I found Gantz to be a very enjoyable watch and I ended up binging it all in 2 days. This review is for the entirety of the show, which is split into two parts on MAL. I suggest watching the English dub if you do get around to Gantz. It had a lot of personality and it was hilarious.
Overall opinion:
I loved watching Gantz. The characters are unlikable at times, punchable even, and I only liked that more as I found myself cheering for different people. The main character is someone who is unlikable but so funny, honest and blunt, and realistic (at times) that I
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liked him more. The whole point of it is that he's a jerk, he's not supposed to be a "good" person. Obviously you wouldn't be friends with someone like that in real life, but having a show about them should not mean the show is "unwatchable", but to each their own. There were some boring, overplayed moments, but some really great ones to compensate for that. Some episodes dragged on, and if there were additional episodes that went more into character backstories, development, and relations, it'd be a much better balance and would make the show a 10/10 for me.
The violence was fine, I don't think it was senseless or tasteless at all. However, there was a lot of fan service that might make someone uncomfortable (I usually despise fan service), but in Gantz I just found it humorous because of how often it was, and also because of the context.
There was definitely too much arguing about what to do in the fight scenes, and that made some moments hard to watch.
Definitely watch Eng dub if you want a good laugh.
Story:
I think the premise of the story is very interesting, and I love a good psychological thriller. I found myself wanting to know more about the world and the characters, and what led them there. However, even at the end of the anime, there were more questions that were left unanswered, unfortunately.
There were huge plot points I wish they had delved into more, but I imagine the manga does a better job at that.
Art:
I liked the art! I thought the character design was nice, and it's always good to find an anime where they don't look straight out of a romance anime (pointy chins, big eyes, etc.) or from your generic, bland anime where all of the characters look the same and have weird baby faces.
There were times where the art suffered, and CGI looked a bit silly, but I can look past that as most of the time it looked fine, if not good.
Characters:
I see most of the reviews talking about how every character is unlikable. I agree with them, but at the same time, I don't have any issues watching the show because of it. I actually find it more intriguing to have a main character that acts like a self-entitled brat 90% of the show, but also has some redeeming moments. We all know someone like Kei Kurono, if you weren't already like him in your rebellious teen years. I found myself feeling sorry for him throughout the show because of his selfishness, but it was comedic at times. He is a likeable-unlikable asshole in my opinion.
I believe some of the characters play on their own cliches- some of them are just so over the top, it's like the writers KNOW this, and play it up on purpose - and I think that many chalk it up to bad writing. I chose to look at it in a satirical sense, and I genuinely like the fact the characters can be summed up to their own cliches in some cases, but specifically for this show. For example, one of the characters, a big-chested woman who can't fight at all and screams every time her crush does something- it's funny! Yet there is depth there, as she is only seen by characters as the sex object, she knows this, but you get glimpses of her thoughts in different scenes. Another example is characters verbally (or mentally) expressing their confusion/concerns with what was happening that were exactly what I was thinking in the scenes. "what the fuck?!"
I don't think they expanded on many characters enough, which is a flaw.
I wish there was more time spent developing the characters. There is one scene between the main character and an antagonist from their past that is played many times throughout the show, and it would've been better to see other things.
Sound:
I really, really liked the OP and ED. The music that plays throughout the show is different and fits into the scenes perfectly.
The English dub was absolutely hilarious and felt realistic. I would say most, if not all, of the characters have great voice actors that play their parts really well. The swearing, screams, snarky attitudes and casual conversations felt so realistic, I just couldn't believe it, and I could NOT stop laughing throughout this show due to characters having such great dialogue and personality when speaking.
Jun 24, 2023
I found Gantz to be a very enjoyable watch and I ended up binging it all in 2 days. This review is for the entirety of the show, which is split into two parts on MAL. I suggest watching the English dub if you do get around to Gantz. It had a lot of personality and it was hilarious.
Overall opinion: I loved watching Gantz. The characters are unlikable at times, punchable even, and I only liked that more as I found myself cheering for different people. The main character is someone who is unlikable but so funny, honest and blunt, and realistic (at times) that I ... |
