Gantz 2nd Stage

The anime version of Gantz is split into two seasons, and I'm reviewing the second season; Gantz - Second Stage. Check my earlier reviews as I have already reviewed the first season of Gantz and the manga version of Gantz. Gantz - Second Stage is a mixed bag since it contains one of the best missions that Gantz has to offer (the Buddha mission), but also contains a lackluster ending to the anime that makes people scratch their heads. The Buddha mission continues where the first season left off, and is highly addictive and kick-ass to watch. It contains everything I love about Gantz; the unpredictability of who will live; no one is truly safe in the world of Gantz even if you are a main character. The music is even more intense than the first season as you listen to heart pacing guitar licks as the characters battle against the aliens. Everything about this missions is great! Now lets talk about the filler arc. First of all the filler isn't terrible, but it wasn't necessary either. The filler arc is actually pretty good, but left off with a strange ending that most people hated, which leaves the viewer confused with many questions unanswered. A lot of people of people who watched Gantz tell me the same thing: they loved the first three missions featured in the anime but hated the last mission/ ending. *My recommendation is to watch up till episode 21 of the anime series and go straight to CHAPTER 90 in the manga; trust me on this. * The manga will provide you with the answers you didn't have in the anime and becomes even more epic.

Gantz (both first and second season) is a proof that no matter how attractive and original an idea is, it's condemned to a monumental failure if the execution is not proper. I don't know about the manga since I've never took a look on it, perhaps it is a masterpiece without any comparison, but regarding the anime, I couldn't have been more disappointed. First things first: the series tries to show a distorted and exaggeratedly negative view of society on which is based a great part of the storytelling, which consists of the saddest and poorest attempts of plot devices. Seriously, the vortex of stupidity wherein becomes the argument is massive, and that is seen in the senseless acting of the whole cast under any circumstance. "Wow, this green monster just severed that man's head with its bare hands, I've got a gun right here but I'm not going to use it nor will I run away either, I rather grab the monster from its jacket and yell at it right on its face". That's an humoristic (yet quite literal) interpretation of one of the many stupidities that occur during the first chapters of season one. From the beginning, most of the troubles the characters get into and the subsequent deaths are the result of their apparently NULL common sense. Because of the good reviews I read previously, I kept watching Gantz hoping that nonsenses would eventually come to an end and things would get better. Boy, was I wrong, the absurdities had NO END. Secondly we have all these 'tension and suspense' scenes when you see people aiming their guns at the aliens they must defeat whilst inwardly saying stuff like "I've got to shoot, I'm going to shoot" but you can leave the chapter playing, go for a snack with a coffee, and then take your sit again only to find out the guy hasn't shot yet. This is not suspensive at all, it's just boring and stressful, I wanted to get into the show through the screen to grab the gun and shoot by myself... not at aliens, but AT HUMANS! Not only are they completely incoherent about their decisions and behavior, but also they lack of any trace of personality. All of them are characterized by basically one or two traits, and are depressing beings mostly for the sake of being depressing. No personality, no credible personal conflicts or desires, no initiative, just hollow animated figures that won't pull the freaking trigger until half the team or so is already dead. After having tolerated all this torture (and I still don't know how did I make it) to the final arch of the series, I realized that I was not going to get anything similar to a proper ending. The reward for my patience was an abrupt change of the storytelling, with some empty and pretentious tone of intellectuality and not a single issue about the plot answered. Serioysly, 20+ chapters and you won't get any close to at least a hint about what the hell is going on here, you simply don't know what the main topic of the story was supposed to be, if it ever had one. Besides the relatively detailed animation (thanks to which we can at least get a handful of well conceived action scenes), the fluency and variation in the approach angles and the intriguing of the plot, I can't say nothing in favour to Gantz and I'll never understand why so many people think so high of this show.

I think overall, the second season of Gantz was my favorite. However, I watched it without even realizing there was a second season at first (I watched all 26 episodes straight.) There wasn't really a break in between the first and second season, at least I could barely tell. If it showed in the opening song, I didn't really watch all of that. Otherwise, this is really a great series. I started watching this only a few days ago and I finished yesterday actually and I really wanted to write a review for it but I couldn't access the site for some reason. And going to work in between watching this series only made me anxious to continue it yet again. In other words, it was good enough for me to want to go home immediately and watch. Story: The story was good. The characters may irk you but the concept of the story was great. It talks about death and sex a lot and with the topic of death, it certainly gets you thinking, well, if you care about it at all anyway. There's a lot of blood, guts, violence, and gore in this. So...if you're liable to vomiting, get sick, or something like that, then you shouldn't watch this. Otherwise, the story's good besides it's only flaw: the ending. And you all know how that goes usually. Starts out great but ends in a questionable manner. Yeah. Of course, I've heard that the manga is better. Art: I liked the art for the most part. It was good. It wasn't choppy or anything like that. However, when compared to the manga, I guess it just didn't make your stomach turn as much. A few years back, I read the first chapter of the Gantz manga. I was a lot younger but I remember it being quite graphical that I didn't like it and I put it down. But I think it was mostly because the drawings don't move like an anime in which you see the scenes for merely less than a second. Since the drawings don't move, you focus on certain images and it makes it more gory and disgusting. Anyhow, I certainly liked the art went it got further making Kei look really cool. Sound: To be truthful, I don't remember much of the sound effects they used but I'm supposing they weren't using effects that made me cringe with incompatibility. I loved the opening song by RIP SLYME. By the way, I watched the Japanese version and I though the voices were compatible. Character: This is one of those series where you really hate/dislike the character at first (at least in moral sense, some may find them amusing instead) but then later you start to really like them. Well, I'm mainly talking about Kei, the protagonist, who went through the most character development. You start to like certain characters but they soon die off making you mad or sad but they are soon replaced by new members of the Gantz team once again. The most puzzling character is Gantz, and this is also a flaw in the story which doesn't tell us what exactly is going on in the Gantz world. Enjoyment: If you can take blood, guts, violence, sex, immorality, and anything related to that then it's all good. (You might hate some things, but you'll get over it) Overall, I give a 9 because I really liked this anime. I hated the ending since it's so obscure but this certainly helped me give a shot at the manga once again.

