GANTZ. What's it about.

[camaronzin.livejournal.com]

This is not a post about the story of GANTZ, but mainly a resource post.


I think this post should be interesting and will help all those lost in the manga/anime and want to know about it more. And it may serve as a warning for all those who will try reading it, take in hand that this is not just like any other action manga, GANTZ is well know for it's gore/extreme graphic violence genre. So if someone is not into sex, nudity, rape and bloody fighting scenes you better not touch the manga or anime.

I may sound a little to prude but there are a lot of young fans that will try to read/watch this manga/anime, and well it's not exactly rated for all public. People should know is R rated and be careful when giving it a chance.

Now for references. The manga has been licenced in the U.S. by Dark Horse Comics, so if you can purchase the original work to support the mangaka, please do so. If not, you can DL the manga from mangatraders, you'll need to join to DL the files though. It has 304 chapters scanlated. Until chapter 237 is known as the First Phase, from then on is GANTZ Second Phase. Read it under your own discretion.

For spanish speakers it has been licenced by Editorial Ivréa, Glenat España and Editorial Vid; for french speakers, by Editions Tonkam; in Germany by Planet Manga; and for portuguese speakers by Planet Manga (Panini Comics).


Now as for the anime series, it has 26 episodes. The first Stage runs until episode 13 and the Second starts from episode 14 onwards. But is well known that the end of the series it's not the end of the manga, and thus led many fans to be unsatisfied with it. If you want to try it here you can find all the episodes english subbed. Again watch it under your own discretion.

For more GANTZ references, you can watch gore-ish genre movies like Sin City or WATCHMEN. Or you can try  the not less violent Battle Royale.


Hope it help all those who want to see what's it about.

And i forgot to mention the movie most probably will not be R rated, but in case you are too curious about the story be aware of the previous warnings.




I personally think Nino will play an awesome Kurono, and i'm dying to watch the final product *___________* but i might be biased XDD.




Sources: 1 2 3

Comments

[ryuxeen.livejournal.com]

This manga is not suitable for minor. Guhh~ the story is full of violence and psycho O_O but i wanna see how nino acts as kurono. *shining eyes*

[tsubasa-en11.livejournal.com]

I love Gantz so am very interested in watching how the movie will turn out to be. The main character of Gantz, Kei starring by Nino is a bit surprise to me, though.

[(Anonymous)]

Yeah, to be honest, I don't like his character at all. (>_<)
From what I've read his character changes after a while, but he still annoys me

[ayatsurimaster.livejournal.com]

Yea I agree, it might be too graphic for some people but I seriously can't wait for it.

[anomic-tm.livejournal.com]

Aaah... intriguing...
sounds like an interesting role for Nino.
Can't wait to see how he'll do it.

Thanks for heads up, very informative!

[asuran-rocks.livejournal.com]

he seems so fitting for the character!

[rainawallis.livejournal.com]

Thank you for posting this. I was thinking about making a similar one, but you beat me to the punchline. :)

I'm REALLY hoping that they are going to be modifying the movie script, because Gantz is truly NOT a series I'd recommend to the Arashi fandom. >.> I can totally see Kenichi in this movie, but Nino is going to be a bit of a stretch, even though he is an amazing actor. The role he is taking on is truly a reprehensible character, not really flawed as much as broken. :P I'd be interested to see if they update the story to reach a broader audience, but that would mean removing much of what makes Gantz the anime/manga that it is.

[camaronzin.livejournal.com]

Yesterday when i read so many fans were trying to check it out, someone forgot to warn them and they just went ahead. I though this is not good, How many girls will try to read it and be grossed by it?. I watched the anime and read some of the manga when i was like 17 or 18 but still I was distrubed back then, I couldn't stop thinking this is not good for the young ones. Someone should tell them what to expect, I think.

I have to agree, GANTZ is way too dark for the Arashi fandom, but I think that Nino will be able to do an awesome Kurono. Nino likes this type of characters so i think he won't have problems, but the fandom... that's another story. I only hope it won't be tuned down a LOT, GANTZ will lose it's essence if that happens.

