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REVIEW: Gantz GN 2


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GATSU



Joined: 03 Jan 2002
Posts: 15279
PostPosted: Mon Nov 24, 2008 12:32 am Reply with quote
I thought this volume was at least suggesting something interesting might happen by the third book, but if it drags out, then I'll probably skip the series.
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vashfanatic



Joined: 16 Jun 2005
Posts: 3489
Location: Back stateside
PostPosted: Mon Nov 24, 2008 1:52 am Reply with quote
As someone who, to her shame, became quite addicted to the anime in spite of the absolutely nauseating violence (I may have been hooked, but I don't want to watch it again), I've always been torn as to whether to read the manga. Since I'm sure fans of the manga will jump all over this review to criticize it (don't they always?), I figured this would be a good opportunity to ask: should I? I've been spoiled on a few things that happen in the future, and they make me less than eager to pick it up spoiler[(mainly that Keisuke gets killed off, wtf?)], but if I do in fact get an explanation of what Gantz is at some point, I might give it a try.
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abruli



Joined: 28 Nov 2004
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PostPosted: Mon Nov 24, 2008 1:53 am Reply with quote
Having read upto volume something like 18 or so, I can say the series is very devoid of story and still I'm planning on buying the volumes. Apart from the violence and sex, Gantz's strength comes from the mix of incredibly black humor mixed with something one could call serious.

One could even go as far as to say that if you are reading Gantz for the story, you are reading it for the wrong reasons.

Maybe there is a story in Gantz.. It's just so goddamn shallow that they need to stretch it and let it unfold as if in suspended animation. The last chapter I read before giving it up left me facepalming. [expletive] vampires...
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DFBTG



Joined: 02 Sep 2007
Posts: 385
Location: Hell
PostPosted: Mon Nov 24, 2008 2:40 am Reply with quote
A "c" for art? Huh...either my opinion of what is good is drastically different than the reviewers, or the earlier volume's art really wasn't that good. I never read any of the earlier ones. I think the only chapters I read were those released back in early summer, whatever those were.
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dalbkino



Joined: 23 Apr 2008
Posts: 47
Location: Wyoming
PostPosted: Mon Nov 24, 2008 4:34 am Reply with quote
Hmm... I'll still collect the manga, the anime ended and didn't answer any of the thousand questions running through my head.... I'm hoping the manga will.
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teh*darkness



Joined: 16 Feb 2007
Posts: 901
PostPosted: Mon Nov 24, 2008 10:00 am Reply with quote
Gantz is truly an action series mostly devoid of a story. What little story there is doesn't really even start to show up until after the third fight, which is quite a ways away. However, to criticize an entire series based on one grouping of chapters is kind of a low blow. Not a lot of story is going to appear in any single volume. At least, not until much later.

As for what Gantz is, even up around chapter 250 or so, around where I lost track of it and will probably start reading again soon, we still don't know. spoiler[They've moved from Tokyo to Osaka, met a whole new Gantz team, and are no longer being shielded from civilian view. It gets really crazy. And yes, Kei was killed. After getting 100 points and leaving the Gantz to return to his old life, he is attacked and killed by vampires, the mortal enemies of the Gantz Hunters.] If you're looking for a deeply involved sci-fi story, look elsewhere. If you're looking for a bloody sci-fi action series with just enough story to hold it together, this is it. Your mileage may vary.
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scriver058



Joined: 21 May 2006
Posts: 127
Location: NY
PostPosted: Mon Nov 24, 2008 11:00 am Reply with quote
teh*darkness wrote:
to criticize an entire series based on one grouping of chapters is kind of a low blow. Not a lot of story is going to appear in any single volume. At least, not until much later.


Thank you. It seems like the reviewer in this case wanted the whole question of what Gantz is answered right away and had no patience for the author to try and develop some things. It may take a little longer than usual, and the art may be a little roughshod at first, but the art gets really good and at the very least the character development really steps up. Kurono becomes a character you end up admiring and care about (although it takes until about the 6th-8th volume, around the time of the Buddha statue mission), and they put a decent cast of likeable characters around him. And only now that the series is in the 280 chapter range are we beginning to get substantitive answers about what Gantz really is. So I would say to give Gantz a decent shot; at least a few volumes before you decide whether it's worth sticking with. It's definitely one of the better action/sci-fi series around.
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Machius



Joined: 16 Sep 2007
Posts: 23
Location: Australia wishing I was back in Japan
PostPosted: Mon Nov 24, 2008 11:17 am Reply with quote
In the most recent released chapters from Japan(282-4) Gantz seems to be on the road to answering some of the basic questions.