Overview: Merry Christmas! I'm going to celebrate this cheery and wonderful day by ripping apart a shitty, old anime from 10 years ago that nobody cares about and new otaku have probably never even heard of! Why? Because I am an odd man! Today we look at huge #2! Gantz 2: the filler season. Plot and characters: 2/10 Is it possible to have a REALLY stupid plot that absolutely revels in its own absurdity, but is still entertaining and awesome? Of course it is! A few series that actually pulled this off well would be: Hellsing Ultimate, Afro Samurai, FLCL, etc. Then there is Gantz, which tries to go this route and fails hard! One problem with Gantz the anime is that it often takes itself too seriously for a series that is so poorly written and completely idiotic. What do I mean by this? I mean that this is a series about a giant 8ball with a naked man inside (never explained) which orders recently dead people to put on gimp suits and fight random monsters, for...reasons using ridiculously stupid and inefficient guns. Most of these things do get explained eventually in the manga, but this is NOT a well written series. It is supposed to be a big, dumb, action series and not a sophisticated psychological one. The manga actually understands this fact, but the anime...does not. This is especially true for the 2nd season, which abandons the manga and creates its own final arc. Gantz 2 creates a bunch of god awful filler episodes that desperately try to cram in some morals and philosophical depth to laughable effect. Gantz 2 is like a hybrid of a porno and a Michael Bay film trying to randomly stop mid-explosion or mid-orgasm to spew some freshman level existentialism. It seriously gets so bad that they couldn't think of a real ending, so the assclown writer of this series shamelessly ripped off the Cowboy Bebop ending... WHY?! If you have an absurdist plot that is supposed to be stupid, you need great characters to make up for it. The plot of Hellsing is seriously Count Dracula saving England from Nazi vampires. As amazingly stupid as that is, it works largely because Hellsing has highly likeable and amusing characters. Gantz on the other hand has 2 types of characters: bland and boring, or unlikeable assholes. That is fucking it! None of the characters are cool or badass! None of the characters inspire empathy. None of the characters are even funny! There is not a single...fucking....remotely likeable character in this piece of shit cast. Art: 3/10 The art was made by Studio Gonzo in 2004. Be prepared for HORRIBLE CGI, bad backgrounds, and repetitive character designs. This series looks like shit, which is appropriate because it is shit! Sound: 3/10 At least the corny J-rap in the beginning is charmingly stupid. I actually do find the Gantz opening amusing. Seriously, I have it on my itunes and laugh my ass off whenever it plays. Overall: 2/10 The first series of Gantz was pretty damn bad, but Gantz 2 is just absolute shit! I wouldn't even mind that the series isn't well written or thought provoking if it could actually be entertaining. Unfortunately, it is entertaining in the way that accidentally hitting your thumb with a hammer is entertaining.

Wow, what an anime. Lots of good things, but lots of bad things as well. Sometimes it is awesome, sometimes it is boring and tedious. Story: 5 The show has a good premise and some pretty cool situations, but it is poorly executed, in my opinion. The fight scenes feel like something out of Naruto or DBZ: long and drawn out. The story could have been told much more quickly, and its a bit disappointing that such a cool premise wasn't taken advantage of as much as it could be. There could have been more games than just two per season, instead of having all the characters standing in front of the enemy about to pull the trigger but chickening out most of the time. Either way it was pretty good until the infamous last episode... which was filled with boring and stupid dialogue and not the kind of action you would hope to have in the final episode... and then a completely meaningless ending. Art: 7 The art was pretty good, and the 3D effect was unique and interesting despite the few times in which it looks ugly, as if it was rendered in 3D and the characters are just flat plains facing the camera (which it probably was). But I think they did a good job on the animation besides those parts. Sound: 6 The sound was good especially the completely freaky monster voices. Besides that it wasn't too memorable except that it fit well. The music is sometimes ugly and sounds like it was a MIDI file. The music at the beginning is cool, though. Character: 6 Besides the three main characters, the rest were completely flat. They were more charactures instead of characters, although that seemed to be the point. Gantz did a great job making completely unsympathetic and people (except for a few) to populate the anime besides the three main characters, showing how evil the human race is. In this part, the show excels, since these were never meant to be developed at all and instead just meant to show how awful some people can be. The problem with the show's characters are the main ones. Although Kei was a pretty complex character that you can both love and hate and laugh at at the same time, the other two were just annoying. Kei was a fun character, though. At first he is not very easy to like but by the end he is likable and cool. His extreme perversion was funny and lit up an otherwise bleak and brutal anime. Enjoyment: 4 This is the part that annoys me. It could have been really enjoyable with all the cool fight scenes but it just ended up being tedious and painful. In some parts, it was meant to be that way, like the episodes in-between the games, and it was ok because they are meant to show humandkind's evil, but the fight scenes shouldn't have also been painful. I don't like listing to lengthy discussions in the middle of a battle when everything has paused just to hear them speak predictable and repetitive things, or see flashbacks over and over. I also found myself screaming at them to just shoot already. If you want something more enjoyable, read the manga. Overall: 5 Gantz is an anime that is genius in some places and just plain stupid in others, plus its just too drawn out. I would only suggest this to fans of the manga or for someone with extreme patience or someone who is planning to do something while watching it. Near the end of the anime I was browsing the web and stuff while watching it because it was just too boring. I wouldn't suggest it to those who are looking just for gore and violence either because the rest of the show is just too tedious if thats all you are looking for. I don't regret watching it, though, it just could have been done much better.