And sure no problem.

[hontowa.livejournal.com]

GANTZ is way too dark for the Arashi fandom

I don't think that's really fair to say. Arashi fandom spans a really wide age span - they have fans ranging from small children to people in their 40s, and the majority of their fans fall in the 20-29 age range. No, the GANTZ storyline does not sound appropriate for young children and there are a fair number of young Arashi fans, but if Arashi only starred in dramas/films appropriate for their youngest of fans, the only things we'd ever see them in are things like Uta no Oniisan.

I do imagine it'll have to be toned down some, simply because there's a lot more you can get away with in animation and drawing than you can with real life actors. But even if they don't, I think there are plenty of Arashi fans that are mature enough to handle it. For those that aren't, hopefully they (or their parents) will use discresion and they'll just have to miss out on this one.

[rainawallis.livejournal.com]

(... but I loved Uta no Oniisan... XD)

Okay. I can see your point, since I fall into the later category of the fandom for Arashi. :) But honestly, most of the posters on these comms, and the various message boards for Arashi that I frequent have fairly young girls on them. I am very concerned about their reaction to this movie since, as many have said in this thread already, lots of fans see "Ninomiya Kazunari" and immediately, they want to watch whatever he is in. :)

While I'm beginning to revise my initial opinion of whether or not Nino can pull this off, I remain ambivalent about the entire project itself. I'll have a better opinion once the movie comes out. :D

[camaronzin.livejournal.com]

This is totally true, I agree.

Maybe what i said is because, in my opinion, Arashi's fans are seen as a very happy-full-of-rainbows fandom, the image of the amount of fans interested in things like GANTZ is minimun. But of course I'm aware the tastes in each person differs from the other, and there are many people in this fandom with a lot of interestes. So i guess it was my bad generalizing the fandom.

I also think the movie will not be R rated, but I hope they won't take out GANTZ essence by doing so. I guess this story it's to be taken maturelly, not just like any other action movie.

[(Anonymous)]

But d'aw.

I want some action in my boys. DDDD;

[witchie-cc.livejournal.com]

I'm in Paris and I can informed the French fans that the French version is available in FNAC.I have a very limit budget this month so I just read 2 of the volumes in the bookstore.So if anyone in France want to get the original manga,it won't be difficult.
So far as I knew about GANTZ and about Kurono,I really think this role fits nino perfectly.In fact this role reminds me a little of Kuro from Tekkon.
However I met a fangirl in bookstore who was around 14 and I just stopped her from purchasing the manga.I thought she was too young to read it,at least too young to read it alone.I was wondering how the movie will be going.Hope it'll be rated R as the manga but if there wasn't any changes in the script I doubt that it would be rated as NC-17...
Whatever just wait for the release!

[camaronzin.livejournal.com]

14! WOW definetely GANTZ is not made for a 14-year-old girl. Fans just go ahead out of curiosity, I understand, but someone should tell them that GANTZ is not just any other action manga... I would be pretty disturbed if reading it at that age, is way too dark.

I also hope it'll be R rated, otherwise where would be the fun of GANTZ. I really can't wait for it.

[abtomat.livejournal.com]

I watched the first episode yesterday and man, that was just disturbing stuff. nudity, gore, and attempted rape all in about 30 mins O.O I felt really icky after watching it. The movie most likely will tune it down so I'll just wait for the movie ^^

[nepheliads.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the links. I'm not familiar with the manga or anime so this was helpful.

[kittycurious.livejournal.com]

Battle Royale is less violent than Sin City and WATCHMEN??
I never saw Sin City or WATCHMEN but Battle Royale was...wow.

As for GANTZ, one of my favorite stories <3
Can't wait to see Nino don the skin tight black suits >8D
/perv

[pandaranda.livejournal.com]

"Or you can try the not less violent Battle Royale."
She said 'not less violent', not 'less violent'. XD

I've heard about GANTZ but never really read into it...it sounds kinda scary from what I've heard and I'm 18 @_@ I hope the 14 year olds aforementioned won't be scarring themselves for life by jumping into the manga/anime. D:

VERY interested in Nino portraying this new type of character though. ^^

[kittycurious.livejournal.com]

I don't know how I missed the "not", and I don't think I did. My brain just died while processing. xD (Like and old computer.)

