Gantz: Season 1 Collection (Review)

GANTZ: SEASON ONE COLLECTION

Your Lives Have Ended.

How You Use Your New Lives Is Entirely Up To Me.

That's The Theory, Anyways.

These are the words of Gantz, the featureless black sphere and titular character of the most unique and intruiging animated series that I have seen in years. High-concept and hyper-violent, laced with jet black humor, sex, style, and strangeness- Gantz contains all the qualities that initially drew me into Anime, and are so scarcely found in today's market that i was nearly driven away from the genre entirely. Often, I am reluctant to recommend anime to others, let alone an entire series. However, this is a show that needs to be seen, and is guarunteed to provoke a reaction in whosoever watches it. When it originally aired on in 2004, Gantz garnered enough controversy to be heavily censored on Japanese television- whose standards for violent and sexual content make even the edgiest North American shows seem prudish and blase' by contrast. There are no two ways about it, you will either love it or hate it. That's the theory, anyways.











The series begins when two high-school students, Kei Kurono and Masaru Kato, are hit by an train while trying to assist a homeless man who had accidentally fallen on the tracks. The two are childhood friends, and couldn't be more different from each-other. While gawkers looked upon the helpless man, ready to take picture on their cell-phones and eager at the prospect of seeing a "real live dead person", Kato decided to take action. Kurono, on the other hand, only agreed to help Kato move the man because he was spotted and recognized, feeling guilty and anxious as the crowd of onlookers diffused their responsibilty onto him. Kurono could have cared less whether the man lived or died, and yet reluctantly, he helped escort the man to safety at the cost of his own life. He is the series principle protagonist, a sex-starved anti-hero who only does anything when pushed to the absolute limit, and this opening scene outlines one of the series central themes- how do people react to situations in brutal game of death where the only goal is survival.
















As the train sends their bloodied bodies sailing the air, Kurono and Kato find themselves instantly transported to a bare apartment room filled with a few fellow resurrectees, and black sphere, which one of the people says is called "Gantz". The sphere opens, revealing weapons and "cosplay" suits without any instruction on how to use them, or what they are for. A target is displayed upon Gantz, and those in the room are transported to a quiet, suburban Toyko neighbourhood to hunt down the "alien" displayed on Gantz's screen. The players have 60 minutes, are invisible to the real world, and are forced to stay within a square kilometer, lest their heads suddenly decide to explode. The "game" begins.











What is Gantz? Who are the aliens? Are the players really dead? What happens when you reach 100 points? Who will survive? These questions and more are all asked by a series that examines just how far a person will go to preserve a life they may have already lost. Make no mistake about it, this is a dark, atmospheric anime spiced with scenes of ultra-violence and frankly depicted sexuality. However, one of the most refreshing aspects of this series is that despite it's fan-service and brutal violence, none of this is at the loss of character development, social commentary, or plot. Contrary to most series, in Gantz the characters change and grow over the course of these thirteen episodes. If they manage to live long enough, that is.

















This boxed set collection of the complete first season of Gantz contains 13 episodes, on six dvds. Each dvd is contained in a sleek, thin-pack case featuring artwork related to the episodes contained within. Audio is available in Japanese or English dubs, and I must say, that this series is one of the rare cases where I prefer the English voice overs to the original Japanese cast recording. Extras include ADV previews, original Japanese tv spots for the series, and interviews with the director of Gantz and some assorted cast members. The video transfer is pristine, the quality of which far exceeds anything you're likely to find in a bottlegged or fan-subbed edition of the series. ADV has really outdone themselves with their presentation of Gantz, making this box-set a very appealing addition to the collections of fans and curiosity-seekers alike.

An ultraviolent meditation on human nature at it's worst, Gantz: Season One Collection, comes Highly Recommended.

-Christian

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note: Gantz: Season Two Collection will be released by ADV Films on July 4th, 2006, and I can't fucking wait.

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