Story: Well, this isn't really as much as a new series as it is a SECOND STAGE, as used in the title. This is pretty much the second season of GANTZ, picking up were the last one left off. No story changes. The story to me is rather original, and you probably won't find many other stories like this one. The only problem I have with the story is how slow it moves. In total, GANTZ SECOND STAGE is 13 episodes long, but the story moves along at a pace more suiting to a 43 episode long anime. Very messed up pacing, and it uses flashbacks more than it did in the last season here, which gets annoying. Art: Not much to say here, your typical 00's era art is here, but with terrible CGI mixed in. Most people wouldn't mind some CGI, but the CGI they used in here literally looks like a Playstation Game from the 90's. Bad Quality CGI, and the regular art doesn't have much to say for itself, although I will say that some parts of it are very detailed. Sound: Watch this series subbed, and the subtitles are very good. The Japanese voice actors are very suiting for each character that they portray. The only bad point is that the dub isn't as good as it should be. The monster's noises are very convincing and creepy, and if you watch this at night, be prepared to be creeped out. Characters: The main character is a hit or miss kind of guy. Some times you will like him, sometimes you won't. Characters in this series die and appear rather rapidly and realistically, so don't expect any cop outs from the producers where a character is 'magically' saved at their 11th hour. Most of the characters I enjoyed, but don't get to attached to them -- They don't hang around for very long. Enjoyment: I enjoyed this series very much despite some of it's flaws. The series ended when it started getting boring, which is always a good thing. If you have the time, I suggest watching all of GANTZ SECOND STAGE in one sitting. Very enjoyable. Overall: A good series that has it's flaws, but is brought back up by excellent action, a good plot premise, and lot's of blood. I would say that most people as long as they aren't offended by sex, nudity, blood, or exessive violence would massively enjoy this series as much as I did. I would say this series would be alright for a mature 13 year old or older to watch. Main Verdict: Go buy this series.

What can be said about Gantz season two that hasn't been said about season one? Sex. Gantz really ups the ante in this season by starting out with a bang, or two. *hits snare* Seriously though, one of Gantz strengths, and probably the majority of its appeal, is that despite its flaws it is still pretty creative. Maybe not in overall plot, but the type of enemies they fight, the weapons they have, their suit's abilities, and the way people die. The range of aliens they encounter are pretty out there and bizarre, and I suppose that's fitting. They have an... interesting assortment of future technology that makes for, let's just say, different fights. The ways in which people die are pretty crazy and... unexpected to say the least. Even though people are constantly getting screwed left and right, and the world is devious and merciless, something keeps drawing you in. There's some kind of perverse entertainment in Gantz sadistic nature. No matter how much he toys with people or what cruel conditions he inflicts on them, it's hard to hate the big black sphere. He always has humorous descriptions and nicknames for people, and he always starts off every deadly mission with a cheerful tune and this message: "Your lives are now over, you bastards. What you do with your new lives is for me to decide. So there you have it." Along with increasing the sexuality and possibly gore, the second season of Gantz actually does a good job of resolving dubious elements of the previous season. Absurd mysteries like guns with two triggers and delayed shots are given some kind of explanation. Characters even out more and the storyline comes to a head and wraps everything up neatly. There's even a good twist towards the end. I also realized that I really like the "next episode" theme and wished it was used in the actual episodes. These things might not be canon, but as a way of capping a series they were just what the show needed. Of course this season is not without its weaknesses. The dub is still terrible, the dialogue is still belabored and the legendary glacial pacing of the first season is back with even more fervor than ever. The characters are as stale as they were before. The animation still oscillates between good and cheap with plenty of CG inbetween. Unfortunately this season is still riddled with needless flashbacks and ridiculous bodily blood fountains. And soooooo much "speeching". You get only ONE alien encounter, and the moment ANYTHING happens, it can always be followed up by: "let's talk about it." "Oh no! Kei is in danger. What should we do?" ...Let's talk about it. "OMG! Is that an alien?" ...Let's talk about it. "Hey... guys... I'm dying." Let's talk about it. This garrulous orgy is complimented by the shows love of still shots and still standing. You are treated to such action packed scenes as: * Kei standing still and screaming while slowly shooting a statue, who is also standing still and screaming * A statue slowly walking towards someone * A statue waiting his turn to slowly walk towards someone This actually ceases to be a problem towards the last few episodes where the final arc plays out. This was probably the best part of the season/series. Kei even redeems himself a little by the end of it... And then everything gets thrown out the window. The last few episodes of Gantz are some of the greatest offenders of the flaws I mention above. They even throw in a debate about moral relativism and modern warfare while they're fighting. By this point the show gets ridiculous and it's obvious where it's going. The nosedive into inane territory is tremendous and the end couldn't come soon enough. I'm not sure how to feel about Gantz because there are things about it I like, but so many things I don't... I don't necessarily regret watching Gantz, but I can think of many far better and less painful shows to recommend. See this only if you have a real fetish for sadism and ecchi gore, otherwise you are probably better off just reading the manga.