I liked GANTZ for the story, granted I don't really remember it too well. I recall it dealing with right/wrong and morals, etc. Which I find really interesting.
I'm not a fan of gore at all- like guts flying everywhere, etc. and I don't recall GANTZ having much of that. It more has "gore" in the sense that there's a LOT of blood, and TONS of violence (which I don't like either), but most of it is shooting, if I'm not mistaken. Which I can stomach a bit more.
On the topic of the show, I only remember one particular scene that really disturbed me in the show. Which dealt with right/wrong, and violence against defenseless targets, as well as some other things.

I saw it when I was probably 16, so I don't think it's super bad. But I also was able to stomach Elfen Lied (which I recommend to no one), which imo has a lot more gore to it. It made my stomach turn. :(

And Nino playing Kurono will be awesome. Pervy Nino = Win, y/y? :D

P.S. I probably went through watching GANTZ like this D8< the entire 26 episodes. Kind of a "WTF!" expression, lol.

[sadizumu.livejournal.com]

It's going to be very interesting to see Nino in a film like this one. I think it would be awesome to see Nino in action. But his character is also perverted and it's kind of hard to see him be that perverted, not since Stand Up, but I don't think they'll get away with that much nudity in the film.
Anyway, I know he'll do a great job cause he can play almost any character. I can't wait to see how he'll do!

[mae-ai.livejournal.com]

lol yeah. it was pretty bad while i was watching it since i'm not a gore type of person. But I'm REALLY interested in how they are going to change the Kurono character for Nino so that he's not...as pervy? xDD That is...if they change it a bit. haha. He'll play it well. xDDDDD Thanks for the information. :DD

[ichinin.livejournal.com]

i agree with you. i am one of the gantz fans. this story is very violence and not suitable for 18 yrs and below. but the plot is very interesting for me. i wonder how they can adapt it into film.. sound imposible for me. and nino as kurono?

well.. its not that i dont believe in nino but im worried bcz the story itself is very into action, and violence.
but as kurono, i think it can be a YES cz kurono's character more to emotion etc and nino can express emotion very well.
so i believe that this story can turn into something that we can look forward. the one who's agresif is not kurono and his best fren, but the enemy itself (killing ppl etc) while kurono kills the enemy. huhu

so yeah! lets hope that this movie is watchable for all fans! and yup, i hope it wont be like devilman movie.

[clipsie.livejournal.com]

I have to wonder what's next? Dogs? Actually, that would be awesome.

Honestly, this is where I am happy I'm 20 and a gore fan. I tried to watch the first episode, and got about 20 minutes in, but in those 20 minutes, I found it quite enjoyable, so I'm totally looking forward to this.

I think Nino will do an amazing job here, and whether or not the script is toned down, seeing how things are rated in Canada sometimes, I'm not to worried.

Watchmen for the win. :D

[hikari-no-kaze.livejournal.com]

I love Dogs. ^_^

[thetoycloud.livejournal.com]

DOGS!

[hikari-no-kaze.livejournal.com]

I loved the manga (though I've never tried the anime), but it really is pretty heavy on the gore and nudity. I wonder how they'll do it in the live action version?

[currycroquette.livejournal.com]

Thank you.
Finally, someone is sensible and responsible enough to post something about it. Gantz is a lot more... savage on the sex and violence than Sin City and Battle Royale in my opinion. Especially with this one character with an odd sex-addiction problem and that weird alien rape/carnage scene..

All the fangirls just flocked to it when they read 'Nino starring in' and have no idea what Gantz entails since the news headlines don't explain anything about the story at all, just that it was a manga/anime adaptation -_- it was a little disconcerting to say the least.

I feel the same that Nino can pull off the role because he's strong at improvisation acting, he can pick it up and drop it off without dealing with it personally or having the role affect him personally like in method acting. I think it'll be a nice challenge to him and broaden his repertoire.

