dislike so much about it and that was even before I knew about the prejudices of the author. Fuck. >:[
I Know ! Il makes me sick...
What about the movie that came out not to long ago on Netflix? Did you watch it? I’m talking about the CGI 1 that’s called Gantz : 0
Don't forget, when it first came out on DVD, ADV originally went with TWO episodes per disc! By way of comparison, every other anime DVD in 2004 had at least 4 or episodes per disc (with the possible exception of 12 or 13 episode titles, which may have had 3 eps). This backfired horrendously, and ADV had to go back to 4 or 5 episodes/disc by the end of the series. Gosh, this title was so overrated back then.
what's the ambient song playing in the background in the last third of this video?
Not gonna lie, i was almost hoping to see you cover the movie that was released a few years ago along with the anime. Its still a gorefest but a little less nihilistic
CerealKiller ehhh i think there was still some bs but it was a great movie
I liked Gantz so much I took all the episodes, edited out a bunch of crap/recaps/intros/outros, made a 6 hour movie out of it where it ends right after the statue mission. The two bum killer guys get almost completely cut out (Cause their part isn't big in the manga anyway). Only thing I wish I did was put subs under what Gantz says from time to time. I felt the moment he shouts at Gantz to revive everyone before walking off into the rain was a pivotal and nice way to end the anime. I guess you could call it Gantz Kai. But yea, its still a depressing/emotional anime with some good points but I enjoy Berserk and Devil man crybaby too so I'm into those plotlines. Also with my reedit I enjoy coming back to Gantz a lot more and its better off without the horrible last mission. Thanks for reviewing it, maybe I'll rewatch them again.
Ironically, the Gantz manga does have a good ending XD
Anyone knows the underlying tune that is played around 23:28?
Gantz is just proof that the band Bobaflex was right with their song "Turn the Heat Up" . . . "You wanna save this country? Kill all the teenagers!" . . . lol
The crap we watch when we're young . . . /sigh
I love your work. The first video of yours I watched was the aeon flux episode. I have been a fan ever since. Thank you for reviewing anime it is not only entertaining but awesome to hear other peoples opinions. I just happen to like your opinions a lot compared to other people's
Should have worn an eyepatch.
The reason Gantz is cool is the OP song! Other than that, even my teenage gore hound self found it a bit too bleak boring and pointless. If the whole conspiracy side of it, like “Wtf is Gantz?” went somewhere cool, I would have liked it more. That’s what roped me in the first place.
Btw Angel cop has Jews as the big bad!?!? I know that one has at least one over the top anti-communist comment before a female cop blows some dudes head off in the first one or two episodes. That’s crazy tho, I never felt any bit of anti-semitism in anime/manga. I’m sure it’s a thing somewhere if one was to research it for say, a video essay, but I’ve never noticed it unless I’m just oblivious.
Gantz is awesome lol. I loved it.
One thing I liked about Gantz is how Kurono embodies what most would call "incel culture" I don't think the anime makes him out to be a hero. He's a delusional, angry, selfish teen that bitches about everything being everyone else's fault but is also too much of a coward to take charge and take what he wants. He actually reminds me of Dante from Clerks in that way.
17:54 Hiroya Oku: Freaking Millennials
The only thing I like about this anime is the English voice actor for Kato: Illich Guardiola. Also, please review Gensoumaden Saiyuki. I first found out about Gantz from HBI2K'S abridged series. And this is one of the darker things I saw Greg Ayres in.
Gantz.
Ah, what a classic
Sure is
I've always wondered. What is that funny song Sage uses when management gives us a message?
I had heard about Gantz in an anime magazine back when it first came out on DVD in the West, I saw the screenshots including the half-head 3D-print teleportation scene and thought it looked kinda cool, but never actually watched the show. Many years later I bought a copy of the manga's first volume... and until this day I have not looked at a single piece of Gantz-related media.
It's just so thoroughly unpleasant from head to toe. Everything you levy against the series was present and accounted for in that one book alone; the cast filled to the brim with complete garbage characters, the ugly artwork, the excrutiating slow pace... Absolutely atrocious!
Say what you will about GoT but at least for every Joffrey, Ramsay or Walder there's a Jon, Arya or Tyrion to balance things out, with plenty of supporting characters exhibiting various shades of grey to allow for some dynamic personality clashes and development.
What's the anime that is shown around 27:21? Looks rest cool! Please help!
Gantz Abridged said it best (some mid-point manga SPOILERS): Kurono: Well, that whole experience sure did suck, and there are some hard time coming up to and I'm not going to let that stop me! Coming up on Gantz, I'm going to redeem my humanity through the love of a good woman with normal-sized boobs. I'll train a bunch of psychics and super models and street fighters into an elite team of bad-asses that can handle anything Gantz throws at us! And God willing, I might even find a way to see some of my old friends again! It's going to be a wild ride, so don't miss it- Gantz: Not happening, dipshit! Kurono: What?! Why not? Gantz: Because the rest of the show is filler. (cue despair) Seriously, Vol. 9 and beyond is when things get more interesting (even if the final arc was rough), and this anime instead chose to drags things out and end on a 4-episode filler arc, UGH. I get the dislike of the story of Vol. 1-8 as it's unpleasant (and yeah, the racist/homophobic part was really bad) but I do enjoy where it goes after that as it shows how even a little shit like Kurono can legitimately change for the better.
Loved the review, though my one critique would be instead of sunglasses. You could've done a bit with Gabe about you wearing an eye patch. Though I don't understand his and your schedules, and I understand that the sunglasses might've been the only way to go to get this episode out on time. Either way, loved the review as always and keep it up.