Gantz

Gantz
File:Gantz dvd cover.jpg DVD Volume 1
Genre	Action, Adventure, Drama, Horror, Psychological Thriller, Sci-Fi, Ecchi, Supernatural
Manga
Gantz
Written by	Hiroya Oku
Published by	Shueisha Dark Horse Editions Tonkam Planet Manga Glénat Komik Remaja Editorial Vid
Demographic	Seinen
Anime
First Stage
Directed by	Ichiro Itano
Studio	GONZO
Anime
Second Stage
Directed by	Ichiro Itano
Studio	GONZO

Gantz (ガンツ, Gantsu) is a manga and anime series written by Hiroya Oku. Gantz tells the story of a teenager named Kei Kurono who dies in a train accident and becomes part of a semi-posthumous "game" in which he and several other recently deceased people are forced to hunt down and kill aliens. The missions they embark upon are often dangerous. Many die--again--on each mission, but others replace them in the same manner as Kei Kurono's appearance.

The Gantz anime, directed by Ichiro Itano and animated by GONZO, ran for 13 episodes and had a direct sequel called Gantz: Second Stage, which continued the series for another 13 episodes. Both seasons make up the 26 episode series. It was licensed in North America by ADV Films. The anime series is distributed in the United Kingdom by MVM Films, and in Australia and New Zealand by Madman Entertainment. At Anime Expo 2007, Dark Horse Comics announced it would release the manga in English[1].

Manga

See also: List of Gantz chapters

Gantz is still ongoing and is serialized in Shueisha's Young Jump, and currently consists of 270 chapters, many of which have been compiled and spread across 22 tankōbon. The manga has more content and stories than its animated counterpart. The manga's art was created using a combination of CG backgrounds and hand-drawn characters, a technique which was also used in the Gantz anime. Gantz is divided into two phases. Phase 1 consists of the first 237 chapters. On November 22, 2006, the first chapter of Phase 2, chapter 238, was released.

In 2007, Dark Horse Comics announced that it had gained the license to print the Gantz manga in English. The first volume is to be released on June 25, 2008.

Anime

See also: List of Gantz episodes

The Gantz anime is divided into two seasons: The first season is known as "The First Stage", while the second season is known as "The Second Stage", which is a direct continuation of the first season. The anime has been licensed in the United States of America by ADV.

Plot

Beginning

The story begins when a pair of high school students (Kei Kurono and Masaru Kato) are seemingly run over by a subway train, after saving the life of a homeless drunk who had fallen onto the tracks. Following their untimely deaths, Kei and Masaru find themselves transported — alive and well — along with a number of people who have also just died, to the interior of an unfurnished Tokyo condominium from which the Tokyo Tower may be seen - and none of them are able to leave. At one end of the room is a featureless black sphere we later learn is called "Gantz". After a short amount of time, a postwar Japanese exercise radio begins to play from the sphere. By way of green text that appears on the surface of the sphere, Gantz informs those present that their lives have ended. The following words appear on the black sphere's surface: "Your lives have ended. What you do with your new lives is entirely up to me. That's the theory, anyway." (The ADV translations have it as "Your lives are over, you bastards. What you do with your new lives is entirely up to me. So there you have it.") The sphere then opens up to reveal suits that, when worn, amplify the user's attributes, such as strength, speed and agility. Along with the suits are various high-tech weapons with different uses for different situations. Next, information on the Gantz Targets appear on the surface of the sphere, shortly before the Gantz Team are transported to the location of the mission.

Much is still left unknown about the room. Its door will only open after the mission has ended. According to the manga, there are reports of similar rooms in Germany, United States and Israel. The appearance of another Japanese team set in Osaka indicates that there is more than one of these in Japan.

In addition to the weapons, suits, and scanners, Gantz holds what appears to be a muscle-bound bald man on life support in the center of the ball. The true identity and purpose of this man is never revealed; but there has been no small amount of implication that he is in some way responsible for the running of the game, selecting players, scoring the individual players' performance, and monitoring the team both during missions and during the 'off hours' in between.

The Rules of the Game

Gantz forces them to participate in what at first appears to be a reality game show, in which they hunt aliens who are secretly living in Japan. Gantz provides them with strength-enhancing skinsuits, guns, and radar. Each participant has a miniature explosive implanted in their brains that prevents them from wandering outside the designated playing field, much like the explosive collars in the series Battle Royale. The designated area is roughly one square kilometer; if the participants cross this boundary or tell anyone of the secrets of Gantz and the apartment, the explosive will detonate. It appears that this trigger only works when the player speaks verbally to someone about it, as Nishi developed a website with written reports of his missions and apparently no harm was done to him because of it.

If the players manage to survive the mission, they return to the room in perfect health (even if they were nearly dead or missing limbs). When a player is injured in the game and returns to the room afterwards, he/she will have no memory of what happened after his/her injury and will be standing in the pose he/she was last healthy in. This leads to suspect that Gantz "copies" an entire individual and later "pastes" that into the room rather than restoring an injured individual. Also note that it seems that later in the manga, this copy and paste method is replaced with the characters remembering their own injuries. Those who are killed during the mission do not return to the room. Gantz then tallies individual scores based on kills and sets them free, only to have them return to play another time. Points are awarded according to the number of kills achieved by the player, less points are given if the alien is captured, and no extra points are given for suitless kills.

Those who manage to accumulate 100 points are presented with the 100 point menu which list three choices:

1. You will be freed along with your memories erased
2. You will be given an extremely powerful weapon
3. You will be able to revive a human being from the memory

In the event that the one-hour mission duration is reached without all targets being eliminated, all of a player's points are revoked, and his or her score goes back to zero (as happened to Kurono in the Chibi Seijin mission). Prior to this the players had assumed that failing to complete the mission in the time allotted would result in the immediate death of the entire team. The following mission, Gantz informed Kurono (Gantz addressed him by name) that if Kurono did not achieve 15 points in the current mission that he would be killed.

