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Born in Fukuoka, Japan, he debuted as a manga artist in 1992, with his first series, Hen. The series became quite popular, spawning a live-action TV series in 1996 and an OVA anime series in 1997. Oku is an avid movie watcher and figurine collector, collecting life-like 1/6th and 1/4th scale figures of various famous actors. In 2000, he begun his longest and most famous work, GANTZ, which used a mix of traditional art and CG backgrounds. GANTZ was adapted into a 26 episode TV anime in 2004, which animated the first 8 volumes of the manga. It was also adapted into a live-action film series in 2011, and a high-budget CG movie titled GANTZ:O in 2016. After 2016, any future GANTZ adaptions were put on hold as Oku had given the rights to Hollywood executives who wanted to make an American GANTZ film. In 2021 it was announced that Sony Pictures would be adapting a live-action GANTZ film directed by Julius Avery.
SPOILER WARNING: GANTZ spoiler details may follow.
GANTZ follows the story of two teens: Kei Kurono and his former childhood friend Masaru Kato, who are both violently killed after helping a drunken bum get off the train tracks. Following their deaths, the two find themselves transported to an unfurnished apartment with a black sphere named "Gantz" - along with other clueless participants - who tasks them with killing a specific target within the given time limit. Kato is a tall delinquent with a strong sense of justice, while Kurono is an ordinary student who acts like a hypocrite and only cares about himself - that's basically the character dynamic. There's also Kei Kishimoto, a quiet girl with short pink hair (and big boobs) who captures the heart of Kurono after she first appears in the Gantz room completely naked.
GANTZ was spawned due to the failure of Hiroya Oku's previous manga, ZERO ONE, which was cancelled after only three volumes. However, the idea for series originally came out while Oku was in highschool, after watching the sci-fi film Back to the Future. It was the first movie that Oku had ever rented and kick-started his interest in Western cinema. Kei Kurono also shares many similarities with the film's protagonist, Marty McFly, even at one point sporting his iconic red puffer vest.
Gantz Suit
Our goddess, the unattainable and eternal Reika.
A stylish glossy black bodysuit that also functions as armour during the Gantz missions. The suit is highly durable and protects the user against all conventional means of damage, even against unexposed parts of the body - How exactly it does this is unknown. The suit is also cable of amplifying a person's base strength up to approximately ten times. When it reaches full strength, the suit bulks up taking on a large veiny appearance. Every part of the body can be bulked, even the legs. Which allows the wearer to make giant leaps and run at high speeds. The boots also have a special system that reduces the impact of falling from great heights.
The suit is covered in dozens of glowing blue/yellow buttons, which are used to monitor the status of the wearer. Once the durability of the suit has reached its limit, a strange liquid oozes out of these buttons and renders the abilities of the suit useless. Once this happens, the odds of the wearer surviving to the end of the game are greatly reduced. The suits are designed to fit the exact measurements of their wearer, regardless of age, sex, or physical proportions. There are even suits for animals! Each suit given by Gantz only works for the specific person they're designed for. This means it's impossible to take someone else's suit if you happen to lose or forget your own. If worn, the suit nullifies "friendly fire" attacks from other Gantz weapons. However, this greatly reduces the durability.
Oku originally wanted to give the Gantz suit a mech design, but that wasn't well received by his editors as he used something similar in his previous series. So instead, he gave the suit a cloth-like look that was also much easier to draw by hand. On a side note, the aliens that the characters in the series face are usually large in scale, almost making them look like tiny insects as they hop around and lift things ten times their size. The name "Gantz" is also very reminiscent of the word "Ants", but that might just be me looking too deep into it. A flea that stands up to a massive opponent... Can that be called courage?
Weapons and Equipment
One of my favorite aspects of GANTZ is the weapons! Despite appearing ordinary; these advanced pieces of alien technology from unknown origin house a variety of unconventional and destructive abilities that the characters need to quickly figure out to survive the game:
X-Gun: The haply named X-Gun is one of the most prominent weapons in the series. It is lightweight, easy to use, and can be held almost like a regular pistol. On the back of the gun, there is a small x-ray screen that functions as a targeting system when the first trigger is pulled. This can also be used to see opponents through walls and to make aiming easier. When the second trigger is pulled, a strange force is emitted that blows up the target from the inside after a 5-second delay. While firing, the barrel opens up taking the shape of an X, hence the name.