[camaronzin.livejournal.com]

I know what you mean, when the news was posted I expected someone to post about GANTZ, not just the plot but what it is truely about, and since I didn't see any posts I was concerned for the younger fans. Considering I think Hostel is closer to GANTZ in genre than the movies mentioned. Although I think GANTZ has a better plot, and Hostel is just... I really don't like that movie ¬¬.

The fact that Nino can turn into someone else and not being affected by it amazes me. That's why I believe he'll do a great Kurono. Besides he LOVES this kind of characters, he will rock the movie. *_____*

[strwberry-muse.livejournal.com]

I read a bit of the manga before and it is really graphic. Hopefully, the movie will not be as gorey as the manga, but either way I'm going to watch it since Nino is in it. I can't wait to watch the movie with Nino as Kurono.

[ha-na-bi.livejournal.com]

Thank you for making this information available. I think that the themes of the manga and anime alone are very mature even without the nudity and gore. Yes, I do believe that Gantz is not something for mass consumption, especially in Arashi fandom where despite the broad age range, many have conservative notions of their entertainment. In spite of this, I believe that this is a great opportunity for Nino but viewers be forewarned and not tread this lightly because Gantz has elements can be hard to stomach.

One the positive side, Gantz offers an almost realistic psychological analysis of humans pressed into difficult situations. The fight or flight notions of human survival is explored and it pushes the philosophical envelope quite a bit. One of my main concerns though with the franchise is the objectification of women, which renders me a little concerned for the underage fans, who are mostly female. The hyper-machismo that is Gantz might be fun but not for everyone.

[chibimui]

thanks for telling about this. I was planning to check out Gantz but I thought it was just your regular shounen manga, or physchological type of story. I completely by-passed the ratings cause I just assumed that if it's being made into a movie it can't be that bad. ^^;;

I've read some pretty gory manga before but this one seems pretty bad.. guess I won't be reading it. (plus i'm actually under-aged, I shouldnt' be reading gore manga anyways xD)

[ma-i-do-a-ri.livejournal.com]

uwah, i kinda wished this warning came up earlier, say the day before xD i really did go check the manga out and my jaw was hanging for the whole first chapter 0_0 i went on to the 10th chapter before i decided i had enough ^^ (sorry, im one of the many people who just had to check out what kind of character would nino be playing~ and actually from what i can see of kurono in the first few chapters, nino will definitely be able to pull this off and more xD)
but yeah,i dont think the movie would be X-rated~ it's for all ages to enjoy isnt it? all the same, good luck to nino <3 he'll shine, as always~

[(Anonymous)]

"It is said that producers are aiming to make the film suitable for general audiences, which means that it may likely lack the violence of the original manga. "

--tokyograph

I was kind of interested with all the violence gantz has but it seams like the movie will be less violent.

[(Anonymous)]

I think the point was that this is a warning to the people especially younger fans who might want to check out what the manga/anime is about.

Of course movie adaptations are always tamer especially when they have two double leads who are idols, well, very mainstream.

[mswashu.livejournal.com]

I'm watching the anime now and having a hard time imagining Nino as Kei; this should be intersting.

[inuhariko.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much for this info! I am downright thrilled, thrilled, about this. I have been waiting for a role that can truly challenge Nino's acting chops. I've been waiting for him to do something edgy and modern and just a bit dirty (this may be a lot dirty. >_<).

Thank you, Japan!

And thanks for the links! I cannot wait to sink my teeth into the anime.

[winteryskies.livejournal.com]

omg....never read or watched it, but the same person who recommended me noise and blame, recommended me gantz when i was around 15...... and omg... i remember finished reading noise or blame and went on to read the other one...and was just too distrubed to continue..so i didn't touch gantz at all...T_T...if it'sanything like the other two..it'd be cool, wicked gross...and very very disturbing...

i'm happy that nino's doing such a popular manga/anime; he'll be more poplar in the US etc.~ it's a pretty good move for arashi.