It has been shown that one can slowly remember aspects or memories from the game: Izumi slowly remembered his time as a member of Gantz's team and eventually got himself back into the game, and Kei also remembered that he was the leader of the team for a while when the vampires attacked him at his house. Kato is currently trying to obtain 100 points to resurrect Kuruno.

None of the rules are actually explicitly given to the players, with the exception of the 100 point menu, which is either given automatically when a player reaches or exceeds 100 points, or is requested by a player, and the 15-point requirement given to Kurono at the start of the Kappe Seijin mission. In every other case the players have learned of their rewards and penalties only after they have been earned.

Instead of being given any training or a list of rules, the participants are simply told to kill their target, and are only shown one or two enemy profiles, which is often not representative of the full complement or ability of their opponents. They are not given any useful information on their enemies' capabilities or weaknesses, or the number of enemies to expect. Unfortunately for the players, the rules of the game (as well as the capabilities of the suits, the use of the weapons, and the scoring system) are learned by one of two ways: either by institutional memory (i.e. a veteran explaining to a newcomer how the game works), or by trial and error, the latter usually resulting in the death of one or more players. In the days before the beginning of the series when Nishi was the only surviving veteran, the newcomers were forced to rely solely on trial and error; the result - as Nishi indicated following the Negi Seijin mission - was that Kurono, Kato, and Kishimoto were the only other people to survive to the end of a single mission in "a long time."

The end result is that the newcomers are entirely dependent on the goodwill of the veterans for crucial information that may be their only hope of survival; in the hypothetical event that the entire complement of veterans is wiped out, any future group of newcomers would be utterly at the mercy of their circumstances; their only hope of survival would be their own guile, cunning, and the ability to quickly figure out and utilize the tools provided.

Gantz sometimes gives hints to the hunters about what they should do, but it rarely happens.

Development

The series introduces new characters constantly, most of them are killed off just as quickly, though a stable cast forms at times. As the series progresses, the viewers are left to ponder what Gantz is and how it is able to provide the characters with such fantastic weaponry and technology. These, along with many other questions (such as who the aliens are or even if they are evil period) remain unanswered.

Later in the manga, some of Gantz's participants obtained over 100 points and used their points to revive various fallen persons, like Tae Kojima and Masaru Kato. Kei Kurono, however, was convinced by his comrades and Kato to use his points to set himself free and had his memory erased. Kurono then returned to his former self before he met Gantz, without any memory at all of his life during the months he was participating in the Gantz game. However, Kurono stumbles upon various clues of his past life (like Izumi did previously before coming to Gantz a second time) such as photographs of him and Tae and rumors of him going out with Reika. These forgotten memories begin to haunt him immediately after his return.

It is later confirmed in the manga that Gantz teams of other nationalities exist in the world. It is stated in Issue 229 in a dialog between Izumi and Nishi when the latter asks if they should leave it to the other countries, with Izumi answering that he wants to show the world Japan's greatness. There has been hints of a central sphere located in Germany, but nearly all information regarding it is still in speculation.

The Future

In chapter 237 it was announced that the first phase of the manga was completed, and the second phase, named "Catastrophe", started on November 22, 2006, leaving many questions about the events of the previous chapters and creating new ones as the hunters went on without their leader Kei Kurono. They must now deal with new situations, like the adding of two vampires to the team, the rogue group of hunters from Osaka, and being visible to any civilian spectator since the ending of their last mission with the Oni Aliens.

Characters

Please note that this list is based on the manga's storyline, which differs from the anime version's plot.

Names are in Western order, with the given name before the surname (family name).