Not so much a new story but a continuation of the previous series, Gantz - Second stage introduces a few new characters to replace the broken original Gantz team. None of these characters last long or are able to fill the gaps and so this second part does feel lacking in the good character department, it does make up for it in action and good conflicts. Kurono is back again and in full swing this time, he's ready for anything Gantz can throw at him, or at least, he thought he was. This second part introduces a few newer issues that extend the "How far are you willing to go to survive?" message that the first part of the series asked. While Kurono ultimately fails and is not willing to go far enough he does sadly prematurely end his relationship with this new world he was forced to be a part of. That being said, the ending is disappointing, HOWEVER, for anyone who has read the manga, looking back, I believe that this was a good stopping point. I try not to give up any spoilers in my reviews but... WHEN YOU MESH A SECRET SOCIETY OF VAMPIRES, HIGHLY ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY, ALIENS, AND SERIAL KILLERS WITH GODZILLA-ESQUE MONSTERS the series starts to love it's pizazz. That being said, the anime is ultimately better than the manga because it knows when to end. Again, definitely for a more mature audience and there's blood and gore galore, but still worth checking out. Great anime that's only lacking in a few areas, overall, lovely and worth checking out.

Not long ago I reviewed the first stage of Gantz. I was far less than impressed with its mostly dull/moronic cast and its story that had more holes than your average slice of Swiss cheese. That being said, it was far from one of the worst anime I've ever seen. Naturally, this means that people want me to look at the second stage claiming that "it's better." Being a cynic, I doubt it, but let's get our red pens ready and take a look at Gantz: Second Stage to see whether or not it actually is better. Okay, now that I've finished, let's compare. The second stage has the same setup as the first. A giant magic eight ball copies people at the instant of their deaths and sends those people to fight aliens for no adequately explained reason and he picks those people carefully so that they won't be smart enough to ask questions. The second stage does do a few things differently. The first is that they eliminate virtually all of the moments intended to build character in favour of mindless violence and sex. Honestly, the first stage was better. The character moments may not have contributed much since the execution was pants and most characters were just introduced for the sake of acting as fodder, but at least it tried to have development. This one does give some motivation to Gantz, but it's really really lazy. Basically, they imply that Gantz is doing it for laughs. Is it better than no explanation? Not really, Gantz is still like a silver-age comic villain. Evil for the sake of being evil. At least no explanation had the potential for something interesting. One thing that is better is that they actually do have some genuinely evil threats in this one, at the very end, anyway. This one also doesn't suffer from continuity errors... Well, not in the plot anyway. They also get rid of the horrible working girl joke. Unfortunately, they replace it with several horrible gay jokes, all in the span of a few episodes. Yeah, that's not a real improvement. It's just trading some of the misogyny for more homophobia. They eventually do start questioning Gantz, which really needed to happen earlier, they do it in the last few episodes so it's really too little too late. There is one other issue with Second Stage, and that's the ending. It's a complete anti-climax. The characters were pretty bad in the first stage. So, surely they improved them here, right? Wrong. They're actually worse. None of the major characters from the first stage develop any further. Male Kei is still an insufferable prick Female Kei doesn't get any more good scenes and goes back to being quietly supportive. Kato remains the only decent character, but doesn't get any further development. The rest of the cast is still very much composed of bland, one-dimensional figures. So, how is it worse? Here's the basic thing. The first one didn't have deep characters, but at least they were consistent. In this one they take the guy with the semi-important speech about the sanctity of life, and the first thing he does is murder someone in cold blood. Great continuity. The art is about the same. It's pretty strong with strange looking eyes and really bad gore effects. Actually, these gore effects just get silly. There's a guy who gets punched and his head stretches like a rock em sock em robot. There's another scene where a guy gets flattened and you just expect one of those cartoony "splat" sound effects. There are several death scenes that should be intense, but the ridiculousness of the gore just ruins it. There isn't as much fan-service, but there's still quite a bit. The fight scenes are about the same. They're pretty interesting and unique. They actually might be a little better since there are fewer characters who stand around and watch. The voice acting and music are the strongest points, just like the first stage. The actors do really well and the music is nice and atmospheric. The yuri factor is a 1/10. Again, there's not much interaction among the female characters. So, is it an improvement? In a few ways, yeah. There's less fan-service and the fight scenes are a little better. Overall, it's not as good, though. Yeah, the first one was sloppy, but at least it tried to have some depth. This one just says "screw it" and takes the mindless sex and action route and its flaws are just all the more obvious because of it. The Second Stage gets a 3/10. My one consolation is that there isn't any more to the anime. I can only imagine what they would do with a third season.

