Gantz

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Gantz

Cover of the first tankōbon, released in Japan by Shueisha
ガンツ
(Gantsu)
Genre Action, Psychological thriller, Science fiction, Horror
Manga
Author Hiroya Oku
Publisher Flag of Japan Shueisha
English publisher Flag of the United States Dark Horse
Demographic Seinen
Magazine Weekly Young Jump
Original run October 2000 – ongoing
Volumes 26 (List of volumes)
TV anime
First Stage
Director Ichiro Itano
Studio Flag of Japan Gonzo
Licensor Flag of the United States Flag of Canada ADV Films
Flag of the United Kingdom MVM Films
Flag of Australia Flag of New Zealand Madman Entertainment
Network Flag of Japan Fuji Television
Original run April 12, 2004 – June 26, 2004
Episodes 13 (List of episodes)
TV anime
Second Stage
Director Ichiro Itano
Studio Flag of Japan Gonzo
Licensor Flag of the United States Flag of Canada ADV Films
Flag of the United Kingdom MVM Films
Flag of Australia Flag of New Zealand Madman Entertainment
Network Flag of Japan AT-X
Original run August 26, 2004 – November 18, 2004
Episodes 13 (List of episodes)
Anime and Manga Portal

Gantz (ガンツ Gantsu?) is a Japanese manga and anime series written and illustrated by Hiroya Oku. Gantz tells the story of a teenager named Kei Kurono who dies in a train accident and becomes part of a semi-posthumous "game" in which he and several other recently deceased people are forced to hunt down and kill aliens. The missions they embark upon are dangerous. Many die on each mission, but others replace them in the same manner as Kei Kurono's appearance.

The Gantz anime, directed by Ichiro Itano and animated by Gonzo, ran for 13 episodes and had a direct sequel called Gantz: Second Stage, which continued the series for another 13 episodes. Both seasons make up the 26 episode series. It was licensed in North America by ADV Films. The anime series is distributed in the United Kingdom by MVM Films, and in Australia and New Zealand by Madman Entertainment. Dark Horse Comics started releasing the manga in English in June 2008.

Contents

[edit] Plot

See also: List of Gantz characters

A pair of high school students, Kei Kurono and Masaru Kato, are seemingly run over by a subway train, after saving the life of a homeless drunk who had fallen onto the tracks. Following their untimely deaths, Kurono and Kato find themselves transported—alive and well—along with a number of people who have also just died, to the interior of an unfurnished Tokyo condominium from which the Tokyo Tower may be seen—and none of them are able to leave. At one end of the room is a featureless black sphere known as "Gantz". By way of green text that appears on the surface of the sphere, Gantz informs those present that their lives have ended. The following words appear on the black sphere's surface: "Your lives have ended. What you do with your new lives is entirely up to me. That's the theory, anyway."

Without explaining anything to them, the Gantz sphere opens up to reveal a bald man on life support in the center, and three racks that offer various items for them to use. Information on the Gantz Targets appear on the surface of the sphere, shortly before the Gantz Team are transported to the location of the mission, where they are expected to kill aliens. Gantz gives out individual suits for each person there, giving them great strength, speed, jumping ability, and protection from harm. Additional weapons and items are gained from the hundred point menu.

The hunters cannot return from their mission until all enemies have been killed, or the time limit has run out. If the mission is successful, each individual is awarded points for the aliens they have killed. They are then allowed to leave, and live their lives as they see fit until Gantz summons them back again for the next mission. The only way to stop having to participate in the missions is to earn one hundred points, and choose the option to be freed. While in the anime version, there are four targets, including a "Kurono alien", at present, there have been nine different types of alien targets in the manga.

