Gantz Volume 6: Sudden Death - Anime From Japan

• Media Source:Anime From Japan
• Reviewed By:Jared Elswick
• Review Date:06/28/05
• Read the original review click here

Before I got my hands on this sixth installment of Gantz, I was informed by a good source that it was going to ?make my head pop!? Was said source correct? Of course! This is Gantz we?re talking about here. Now, I was expecting this volume to be good, but what I?ve found here is the gem of the series so far, this volume just kicks ass, plain and simple.

Coming from GONZO, I was expecting a show with fantastic animation, and Gantz delivers on that note. For starters, the actual animation itself is quite good, as it almost has a slight grittiness to it, but in an intentional fashion that helps the characters stick out a little better. The colors in this show are fairly real world-like, so there aren't too many wild colors outside of an odd shade of green and red hair, but for what it is, the colors look quite nice in this show and they come across really well. As for the transfer, ADV has yet again done a great job and has released a series with a near flawless transfer. The only thing I can find is a scant amount of cross coloration in a few scenes, but there isn't any aliasing and even though this series is a relatively dark one, there isn't any macroblocking either. For the audio here I went with the English 5.1 track after already experiencing some of the Japanese track. Overall, things sound pretty good here, although there could be a bit more rear directionality, but there is enough to satisfy me for now. Compared to the Japanese track though, I think the voices here are a bit weaker overall, but for the most part everything comes across in a crisp and clear manner, even if the voices are a bit less impressive than those on the Japanese side.

Starting things out here we?re thrown right back into the battle that the fifth volume ended on, between Nishi and the Suzuki alien. Kato finally makes his jump into the battle, as Nishi gets an earful of the alien?s sonic attack, leaving him basically dead as far as anyone can tell. However, Kato isn?t much help since he won?t use a gun and instead takes too long fighting the alien with his hands, although he does end up killing it, after the giant bird that?s inside tries to escape it?s robotic shell(?). Ok, game?s over right? Wrong. As it turns out, there are more of these aliens in the game area, and after Nishi?s long and rather emotional speech just before he dies the group sets out in two groups. Kato, Kishimoto and Hojo head off in one direction, while Tetsu and Kei are led off in another by the last bike at gunpoint. As for the old lady and her grandson, no one knows where they are, and the girl that always follows Hojo is slinking around somewhere as usual.

Now things really start to heat up, since they?re actually on the offense for once. Kato?s group finds one first, and they think it?s the only one until they?re surrounded by five or six others. This situation actually plays out pretty well with Kato using his fists while Hojo and Kishimoto make good use of their guns, although a few of the aliens scatter and end up finding the old lady and her grandson hiding in a garage. Needless to say, before anyone can get there to save them, they?re already dead and they have to move on without them. It?s actually a pretty interesting scene, as the grandmother doesn?t run away she stays behind to keep the aliens busy so her grandson can escape, but he won?t desert her and instead suffers the same fate as her.

Now, that?s a lot of action right? With four people dead already the body count is pretty high, and while it doesn?t much larger, there?s still plenty of action as Kei?s group finds their target. They find an old house and Kei is ordered to go inside alone, without a suit but he does have a gun he?s hidden in his shirt. He reluctantly reaches the top floor only to find that he?s inside their ?base? of sorts as the aliens are everywhere, but he also finds the ?final boss?, a huge crow type beast with the same sonic type power as the Suzukis but with far superior physical strength, and it's quite pissed.

Kei somehow manages to find the balls at this point to stand up to this thing, but apparently these creatures are faster in this place and they evade all of his shots, but he does manage to bring the building down around them, just narrowly making it out in the process. So, it?s done, the game is finished, time to go home. Nope. The ?boss? survives of course and it immediately snatches the last biker and carries him into the sky to kill him. Then it comes back for Kei, it snatches him in the same fashion but Kei?s still in battle mode and does go down to easily, as he rips out the monster?s sonic weapon parts, causing it to drop him, giving him the vantage point he needs to pump the damn thing full of shots as he hurdles to the ground, just in time to make it back to the room having saved the day.

Overall, there?s nothing I can complain about here. ADV has provided three, yes three, awesome episodes on this disc that show the best of what this series has to offer, so far anyway. If you thought what you?ve seen so far has been good then you?re going to love this volume, it is definitely the best this series has offered up so far.

Posted on Tuesday, June 28, 2005 (Archive on Thursday, July 28, 2005)