DVD Corner

Gantz- The Complete Series DVD Review

“Gantz” is chaotic, but unique.

At the start of this 26 episode series, we are introduced to a nerdy jackass teen named Kei who encounters an old childhood friend (Masaru) in the subway. After a homeless man falls onto the tracks, the two decide to help him out but die in the process. After their death, they are transported to a room with a black orb (Gantz) and other recently dead people (such as a teacher, 2 Yakuza members, an eigth grade boy, a politician, a dog, a young punk, and a young woman, bikers, a kid and his grandma, priest, etc.) The people soon find out they are playing a deadly game in which Gantz gives orders. The players are then supposed to carry out his orders in order to get points. Unfortunately for the players, not everyone comes out alive (again). “Gantz” is based on the manga series of the same name.

Despite an abundance of characters and few answers to the series puzzling questions, “Gantz” is certainly a one of a kind anime series. It’s not everyday that you see a dark anime series filled with power suits, sex, gangs, robot aliens, a giant bird, violence, guns, cursing, inner monolgues from characters, statues, death, plot twists, and even some characterization to boot. It all adds up to a unique world filled with creative ideas, but it’s just a shame that it’s all a little too busy and sloppy. Had there been more of a focus on characters and less on more characters and death, the series might have been stronger. Still, the unique plot and intriguing twists/cliffhangers are enough to make me give this series a pass. You can certainly do a lot worse than this in the anime world.

Video/Audio:

The widescreen picture quality is decent. The character models are decidely hit-and-miss and the CGI statues are hokey, but the environments (such as the subway and Tokyo scenery) look sharp.

This set includes English Dolby Digital 5.1 and Japanese Stereo audio tracks. The English track is solid. The music is pumping throughout the series and there’s some neat sound f/x as well. The Japanese track, however, is probably way to go though. Even though it’s only a Stereo track, the voice work is stronger.

Extras:

* Trailers for “Phantom: Requiem For The Phantom,” “Gai-Rei-Zero,” “Corpse Princess,” “Black Blood Brothers,” “RoboGeisha,” “The Sacred Blacksmith,’ ‘Chrome Shelled Regios,” ‘Mutant Girls Squad,” “Alien vs. Ninja,” “Black Butler,” “FLCL,” and “Speed Grapher.”
* 4 textless opening songs and 1 textless closing song.
* A 3 minute “Gantz” music video.
* Interviews with director Ichiro Itano and Yasuhiro Kato. No subtitles are included in these interviews for some reason.

May 15, 2011 - Posted by nicklyons1 | DVD review | Gantz- The Complete Series DVD Review