TURN IT OFF! WHY ARE YOU READING ABOUT THE SECOND PART OF THIS??? Gantz second stage follows our hero whatever his name is as he continues to talk about the last five seconds he has to live while facing down aliens for half of an episode before managing to kill them. He has people that follow him that sometimes have interesting arcs or personalities, but you shouldn't even try to remember their names because they won't pan out to anything. Imagine if you would, being smacked repeatedly in the face and told how awful the world is and how you have no hope or accomplishing anything. Then imagine being given a short sort of reprieve while only being roughly patted. In comparison, it's not so bad, but not enjoyable either. Rarely have I ever told myself "This is so un-enjoyable that I MUST finish watching it so that I can be sure it never gets better" It never got better. In fact, it only got worse from the first season. A cursory glance around this site will reveal how long and detailed a story that the manga of Gantz has. It likely has pacing that fits it's span of a story, and may handle the material better and in a more engaging fashion. This anime does none of those things, compared to any material. The ending is like your nameless torturer, tired of slapping and patting you, finally just bashing your head in with a bat; a sweet release from endless misery.

Oh wow. This show. The story It was pretty much the same deal as season 1. Long story short, over the first season, the formula was nice, as it wasn't something I'd seen before. I'd seen gore, but not really in this much of a gruesome, war-like setting. Don't get me wrong I love me some gore, but over the season I still want meaningful story. Luckily, there was story, but it was very distinctly in two unfairly similar arcs. These two arcs in turn are carbon copies of season 1. The result? It's really hard to enjoy and connect with characters when they're in a constant state of recycling. And the ending? First off the defeat of the villain, given all the exposition was less than stellar. There was a period of about 5 minutes where the villain, in a position of being essentilally the hulk staring down a human, argued about the morality of killing. Comparitively they spend about half a minute actually fighitng The only thing that could have made me happy is a good summary and tying the loose ends. There was a summary, in terms of a clip show of dead characters and some relatively cryptic quotes. Tying the loose ends? It left a pivotal question, that was given 5 episodes to answer, unresolved. Sure the subsequent revealing of the answer would still thing incomplete, but I still couldn't help but feel that this proved the whole endeavour of Gantz is reactionary. Characters As constantly mentioned, characters are hard to stay with. In the previous season, the main trio and our veteran make it into the following arc. This was good as we had an opportunity to develop character, as well as viewer opinions. This is concept has been for all intents and purposes been completely bleached in the second series. At the risk of spoiling, many of the characters do not get a chance to grow over course of this season. Not only are their deaths cruel and purposeless, but it highlights what little importance characters play in the grand scheme of things. Seriously Kurono has 3 fairly emotionally-major love interests over the course of the 13 episodes. The only redeeming points, that can be attributed to the characters of this season, are the use of the villains seen in the first part, being used as such in the second arc. Enjoyment ONE. FREAKING. GUESS. Overall The first season was not by any means what I consider a good anime, but the second stage, only makes me aprreciate the little things I liked about the first round.

This part of gantz was a little better than the first part. but it was still slow and boring. and the characters were still annoying. had me wanting to shoot myself. and the ending was pointless! worst anime i have ever seen.

