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As of chapter 237 Gantz "Phase 1" has ended. Gantz is set to start again in Japan with "Phase 2" on November 16th, 2006.

Unfortunate isnt it? D:< So now that Gantz 1st phase is over does anybody have thoughts? Opinions ? On how the first phase ended. I think it was a bad move to spoiler[Kill off Kei Kurono] but hey I guess the author doesnt have problems with killing off main characters as we have seen in the past i.e. buddha arc . Well im just wondering what do you guys think the second phase is shaping up to be?

tsukinoken wrote:

I think it was a bad move to spoiler[Kill off Kei Kurono] but hey I guess the author doesnt have problems with killing off main characters as we have seen in the past i.e. buddha arc . Well im just wondering what do you guys think the second phase is shaping up to be?

Heh, I have no will power and checked the spoiler, but I wasn't the least bit suprised. Though afterwhich I gorged the last dozen chapters. The one thing that did suprise me though was spoiler[that Kei killed a dozen or so vampires with a lamp. A freaking lamp. Hilarious.]spoiler[ Now about Kei's demise, I'm glad he is dead; I never really liked Kei (neither old/new personality) to begin with. He was too despicable to start off with, and somewhere along the lines, he turned into a cheerleader.] Meh. Lets hope he stays dead. Albeit, we have seen main characters die off, they were later revived, so in actuality don't expect him to be dead for too long.

Nonetheless the second phase looks very promising, espically since the story has been bleh for quite some time.

godakame wrote:

tsukinoken wrote:

I think it was a bad move to spoiler[Kill off Kei Kurono] but hey I guess the author doesnt have problems with killing off main characters as we have seen in the past i.e. buddha arc . Well im just wondering what do you guys think the second phase is shaping up to be?

Heh, I have no will power and checked the spoiler, but I wasn't the least bit suprised. Though afterwhich I gorged the last dozen chapters. The one thing that did suprise me though was spoiler[that Kei killed a dozen or so vampires with a lamp. A freaking lamp. Hilarious.]spoiler[ Now about Kei's demise, I'm glad he is dead; I never really liked Kei (neither old/new personality) to begin with. He was too despicable to start off with, and somewhere along the lines, he turned into a cheerleader.] Meh. Lets hope he stays dead. Albeit, we have seen main characters die off, they were later revived, so in actuality don't expect him to be dead for too long.

Nonetheless the second phase looks very promising, espically since the story has been bleh for quite some time.

Ya true Imo it got boring after the demon arc but hey im still not happy about spoiler[Kurono dieing] since he was the main character although thats just because I dont like seeing the main character die Crying or Very sad

Oh well wait till November
and see what happens in the new phase.

I really wish oku would have expanded more on spoiler[kato and his little brother], and personally I liked the way Kurono grew from an immature sex-crazed kid into almost an honorable man, what an ironic twist. I personally am just glad Gantz isn't permanently ending, as some people feared. It's one of my favorite manga! And yea 2nd phase looks promising especially with spoiler[Kato leading the squad!]

I can't say I'm entirely satisfied with the latest development in this series, but I still look forward to the second phase. Gantz has been a rollercoaster-ride for me from start to the recent finish of the first phase. Although there were times I started to wonder if I was better off without it (after the Buddha-mission ended it took me a long time to get into it again), it has always brought me back. I'm sure we've got something to look forward to.

bennyb wrote:

personally I liked the way Kurono grew from an immature sex-crazed kid into almost an honorable man, what an ironic twist.

I agree. I absolutely despised him in the first 5-6 volumes, but gradually began to like him after that. Started to dislike him again after the demon-mission though.

I wish that spoiler[KEi would stay dead], but spoiler[Kato or somebody will probably be stupid enough to revive him]. You never know what will happen.

fighterholic wrote:

I wish that spoiler[KEi would stay dead], but spoiler[Kato or somebody will probably be stupid enough to revive him]. You never know what will happen.

Well, Oku is pretty infamous for being unpredictable, so yea no one knows what will happen, alot of people myself included think spoiler[kuruno a.k.a. the main character will be revived, be it by kato or someone else ala what happened with the old man when kato got revived]. A real surprise would be if spoiler[Kato became the main character, and kei was never resurrected, or if maybe kato resurrected Kishimoto instead?! Could happen.]

fighterholic wrote:

I wish that spoiler[KEi would stay dead], but spoiler[Kato or somebody will probably be stupid enough to revive him]. You never know what will happen.

The preview for the second phase at the end of the chapter, spoiler[Kato does say "I will revive Kei-chan!"] So yeah he is stupid enough. Hmm, I'm not a big fan of him either. They should switch the point of view over towards the old man -- he deserves the position of the main protagonist.