X-Rifle: The X-Rile functions almost the exact same as the X-Gun, with the only difference being that it has a longer barrel, can lock onto multiple targets at once, and can fire from further distances. In addition, the x-ray screen at the back can also be used as a scope, which makes this gun perfect for sniping.
Y-Gun: Unlike the other guns that Gantz provides, the "Y-Gun" isn't for killing. Instead, it fires three rockets that trap the target in a net before planting themselves in the ground. Once the target is stuck in place, a laser comes down from the sky and begins transferring the target to another location. Where the target is sent is unknown, however, doing so still completes the objective. It's called the "Y-Gun" because of the Y-shape of its three barrels.
Gantz Sword: The Gantz Sword is different from all the other weapons in that it isn't a gun. It is a katana with a retractable blade made from an unknown allow, which is strong enough to cut through even a fully working Gantz suit. Because of this, the sword is usually kept stored away in side room that's closed off until Gantz opens it. Normally, the Gantz Sword doesn't normally resemble a sword, until one of the buttons on the hilt is pressed, which either makes the blade longer or shorter. The longest recorded length of the blade is roughly 9 meters. How the blade is stored in the hilt is also unknown.
Controller: The controller is a small PDA device that shows the positions of other Gantz members and more importantly the targets they have to face. All within a squire kilometer of the battlefield. The controller also features "stealth" capabilities, allowing the wearer to turn invisible by changing their frequency.
Z-Gun: The Z-Gun is one of the weapons that players receive if they manage to reach 100 points. It is a large one-handed weapon introduced later in the story that applies extreme gravitational force to any circular area it locks onto. This usually results in the targets being flattened into large pools of blood. There isn't a 5-second delay with this gun, however, the power of it becomes less effective if not given time to re-charge.
Kei Kurono (玄野 計, Kurono Kei) is an ordinary high school student who seems like the type that would prefer to keep to himself. Despite not being particularly outstanding in any field, as a kid, Kurono was fearless, and took on any challenges presented to him without a second thought.
On the way home from school one day, he got involved in an accident with Masaru Kato, an old friend from elementary school, and was teleported to the GANTZ room. Kuruno lives alone in a single apartment, estranged from his parents. When first introduced, he is self-centered, with a cold and uncaring attitude towards those around him. Despite being level-headed, Kurono has the tendency to get dragged into other people's problems, which makes him come across as timid and cowardly. However, when faced with a life or death situation, he exhibits remarkable resilience and willpower.
His lack of fighting experience prior to GANTZ made him weak at first, but he managed to survive by tapping into his younger self, applying his abilities learned through completing missions, one-after-another, and unleashing his unrealized potential. When Kurono reunited with Kato again, he was influenced by his strong sense of justice and eventually took on the reasonability of helping new members, reluctantly becoming the de facto leader of the Tokyo GANTZ team.
Hiroya Oku based Kurono on their personal image of an average high school student. Kurono possesses a cynical perspective on society, and although he may initially come across as somewhat of an otaku, he lacks the deep dedication or seriousness typically associated with otaku interests. In essence, he represents a typical, everyday high school student. Kurono's phone ringtone is "Mito Komon".
Masaru Kato (加藤 勝, Katō Masaru) is a struggling high school student who finds himself at the mercy of Gantz alongside Kei Kurono. After losing both of his parents, he and his younger brother, Ayumu, were left in the care of their abusive aunt.
Despite his imposing stature, Kato has quite a sweet, caring side with a strong sense of justice — being unable to simply forgive those who have done wrong. Although not academically skilled, Kato possesses a great deal of physical strength. When receiving mistreatment from his aunt, he grits his teeth and puts up with it. However, when the same is done to his younger brother, he sometimes struggles to suppress his violent impulses.