[edit] Development

When creating the chapters from the manga, the author Hiroya Oku first makes a draft of the pages. He then creates 3D models of the characters and backgrounds on his computers. Once done, Oku scans the characters draws he made in the 3D models, and the backgrounds are reduced to lines. Finally, he then adds tone to the pages and colors them, and starts adding sound effects as well as dialogues.[1]

[edit] Media

[edit] Manga

Main article: List of Gantz chapters

Written by Hiroya Oku, the manga chapters have been published in the Japanese magazine Weekly Young Jump since 2000 and is still ongoing; the individual chapters of the series are being released approximately every fifteen days.[2] Gantz is divided into two main story arcs referred to as "phases". After the completion of Phase 1, the author put the series on hiatus for a short time to work on Phase 2, which is also known as "Catastrophe". Phase 1 consists of the first 237 chapters. On November 22, 2006, the first chapter of Phase 2, chapter 238, was released.[3][4] The individual chapters are collected by Shueisha in tankōbon format; the first volume was released on December 11, 2000.[5] Currently, 26 volumes have been released by Shueisha.[6] Publishing company Dark Horse Comics acquired the licensing rights for the release of English translations of Gantz on July 1, 2007 during the Anime Expo.[7][8] The first English volume was released on June 25, 2008.[9] While the first three are being published quarterly, the following volumes will be released on a bimonthly basis.[10] The series is published by Glénat in Spain and by Planet Manga in Germany, Italy and Brazil.[2][11][12][13] It is published by Tonkam in France[14].

[edit] Anime

See also: List of Gantz episodes
Cover from the first Gantz released by ADV Films.

An anime adaptation, produced by Gonzo and directed by Ichiro Itano, aired in Japan on Fuji Television and AT-X.[15][16][17] The Gantz anime is divided into two seasons: The first season is known as "The First Stage", while the second season is known as "The Second Stage", which is a direct continuation of the first season. The First Stage aired in Japan with several scenes censored due to inappropriate content such as violence or nudity. However, the DVDs from the series contained the scenes uncensored.[18] The Second Stage aired on Japanese network AT-X on August 26, 2004.[19] There are a total of 12 Japanese DVDs, released from August 28, 2004 to June 29, 2005. Additionally, the DVDs were compilated into box sets.[20]

The anime was licensed in the United States of America by ADV Films. ADV films released the Gantz DVDs with no censoring.[21] Ten DVDs were released by ADV films from February 8, 2005 to January 17, 2006.[22][23] They also compilled the series in two DVD box sets in 2006 and in a Perfect Score Collection packaged with a bag in the form a gun from Gantz.[24][25][26]

[edit] Video game

On March 17, 2005, Konami published a game for the PlayStation 2 named simply as Gantz: The Game. It features the characters and plot up to the Chibi Alien mission. The game mixes third-person shooter and role-playing game (RPG) elements together. The game also includes extras including Free Play mode, a Mini Mode, Magazine Browser mode, Gantz Rankings, a special preview movie and the scenario completion statistic.[27] '

