Gantz Volume 3: Aftershocks - Armchair Empire
- Armchair Empire
- Mike Siewert
- 08/11/05
- click here
"I can usually tell whether a series resonates with my anime viewing group when they clamor to see the next series or whether they don?t seem particularly interested in watching the next volume. When my copy of Gantz arrived, they all put down what they were doing and watched the episodes with me. This disc of Gantz certainly starts to show the effects of having tested your abilities will have on your being able to interact with society as a whole. Excellent disc"
The survivors of the first mission are having a hell of a time trying to adapt to life once again. Having had your existence tested, it?s pretty hard to return to being mundane. The series has been a more than faithful retelling of the manga so far, with the addition of some additional character time that wasn?t in the source material; this little extra glimpse into the lives of the competitors does much to establish their personalities and how they fit into the world at large.
Episode 05
Kei and Kato bring girl back to her home, and learn that her name is Kei as well (so I?ll refer to her as Kei-chan for simplicity) and then return home, but the information that they learned from the repeating competitor sticks in their minds. The survivor describes them as faxes ? they are mere copies of the originals, and in some cases, Gantz has made a copy of someone who didn?t die and when they returned home, their original was there. Kei tries to return to school, but as his life has a tendency of doing, things don?t go particularly well. One of the upperclassman in his school is extorting money from students to prevent severe beatings from the group of thugs that he runs with. When Kei is targeted, he turns to the black suit that he received from Gantz and wears it beneath his regular clothes. So when summoned to the group of thugs, he witnesses the leader?s vicious streak when he starts pulling teeth from the mouth of an opponent he soundly beat. Refusing the groups? demands for more money, Kei is beat on until his focus develops and he then returns the favor to the leader with a blow faster than the eye.
Kato returns to his home which he shares with his little brother and aunt?s family. The stoic Kato tries to maintain his sense of honor in the face of an aunt who beats his younger brother over the smallest infractions. He tries to contain the anger in seeing how she leaves
welts all over his brother?s body, but even the most stoic have their breaking points. Kei-chan makes the worst discovery possible: her original survived the suicide attempt, and the shock causes her to leave her house with no where to go. After spending a night in the park, she instead turns to the only person who she thinks can help her: Kei.
Episode 06
Kei is really surprised to see the beautiful Kei-chan at his door, and his mind quickly delves into the perversions that only a horny teenager can battle endlessly with. Kei offers drink and then food to the girl, but when she leaves and quickly returns, she asks to stay in his home as a pet (which goes to show you what she thinks of herself). Kei?s hormones begin racing and he struggles to maintain composure against the sight of the beautiful girl now in his apartment (and the base urges that cloud his mind). When she goes to take a shower, Kei quickly runs to the convenience store to get some food and, of course, condoms. Kei-chan fends off Kei?s attempts for her body, by saying that pets don?t have sex with their masters. But Kei insists that he used to hug (err? grope) his old dog all the time, to which Kei-chan begrudgingly agrees to.
On the side, we get some back story into some of the future Gantz ?contestants?: a biker gang member, Tetsu, who is a recent father and is balancing the irresponsibility of his gang life with the responsibility of a girlfriend and a young son. Also, we get to see a doting grandmother who cares greatly for her 5 year old grandson and happily watches over his excited play. The grandmother shows off the kind of love where she unconditionally cares for her ward, despite what he does to her apartment and the difficulty they have in working within the fast paced world outside.
I can usually tell whether a series resonates with my anime viewing group when they clamor to see the next series or whether they don?t seem particularly interested in watching the next volume. When my copy of Gantz arrived, they all put down what they were doing and watched the episodes with me. This disc of Gantz certainly starts to show the effects of having tested your abilities will have on your being able to interact with society as a whole. Excellent disc.
Posted on Thursday, August 11, 2005 (Archive on Sunday, September 11, 2005)