The Charge

The first two games were only a warm up!

The Case

I kicked a dog a few weeks ago, so God has punished me by delivering another Gantz disc to my doorstep. This time around we're treated to a helping of four—count 'em!—episodes. Here is the lowdown on each:

• Episode 14: "Goodbye"
The survivors of the last mission return to their daily lives. Kurono is pissed because he knows Kei would rather be living with Kato (and because she won't give him some loving). Kato finds his aunt abusing his younger brother and slams his aunt up against a china hutch; when the old lady recovers, she tells Kato and his brother to get the hell out of her house. Tetsuo starts using one of his Gantz weapons to exact revenge on his enemies; he loses his job at the construction site, which prompts his wife to kick him out of their home. Kurono and Kei get into a fight; Kei leaves. Kato and his brother move into a rundown apartment. Tetsuo threatens the members of a rival gang. His head suddenly explodes.

• Episode 15: "I Wanna Be There Now!"
Kurono masturbates while fantasizing about having sex with Kei. Meanwhile, Kei is wandering the streets, scrounging for food. The old lady who was rebuffed by Kurono after she asked him for directions way back in the first episode shows up at his door; Kurono is understandably freaked out. Kurono dons his battle suit and is summoned by the Gantz; Kurono finds several new people in the room with the Gantz when he arrives. Kato appears, as does Kei, who is promptly molested by that horny dog. Kurono and Kato wonder what has become of Tetsuo. Among the new Gantz captives is a priest; he believes they are in Purgatory and advises everyone to pray. Kurono gets pissed and storms out of the room. He is followed by an older, attractive woman named Sei; Sei and Kurono strike up a conversation. He tells her he wants to have sex with her; she initially refuses, but then gives in. Kei heads for the bathroom in order to don her battle suit; she finds Sei and Kurono getting it on in the hallway.

• Episode 16: "I'll Do It!"
Kato advises the new recruits to don their battle suits. The priest, believing Kato to be a demonic manifestation of temptation (whatever that means), advises the others to ignore him. After changing positions several times, Sei and Kurono finally finish doing the deed; Sei puts on her battle suit. The Gantz begins its countdown and transports everyone outside; they suddenly find themselves standing at the gates of a temple. Huge statues flank the gates. One of the new recruits attempts to leave; his head promptly explodes. Kurono punches a hole in the temple gates; another of the new recruits wonders if the statues are the aliens the Gantz ordered them to kill. Kato uses an x-ray gun on the statues and discovers that they are alive. Kurono levels his gun at one of the statues; the statues suddenly come to life.

• Episode 17: "I Can Shoot Them, Can't I?"
Kurono and Kato continually fire at the statues and miss. One of the statues squashes the priest. The dog runs around in his battle suit (how the hell does he put it on?). A homeless guy wanders onto the battleground; it is the same man Kurono and Kato pulled from the train tracks moments before they were killed in the first episode. Two punks with aluminum baseball bats show up and beat the homeless guy to death. Kurono goes nuts and blows a foot off of one of the statues.

Everything I said about the previous releases holds true for this one. Gantz is still boring and pointless. Once again, the episodes presented here could easily have been edited down to two installments. The characters still spend far too much time talking and arguing. Nobody is watching this series for that, so why include so much of it? I am glad that Kurono finally got laid, though. Maybe now he'll stop his ceaseless bitching about not getting any.

The technical presentation continues to be topnotch. The anamorphic transfer is flawless, although I couldn't help but notice a slight dip in the quality of the animation itself. The 5.1 English dub features a good sound mix, but the voice acting is still incredibly grating; I would advise anyone who watches to choose the Japanese track, which features a very good stereo spread. Extras include the expected clean opening/closing sequences and previews, as well as some promo spots for the Gantz video game. You also get an interview with director Ichiroh Itano and CG director Yasuhiro Kato; this runs about fifteen minutes and spoils upcoming events from the current plotline. Lastly, there is an interview with voice-over actress Chiake Kuriyama and Hiroya Oku, the gentleman who created the manga on which this series is based (thanks, man); this runs about fifteen minutes and spoils upcoming events from the current plotline.

As I type this, Volume 8 is staring at me from across the room. Join me again soon for a discussion of that release, won't you? Poor, poor, pitiful me.

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