This review is for both the first and second season of Gantz, as i watched them not even realizing they were split into 2. This review is also coming from a big fan of the original Manga which runs looooooong past the end of the anime and is still ongoing so this definitely factors into some of my criticism. Story: Gantz's story is one i find highly entertaining. Basically its about a mysterious black ball in a random appartment building. At the moment of certain peoples deaths, they are instead instantly transported to this appartment where they are made to stand around for a little while, conversing with each other and trying to figure out what the hell is happening. The ball then begins to play excercise music and displays text on its screen telling these people that they are dead and their lives now are up to Gantz (the name of the ball) to decide.It opens up and give people the option to grab any weapons (which are guns with a time lag that make things explode...yeah really you kinda have to see it yourself) and a suit that give you the ability of super strength agility and what-not. It then teleports them to random parts of tokyo on missions to kill Aliens for points, once you reach 100 points you are set free. If you die while in the game, you die forever, if you live then you can go back to your ordinary lives until Gantz teleports you back to the room for another mission. This is really the entire plot of the series and it is for sure a love or hate type of anime. If your expecting an extremely deep and compelling plot that will make you think this is not it, there is no real mystery to solve and there are no real hints as to whats goign on, this is pure adrenaline pumping entertainment. Unfortunately it end with a filler arc which sucks if you have read the actually manga and wanted more awesomeness but in an ongoing manga serise, such is expected. Other filler though was completely not needed, such as with Nishi's death and the events leading up to it, i swear it took about 2 episodes while it took only a few pages in the book, it was absolutely ridiculous but you just have to grin and bear it. Art: There isnt alot to say about the art, it looks good for when it was made with both hand drawn art and CG animation for different segments and it doesn't look THAT awkward. If anything it adds to the zanyness of the serise. It is clear at segments where corners were cut but this can be found in many anime. There are some segments where i litarally rolled my eyes at the recycled animation though which was kind of a downer. Sound: The sound fit the series just fine, nothing that stood out as bad really, the theme song alone was awesome and i hardly ever skipped it, another time where i recalled the music being quite good was when the green onion alien was being killed. It was very dark and grungy yet new sounding and "hip" it was very interesting and fit the situation perfectly. Character: I thoroughly enjoyed the characters, you will be hard pressed not to find a little bit of yourself in at least a few of them and they all have interesting personalities. Its also very nice to see that they react to these bizzare and crazy situations in very realistic ways, such as wanting to run away from the aliens most of the time or just walk away from the mission thinking its stupid. Without giving too much away there is developement ( at least from the main character Kei) while the rest tend to stick to their morals and ideals. Its also nice to see that the author really doesn't care who lives and who dies. This is quite refreshing seeing as how in most stories you can tell whos major and whos going to make it quite far but with Gantz you never know. Also with each mission there are many deaths, which means Gantz has to bring in many interesting characters each new mission. Enjoyment: The pure crazyness of the plot and the way characters act is the best part of this series. Some of the lines said (especially in the dub) just make you laugh out loud at how ridiculous they are. Its got gore, comedy, hot chicks, crazy aliens and powers....all i can say is its highly enjoyable (just make sure you don't read into it too much). Overall i'd have to give this series a 7 and thats coming from a huge Gantz fan, the filler and pacing is simply bad at times and if you have read the original material you will be rolling your eyes at some changes and the ending. If you enjoy this series i HIGHLY reccomend you check out the manga, it is way, way better.

One thing is for sure... this was far better than the first season. *this review is rewritten* Story: 6 The story in the second season is far better than the first one and that's one thing that's sure. The concept is still the same, but here we finally get to the whole picture of what Gantz is all about. The "monsters" or whatever they are... are surely more interesting, though still as weird... and there is a really clever twist in the final episodes, which was what did this show justice for me. Much more action is present in this second stage which was absent from the first season. Art: 7 The art is pretty good and has some unique elements. I wasn't wowed, but the characters were drawn well and overall it fitted the whole concept of the show. I really liked the use of colors like gold. Sound: 7 The sound was what I enjoyed the most in the series. I find it extremely fitting for the atmosphere of this anime, with a cool, groovy and quite memorable opening theme. Characters: 6 In this season the main characters become far more interesting and there is growth as the story unfolds, which the first season lacked. The supportive characters in this season are more interesting than the first ones, and also play a much more drastic and important part in the main plot. Enjoyment: 7 I am not a big fan of gore for the sake of gore. Bust still I found this anime worth watching. It had something completely new to bring to the table and the second season surely made me change my view of it. Especially the ending justified the whole thing for me. Overall: 6 Violence and sex stuff it's what this anime aims for to make a difference. In my opinion they are used just to be used... fanservice? maybe. But for me they are not what made it stand out... I enjoyed it for these few moments when it puts you to some thinking, although it's only elemental... but still it offers some food for the mind, which is not completely trash. You can also say I might enjoyed some of its weirdness at parts... If you watched the first season and didn't like it I think that this one might feel a little better to you. I would recommend it just because it's different in style and it has a few things to offer. It will test your nerves and stomachs sometimes to extreme levels, but if you can bare with that it can offer a few good thoughts too.

warning I will have some very small spoilers at the beginning of the review If you want to know one of the following questions don't even bother watching the last episode because it won't answer any of the following questions 1. What is Gantz? 2. Why are they fighting aliens? 3. Why can't anyone see the aliens? 3. Why were the specific people chosen? 4. What's up with the old lady? 5. Who started Gantz? 6. Why must they kill aliens? 7. why are they chosen before they die? This season is overall much better than the last, characters actually have some depth to them, and are actually in danger when they're in a mission. With the increase in character development the action increased too, for the most part characters are actually fighting the aliens instead of talking about killing them. That is until the final episode where the show gets too dang preachy and starts trying to bring on topics that can't really be taken seriously when there's giant breasted girls being shown every few episodes. Overall this season improved a lot from the last one, but the show does hit a bump in the last episode where it gets too preachy and leaves the fans with a bunch of answered questions and a bit a of bitter sweet taste in their mouth. If you were having trouble getting invested in to the show, but for some reason you were still interested in Gantz you should defiantly check out this season.

