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Gantz: O Movie Review
Within the first few minutes, it becomes apparent that this movie has a hard time determining its audience. Fans of the manga will be peeved by the various edits done resulting in potential favorite scenes being cut out. Viewers who haven't read the manga will feel confused by the fast pacing and lack of explanations. At the end of the day, this movie is an exhilarating thrill ride from start to finish.
How much you enjoy the story is dependant on your familiarity with the manga. As a standalone peice, this movie is the tale of a brave teen who finds himself trapped within a horrific survival game. Manga readers may see this as a rushed and clumsy adaptation of a fan favorite arc. It would've been much better Gantz: O was instead a cinematic miniseries akin to Digimon Tri with more time to flesh out the plot.
The film begins with manga protagonist Kei Kurono being killed off by a huge yokai alien before the scene switches to Kato getting killed by a knife-wielding maniac in the subway. This is the most noticeable change since Kato in this continuity is unfamiliar with the Gantz game while in the manga he had experienced prior to this arc.
The characterization is a bit messy due to the compressed nature of the movie but the core personality traits are still there. Nishi is still a complete sociopath, Kato is a noble hero and the Osaka team are careless hedonists. Reika has weaker characterization than the other due to her spending a lot of time reminiscing over the dead Kurono. This is mostly Hiroya Oku's sexist writing because even in the manga, Reika's personality mainly revolved around Kurono.
The action scenes are the definitive highlight of Gantz O. Every scene is backed up by gorgeous cg animation courtesy of Keiichi Satou. The man is no stranger to cg animation and even worked on the saint Seiya legend of the sanctuary movie prior to Gantz. The character models are expressive and fluid throughout the film which makes them feel like real people. Fight scenes are depicted with all the gore and brutality of the original manga. Bodies are crushed to bloody pulps and limbs are sent flying. Battle junkies everywhere should be able to enjoy this movie.