[edit] Gantz/Manual

In December 2004, Gantz/Manual was published by Shueisha as a companion volume to the series featuring episode summaries, character overviews, and additional background details on the Gantz universe.[28]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Oku, Hiroya (2008). Gantz, Volume 1. Dark Horse Comics. pp. 216-219. ISBN 978-1-59307-949-9. 
  2. ^ a b "Gantz (manga)". Anime News Network. http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/manga.php?id=3749. Retrieved on 2008-07-18. 
  3. ^ "Gantz Returns! Gantz: 2nd Phase". comipress.com. 2006-11-22. http://comipress.com/news/2006/11/22/1049. Retrieved on 2008-10-24. 
  4. ^ "Gantz 2nd Phase to Begin Serialization This November". comipress.com. 2006-07-19. http://comipress.com/news/2006/07/19/487. Retrieved on 2008-10-24. 
  5. ^ "Gantz 1" (in Japanese). Shueisha. http://books.shueisha.co.jp/CGI/search/syousai_put.cgi?isbn_cd=4-08-876105-7&mode=1. Retrieved on 2008-07-18. 
  6. ^ "Gantz 26" (in Japanese). Shueisha. http://books.shueisha.co.jp/CGI/search/syousai_put.cgi?isbn_cd=978-4-08-877668-2&mode=1. Retrieved on 2009-06-27. 
  7. ^ "Dark Horse Licenses Gantz, Blood+, More". Anime News Network. 2007-07-01. http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2007-07-01/dark-horse-licenses-gantz-blood+and-more-ax-2007. Retrieved on 2008-10-21. 
  8. ^ "Dark Horse Nabs 'Gantz' Manga". ICv2. 2007-07-05. http://www.icv2.com/articles/news/10864.html. Retrieved on 2008-11-20. 
  9. ^ "Gantz Volume 1". Dark Horse Comics. http://www.darkhorse.com/Books/14-734/Gantz-Volume-1. Retrieved on 2008-07-18. 
  10. ^ "Michael Gombos on Gantz". Dark Horse Comics. 2008-05-22. http://www.darkhorse.com/Zones/Manga/357. Retrieved on 2008-11-20. 
  11. ^ "Gantz vol 1" (in Spanish). Glénat. http://www.edicionesglenat.es/asp/serie.asp?pSer=136&pNum=01&pPag=2. Retrieved on 2008-11-20. 
  12. ^ "Gantz 1 Ristampa In fumetteria e online Planet Manga" (in Italian). Panini Comics. http://www.paninicomics.it/web/guest/productDetail?viewItem=29422. Retrieved on 2008-11-20. 
  13. ^ "Hantz vol 3" (in German). Panini Comics. https://www.paninicomics.de/gantz-3-i395.html. Retrieved on 2008-11-20. 
  14. ^ http://www.editions-tonkam.com/serie.php?id=22
  15. ^ "Gantz Official Site". Gantz.net. http://www.gantz.net/. Retrieved on 2009-03-22. 
  16. ^ "Gantz (Fuji TV)". Fuji Television. http://www.fujitv.co.jp/GANTZ/index2.html. Retrieved on 2009-03-22. 
  17. ^ "Gantz Season 1 Boxset". Amazon.com. http://www.amazon.com/Gantz-Season-1-Box-Set/dp/B000C1VB0A/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1237847817&sr=8-2. Retrieved on 2009-03-23. 
  18. ^ "Gantz DVDs Unedited". Anime News Network. 2004-07-13. http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2004-07-13/gantz-dvds-unedited. Retrieved on 2009-04-12. 
  19. ^ "Second Gantz TV series Announced". Anime News Network. 2004-07-15. http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2004-07-15/second-gantz-tv-series-announced. Retrieved on 2009-04-12. 
  20. ^ "全話見るなら「GANTZ BOX 1&2」がお得です!" (in Japanese). Official Gantz website. Archived from the original on 2009-04-14. http://www.webcitation.org/5g2NqhxMS. Retrieved on 2009-04-14. 
  21. ^ "ADV Releases Gantz Details". Anime News Network. 2004-12-14. http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2004-12-14/adv-releases-gantz-details. Retrieved on 2009-04-12. 
  22. ^ "Gantz - Game of Death (Vol. 1)". Amazon.com. http://www.amazon.com/Gantz-Game-Death-Vol-1/dp/B00074CBVK/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1239739349&sr=1-4. Retrieved on 2009-04-14. 
  23. ^ "Gantz, Vol. 10 - Endgame (2006)". Amazon.com. http://www.amazon.com/Gantz-Vol-10-Endgame/dp/B000C1VAZQ/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1239739349&sr=1-6. Retrieved on 2009-04-14. 
  24. ^ "Gantz Season 1 Box Set (2006)". Amazon.com. http://www.amazon.com/Gantz-Season-1-Box-Set/dp/B000C1VB0A/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1239739349&sr=1-1. Retrieved on 2009-04-14. 
  25. ^ "Gantz Season 2 Box Set". Amazon.com. http://www.amazon.com/Gantz-Season-2-Box-Set/dp/B000FJH5JU/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1239739349&sr=1-2. Retrieved on 2009-04-14. 
  26. ^ "Gantz: Perfect Score Collection". Amazon.com. http://www.amazon.com/Gantz-Perfect-Collection-Burn-Up/dp/B000VKJ6WC/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1239739349&sr=1-3. Retrieved on 2009-04-14. 
  27. ^ Anoop Gantayat (2005-02-22). "New From Konami: Gantz". IGN. http://ps2.ign.com/articles/589/589661p1.html. Retrieved on 2008-12-22. 
  28. ^ "GANTZ/MANUAL" (in Japanese). Shueisha. http://books.shueisha.co.jp/CGI/search/syousai_put.cgi?isbn_cd=4-08-876735-7&mode=1. Retrieved on 2009-01-19. 

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gantz"
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