Gantz
Directed byShinsuke Sato
Screenplay byYūsuke Watanabe
Based onGantz
by Hiroya Oku
Produced byTakahiro Sato
StarringKazunari Ninomiya
Ken'ichi Matsuyama
Yuriko Yoshitaka
Music byKenji Kawai
Distributed byToho
Release dates
Gantz:
  • January 29, 2011 (2011-01-29) (Japan)
Gantz: Perfect Answer:
  • April 23, 2011 (2011-04-23) (Japan)
Running time
141 minutes
CountryJapan
LanguageJapanese
Budget2.1 billion yen (total)[1]
Box office7.4 billion yen (total)[2][3]

Gantz is a Japanese series of live-action action horror science fiction[4] films. The Gantz series is based on Hiroya Oku's manga series, Gantz. The films are titled Gantz, the sequel Gantz: Perfect Answer, and a made-for-TV movie titled Another Gantz.

The first film, starring Kazunari Ninomiya and Kenichi Matsuyama, follows two high school students who die and are transported to an alternate world. In this alternate reality, a black sphere gives them a mission to kill aliens.

Plot

Gantz (2011)

The film follows two young men, Kei Kurono (Kazunari Ninomiya) and Masaru Kato (Kenichi Matsuyama),[5] who are killed in a train accident. After their deaths they find themselves transported to another world, where there exists a black ball known as Gantz.[6] Inside the Gantz is a bald man on life support.[7] They find the Gantz in an unfurnished Tokyo apartment, and it forces them to take part in missions to hunt down and kill aliens. They struggle to figure out whether it is a game, or reality.[8] Kurono and Kato, and other newly dead people must accumulate points by killing aliens, and when they score one hundred points, they can choose to be resurrected, or bring a person of their choosing back to life.[5]

Another Gantz (2011)

Airing on TV before Gantz: Perfect Answer, Another Gantz is an alternate version of the first Gantz film. The film follows an investigative journalist leading into the sequel Gantz: Perfect Answer.

Gantz: Perfect Answer (2011)

In Part two, Kei has become a warrior for Gantz, seeking to earn 100 points. Kei aims to bring Kato back to life, who had died in the world of Gantz.[5] He is working at a fast food restaurant, while taking care of his friend's orphaned little brother.[9] In between missions, Kei lives his old life, and has a relationship with Tae (Yuriko Yoshitaka), an artist. He succeeds in bringing Masaru back to life, but Masaru comes back as two people - one good, and the other one evil. There is also an investigator, Shigeta (Takayuki Yamada), who is trying to understand the Gantz-related violence, and Eriko Ayukawa (Ayumi Ito), an actress who wakes up with a small Gantz ball in her bed.[5] Soon, aliens begin to take on alien form and attack the main characters, and the Gantz ball begins to experience glitches.[7] The fighting culminates in a battle on board a subway with shapeshifting aliens.

Cast

Character Actor
Kei Kurono Kazunari Ninomiya
Masaru Kato Ken'ichi Matsuyama
Tae Kojima Yuriko Yoshitaka
Jōichirō Nishi Kanata Hongō
Kei Kishimoto Natsuna Watanabe
Eriko Ayukawa Ayumi Ito
Tanaka Seijin Ainosuke Shibata
Kayo Sugimoto Chieko Ichikawa
Musō Tokugawa Donpei Tsuchihira
Green Onion Father Hidekazu Nagae
Kiyoshi Hatanaka Kazuhide Kobayashi
Kenichi Kurono Kazuyuki Asano
Ayumu Kato Kensuke Chisaka
Mako Yamamoto Yurie Midori
Ball Man Matsuri Hashimoto
Izumi Shiraishi Merii
Takashi Inamori Motoki Ochiai
Kōki Takahashi Ryuuya Wakaba
Shinichi Kobayashi Masanobu Sakata
Kouta Nakamura Tomokazu Koshimura
Green Onion Kid (Face) Shō Igarashi
Green Onion Kid (Body) Yasutaka Hayakawa
Hiroto Sakurai Shunya Shiraishi
Ryōta Sugimoto Shūya Haruna
Masamitsu Shigeta Takayuki Yamada
Yoshikazu Suzuki Tomorowo Taguchi
Masashi Yamada Toshimasa Komatsu
Train Station PA (voice) Yuki Hamano
Risa Sakano Yūko Genkaku
Akitoshi Okazaki Yūsuke Furusawa

Production and release

On November 24, 2009, it was announced that two live-action Gantz films were in production, based on the manga series of the same name. The films star Kazunari Ninomiya and Kenichi Matsuyama in the roles of Kurono and Kato respectively, and were directed by Shinsuke Sato. Both films were released in 2011: the first, Gantz, in January; and the second, Gantz: Perfect Answer, in April.[10] Computer-generated animation (CG) was done by Digital Frontier.