Gantz is an action packed, blood-filled, sci-fi horror adventure into the bizarre; constructed perfectly for the mature, adult viewer that can appreciate the copious amounts of gore, sex and guns blasting away at just about anything that moves. Gantz is split into two separate seasons, and the 2nd Stage continues directly from where the first season left off, following our three protagonists on their quest to survive through the twisted game devised by the thing in the small black ball while at the same time trying to deal with their sexual frustration, and inability to come to terms with the situation they're in. The second series introduces an entirely new host of characters, that are all different from the last bunch invited to take part in the twisted game. As usual, there's the typical conflict of interests and wide spread confusion about what's actually going on, creating a bit of hilarious dialogue between the characters and a few horrible jokes from the big man himself. Things become a little more bad ass through parts of this series, where we have feature length sex scenes to highly improved action scenes where we can actually see the protagonist kicking it to all of these weird and strange aliens but sadly, it's a shame to see him become just like them as he continues fighting for his life. I did become a little more attached to him as time went on. I would say that the first three quarters of the plot are well constructed and enjoyable to watch, but the final arc of this series drifted away from the manga and is animé original material. Now usually, this isn't always a bad thing for a short series like Gantz but the last few episodes are terrible to say the least, in my opinion. They take away everything you've enjoyed about the series, alter the principles entirely, throw in barely humorous characters with meaningless existences and then rip off one of the endings to one of the best animé in existence. It's so far up there, I don't think it's coming back down anytime soon, and not where the sun shines. I think the art is fine, the visual construct of the aliens are all interesting and dynamic as per usual; sometimes a lot more than what you would expect. Whoever produced the art for this series really knows how to handle their gore effects. If there's one thing I dislike, it's essentially how ugly the characters are. Now that usually wouldn't be a problem for me in a series like Gantz but when you look at the manga, they're significantly better drawn to the extent they almost look like twisted abominations in the animé or badly made clones. As for the sound, most of the audio comes through internal monologue, with significantly less time for the characters actually speaking. I listened to both the Japanese track and the dubbed sound-track. I think they're both alright but neither of them or perfect, someone will like them. I would avoid the dub altogether though, the voice acting is horrendous for this show. The Japanese sound-track definitely had a 'proper' feel when it came to confronting the horrific situations, but I didn't feel as strongly about the action packed scenes. Our characters haven't really changed all that much. Our protagonist picks up some bad-ass in this series and kicks the action scenes into overdrive, but he's still got a long way to go before he can develop a better personality. Our other characters aren't that interesting, but the new additions can be quite hilarious at times, mainly when they're moaning or being slaughtered. In-short, there's really not much difference between this series and the first. It's enjoyable but it could be a lot better. If they had stuck to the manga, the series would have been much better. If they had just left it open for a continuation or a movie, I think this series would have gotten much better responses from the fanbase. I don't think all animé original material is terrible, but the ending for this show really is just up it's own posterior and it leaves an awful aftertaste behind. But yeah. Gantz is a good series for a mature audience that enjoys action packed scenes, blood and boobies. Toss in some serious humor and we've got ourselves a pretty nice show. I recommend the manga strongly to people who enjoyed this.

Story: Talk about a huge disappointment. I try not to mention source material a lot when discussing a work, but I think it's very important to mention it here in this review. This anime does not follow the manga to an unbelievable degree. That'd be alright if it wasn't NECESSARY to create an enjoyable experience. For instance, the manga has a turning point, an event that makes the series much better, as the lead character, Kei, undergoes dynamic 'cold-turkey' in a sense. His character is hit with a brick and he realizes what's happened in his life so far, then turns around. To those who have read the manga, you know what I'm talking about. However, despite this event leading into the what makes the manga so great, this anime, immediately after this event, begins to follow its own canon. This isn't what makes the anime bad, however. I have no issue with an anime going off the source material. I can easily regard it as an alternate telling, or even it's own work. However, the new direction completely mitigates everything one has come to understand within the world of Gantz, be it the characters, the believable harsh reality of life countered by death, and the general laws dictated by how the "game" works. Everything is thrown out the window, and everything you committed to (and yes, both the anime AND the early sections of the anime are an arduous commitment) is for naught, as writers create one of the worst, most offensive sub-plots that culminate into a terrible mess of mindless violence and pretentious rubbish. A friend and I had been going through the entire Gantz anime in less than a week only to find it end on one of the absolute worst notes. We were appalled, stricken by the lackluster pacing, terrible characterization, and downright ridiculous in world antics that followed the latter half of the anime. And, honestly, while the first half still suffers from crap pacing, it's the sins of the latter half that bog down virtually every aspect of this anime. I don't understand why anyone would alter what is, quite literally, the beginning of the greater section of the Gantz manga considering how difficult the first few sections are to get through. It completely boggles my mind. Gantz has a constant theme of despair that is countered by Kei's undying will to survive. It's Sisyphus all over the place. However, just because the world is hopeless and cruel, it doesn't mean I have to be shown some of the vilest, inhumane things I've ever seen in any media form. Now, some may call me out for being weak or childish, but I'll have you know I've watched my fair share of horror films and enjoy the thrill of horror and despair, but it's in the idea that one can survive or find hope that they end up finding such things enjoyable (at least, in a moral sense). So, despite Kei being Sisyphus, there isn't anything heroic about his venture. Rather, his character was completely unlikable for the longest time and then is thrust into the position to carry a narrative in a different direction. One with hope. Is that possible? No. Why? Because he signified everything wrong to begin with. So, when he becomes the hero, and his portrayal of him as a hero is so unbelievably half-assed, it becomes pathetic and offensive. I can't even praise this work for being self-aware since it's clear anyone working on it had no idea what they were doing. Art: The animation, while alright in some areas, fails to deliver anything particularly amazing. Anime has the potential to bring to life the page, but the animation was lifeless in comparison. It succeeds in some regard, but due to how boring action scenes are, and how unbelievable other things come across, I don't even know if I'd consider it all that good. I think it meets right at the center since it properly succeeds in painting a terrible, awful, pitiful picture. Sound: The music is forgettable, and the sound effects were alright. I didn't find anything all that moving, nor did I find anything all that intense. A lot of this is due to the failure of the animation, as Sound really hinges on proper pacing. That said, the music does it's job to an extent, and to that, I must say it's sufficient. Character: Throw everything you know out the window. Kei's character transforms with no explanation, growth, or anything halfway into the narrative. One might argue that there's a reason for his actions in the second-half, but then I'd question whether they read the manga or not. The reason that's so important is because the manga paced his transformation with such incredible care. So, why the change? Was there something wrong with the source material? If there was, and that's why this story was changed so greatly for the second half, then at least do everyone the kindness of telling a GOOD story in your characters! I can't fault the first half entirely on the sins of the second in this regard, since things are going well until the halfway point. However, it's still really bad. Enjoyment: WHAT A WASTE OF TIME!!! My friend and I were completely disgusted by this work. A complete load of crud. Avoid this like the plague. Read the manga, watch the first season, eagerly await the new film, catch up on the spin-off. Do everything EXCEPT watch this complete filth. I want my 4 hours back!!! ((If you liked this review, check out my other reviews by going to my profile and clicking the 'reviews' tab. I review virtually all anime and manga I find!))

