Gantz (film)

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Gantz
Directed by	Shinsuke Sato
Screenplay by	Yūsuke Watanabe
Produced by	Takahiro Sato
Starring	Kazunari Ninomiya Ken'ichi Matsuyama Yuriko Yoshitaka
Release dates	Gantz: January 29, 2011 (2011-01-29) (Japan) Gantz: Perfect Answer: April 23, 2011 (2011-04-23) (Japan)
Running time	141 minutes
Country	Japan
Language	Japanese
Budget	2.1 billion yen (total)
Box office	7.4 billion yen (total)

Gantz is a series of two Japanese live-action films released in 2011, based on the manga series of the same name by Hiroya Oku. The first was simply titled Gantz, and the second was titled Gantz: Perfect Answer. The first film, starring Kazunari Ninomiya and Kenichi Matsuyama, follows two highschool students who are transported to an alternate world upon their deaths. In this alternate reality, a black globe gives them missions to kill aliens, a mission that the characters continue in the second installment of the series. A film Another Gantz also aired on television between the two films, and follows an investigator.

Plot

Gantz (2011)

The film follows two young men, Kei Kurono (Kazunari Ninomiya) and Masaru Kato (Kenichi Matsuyama), who are killed in a train accident. After their deaths they find themselves transported to another world, where there exists a black orb known as Gantz. Inside the Gantz is a bald man on life support. They find the Gantz in an unfurnished Tokyo apartment, and it forces them to take part in missions to hunt and kill aliens. They struggle to figure out if it is a game, or reality. They and other newly dead must must accumulate points by killing aliens, and with 100 points, can either escape the limbo or lose all memory of their time their. That, or they can return another person to life.

Another Gantz (2011)

Airing on TV before Gantz: The Perfect Answer, Another Gantz is an alternate version of the first Gantz film. The film follows an investigative journalist during the events of the Gantz: the Perfect Answer.

Gantz: Perfect Answer (2011)

In Part two, Kei has become a warrior for Gantz, seeking to earn 100 points. Kei aims to bring Masaru back to life, who had died in the world of Gantz. He is working at a fast food restaurant, while taking care of his friend's orphaned little brother. In between missions, Kei lives his old life, and has a relationship with Tae (Yuriko Yoshitaka), an artist. He suceeds in bringig Masaru back to life, but Masaru comes back as two people - one good, and the other evil. There is also an investigator, Shigeta (Takayuki Yamada), who is trying to understand the Gantz-related vioence, and Eriko Ayukawa (Ayumi Ito), an actress who wakes up with a small Gantz ball in her bed. Soon aliens begin to take on alien form and attack the main characters, and the Gantz begins to experience glitches. The fighting culminates in a battle on a subway with shapeshifting aliens.

Cast

See also: List of Gantz characters

Character	Actor (Original)	English Dubbing
Kei Kurono	Kazunari Ninomiya	Raymond Narag
Masaru Kato	Ken'ichi Matsuyama	AJ Constantino
Tae Kojima	Yuriko Yoshitaka	Unknown
Jōichirō Nishi	Kanata Hongō	Kevin Santos
Kei Kishimoto	Natsuna Watanabe	Charmaine Sagrado
Eriko Ayukawa	Ayumi Ito	Unknown
Tanaka Seijin	Ainosuke Shibata	Unknown
Kayo Sugimoto	Chieko Ichikawa	Unknown
Musō Tokugawa	Donpei Tsuchihira	Unknown
Green Onion Father	Hidekazu Nagae	Unknown
Kiyoshi Hatanaka	Kazuhide Kobayashi	Bon Reyes
Kenichi Kurono	Kazuyuki Asano	Unknown
Ayumu Kato	Kensuke Chisaka	Mitchiko Tiongson
Mako Yamamoto	Yurie Midori	Unknown
Ball Man	Matsuri Hashimoto	Unknown
Izumi Shiraishi	Merii	Unknown
Takashi Inamori	Motoki Ochiai	Unknown
Kōki Takahashi	Ryuuya Wakaba	Unknown
Green Onion Kid (Face)	Shō Igarashi	Unknown
Green Onion Kid (Body)	Yasutaka Hayakawa	Unknown
Hiroto Sakurai	Shunya Shiraishi	Unknown
Ryōta Sugimoto	Shūya Haruna	Unknown
Masamitsu Shigeta	Takayuki Yamada	Unknown
Yoshikazu Suzuki	Tomoro Taguchi	Mark Muñoz
Masashi Yamada	Toshimasa Komatsu	Jeck Lubrin
Train Station PA (voice)	Yuki Hamano	Unknown
Risa Sakano	Yūko Genkaku	Unknown
Akitoshi Okazaki	Yūsuke Furusawa	Joarm Santiago

English Dubbing Staff

• Dubbing Director: Earl Palma
• Dubbing Studio: Telesuccess Productions, Inc. and Berke Sound
• Scripts: Ritchie Campos
• Re-Recording Mixing: Mark Escott
• Media: DVD/Blu-Ray Disc

Production and release

On November 24, 2009, it was announced that two live-action Gantz films were in production, based on the manga series of the same name. The films star Kazunari Ninomiya and Kenichi Matsuyama in the roles of Kurono and Kato respectively, and were directed by Shinsuke Sato. Both films were released in 2011: the first, Gantz, in January; and the second, Gantz: Perfect Answer, in April. Computer-generated animation (CG) was done by Digital Frontier.

The first film, titled Gantz, was released in Japan on 29 January 2011. A special one-night screening took place in the United States on January 20, 2011, during which the film was simulcast to movie theaters in 46 states; with the film dubbed into English for the event. At the end of the special screening at the Mann's Chinese 6 Theater in Los Angeles, there was a discussion and live interview with both the male leads, as well as a teaser trailer for Gantz: Perfect Answer. The film premiered in the United Kingdom at the Sci-Fi-London Festival on April 26, 2011 at the Apollo Theatre in London. The film was not dubbed, instead it was shown with the original soundtrack and accompanying subtitles.

Both films, Gantz and Perfect Answer, were screened in San Diego, California, as part of Comic-con International at the Gaslamp 15 Theater on 22 and 23 July 2011.

Reception

Entertainment Today said that Gantz, the first film, was a good film, but that the voice-over work detracted from the experience. Twitch Film published the review of regular reader Brandon Tenold, who stated that the effects were "quite impressive" and called it "a pretty good slice of Japanese-style popcorn cinema." The Japan Times called the second film, Gantz: Perfect Answer, an action-packed but disappointing followup.

External links

• Gantz at IMDb
• Gantz: Perfect Answer at IMDb