Character (in Japanese)	Descriptions
Kei Kurono (玄野 計 Kurono Kei)	The story's protagonist, a 10th grader. He is summoned by Gantz, along with Kato, after being hit by a subway train in an effort to help a hobo who passes out on the tracks. In the beginning, he is a rather selfish character who often ends up being the reluctant hero. At one point, Kurono actually enjoys the brutal missions, having a chance to prove his mettle and to use the powers Gantz's technology grants him to decimate his foes, as well as to receive the admiration of his team members, such as Sei or Kishimoto. In the manga, Kurono is eventually regarded as a hero by the other players who look up to him. Kurono himself looks up to Kato after his death. (Ironically, Kato looked up to him when they were kids.) Gantz initially refers to Kurono as "Bitch" and "Loser," though he settles on "Kurono" as the series progresses. In Chapter 221, Kei leaves the game at the request of his teammates. Kurono's memories of the hunts are supposedly erased, but he begins to remember his old life through pictures in his apartment. In addition, he rekindles his relationship with his former girlfriend Tae Kojima, whom he had forgotten because of his memory wipe. A meeting with a tabloid journalist also stirs up more Gantz-related memories. In Chapter 236, he recovers some of his lost memories of being the Gantz team leader after being attacked by a group of vampires in his apartment. He fights bravely and nearly kills all of them, but he is slain by the same vampire who showed him his dead brother's head. Kei Kurono is dead as of the end of Phase 1.
Kei Kishimoto (岸本 恵 Kishimoto Kei)	Kishimoto first appears naked in the Apartment as her death involved slitting her wrists while in a bathtub. Kurono has a deep crush on her, but she herself has a crush on Masaru Kato; she even sacrifices her life in an attempt to save his in the Buddha Temple mission. Early in the series, it is discovered that her body did not actually die, and the Kishimoto playing the Gantz game is just a copy or fax. The real Kishimoto and copy Kishimoto are two completely different beings, a phenomenon caused by Gantz's carelessness at times. Gantz calls her by the names "Boiled eggs", "Titz" and "Miss Melons" due to her fairly large breasts. As of the end of Phase 1, she has not been revived.
Masaru Kato (加藤 勝 Katou Masaru)	He is an old friend of Kurono. He is a noble and heroic person and was inspired by the Kei-chan he knew as a boy. At school, he acts as a guardian to the weaker students who often find themselves bullied, getting himself a bit of a reputation for fighting. He is summoned, along with Kurono, by Gantz. They are hit by a subway train, a consequence of helping a drunken hobo who blacks out on the tracks. Kato and his little brother live with their aunt, but continued abuse toward his little brother and a stressed family situation later cause him to obtain an apartment for the two of them. Frequently, Gantz addresses him as "Katō-cha", after the Japanese comedian, Katōcha. Kato is something of a natural leader thanks to his imposing height and gentle yet powerful personality; during early missions he has a visible effect over the others, most noticeably Kei Kurono, Kei Kishinoto and Masanobu Hojo. During his third mission, the Buddha Temple mission, the final boss kills him. He, along with Kei Kishimoto, Masanobu Hojo, Sadayo Suzumura, Sei Sakuraoka and other Gantz replacements, dies in this mission, leaving only Kurono alive. Months later, he is revived by the 'Old Man.' At the end of chapter 237, in the preview for Phase 2, Kato states that he will revive Kurono from his death, taking over the protagonist role. He and the rest of the team somehow end up in Osaka instead of Tokyo and meet up with the Osaka Gantz team. Kato continues to act as leader, despite the team deciding on making Reika leader. In chapter 247 Kato is abandoned by his Tokyo teammates after they state that their main goal is to just stay alive and that Kato should forget about Kurono and the innocent civilians being killed. After the falling out Kato begins to doubt himself, but becomes convinced once again after he nearly lets a family be killed by not acting. He then meets Anzu Yamasaki, a female member of the Osaka team and learns more about the Osaka team and the rare 100-point alien. After rescuing Yamasaki and 3 other unwitting Gantz participants Kato vows to kill the "100-pointer" and bring back his best friend, Kei Kurono.
Masanobu Hojo (北条 政信 Houjou Masanobu)	He is a former model who dies after being hit by a truck driver who falls asleep. His face is rather similar to Kurono's except for slightly different hair styles. At his time of death, his stalker, Sadako, is on the back of the bike he borrows to escape her. He dies during the Buddha mission along with Sadako, whom he shows to have developed feelings for. He dies in Phase 1 and has not been revived.
Sadako Suzumura (鈴村 貞代 Suzumura Sadayo)	She is a stalker of Masanobu Hojo's. She dies after being hit by a truck driver who falls asleep. Her nickname given by Gantz, "Sadako," is due to her bearing an extremely uncanny and creepy resemblance to the homicidal "ghost" Sadako in the Japanese "Ringu" horror novels and movies. Before Gantz even mentions it, a pair of girls see her in a convenience store and point out the resemblance. She dies along with Masanobu during the Buddha mission, after being "melted" in half by the final boss's acid, and seems to have won over the heart of her crush before her death. She dies in Phase 1, hasn't been revived.
File:Izumi Gantz.jpg Shion Izumi (和泉 紫音 Izumi Shion)	He is a psychotic yet skilled teenager who participates in the game and wins his freedom before the series's events. He desires to return to the game and uses a SMG and a pistol to rampage through Shinjuku, killing Hiroto Sakurai, Kenzo Sakata, and Daizaemon Kaze, and either injuring or killing 387 bystanders in broad daylight. He thus not only brings Gantz new participants but also himself because he is killed by Kurono in a standoff. He is a skilled swordsman and is the first to use the Gantz Sword, a katana with a retractable blade that was hidden in one of the apartment's rooms. He can easily be seen as Kei Kurono's "unfeeling" and arrogant rival whose only ambition is to live his life striving to be the best Gantz fighter. He is willing to take innocent lives to make it happen (e.g. killing Tae Kojima in one of the missions). He often acts alone in missions, though he will grudgingly ally with the main team if he knows he can't beat an enemy by himself. When he earns 100 points for the second time, Izumi choses Option #2 - a strong weapon. Before he can use it, however, he is attacked by a legion of vampires in front of his apartment. After he kills all of them, the four vampire leaders attack him. Izumi manages to kill three of the leaders and is in combat with the blonde vampire before his girlfriend, Ryōko, tries to save him from the blonde vampire. Izumi surprisingly protects her from the final blow by shielding her with his back despite the fact that he says he doesn't care about other humans. He then marvels at the scores of dead vampires he felled and states that he is definitely going to hell. As of the end of Phase I, Shion Izumi has not been revived.