The first film, titled Gantz, was released in Japan on 29 January 2011. A special one-night screening took place in the United States on January 20, 2011, during which the film was simulcast to movie theaters in 46 states;[11] with the film dubbed into English for the event.[12] At the end of the special screening at the Mann's Chinese 6 Theater in Los Angeles, there was a discussion and live interview with both the male leads, as well as a teaser trailer for Gantz: Perfect Answer.[13] The film premiered in the United Kingdom at the Sci-Fi-London Festival on April 26, 2011 at the Apollo Theatre in London.[14] The film was not dubbed, instead it was shown with the original soundtrack and accompanying subtitles.[15]

Both films, Gantz and Perfect Answer, were screened in San Diego, California, as part of Comic-con International at the Gaslamp 15 Theater on 22 and 23 July 2011.[16]

Reception

Entertainment Today said that the first installment of Gantz was good, but that the voice-over work detracted from the experience.[17] Twitch Film published the review of regular reader Brandon Tenold, who stated that the effects were "quite impressive" and called it "a pretty good slice of Japanese-style popcorn cinema."[18] The Japan Times called the second film, Gantz: Perfect Answer, an action-packed but disappointing followup.[19]

References

  1. ↑ "GANTZ: Manga Gets The Hollywood Treatment". mtviggy.com. January 24, 2011. Retrieved January 9, 2012.
  2. ↑ "Gantz (2011)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved December 28, 2014.
  3. ↑ "Gantz: Perfect Answer (2011)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved December 28, 2014.
  4. ↑ Lujano, Mona Rose. ""Gantz" a Japanese horror action landed on Hollywood". Entertainment Today. Archived from the original on July 24, 2011. Retrieved January 23, 2021.
  5. 1 2 3 4 "'Gantz: Perfect Answer' - The Japan Times".
  6. ↑ "Asia Pacific Arts: World Premiere of Gantz on January 20". asiapacificarts.usc.edu. Archived from the original on 2014-02-02. Retrieved 2017-09-22.
  7. 1 2 "DVD Review: Gantz + Gantz Perfect Answer - Starburst Magazine".
  8. ↑ "Gantz". SCI-FI-LONDON.
  9. ↑ "SDCC 2011: 'GANTZ: Perfect Answer' Review".
  10. ↑ "Gantz Sci-Fi Manga To Be Adapted in Two Live-Action Films". Anime News Network. October 7, 2009.
  11. ↑ LeChevallier, Mike (December 16, 2010). "Info dump: list of US theaters to screen Gantz in 2011". Japanator.
  12. ↑ "Gantz (2011)". Rotten Tomatoes. 2011. Retrieved January 9, 2012. It will be English over-dubbed exclusively for this big screen event.
  13. ↑ Nguyen, Mai (January 19, 2011). "World Premiere of Gantz on January 20". Asia Pacific Arts.
  14. ↑ "The Sci-Fi-London 10 Programme". Sci-Fi-London Festival. 2011. Retrieved January 9, 2012.
  15. ↑ "Gantz". Sci-Fi-London Festival. 2011. Archived from the original on February 4, 2014. Retrieved January 9, 2012.
  16. ↑ "G A N T Z : Perfect Answer" (in Japanese). Gantz-movie.com. Archived from the original on January 11, 2012. Retrieved January 9, 2012.
  17. ↑ ""Gantz" a Japanese horror action landed on Hollywood". Entertainment Today. January 21, 2011. Archived from the original on July 24, 2011. Retrieved January 9, 2012.
  18. ↑ Tenold, Brandon (January 22, 2011). "Gantz: Part One Review". Twitchfilm.com. Archived from the original on January 13, 2012. Retrieved January 9, 2012.
  19. ↑ "'Gantz: Perfect Answer'". The Japan Times Online. Japantimes.co.jp. Retrieved January 9, 2012.
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