This brief exposition into the nature of the anime Gantz will hopefully give you the courage to embrace the Gantz experience with a new prospective. a) There are two sides to life, one of which is rarely explored by cultures affected by the influence of the "West" and along with it Christianity. Namely, people create the notion that humans are above animals, closer to god, elevating us above the grotesque notion of death. b) The grotesque is considered by westernized influence to be an undesirable portion of life that is better left ignored, you have most likely had many interactions making this clear throughout your lifetime. Therefore, most forms of art play to the masses' love, for, well... love. Things that are absolute in nature, that do not fade or end. Obviously this notion rejects the many beautiful insights that can come from realization of mortality. Critically rejecting the notion of the natural "grotesqueness" of life, such art does not reflect the notion of impermanence in any intrinsically profound way. c) Gantz succeeds in showing you the "grotesque" in an emotionally stirring way, as is the aim of all art forms. d) Watch Gantz. *I wrote this in 5 minutes, if there are typos please do not allow them to enrage you to the point that you forget the message of the review.

This review may be a bit short so please excuse that, I reviewed the first 'season' or 'part' but really it should be watched and reviewed as a whole. My review for the first part had a decent amount of cons, eg. the characters being unreliable. Swapping from being scared in the beginning, which is completely understandable, then being strong, but then they would bounce back to being scared and strong and it just repeated. That left me being kind of unimpressed with the first 'season'. But, having watched this, it doesn't get rid of how they were in the first half, but this half is much better. Kei is fighting for his life and so are his new friends and acquaintances. Some of the things in this are a lot more intense, especially the Buddha Temple mission. That on it's own was better than the first half entirely. That's what makes me regret not reviewing it as a whole and doing it as the seasonal parts it's split into. It really needs to be considered a whole, as that's what it is. Between the two there is no break. If you decide to watch Gantz, make sure to take that into account. This half doesn't hold back on the blood and gore, surprisingly there's probably more than before. The characters develop to a place where they're enjoyable and the good points of the first half carry over, like the intensity of everything, how rough and raw it is, the blood and guts. The plot for the entire series is entertaining, different and a great idea. It's dark and when it gets into it, can have you sitting there in anticipation wondering what could happen next. It is a good series, it has it's flaws that stop it from being as great as it could be. The very end is a bit confusing and just flat. It doesn't end answering any questions, it just gives you more. Though I don't regret watching it because I still enjoyed it as a whole even with the flaws. If you enjoy dark, bloody and strange, then I'm sure you'll enjoy Gantz.

So I watched the first part of Gantz, and I would want to say that I enjoyed the series. Plot: The story starts off about Kei Kurono (the main character) in the Subway after noticing his old friend Katou. One moment, a homeless man/"hobo" falls down to the tracks and no one (but Katou) attempts to save him. After noticing his old friend, Katou asked Kei for his help (despite not wanting to give him a hand). While the hobo did get rescued, both Katou and Kai were killed by the subway train. However, instead of really being "dead", they were "saved" by Gantz (I guess you could say he is a humanoid machine). while I'm not a huge fan of it, it is a great startoff. I do love the interactions between characters fighting out for either survival or enjoyment. While there are plenty of moments that made me cringe real badly, it is something I can live with. Regardless, everything about it is really done well except the ending. The ending was the only disappointment I had, because... well, it does not answer anything at all. Allow me to say this: What's the point of playing a game if your fate is already sealed? The fighting scenes are really great. I can say it's one of the more enjoyable moments of Gantz and worth the watch. Characters can be iffy, but let's just say most of them are not relevant. ;D Overall, I would give this a 6/10. It has a lot of great moments and amazing fighting scenes, but the ending really did ruined it for me.