Sei Sakuraoka (桜丘 聖 Sakuraoka Sei)	Sei is proficient in martial arts and bears a striking resemblance to Lara Croft from Tomb Raider. After she has sex with Kurono, she dies in her first mission (Buddha Temple) while trying to save his life. Since Sei was the first person Kei ever had sex with and because she had a strong attachment to Kurono (asking him to be her boyfriend, dying to save his life), Kurono holds a strong attachment to her. As of the end of Phase 1, Sei has not been revived.
Jyuzo Togo (Tougou Juuzou)	One of the newbies in the Buddha Arc. He is the unnamed sniper who tested the reach and accuracy of the X-Rifle at the beginning of the mission. His tactics (sniping the aliens from a roof with good distance, attack an enemy from behind while hiding in a dead body) suggest that he has significant combat experience (or at least training). He manages to kill most of the Aliens, but like most other players in that mission he falls prey to the boss buddha. At the end of Phase 1, Togo has not been revived. His name is only known from the book Gantz Manual and Gantz the Game where he is playable character.
File:Joichiro Nishi Gantz.jpg Joichiro Nishi (西 丈一郎 Nishi Jouichirou)	Nishi is a middle-school (8th grade) veteran of the Gantz world, having arrived there over a year before the beginning of the Gantz. While running away from police officers after shoplifting, he fled onto an apartment building roof where he fell to his death. Much like how Kurono started out, he is also selfish and has a Social Darwinist approach to life. Nishi is reluctant to reveal anything about the Gantz or himself, but he runs a web site where he posts information about it (carefully avoiding Gantz's rule about informing outsiders, which would in turn prove fatal) Posting Kei's name on the site put him in a bit of trouble by leading the reporter to Kurono and ultimately giving him aways to the vampires. Gantz calls him "Mr. Nishi," which is rather interesting given how informally or derisively he refers to most of the other participants. Nishi is killed at the beginning of the Tanaka/Suzuki Alien mission, but after six months of existing only inside Gantz's memory banks, he is revived by Kaze at Kurono's request following the end of the Oni mission. Ostensibly, Kurono hopes that Nishi will be able to provide information about Gantz to the game players. Whether or not Nishi actually provides any information or if this information has proven useful is yet to be seen. It seems that Nishi and Izumi have a past relationship as "teammates" before Izumi's memory was wiped and he won freedom. It has not been revealed if Nishi and Izumi were friends or just acquaintances forced to fight Aliens together by Gantz. In the battle against the Nurarihyon, Nishi hit the 100 points alien with one of the strong weapons the Osaka team dropped, but failed to kill it and as a result had his right arm blown off. He would have been killed, but Kato came to his rescue.
Yoshikazu Suzuki (鈴木 良一 Suzuki Yoshikazu)	Best known as "Old Man"*. Not much is known about him except that he is a fairly old widower who has a grandson. Surprisingly, it doesn't take long for Kurono to grow attached to him and vice versa. He sees Kurono as a role model, and even gives his 100 points to revive his friend Masaru Kato so that Kei may leave the game. He sees Kurono as the world's hope for "survival." He has saved Kei's life multiple times and he emulates Kei. After Kei dies however, it seems as if his morale lowers and he sides with the majority on not trying to help others because it was too dangerous. In the battle of Nurarihyon both of his arms are lost. The character's nickname in Japanese, "occhan", is not as rude-sounding in Japanese as "Old Man", and may have been better translated to something like "gramps".
Hiroto Cherry (桜井 弘斗 Sakurai Hiroto)	A psychic who receives instructions on how to unlock his latent powers from Sakata after attempting suicide. He is then encouraged by Sakata to kill his bullies who sexually abused him with the use of his powers, which he does. However, he later regrets it, realizing how it feels to be a murderer. When he and Sakata witness Izumi's Shinjuku massacre, he insists in trying to stop Izumi and convinces Sakata to join him, arguing that it is a good opportunity to redeem themselves for the murders they commited themselves. While they do put up a good fight, Izumi still does manage to kill both, leading them to Gantz. A phenomenal learner, he masters his abilities rather quickly. He dies in the fight against the Flame Oni, but is revived by Sakata. Gantz calls him "Cherry", taken from the Japanese Sakura and which is his online handle. He has a girlfriend named Tonkotsu who he first met after he murdered the people who abused him. He is also somewhat conflicted with Sakata's comments to Kato about not reviving others, since after all Sakurai himself was recently revived by Sakata.
Kenzo Sakata (坂田 研三 Sakata Kenzou)	Another psychic. He teaches Hiroto Sakurai to use his latent psychic powers, thus Sakurai refers to him as "master." He and Sakurai die while trying to stop Izumi's massacre in Shinjuku, leading to his arrival to Gantz. He seems to have an unorthodox view on people's lives; he tells Sakurai that he was like him once and that he himself has killed, and encourages his pupil to kill those bullying him. Gantz calls him "Stupid Newb" and "Dumbass." His psychic powers are significantly reduced, and a recent doctor examination indicates that continued use of his powers has significantly aged his internal organs. After the Oni mission he uses his 100 points to revive Sakurai. In the Osaka mission however, he says that they should forget about the death and that by bringing them back it "cheapens" their lives. He was killed in the battle of Nurarihyon by holding off the 100-point alien while the rest of the Tokyo team escapes. He tells Sakurai not to bring him back no matter what.
File:Reika Gantz.jpg Reika "Kurono's #1 Fan" (レイカ)	A beautiful, young and popular idol. Like almost everyone else, she is caught in the line of fire during Izumi's killing spree in Shinjuku. She develops a crush on Kurono after seeing him in action during her first night as a participant in the game (the Dinosaur Mission). Gantz used to call her "Kurono's #1 Fan," but now he just calls her "Reika." Surprisingly enough, she proves to be a formidable opponent against the Aliens. She uses her points to resurrect Tae because she wants Kurono to be happy. It is not until Kurono chooses to be free that she confesses to him that she loves him. After Kurono departes from the game, she is appointed the new team leader of Gantz. She receives a phone call from Kurono just before he is attacked by the vampires, but does not arrive in time to save his life; she even tries to hold on to Kurono's body in order to be transferred with him in the hope of reviving him. However, this is stopped by one of the vampires who uses her body to transfer to the Gantz room instead. Like Kato, she is deciding whether or not to revive Kei, because he will neither remember her nor return her feelings of love.