Although possessing great strength, Kato lacks confidence in himself, with his gentle nature often preventing him from attacking. When Kato first patriciates in Gantz, he initially refuses to kill, which causes him to become a hindrance. However, he eventually decides to join for the sake of protecting his friends. Despite his reluctance to fight, he becomes a leader among the group due to his courage and willingness to take charge, influenced by his desire to live up to the image of his former childhood friend, Kurono. Kurono’s fearlessness still has a strong impact on the way that Kato lives his life.
According to Hiroya Oku, if Kurono represents the ordinary high school student, then Kato sort of reflects the ideal high school student. He also says that Kato might've been inspired by John McClane from the Die Hard series, as he feels regret having to fight against his will, but eventually winds up succeeding. Oku had the idea of how and where he'd have Kato killed in the story from the beginning. He also originally planned on having everyone but Kurono die somewhere in the story.
Kei Kishimoto (岸本 恵, Kishimoto Kei) is a smart and attractive young woman who was teleported into GANTZ completely naked after attempting to cut her wrists in the game. She was pushed into becoming an honor student to appease her mother, but couldn't take the pressure and committed suicide.
Kishmoto appears friendly at first glance, but in reality, she's always trying to distance herself from others. To play the role of a good girl for her mother, she has learned to suppress her true feelings to keep up her image as a diligent straight-A student at school. Her younger sister was hardly the student that she was, and the lack of any expectation on her made Kishimoto feel twice the weight on her shoulders, and eventually, the expectation was than she could bear. Looking past her introverted and quiet exterior, Kishimoto's actions are (for the most part) honest and with good intention. She also shows a calculating side, such as when she coaxed Kurono into letting her move in when she had nowhere else to stay.
Despite Kurono's feelings toward her, she ultimately falls in love with Kato and cowers behind him during most missions. Having zero survival skills, it could be said that she was the weakest of the all the people in the GANTZ room. Although reluctant to engage in combat, when her beloved Kato is in trouble, or when push comes to shove, she shows unexpected strength and speed. Even though she’s never been in a fight, she's willing to sacrifice herself to save the one she cares about.
According to Hiroya Oku, he didn't initially have a clear plan for whether Kishimoto would survive or not. Instead, Oku simply added her to the story as a sort of colorful heroine to spice things up. Regarding her eventual death, one of his staff members questioned the idea of her dying so early on, but Oku continued writing without planning it out. It was only when Oku was nearing Kato's death that he felt the pair had to die as a set.
Johichiro Nishi (西 丈一郎, Nishi Jōichirō) is a creepy middle school student whose life took an unexpected turn when he attempted to shoplift. Midway through his arrest, he made a daring escape, leading to a rooftop chase that tragically ended in a fatal fall from a tall condominium. Nishi’s mother committed suicide following finding out about her husband’s affair, which lead Nishi to follow suit.
Despite Nishi's unremarkable physical abilities, he has compensated with his remarkable intellect and cunning. These traits enabled him to survive each mission, however, his combat skills have remained minimal. Nishi had been trapped in the GANTZ room over a year before Kurono and Kato arrived. By the that, he had already developed his preferred strategy: stay hidden. This cowardly strategy allowed him to rack up points without ever contributing to the group, consistently emerging unscathed from confrontations. Being one of the only people to survive GANTZ, Nishi has a deep knowledge on the inner workings of the game — although he neglects to share this information with new players.
Nishi has a very unconventional world view; once telling his father, "Laws are nothing but something made by humans; if I had all the power in the world, all of those laws would become completely pointless." This way of thinking, combined with his experiences in the GANTZ missions, led him to aspire to become one of the most powerful figures in the world, a determination that would ultimately evolve into a force capable of ruling the world. Despite his enigmatic and often antagonistic demeanor, there are sometimes glimpses of kindness hidden beneath his cold exterior, such as when he helped Takeshi and a schoolgirl who had feelings for him.
According to Hiroya Oku, he had always intended to introduce a character that possessed information about the GANTZ — some that only he knew. Oku knew that if he created a character who, despite being just a middle school student, had the capacity to surpass the abilities typically associated with someone of his age, that they would really stand out well amongst the cast.
