Just as gruesome and fanservice-filled as I remember it. There really aren't any likeable characters yet. w
Well. Maybe the dog. ( )

If a series cannot interest me in the first book, it loses me. Problems:

1. The concept seems to be wrapped around the idea of some alien technological thing with a person inside that sends people out to murder aliens just because they smell funny, or something along those lines. It was lacking in any meaningful plot-hook, as far as I saw.

2. There were only two people who displayed any redeeming qualities at all by the end of it. One died without actually contributing to the story except as a warning for others. The other was completely over the top in how he was portrayed as making difficult decisions, and instead of coming across as a complex character making difficult decisions he came across as a whiner.

3. The reader gets treated to the thoughts in one character's head -- someone I started hoping would die after only a couple of pages, and the feeling only intensified as this volume wore on.

4. Out of a group of eight or nine (not counting the dog, and I'm not interested enough to open the book again and count), only one was a female. Okay, whatever -- but the only contribution she made to the story was obviously as a sex object and an excuse for men to behave in various ways around a woman. Almost the first view of her is of her pubic hair; she arrives by appearing out of nowhere, draped over the perspective character; she gets sexually assaulted within a couple of pages (three times if you count the dog licking her crotch, prompting some idiotic joke from the perspective character) and gets rescued once by the hammed-up caricature of goodness; she's completely useless throughout the story; she never puts on any clothes that are not actually handed to her (just a jacket); and the way she is drawn at times is obviously meant to show physics-defying gymnastics performed by her cartoonishly wobbling breasts. Did I mention she has the personality of wet cardboard?

5. Onion men. Seriously. I don't even know what to say.

It comes off like it's just trying entirely too hard to be "edgy", but pointlessly so. All femininity is strictly gratuitous. One moment of sexual theme might have actually been "edgy" in a good way, and non-gratuitous, except the writer fucked that all up. The gore is absurdly exaggerated and, at the same time, not convincing at all.

Ultimately, I just did not find anything worth wasting my time reading in this, so I'll stop after one volume. There are many better manga in the world than this.

I watched the CG anime feature, Gantz:0. I have not seen the anime series. That CG anime seemed to be based on a world with superficial similarities to this manga, but wildly different in all the ways that mattered. I rather enjoyed it. I have nothing to say about the anime series, which I haven't seen, but if you have a choice between the Gantz:0 anime and this manga, choose the anime. ( )

An interesting beginning to this series, and since it leaves in a cliffhanger, I may well have to hunt for the next series. A group of individuals are brought together, seemingly at random, by a mysterious orb. They are kidnapped just as they are about to die. Fans of things like Battle Royale and similar game/hunting dystopias, maybe even things like The Hunger Games or "The Running Man," or maybe even better "The Long Walk," will probably like this given the story is one where the kidnapped are given weapons and ordered to kill certain aliens hiding in society. The folks cannot leave the game (is it a game? is it a reality show? It is a question that is often raised). This first volume raises a lot of questions. It has a pretty good pace once you get started. The art complements the story nicely. I found the story engaging and entertaining; I pretty much read it one sitting, and I am curious to find out more.

As a side note, I am coming to this as a new reader. No, I have not seen the anime for it (which I am guessing there is one based on some comments here on GR), nor am I a manga "geek" (and I don't mean that in a good way, but more in the sense of the overly OCD readers who pore over every detail like their lives depended on it. I do read mangas, manwhas, etc., and enjoy them, but I don't overly obsess over them). So as part of my reading experience I am trying not to read too many of those comments just to see how I like the series. So far, I like what I see. ( )

Damn this manga is SO messed up! I really like it!
I wouldn't recommend it for female readers though. ( )

This is about the entire series, not just one volume. I read Gantz monthly. As it came out. For years. And years. Occasionally people would ask what it was about. The question stumped me. It's not an easy manga to summarize. Unfortunately, this meme didn't happen until after I closed the last page of the last issue.



It's perfect.
( )