I'll never be satisfied until spoiler[Reika and Kei "get it on". Oh and we need more Nishi, definitely more Nishi. That sneakly little conniving bastard.]

godakame wrote:

fighterholic wrote:

I wish that spoiler[KEi would stay dead], but spoiler[Kato or somebody will probably be stupid enough to revive him]. You never know what will happen.

The preview for the second phase at the end of the chapter, spoiler[Kato does say "I will revive Kei-chan!"] So yeah he is stupid enough. Hmm, I'm not a big fan of him either. They should switch the point of view over towards the old man -- he deserves the position of the main protagonist.

Lol the old man as the lead protagonist now that would be interesting Cool

That'd be funny. So maybe it should be spoiler[that they change main characters]. We could use a change of pace once in a while.

Gantz was one of my few "superior" ranked manga right on through the Oni-Alien saga, and for a number of reasons:

1) Detail. Oku's character designs might be off at times, but his attention to detail, at times, surpasses even Miura.
2) Plot. Plot? Did Gantz really have one? No, but Oku made it work; reading Gantz was like actually living in a nightmare, where risking one's life were all up to the decisions of an emotionless computerised obsidian sphere with a dark sense of humour. The format of Gantz, with "no real ending" (by this, I mean Kei keeps on living and fighting, just like how real people live without an "end") kept the story very personal, despite the lack of an over-plot.
3) Style. Oku's tendancies to leave each chapter off with a cliffhanger is unusual in that it's a disservice to fans, but Gantz was so good such a style was welcome. The characters, instead of looking overtly western, have at least a "japanese feel" to their appearence, and Tae, of all characters, looks like an honest to God faithful charicature of a real Japanese girl. That's a first for a manga I have read that wasn't outright mocking how Asian people looked.
4) Premise. Original concept, full of action, horror, drama, sex, and romance. Golden.
5) Characters. I did not expect much character development in this story at first, but Kei's transformation by having the burden of "surviving" and "leadership" thrust upon him was thoroughly impressive. By the time he fell in love with Kei, I "fell in love" with Gantz.
6) Tilt. Overall, I wouldn't have changed a thing.

Overall? Perfect 10.

...that is, until the resolution following the Oni-Aliens. After that, well, the manga fell apart. >.>;;

Oku should have found a way to end the story there so we could all go on with our lives.

Drag on much? But seriously, while admittingly the author handles massivly deconstructed storytelling quite well, Gantz could have been shortened by quite a bit. He certianly has talent for character development, but even here there could have been improvements. I can often sound negative about Gantz, and most of that stems from it being somewhat overated within the scanslation community, primarily by teens who see violence and nudity and think it's the best seinen manga ever. It's a well above-average read for the action and "who-gives-a-f!@#" nature, as well as some good characters; but the "most thought-provoking and well-writen manga ever" (yes, I did see someone write this)? Not a chance, especially of late. It's still very fun to read, so I'll stick with it.
As for the art, I wasn't so much impressed with the detail, as anyone can do that with enough time or assistants. Compared to the art of, say, Jiro Taniguchi, it's not nearly as accomplished in that department. What I really liked was how the digital, multi-layered nature of the art actually helped the action scenes rather than hurt them by really adding to the surreal nature of the scenes.

kinda went downhill for me when spoiler[they used their points to resurrect like 4 or 5 different dead characters]

i am intersted in where they're going with that cliffhanger though.

spoiler[Kurono leaving Gantz was a foolish decision on the part of the mangaka, and was obviously designed as a plot device so that he could kill him off. Izumi's death, similarly, happened simply because Oku couldn't come up with a decent idea for the EPW, and so he opted to kill Izumi off instead. The best we can hope for now is that the EPW is Revival, and Izumi will be revived by Gantz.

I suspect Katou will be the new main character, obviously...

What I'm more concerned with, however, is the vampires, who are now Gantzers. I look forward to seeing how they react, now that they are Hunters.

Finally, Akira's head is probably a fake. I typed up my entire theory on another forum which I cannot link to, but basically...well, the head doesn't appear in any chapter prior to the Blonde vampire holding it up, nor is there any place for him to have stowed it prior to holding it up. Furthermore, his gun vanishes when he holds up the head. Also, after he holds up the head, we don't see it again, and it's not lying on the ground. Clearly, he spawned the head from his hand, just like the vampires spawn their weapons. Most likely, the head was a fake, a last minute idea by the blonde vampire in order to stop Kurono's rampage and save Chigusa's life.]

I'll miss Gantz during the hiatus, but I loved the first phase. In the mean time, my team is hard at work translating the Manual, which promises to be interesting.