Change

Change Can Be Good

As long as you're not a fan of Brain from Family Guy, you may find that change may be a good thing.  If you remember the last post about me being busy, I have decided to do something about it.  This blog will no longer have posts from me, Anime and Video Games, but also from my partner Midnight Ice Queen.  She should be writing an article soon.  

Holidays 

The holidays are coming and the streets are going to be busy with bad drivers, customers ready to beat anyone down over a discounted game system, and all around madness.  There are deals and the safety of buying items from GameStop or Amazon online on Black Friday or Cyber Monday.   

Reviews to Come

Hopefully during next month I will be free of studying for a certification to resume weekly postings.  Please welcome Midnight Ice Queen and pay attention to see who the post is by.    

This article brought to you by Anime and Video Games

Nekocon 2013: Hello Kitty, Networking, Fangirls

Nekocon 2013

On the first weekend of November I like going to an anime convention called Nekocon. What I like about anime conventions is that I get to meet geeks who love anime, do not mind walking around in costume (rather that costume covers them completely or barely), and generally don’t mind acting like fools.  This is a place where I can be myself and enjoy the wackiness of other like-minded geeks.

Panels and Anime

There were a lot of panels and events to go to this Nekocon.  Some panels I skipped over others.  This year I wanted to learn about networking and finding out how my target demographic thinks (I have an indie game development website called Dark Siren Games).

“How to Make Your Nerd Job a Reality”, “Girls Can Be Heroes Too”, “Yaoi 101”, and “Hello Kitty Birthday Party” was some of the most informative and fun panels I have been to.  The best advice I got for making my dream job a reality (making indie games, selling my artwork, and meeting fans of my work), was to sit down and draw and never stop drawing.   

I have been hearing about Free for a very long time now.   Apparently the first season is already over with, there’s a live action version in the making, and this show is aimed at the often forgotten fan girls. Me,  being the target demographic, I happily ignored the anime’s flaws and enjoyed the humor and tons of eye candy.  There will be a review for this anime soon.  The best part about watching Free at Nekocon was that I got to watch this anime with a ton of other happy fan girls.

Tournaments, Dolls, & Meeting Like Minded People

Tournaments are normally a competitive atmosphere where the players are skilled, the judges have the games fully updated, and everyone can bring their controllers. Unfortunately Nekocon tournaments have none of these qualities. I had to play UNPATCHED Injustice: Gods Among Us on a crappy Xbox 360 controller, in a room full of 97 percent of button mashing scrubs. I was the only one who ever wagered on purpose, blocked, didn't save my meter for a super, and gave the tournament winner a real fight.

After the "tournament", I took out my frustrations on whoever played Injustice in the game room (with the help of my arcade stick) making sure to destroy their hopes and dreams of playing the game in the process.  Out of my rage, I cleared the Injustice section twice, had people afraid to pick up the controller and face me, only three out of ten people beat me, and I manged to introduce a person to my fighting game scene.

As far as I know, Otakon is the place to be for good tournaments at an anime convention.  Next time I go to my fighting game scene, I'm giving someone a hug.  

My Video about My Time at Nekocon 2013:

Possible Manga to Review

This was a nice Nekocon.  I hope to go to more conventions in the future and post my experiences here.

Of Anime and Video Games

First Impressions: BlazBlue Alter Memories

BlazBlue is an anime fighting game developed by Arc System Works.  A fighting game developed by a company that didn't just want to make a good fighting game but also a fighting game with a decent story.  Thanks to the well received sci-fi anime story of BlazBlue, the fighting game attracted a ton of attention from anime fans.  One would think that a fighting game story that made sure to give the players a decent amount of time with each character, explain why the player should care about the characters they play, and give the player a satisfying conclusion to to each character's story would be awesome?

Unfortunately the anime plays like someone recorded the game's story mode, cut out a lot of parts, and threw parts of the story out of order.  The anime spends no time explaining who the characters are, what are the characters' motivations, and why the viewer should care about these characters.  If I did not play BlazBlue's story mode, I have a very good feeling that I would be lost.

I'll Explain the Story Since the Anime Does Not Want to...

Set far off in the future when a majority of the world has been destroyed and only a small portion of humanity is left.  Ragna the Bloodedge has the biggest bounty placed on him by the NOL (the government of the small world) after  destroying one of their branches.  With a powerful Ars Magus (magic technology) in his mechanical arm known as the "Azure Grimoire", fighters come from all over the place to fight him for his Azure Grimoire and his bounty.  Unknown to Ragna and a majority of the cast, the same events that resulted in destruction of the now small world keeps repeating itself.  

Just maybe I'm judging this anime too soon.  Maybe the anime creators might explain the characters' motives or SLOW down the paste that the anime is going with.  I hope the animation gets better because the video game's cut scenes were better than this:

Anime

 BlazBlue Story Mode Anime Cut scene

This has just been a first impressions.  I will give a full review after a few more episodes are released.  BlazBlue Alter Memories will only have twelve episodes and one episode is released each week.    Watch the episodes here.