Daizaemon Kaze (風 大左衛門 Kaze Daizaemon)	A tall and incredibly powerful martial artist who comes from the countryside to Tokyo looking for a good fight. One of his signature moves is the "back attack", in which he thrusts his back against his enemies with incredible force, often sending them flying. He first meets Gantz after the Shinjuku massacre, where he makes a valiant yet doomed attempt at stopping Izumi. He seems to care about Takeshi, a young child who admires Kaze as his "Muscle Rider" savior. Gantz calls him "Countryside General," ("inakappe daisho" / "General Bumpkin") and later on "Muscle Rider." After the Oni Aliens mission he collects slightly over 100 points, but chooses to remain in the Gantz game in order to both continue testing his strength and fighting skills against more powerful enemies and to protect Takeshi. So instead of being freed he chooses to revive another person, settling on Nishi after asking for Kurono's suggestion. Despite his cold outlook, he does have a softer side - in fact, he weeps when he thinks of how Takeshi died at such a young age without ever having experienced love. He also takes some sport in the game, though nowhere near as much as Izumi. He is the only team member who doesn't use weapons, relying on nothing but the Gantz Suit which amplifies his already incredible strength.
Kouki Inaba (稲葉 光輝 Inaba Kouki)	An ordinary Joe, gunned down in the Shinjuku massacre. He is the only participant apart from Izumi and Hoi Hoi (a panda) that doesn't train with Kurono as he thinks Kurono shouldn't be leader. He even sides with Izumi during the Tae Alien mission to assassinate Tae. Eventually, he realizes his only chance of survival is under Kurono's guidance. And at the end of the Oni mission, he gives Kurono his support. He's quite the coward when it comes to fighting, and tries to feign a cool head in these situations. It is hinted at numerous occasions that he is attracted to Reika, and he has admitted the fact to an Oni Alien he thought was Reika, subsequently having sex with the alien. After the Oni mission, he witnesses Kurono's brave attempts to fight the ultimate boss in the Oni Mission. He gains respect for Kurono and believes that Kurono could actually become the group leader. Despite the fact that Kurono dies, he still participates with the other Gantz team members in fighting the aliens. In the battle of Nurarihyon he tries to escape the 100-point alien, but ends up losing both his arms and a leg.
File:Panda Gantz.jpg Hoi Hoi (開開)	Dead animals can also enter the Gantz room. The first animal seen in the Gantz room was a dog (Butter Dog). Hoi Hoi the panda entered the room a while after the dog got killed in the Buddha arc, like every other character, save Kurono. Hoi Hoi is especially fond of Izumi and can be seen hugging him whenever a chance presents itself. Like the butter dog in the two missions before he was crushed (in the anime) who hadn't gained a single point by then, it will be difficult for animals who enter the Gantz game to survive or even clear it. It is assumed that most animals who enter the game usually die when wandering around and eventually leaving the selected location and have their heads blown up.
File:Takeshi Gantz.png Takeshi (タケシ)	A young boy of toddler's age who dies due to parental abuse (his mother's boyfriend beats him to death for eating his pudding). He draws a fictional hero called "Muscle Rider" before his death, and when he awakes inside Gantz's room as a participant in the game he believes that Kaze is his "Muscle Rider." To no one's surprise, he still does. By chapter 240, he discovers and uses the abilities of the suit, this includes the utilization of the "back attack", which happens to be Kaze's signature move. Despite Takeshi's small size, he is more than capable of defending himself against average opponents. Having imitated Kaze's fighting style to a "T", Takeshi manages to dispel a group of monsters that surround him, as well as injure a rather large and hideous creature that comes from the river.
Tae Kojima (小島 多恵 Kojima Tae)	Kurono's first actual girlfriend, first dated on a dare. He actually falls in love with her and they build a real relationship, Kurono appearing to be very protective of her. After taking pictures of the Game's participants during their mission, she immediately becomes the next target (considering Gantz wants to remain unknown to outsiders). To end the mission and preserve his points, Shion Izumi takes the pleasure of murdering Tae (while Kei and Reika want to deliberately fail the mission by protecting her life), but Reika later on brings her back to life. Similar to Kurono, she also realizes parts of her memory was missing, as hinted by pictures of her with Kurono and her paintings of him. Kojima makes her appearance in Volume 9.
The Vampires	These "vampires" or "vamps" are sworn enemies of the Gantz game's participants, who they refer to as "Hunters." Because Izumi kills many of them, they label him as a dangerous target. Kurono's younger brother, Akira Kurono, is one of them, a fact Kurono is still unaware of. They can see past the Hunter's cloaking modules with special contact lenses or sunglasses, in addition to being able to spawn weapons from their bodies. The vampires are a result of numerous nanomachines entering humans, giving them super-human reflexes and strength. Vampires are able to maintain a regular human diet but suffer from dizziness and a bat-wings-shaped eczema on their back if no human blood is consumed. For the vampires, sunlight is lethal, though some take some special medicine that toughens their skin, allowing them to walk around in the daylight. They mainly attack the "Hunters" at night. The five pictured here are the only apparent leaders we've seen; the one 2nd to the left appears to be the boss, surrounded by his four "captains," the vampire leaders usually talk about people in sports (mostly in fighting sports like wrestling and boxing) and seem to be just friends hanging out. The actual organization is rather large, with an unknown number of members. Also, they seem to have connections with other groups being "hunted" by Gantz, such as the Oni Aliens. In chapters 231-233, Izumi manages to kill 3 of the 4 remaining captains, but is slain by the remaining one (pictured 2nd to the left, the one with the medium blond hair). Kurono’s brother Akira warns him that Kurono is the vampires' next target (after they kill Izumi). During the attack Kurono manages to kill all but 2 vampires (with powerful lights, using tubes to focus them) but the vampire pictured 2nd to the left kills him, right after holding up Akira's severed head. At the end of chapter 237 both that vampire and a new female vampire apparently transfer into the Gantz room by latching onto Reika and Suzuki while their transfer takes place. The journalist Kikuchi gives the vampire on the top left corner the address of Shion Izumi (to save his own life). The only one remaining "known" vampire leader is still alive as of the end of Phase 1. Phase 2 reveals that the blond vampire is nicknamed Host Samurai, which is written on the Gantz suit box, presumably because he is dresses like a male host (a host being equivalent to a hostess in Japan, where you can go into a bar and talk, flirt, and drink with the host) and enters the Gantz room carrying a katana. NOTE:(according to the cover of "Gantz The Game" for PS2 Samurai Host is actually not blond but blue haired) The Vampire known as "Host Samurai" by Gantz and "Hikawa" according to the Gantz Manual, in chapter 238, attempts to plunge his blade into the human body contained within Gantz, but is unable to do so. One possible explanation for this is that the body may be surrounded by the same invisible barrier that prevents Gantzers from touching the windows or leaving the apartment until the hunt ends. But for some reason or another Gantz players can stick their finger into Gantz's ear (as shown by Nishi, Kurono, and Sakata). Now the two remaining Vampire leaders are in the Gantz game, and they must fight the very alien allies they've been fighting with, for survival.

