So up until this point, every review I have done has been of anime that I watched and thought was a decent watch, with the exception of Kurozuka. Nothing was over the top or so overly amazing that I talk about it every time I get into a discussion about anime. Well, I have to say this month I felt like I needed to fan boy out. Anyone that knows me, knows I love Gantz. This show is what made me want to watch anime. I never watched anything on Toonami or Adult Swim, and I was never in an anime club in college, so I didn't really see a lot of shows. One night I was staying at U238Willy's house, and he was like, 'man you should watch this'. I happened to be tore from the festivities of that evening and half-asleep, but I remembered the first episode was so fucking hardcore. I was like, 'man... I need to watch more of this'. So the next morning, I sat and watched the next eight episodes of the show.

The first thing that stood out about Gantz was its amazing OP song. Rip Slyme - Super Shooter, is the only OP song for the entire series because it is that awesome. Gantz is centered around the main character, Kei Kurono. Kei is a 10th grader who keeps to himself. While waiting at the subway station platform to go home, he sees Kato Masaru, a friend from his childhood but decides not to speak to him. During his wait, a hobo falls off the platform and onto the tracks. Everyone else there shows no regard for the hobo, and Kato is the only one who steps up to save his life. While trying to save the hobo, Kato spots Kei and asks him to help. After helping the hobo back onto the platform, they hear the train horn as it's coming closer to the station. Kei and Kato run for their life hoping that the train will stop at the station allowing them time to climb off the tracks. However, the loudspeaker proclaims, 'that this is the express train, and it will not be stopping'. The next scenes are shot in a slow motion fashion as the train ends up shredding them to pieces. In an instant cut shot, Kei and Kato run (just as they were doing on the tracks) into a room that has a view of the Tokyo Tower. In this room there are other people who are confused, and a huge black ball. Kei and Kato try to sort out if they are alive or dead. Moments later, a naked girl starts to materialize on Kei's lap. This girl turns out to be Kei Kishimoto, who had committed suicide in a bathtub. The black ball then plays a old japanese 'wake up' song, and displays a message that says, "Your lives are now over, you bastards. What you do with your new lives is for me to decide. So there you have it". It turns out the black ball is called Gantz, and everyone is inside what appears to be in a video game of some sort. Gantz tells the people in the room they need to hunt green onion aliens, and throws a 60 minute timer on the screen, and starts to send people to outside world to start the game. I don't want to spoil Gantz at all. So that's all the story I will tell.

I will explain some things that you should know before you watch Gantz. Gonzo made 26 episodes from the manga, and split them into four missions. The missions are similar to what I said earlier; their job is to hunt down and eradicate 'aliens'. Of the four missions, only the first three were taken from the manga, and the 4th was made up to end the series. So if you plan on watching the series, everything you watch until the end of mission three is taken directly from the manga. If you choose to continue with the manga, you can pickup with the series at chapter 89. The last mission in the anime slightly foreshadows Kei's mindset change over the course of the manga. At the beginning of the series, Kurono is confused by the situation he is tossed into, but towards the end of mission two he turns into a bad ass. So bad ass that he takes down a giant Buddha statue (another alien) by himself. This is why I consider Gantz in the line of anime that people would call 'gar'.

After watching Gantz you'll feel a little in the dark, since the series isn't complete and with all that you have to learn. Some of the weapons and the body suits are never totally explained, nor do you see some of the features talked about or used. The guns that Gantz gives you are extremely powerful, but they have a time delay, and this tends to make battles difficult in the future missions. In the anime series, you only see 3 types of weapons: The X - Gun, a Rifle, and the Capture Gun. The X - Gun and the Rifle both have a display that shows targets in the visuals of an X-ray. The Capture gun ties up the aliens and sends it off like a fax copy to who knows where. That is pretty much all you ever find out about the weapons in the anime. The suits can also be considered weapons. Keeping in mind it protects you from harm, it also boosts your muscle mass, making you extremely stronger, faster, and able to jump long distances. It also has the ability to place an invisibility cloak over you, but only Nishi ever uses it, and it is never spoken about again. To add some realism to the danger, you find out the suits can break from to much strain. The Point System is briefly spoken about by Nishi. When you get 100 points, you can leave the game and get your life back. There is more to the Point System in the manga, but I wont get into that. Finally, the anime doesn't explain anything about Gantz. All we know is, it's a black sphere with a man inside that appears to be on life support. He is a douche bag, who purposely stacks the odds against you and tries to kill you, and mocks you even if you survive the round. All in all Gantz is just an amazing series. For all the points that aren't explained because the series is cut short, that really won't bother you. It puts you in the perspective of the main characters. Gantz never really has any boring moments, and towards the end of the series when things pick up, you get drawn in. When I got the second half, I finished it the same night I got it. If you've never seen Gantz, you should put it on your must see list. I can honestly say I haven't seen anything that comes close to it, with the exception of Gurren Lagann. Even then, I still don't think Gurren Lagann tops Gantz. If you like sci-fi and action then you will probably like Gantz. So give it a shot.