However Gantz really isn't about a story it's about immersion, the manga-ka does a good job at leaving you just as confused and weirded out as the actual characters. The art quality while computer reliant is decent and improves as the series continues and the manga has an interesting mix of over the top violence, sexuality and paranoia which makes for a sort of crazy dark comedy feel.

It's not everyones cup of tea but Gantz is a unique manga which stands out from the average seinen fare and any manga successful enough to still be serialized many years down the track and to have an anime created based on it, has to have something going for it.
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Labbes



Joined: 09 Feb 2008
Posts: 890
PostPosted: Mon Nov 24, 2008 11:25 am Reply with quote
I thought Gantz made a pretty horrible anime and manga. Maybe it can be compared with Lost in regards to the story actually going nowhere, or, to be more precise, the story being developed only after it has become a hit.

And I have to agree that Gantz is unique - but certainly not in a good way.
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abruli



Joined: 28 Nov 2004
Posts: 19
PostPosted: Mon Nov 24, 2008 12:16 pm Reply with quote
Labbes wrote:
Maybe it can be compared with Lost in regards to the story actually going nowhere, or, to be more precise, the story being developed only after it has become a hit.


<rant>Even risking like sounding a fan or something, I have to call bullshit on your Lost claim. I'm 100% sure that Abrams and co. really did develop the series' story atleast to some point even before it became a hit. They have claimed it multiple times in interviews etc. that they had indeed planned it all (believe that if you will).

Maybe the finer intricacies were written as they went along but the main idea what the island is, what the Kerberos is, what the time-space discrepancy inducing effect is that surrounds the island etc. were certainly planned and developed well in advance. I do agree that the story is advancing slowly. All the answers given are followed by a thousand and one new questions. But that's what makes Lost interesting!

To single out Lost, which is probably the series that has the most highest probability of being a series that had its story developed well in advance, means that you either have not watched it carefully enough or you are just trolling...</rant>

In some sense one can compare Gantz to Lost, or Twin Peaks .. or anyother series that throws you in the middle of things and doesn't tell you everything until way into the series (or never at all). But Gantz certainly does have a high level of randomness in it and long ass fights that seem to be stretched way too long.
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doctordoom85



Joined: 12 Jun 2008
Posts: 2091
PostPosted: Mon Nov 24, 2008 12:40 pm Reply with quote
You're right, Abruli, they had a 6-hour meeting when LOST was first envisioned creating the complex mythology. Now, individual character stories and such were made up later, but the core mysteries were fully known from the get-go. Unlike, say, Heroes: spoiler[according to a recent preview I saw, another solar eclipse takes their powers away. If that's the case, then shouldn't Adam be much older, or dead? WHOOPS!]

Let's just say I've read virtually every interview and podcast with the LOST creators, so to those who know little about the show and feel like yelling "they have no idea what's going on!", at least do some research and show some evidence first. They said the reason Seasons 1 and 2 were slow because ABC had not agreed to end on Season 6 yet. Once they did, the pace picked up, as the later parts of Season 3 and all of Season 4 are definitely not slow.

Note: IIRC, Twin Peaks' Season 1 mysteries all had planned answers to them, but Season 2's were being made up as they went along.
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Labbes



Joined: 09 Feb 2008
Posts: 890
PostPosted: Mon Nov 24, 2008 12:50 pm Reply with quote
abruli wrote:
<rant>Even risking like sounding a fan or something, I have to call bullshit on your Lost claim. I'm 100% sure that Abrams and co. really did develop the series' story atleast to some point even before it became a hit. They have claimed it multiple times in interviews etc. that they had indeed planned it all (believe that if you will).

Maybe the finer intricacies were written as they went along but the main idea what the island is, what the Kerberos is, what the time-space discrepancy inducing effect is that surrounds the island etc. were certainly planned and developed well in advance. I do agree that the story is advancing slowly. All the answers given are followed by a thousand and one new questions. But that's what makes Lost interesting!

