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The
basic premise behind Gantz is an interesting one. Essentially
just as someone dies, a copy of themselves is "faxed"
to this weird apartment where a huge black orb sits. From
the orb the people are given weapons, a special suit and
orders on how to proceed in the coming game. Each game consists
of the group of people being forced to kill aliens and earn
points for killing them and accomplishing their missions.
The
main story revolves around one truly main character, Kei
Kurono who dies with a childhood acquaintance, Kato, whom
he meets by coincidence in a train station. Everyone in
the train station was watching as a train approached and
a bum was stuck on the tracks. Kei's friend Kato convinces
Kei to help him help the bum, which in turn gets the two
of them killed by the oncoming train and sent to the weird
apartment.
As
luck would have it, they meet a motley bunch already assembled
trying to figure out what it is they are all doing in this
apartment. The windows will not open nor will the front
door. They are stuck. One of the young men in the group
has knowledge of what is going on and describes in a rather
arrogant and condescending manner the essentials of the
"game" they are to play, while another new member
appears, Kei Kishimoto. It turns out THIS Kei is teleported
in during a suicide attempt in her bathtub; in the nude,
which then has the other Kei obsessing over her breasts
and imagining his having sex with her throughout the series.
The
ending is basically what you'd expect, as the answer of
"what happens when you reach 100 points" is answered.
It is answered in a vague sort of "did it happen or
didn't" type of fashion, which I find annoying. I guess
if one were so inclined they could analyze the deeper meaning
of the series if one exists. I however, wanted to pretend
I had never seen the series once the final episode played
out.
I really
hate this series. The basic idea was a usable one, but the
implementation is severely flawed which serves to destroy
any interest in the series. For one, not one of the characters
is someone you can empathize with. This is not a good thing
in a series where the theme is life or death. If you don't
care if a main character lives or dies, what is the incentive
for watching? The only incentive for watching is the over
the top violence which, after the first 2 or 3 "in
game" episodes, loses its shock factor completely.
There is also the nudity factor, as extremely oversized
and laughingly unrealistic breasts are shown, bare nipple
and all (a Gonzo first I believe). After those two pieces,
what you are then left with is a bunch of clueless people
playing a game they have no idea what the purpose of it
is in a haphazard fashion; all the while trying to discover
the answers to these questions. Answers to the questions
come out in a painfully slow pace, which in turn kills any
sense of excitement to discover these answers.
Also,
so many people die in this series that you never really
have enough time to form any background connection to them,
and the few that do, their backgrounds are so clichéd
and banal that the series becomes laughable at best and
painful at its worst.
It
seemed to me as though Gonzo was going for something more,
but wound up losing focus early (very early) in the series
and because of this relied on sex and violence to create
a shock factor that in turn would sell the show. The violence
is kind of over the top, but is drawn in such a comical
fashion that the shock factor was lessened by its presentation.
The nudity is comical, as we finally see Gonzo's ridiculously
out of proportion breast sizes completely bare. To say that
the breast sizes are absurd without any coverage is a gross
understatement, and because of the sizes and designs, everything
comes out unnatural and unappetizing.
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