Targets

Main article: Gantz Targets

In each mission, Gantz informs the Hunters about the current target which has to be hunted. This information includes an image of the target as well as its characteristics, things it likes, and favorite quotes. Most of the time, Gantz doesn't give the whole information because almost always the "boss" is not the original target or there are more than one specimen for each class. While in the anime version, there are four targets including a "Kurono alien" (after The Buddhist Temple Aliens mission), until this moment, there have been nine different targets in the manga:

• The Green Onion Aliens
• The Tanaka Aliens
• The Buddhist Temple Aliens
• The Shorty Aliens (aka The Chibi Aliens)
• The Kappe(countryman) Alien
• The Ring Aliens
• Kojima Tae
• The Oni Aliens
• Nurarihyon

Equipment

Before each mission, Gantz's black ball opens, displaying a handful of equipment that the players can use in the hunts. They can take these items home after the battles and even use them in their personal matters.

Basic equipment

• Gantz Suit: Unquestionably the most essential piece of equipment the Gantzers can employ. Each suit is attuned to an individual body and can only be utilized by that specific Hunter. The suits are tight to a point that the wearer cannot put it on with any kind of underwear, but gives them incredible strength, speed, and endurance. On top of that, the suit provides the player with an almost impenetrable protection to his/her body, even to the head, which is fully exposed. Large caliber bullet rounds to the face do not leave so much as a bruise. It should be noted, however, that the suit only seems to protect from blunt attacks such as bullets and punches, but doesn't seem to do anything for slicing attacks like from a sword. When in full use, the suits' artificial muscles expand, making the Hunter appear larger. In terms of strength, they can easily lift over fifty times their weight and jump well over thirty feet high. However, the amount of damage it can sustain is limited. Should the suit receive too many powerful impacts without time to recover, the "caps" along the suit will break, releasing the essential chemical that powers it, rendering it as useful as ordinary clothes. The Vampires are apparently aware of the suits, as they often attack the caps directly. In the latest chapter Osaka's strongest member, Oka Hachirou, is shown wearing a new gorilla-shaped suit that completely conceals his body. The new suit allows the wearer to control machines via many tentacle-like cables on the back, and has built in X-ray vision. It is believed that he acquired this suit by repeatedly using 100 points to get better weapons.

• Radar: A device used to track the targets, displaying the targets as well as fellow team mates on its screen. However, the marker on the radar isn't very precise and has created many situations in which the Hunters ran into trouble pinpointing the exact number and location of the targets. These are found in one of the weapon racks that is revealed when the Gantz ball opens. They allow for changing of someone's frequency, rendering them invisible to those not on the same frequency. This allows them to turn invisible to other people. Vampires can counter this affect by wearing special glasses or contacts, designed for this purpose. One boss monster has thus far shown itself able to see through the stealth.

Weapons

X-Gun: The most frequently used weapon of the Hunters. The X-gun is a small handgun-sized weapon, that gets its name from the four protrusions around the barrel that spread out like an "X" when fired. The X-gun functions by firing nano-sized explosives that stop and explode inside the target. The effectiveness of this gun is not specific to biological targets, as it has been shown to affect the surroundings as well. The only drawback to this weapon is that it has a significant time delay between the triggers being pressed and the projectile being fired/impacting the target, during which the enemy can easily dodge it, use an object as a shield, or kill the wielder. Also, it has an X-ray monitor in the back. Later in the manga, the X-ray device is revealed to be part of a lock-on system that can target multiple enemies at once. It has an oddity shared by the X-Shotgun: it has two triggers. The upper trigger is pulled by the pointer finger, causing the gun to lock onto a target displayed on the monitor. The lower trigger fires the weapon on the target. To fire it in a running battle, one must pull both triggers simultaneously.

X-Shotgun: This weapon is similar to the X-Gun in almost every respect in terms of functionality. However, the X-Shotgun is meant for longer range, has higher accuracy, and a sniper scope. In the Buddha alien mission, one of the Hunters equipped with this weapon stated that its range is at least one kilometer.

Y-Gun: The only non-lethal weapon in the Hunter's arsenal so far. It is a handgun-sized weapon that has the same lock-on capabilities of the X-Gun, but rather than fire out a lethal payload, it instead launches a homing net that securely ties up the target with a strong wire and then buries the points of the net into the ground. Once this is done, the target is "sent" by means of teleportation to an unknown point in space. One trigger on the Y-gun is used for firing the snare and the other is used for initiating the 'send'. This weapon gets its name from the Y-shaped barrel that the net launches from.

Gantz Sword: The only melee weapon revealed so far. It is a katana-like weapon that is usually in a closed hilt-only state. When in use, an incredibly sharp blade extends from the hilt. It can extend without loss of durability and it is unknown if its length is limited; currently it has only been extended to roughly 30 feet. A stack of these swords is seen in a room next to the main room, which only opens after the Gantz ball does. None of the Tokyo Gantz team members knew of this until after Izumi appeared before the Dinosaur mission. After that mission, others are shown with swords as well, but thus far only Izumi has been seen extending his to a massive length.

Strong Weapon (reward): This weapon has not yet been used during the manga by the Tokyo Gantz team, and Izumi was killed by the vampires before he could use his. In chapter 243 we meet the Osaka team, and it's noted they're carrying bulky yet powerful looking weapons which have not been seen before, so there is a large possibility that these are the 'strong weapons' rewarded after getting 100 points. In chapter 247, the weapon is shown in use for the first time. It seems to apply severe gravitational force in a circular area and force everything within range of the shot to slam into the ground or be flattened, even a few inches of the floor below the shot is cut out. It's suggested by Sakata that these weapons may not be the result of attaining 100 points once, but many subsequent times, wherein each of the wielders reached 100 points several times and repeatedly chose the weapon option over and over again. It is often referred by fans as the "H-Gun", because of its similarities in shape with the letter H. In chapter 262 the Osaka teams strongest three wielding these weapons used them on the strongest aliens they could find with minimal effect. The weapon is described by them and shown as flattening and pinning their targets to ground suggesting it might be a gravity weapon of some sort. The aliens attempt to fly but are crushed and when one of them manages to soak the blast without being pinned to the ground the top part of its body is flattened like rubber. It has yet to be seen if there is a delay associated with this weapon. It has also been shown that this weapon is not an instant kill as the Tengu and Kitsune were able to take multiple blasts and still fight.

