# GANTZ (2004)

> Dead people chosen by a mysterious black sphere are forced into brutal missions to hunt aliens hidden among the population, with permanent death as the penalty for failure.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/10503

## Facts

- Seasons: 2
- Episodes: 24
- Episode runtime: 25 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: animation, science fiction, action, horror
- Network: Fuji TV, AT-X
- Cast: Daisuke Namikawa, Hitomi Nabatame, Masashi Oosato, Masahito Yabe, Hiroshi Kamiya, Mie Sonozaki, Chiaki Takahashi
- TMDB rating: 7.1/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0434685/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: brisk
- Intensity: strong
- Complexity: accessible
- Violence: graphic
- Tone: bleak, grim, violent, claustrophobic, suspenseful

## What critics say

Audiences rate the series as mixed, appreciating its brutal, high-concept survival premise while finding its gore and bleakness divisive.

## Synopsis

Gantz (2004) is a Japanese seinen anime series produced by GONZO and aired on Fuji TV, adapted from the manga and running across two seasons totaling 24 episodes. Kei Kurono (voiced by Daisuke Namikawa) and Kei Kishimoto (voiced by Hitomi Nabatame) are among the ordinary people who die and find themselves summoned into a bizarre black sphere. Their engine is simple and brutal: they must complete lethal missions to hunt aliens hidden among the city's population, with death being permanent. Masaru Kato (voiced by Masashi Oosato) and Masanobu Hojou (voiced by Hiroshi Kamiya) round out the principal team, each episode building around a new hunt, weapons, and grim confrontations. The story is set in modern Japan, where the urban everyday world is quietly infiltrated by alien threats. The tone is bleak, violent and claustrophobic, with dread and body horror frequently surfacing. Fans of Battle Royale, Alice in Borderland and Parasyte will find resonance in its mix of gore, survival stakes and psychological pressure.

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