To single out Lost, which is probably the series that has the most highest probability of being a series that had its story developed well in advance, means that you either have not watched it carefully enough or you are just trolling...</rant>

In some sense one can compare Gantz to Lost, or Twin Peaks .. or anyother series that throws you in the middle of things and doesn't tell you everything until way into the series (or never at all). But Gantz certainly does have a high level of randomness in it and long ass fights that seem to be stretched way too long.


Okay, it seems my comparison sucked thanks to my ignorance concerning some topics.
I only watched the first season of Lost, then I knew it was not for me. Later on, when a friend told me what was happening in later seasons, I felt as if they just rescued themselves to each new "shocking" revelation.
Of course, I thought this would be at least partly right...seems I should have done some research. Well, I know better now.

Can we agree on a comparison to Code Geass R2? Even if they did plan it all out, it just does not feel like it.
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Zac
ANN Executive Editor


Joined: 05 Jan 2002
Posts: 7912
Location: Anime News Network Technodrome
PostPosted: Mon Nov 24, 2008 1:07 pm Reply with quote
scriver058 wrote:

Thank you. It seems like the reviewer in this case wanted the whole question of what Gantz is answered right away and had no patience for the author to try and develop some things. It may take a little longer than usual, and the art may be a little roughshod at first, but the art gets really good and at the very least the character development really steps up. Kurono becomes a character you end up admiring and care about (although it takes until about the 6th-8th volume, around the time of the Buddha statue mission), and they put a decent cast of likeable characters around him. And only now that the series is in the 280 chapter range are we beginning to get substantitive answers about what Gantz really is. So I would say to give Gantz a decent shot; at least a few volumes before you decide whether it's worth sticking with. It's definitely one of the better action/sci-fi series around.


I'm starting to wonder if the endless defensive arguments I hear for shows or manga that take forever to go anywhere, never really answer any questions until much much later, linger on side-stories, skimp on character development and don't get "good" until way later on are borne entirely from the fact that you guys don't pay to read this stuff.

There's no investment for you except time. You're not paying $12 per volume, it's all free, so you're willing to forgive the fact that it takes forever for the story to actually develop and sort of gloss over the fact that it isn't very well paced or written. I really do think there's a pattern here.
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vashfanatic



Joined: 16 Jun 2005
Posts: 3489
Location: Back stateside
PostPosted: Mon Nov 24, 2008 1:49 pm Reply with quote
Zac wrote:
I'm starting to wonder if the endless defensive arguments I hear for shows or manga that take forever to go anywhere, never really answer any questions until much much later, linger on side-stories, skimp on character development and don't get "good" until way later on are borne entirely from the fact that you guys don't pay to read this stuff.

There's no investment for you except time. You're not paying $12 per volume, it's all free, so you're willing to forgive the fact that it takes forever for the story to actually develop and sort of gloss over the fact that it isn't very well paced or written. I really do think there's a pattern here.


Agreed. Okay, true, at this point my lack of money necessitates that I check my manga out from the library, but even then am I going to make my library pay for something that takes 280+ chapters to explain what's going on, spoiler[only after killing the main character]? I mean, I did enjoy the sort of Kafka-esque feel of the anime, and it really made me get involved in the lives of the characters, but at least it was only 26 episodes long. Sad to hear that the manga takes so long to get anywhere...
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dAngel



Joined: 24 Nov 2008
Posts: 23
PostPosted: Mon Nov 24, 2008 4:45 pm Reply with quote
I liked Gantz. I've read up to the current chapter and it's true it doesn't have a lot in terms of plot progression....but it's a lot of fun. The action is entertaining, and it does have some pretty decent character development in my opinion. There's underlying themes about perseverance and overcoming odds. I like the black humor, and the romance is even kind of sweet, which is surprising because I wasn't expecting it at all.

So yeah, I'd say it depends what you're in the mood for. I agree it's not everyone's cup of tea.

The manga does jump the shark a bit right around the Osaka arc -- that mission dragged on a little too long for my taste. However, the latest chapters are starting to explain more and it feels as though we're finally getting to the end game. Hopefully it will start tying things together soon.
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