Vehicles

Gantz Bike: A type of monowheel and the only vehicle provided by Gantz so far. It doesn't seem to possess any attack ability, but can travel at a great velocity. It made its first appearance in the Dinosaur mission, in which Kurono and the old man used it numerous times to pursue their enemies. It has a second appearance in chapter 243 when two Gantz members from the Osaka team enter the battle riding on them. The Gantz Bike is also present in the Gantz video game as part of a prize after reaching 100 points. The number of these vehicles is said to be two per team, since two were shown when Kurono entered the room housing them, and only two vehicles have been seen in the hands of the Osaka team. This vehicle gets an improvement in chapter 269 which is a black ring around the bike that allows it to fly.

Gantz Mech: A building sized robot shown in the latest chapters, controlled by Osaka team's strongest fighter. It seems to be constructed out of many haphazard pieces of metal and Gantz Suit material. The mech is controlled by Oka Hachirou using cables on his advanced Gantz Suit while sitting on its "head". It was easily destroyed by the minotaur from the Nurarihyon mission in chapter 269.

Reception

The first season, known as the “First Stage”, was heavily edited on Japanese TV, but the second season (“Second Stage”) remained uncut. The Gantz anime is often criticized for its ending and pacing problems. The anime was made while the manga was still in early production, and thus Gonzo had to produce episodes at an irregular pace, and end the series in a manner a number of fans found unsatisfying - a common occurrence when an anime is made from a manga that has not finished its run.

Theme songs

Opening

• "Super Shooter" by Rip Slyme

Ending

• "Last Kiss" by Bonnie Pink

Gantz: The Game

On March 17 2005, Konami published a game for the Playstation 2 based on the Gantz series. It was named simply as GANTZ: THE GAME. It features the characters and plot up to the Buddha Alien mission (though the vampires and the Shorty Aliens are present). The game may be classified as a Third-person shooter, although it does have a little RPG elements put together. More information can be found on the game's *Template:Ja icon official website. The game also includes extras including Free Play mode, a Mini Mode, Magazine Browser mode, Gantz Rankings, a special preview movie and the scenario completion statistic.

Playable Characters

The game offers a total of nineteen playable characters, and they are made available as the players progress. The available characters include:

Kei Kurono (the story's protagonist)

Masaru Kato (Kurono's best friend)

Kei Kishimoto (infatuated with Kato, Kurono also has a crush on her)

Rice (also known as Butter Dog)

Joichiro Nishi (the young Gantz veteran whom displays callousness towards any member's death )

Masanobu Homo (a former male model)

Sadako Suzumura (Masanobu Hojo's stalker)

Sei Sakuraoka (her resemblance to Lara Croft is very similar; Kurono lost his virginity to her)

Jyuzo Togo (the sniper in the Buddha Mission)

Tae Kojima (Kurono's girlfriend; a hidden character)

Although they are playable, players cannot access the characters immediately; they may do so only upon completing the game once. By doing so, one may choose a different character other than Kurono to play as. This is possible through the Extra Option mode.

Enemies

The enemies the player may encounter are almost exactly from the manga and anime. Although this is true, the game actually multiplies the number of enemies the player encounters of the same type over and over. Hence, players will fight a copy of the same enemy depending on a particular stage/scenario. The enemies available in the game are as follow (in order):

