The Charge

And the dead shall walk the earth.

The Case

This is a little better. We're back down to three episodes per disc.

Anyway, when we last left off, the Gantz warriors were battling alien statues outside a temple. The episodes on this volume continue that story arc; here's a rundown of each:

• Episode 18: "Welcome Back"
Kurono manages to blow both legs off of one of the statues. The statue falls over and uses it arms to support itself; Kurono then blows off the statue's arms. The statue collapses to the ground, narrowly missing Kurono. Kurono then fires a shot into the statue's head. Three of the new recruits charge the remaining statue; the statue knocks them on their asses. Kurono rushes in; Kato and the others follow him. The statue creates a whirlwind. Everyone fires at the statue; they blow off its left foot, but this fails to affect the statue in any way. Kurono hops onto the statue and blows off its right arm; the statue grabs Kurono with its left hand and squeezes him. The others, afraid of accidentally hitting Kurono, refrain from firing. The statue's head suddenly explodes. Kato and the others notice one of the new recruits sitting off to the side with a sniper's rifle; Kato asks the man to act as the group's marksman. A human-sized statue descends from the sky and attacks two of the new recruits. The rest of the warriors rush in to assist; several more statues suddenly appear.

• Episode 19: "What the Hell is That?!"
The smaller statues surround the Gantz warriors. The temple begins to shake; a giant Buddha statue breaks through the front wall of the temple. The sniper takes out the smaller statues, but not before one kills the dog. The Buddha picks up Kurono; Kurono fires into the statue's hand, forcing it to drop him. The Buddha then picks up one of the new recruits and eats him. Kurono goes nuts, launches himself into the hair, and makes his way into the Buddha's head (finally getting laid has apparently made Kurono a badass). The Buddha topples over; a few minutes later Kurono emerges from its mouth. Sei rushes up to Kurono and hugs him. Realizing there are still two alien statues on the loose, Kato orders the warriors to split into two groups. The Gantz continues its countdown.

• Episode 20: "Just Shoot Me!"
Kato's group discovers one of the remaining statues. Kato grabs the statue, which attempts to fly away; the sniper shoots the statue out of the sky. The male model and the Ringu chick (whatever their names are) discover a room full of statues. They begin attacking the statues, but end up losing their lives after being sliced in half by a sword-wielding statue of Vishnu. Kato's group breaks into the room. The Vishnu statue throws acid at Kato; Kei pushes Kato out of the way, is hit by the acid, and begins to dissolve. Before she dies, Kei tells Kato she loves him. Kurono attacks the Vishnu statue, which cuts off his left leg and right arm. Sei grabs Kurono and runs; Kato quickly follows. The three make it to safety and stop; believing he will not survive, Kurono begs Kato to shoot him.

Oh, how I hate this series. This volume is just more of the same. Three more episodes of unlikable characters bitching, arguing, fighting, and dying; will it never end? Think about it—this show is so bad it can't even generate sympathy by killing a dog. Hell, that's the easiest trick in the book.

The technical presentation is once again stellar. The anamorphic video is flawless, although the animation is starting to look more than a bit rushed as the series progresses. Both the 5.1 English dub and Japanese stereo tracks do their jobs extremely well (the voice acting in the dub still sucks, though). Extras this time around are pretty scant. You get the standard clean opening/closing animation and previews (Volume 9 looks to be more of the same), as well as a pointless music video (it's nothing more than a grating speed metal riff played over footage from the series).

You see the title of the twentieth episode? I know that feeling.

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