The Onion Aliens

The Tanaka Aliens

The Buddhist Temple Aliens

The Chibi Aliens

The Vampires

Cultural References

• Gantz's apartment bears a strong resemblance to a famous building in the Ebisu area of Shibuya.
• The stray dog, often depicted as licking Kishimoto's genitals and commonly referred to as "Butter Dog" (although in the PS2 game it was given the name "Rice"), was abandoned by his owner during a walk, then hit by a dumptruck and sent to Gantz's apartment (source: Volume 7; as stated by Hiroya Oku over a phone conversation).
• One of the Vampires bears a striking resemblance to actor Vincent Gallo from the movie Buffalo '66.
• Kappe Alien Mission takes place in Chiba, Chiba Makuhari.
• During the Buddha mission of the anime, reference is made to the movie Shaft in which the other character tells the first to "Shut your mouth" to which he is replied with "But you can dig it can't you" which is a reference to the popularized theme song.
• In the anime, the notebook computer that Nishi used to keep track of the 'games' was an Apple PowerBook G4.
• Episode 3 of the series there is a reference to the series Dragonball and Hokuto no Ken. The reference refers to Goku and Kenshiro, used to describe Kei Kurono.
• The sunglasses and contact lenses used by the vampires to see the Gantz team are similar to the Hoffman Lenses from They Live.
• Volume 1, Issue 3: The song being played by Gantz is one from a popular postwar Japanese exercise radio program.[2]
• Volume 1, Issue 4: (1) The writing on the Gantz ball is in Leet language. (2) "Denpa Shonen" is a stunt reality show running now for about a decade and made most famous by the comedian Nasubi. (3)
• Volume 1, Issue 5: (1) Honoo Challenge is a Japanese game show (2) Franz Harary is an American magician and illusionist.
• Volume 1, Issue 6: (1) Natto are a traditional Japanese food made from fermented soybeans. (2) The Onion Alien [1st] Mission takes place in Ichinomiya (一宮, literally "First Shrine") in Tama, Tokyo.
• Volume 1, Issue 9: Eichmann test is referring to Adolph Eichmann, an SS soldier in World War II. the term "Eichmann test" describes the player's instructions to blindly obey Gantz and kill the aliens.
• Volume 3, Issue 23: Bosozoku are Japanese motorcycle gangs.
• Volume 3, Issue 25: The "Shosen Grand" in Jinbōchō is a good area from Tokyo to locate rare books and manga.
• Volume 3, Issue 25: "Aerts" and "Hickson" are references to Peter Aerts and Rickson Gracie
• Volume 3, Issue 29: Tetsuo Nemoto is the leader of the Bosozoku Japanese motorcycle gang that partakes in the Tanaka Alien Mission.
• Volume 4, Issue 37: The Tanaka Alien's words "Hey, hey, hey, it's a beautiful day" are Daniel Boone's "Beautiful Day." This was covered in 1976 by Japanese singer Seiji Tanaka. The Tanaka Alien (Tanaka Seijin) is a play on his name in Japanese (Tanaka Seiji). The other things the Alien say are presumably bits of his other songs. His name was changed in the anime to "Suzuki Alien" perhaps due to Seiji's discontent of his portrayal.
• Volume 4, Issue 40: Yoshinoya (吉野家) is the largest chain among beef bowl (Gyūdon) restaurants and one of the leading fast food chains in Japan; often shortened to "Yoshigyū" (meaning Yoshinoya's beef) among its enthusiasts.
• Volume 5, Issue 47: (1) "Yuzo" refers to Yuzo Gucci, the original singer on the show "Together With Mom," a cousin of Seiji Tanaka who was the lead singer of the comedic band "Busy Four" and famous for his impersonations of Tanaka. The "Haah" and "beautiful" lines originate from the lyrics of his biggest hit, "Beautiful Sunday." Famous Watermelon Lands and "Did you make some friends" are lines from his "Famous Watermelon Lands" song. (2) Kagoshima Prefecture is where his current record label is located at. (3) His sidekick "Gyoro-chan" is a grotesque take-off of a "Choco Ball" Morinaga Confections mascot, "Kyoro-chan." Tanaka was well-known for his appearance in Morinaga commercials from 1973 to 1988.
• Volume 5, Issue 56: Oolong tea is a traditional Chinese type of tea.
• Volume 5, Issue 57: (1) Sei Sakuraoka from the Buddha Mission looks like Lara Croft from Tomb Raider. (2) Musou Tokugawa, the monk from the Buddha Mission, looks like the Japanese television personality Odamudo. (3) Tougou Juuzou (the sniper in the military fatigues in the Buddha Mission) looks like Duke Togo, the codename for the assassin from Golgo 13. (4) JJ, the American karate practitioner from the Buddha Mission looks like Geese Howard from SNK. (5) Tomao from the Buddha Mission looks like the Japanese actor Yosuke Kubozuka. (6) Tomao's friend, Konta, also from the Buddha Mission looks like Kawabata Kaname, a Japanese musician from Chemistry. (7) "Namuami Dabutsu" is a Japanese Buddhist prayer meaning "I take refuge in Amida Buddha."
• Volume 6, Issue 67: The Buddhist Temple Alien statue that appears on the rooftop looks like one of the Buddhist Bishamonten or Tamonten deities who are in statue form in Kamakura.
• Volume 6, Issue 68: Among the remaining Buddhist Temple Aliens are the Tentouki (Tentoki) and Ryuutoki (Ryutoki) creature who hold lantern. Though originally evil, they were trampled by the Shitenno (Four Deva Kings), repented, were saved, and now carry lanterns as offerings for the Buddha.[3]
• Volume 6, Issue 69: The big Buddhist Temple Alien is based on a Buddha statue located at Tōdai-ji Temple in Nara.
• Volume 7, Issue 72: (1) The Seibu Line runs from Seibu Shinjuku Station in Shinjuku, Tokyo to Honkawagoe Station (本川越駅) in Kawagoe, Saitama. (2) Higashi-Nagasaki (東長崎駅) Station is in the Toshima ward of Tokyo. (3) Ikebukuro (池袋) is a part of Toshima ward and is a large commercial and entertainment district of Tokyo.
• Volume 8, Issue 87: "Thousand Arms Kannon" Buddhist Temple Alien (part 2) looks like Spider Smith from the movie Lost In Space.
• Volume 8, Issue 93: (1) Kei Kurono's laptop is a Sony VAIO. (2) The Tanaka Alien [2nd] Mission took place in Itabashi (板橋区), one of 23 special wards of Tokyo.
• Volume 8, Issue 94: Regarding Nishi's website, Izumi wonders if its a parallel to the beginnings of Blair Witch 2.
• Volume 9, Issue 95: Chibi / Shorty Alien: (1) Has uzumaki or swirls on his cheeks and chest. (2) The Chibi Alien looks like a statue of a kami in the Shinsekai district of Osaka.
• Volume 9, Issue 101: Red Envelope are occasionally given from married couples to friends and family.
• Volume 10, Issue 108: Shibuya is known for being a fashion epicenter of Tokyo and all of Japan as well as being a particularly famous for its nightlife.
• Volume 10, Issue 109: Sakata Kenzō asks if he looks like Takuya Kimura (木村拓哉), a Japanese actor and singer.
• Volume 10, Issue 114: Hiroto Sakurai ("Cherry") is shown wearing a UEFA Champions League sweater.
• Volume 10, Issue 115: From the Gantz Manual, Oku Hiroya clearly states that Kaze Daizaemon's inspiration for Hakkyoku-Ken, a Chinese martial arts known as Bajiquan, is Virtua Fighter's Akira Yuki.
• Volume 10, Issue 117: Kei Kurono poses like the Karate Kid.
• Issue 122: An Advertisement for a James Bond Movie can be seen in the Background of Page 5.
• Issue 124: Izumi is wearing Adidas Handshoes.
• Issue 134: The cover girl looks like Fujiko Mine from Lupin III.
• Volume 17, Issue 191: Oni Mission takes place in Ikebukuro.
• Issue 228: One of the girls hitting on Akira Kurono and his friends looks like Chiaki Kuriyama.
• Issue 232: Izumi Shion fights the Vampires in Chiyoda Park outside of Mizuo Train Station.
• Issue 233: Razor Ramon HG is shown on Kei Kurono's television while flipping through channels.
• Issue 234: Kei Kurono goes to shop in Akihabara to find a counter weapon against the Vampires.
• Issue 235: The subtext of: "The dew may stay on the withered flower, but it will never see another evening." of the issue's title is borrowed from Hōjōki (1212) by Japanese author Kamo no Chōmei (1155-1216).

External links

• ADV's Gantz website
• MVM Films' Gantz website
• Madman Entertainment's Gantz website Official Australian Gantz website.
• Template:Tv.com show
• Template:Ja icon Young Jump Magazine Webpage
• Template:Ja icon Official Japanese site
• Template:Ja icon GANTZ: THE GAME official website.
• Review of the series by Dreamlogic.net
• Gantz ({{{type}}}) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia
• Gantz Box Set DVD review at www.sci-fi-online.com
• Dark Horse Lands Gantz Manga