Of Anime and Video Games 

Sorry Guys

Sorry for the long absence.  The last post was about Drakengard 3 and Drakengard manga  (which is actually coming to North America next year).  Nine to six, Monday through Friday, plus stupid and random crap happening is keeping me busy now.

I will not be quitting this website anytime soon; prepare for two to three posts per month at minimum.

Despite my busy time, I still love looking at video games and Beyond Two Souls is a game that I can't wait to play.

It looks like Quadratic Dreams has made another thrill ride for me and others who loved Heavy Rain.  Beyond Two Souls is already out and I hope that everyone who is playing right now is having a blast.   I need to obtain my first paycheck before finally getting my hands on what looks like an unforgettable experience.

I am going to be using a new rule for reviewing anime now.  In the beginning I was watching a whole anime series before reviewing the anime.  Knowing how long some anime can be, I am deciding to watch up to five episodes of an anime before giving a review.

With that said, I am looking at Michiko to Hatchin.  Look forward to a review on that anime soon.

OfAnimeandVideoGames

Drag-on Dragoon (AKA Drakengard) Manga Shi ni Itaru Aka & Drakengard 3

Drag-on Dragoon: Shi ni Itaru manga

I found out there was a Drag-on Dragoon manga with the subtitle Shi ni Itaru and a sequel/prequel to the video game series of the same name.  In my shortest review ever, I will say that the manga has our cold hearted female protagonist One and her cool elf companion Nero going on an adventure and killing everyone in sight.

One spares no one's lives and hardly says anything while Nero does most of the talking and seems to at least have SOME morals (he questions why One is not sparing the pregnant and the elderly).  The two are trying to stop the spreading of the red eyed disease which turns people into murderous monsters.  There is more information about Drakengard's world through the weapon's back stories in the video game than in this manga.

The manga is still going and one chapter a month is the release schedule for each chapter.  Reading the manga, much like playing the video game is like a guilty pleasure.  During my childhood, I was tired of happy Japanese role playing protagonists who wanted to save the world and everything ended happily at the end of the group's journey.  Seeing the blood-thirty Caim mercilessly kill his enemies and show little compassion for his teamates' problems as he hopelessly tried to save the world was a breath of fresh air.  Caim's actions were minor compared to his party members who should have been locked away in a dungeon forever.

Although all the endings were sad and Caim always failed to rescue his sister, I remembered all of those endings and the game's characters throughout my childhood.  Sad endings was something I expected from the series to the point where Drakengard 2's attempts at a happy ending (the final ending) left a bad taste in my mouth.

Zero is the Protagonist of Drag-On Dragoon 3

 Drag-on Dragoon 3 returns with a prequel (not a squeal or a spin off like Nier Gestalt/Replicant) and the white haired protagonist Zero.  Zero, much like Caim, is not a likable or typical Japanese role playing protagonist.  She is sexed crazed, has four sexual male partners who fight alongside her, and is on a mission to kill off her five sisters who watch over various parts of the world.  She has a fake left arm, a flower growing out of her right eye, and the ability to manipulate magic through song.

Drag-on Dragoon is well known for the banter between party members through ground battles and dragon riding missions.  It would be interesting to see if any of her male companions are fighting for her attention, boasts about their time with her, or how they interact overall.

Zero's Companions and Sexual Partners (all of them)

Drag-on Dragoon is going to be released in Japan in December and there is no telling if there will be an English release.  Zero's sexual appetite might need to be censored before Drakengard 3 is able to leave Japan.  For those that want the Asian versions or the Limited Edition, please see Play-Asia for the Japanese, Chinese, and Limited Edition bundle.

Trailer

One hour special (skip around for game footage) here.

This review was brought to you by <a href="www.ofanimeandvideogames.com">Of Anime and Video Games</a>

Vassalord Original Video Animation

Through getting back into my love of anime, I have welcomed back one of my favorite past times and that is yaoi, shounen ai, and stories which hint or tease that the two male protagonists might be in love with each other.  Any type of these intimate interactions between two males are much more enjoyable outside of high school, office settings, and teenage boys.  The Vassalord Original Video Animation was a nice change of pace in this genre.

Charley is a cyborg working under the Vatican to hunt down vampires.  Being a vampire as well and devote follower of God, Charley resists his  cravings for human blood and uses his master Rayflo as a source of food.  Charley receives a mission to  handle a small and older second generation vampire girl who has awakened from a deep sleep.  Charley literally drags his blood bank along for the ride in order to stop his lust for blood and handle this vampire.

Rayflo knows this little girl from an ancient time and dealing with her may not easy.

This anime starts off with Charley storming Rayflo's mansion, battling Rayflo's butler maids, and tearing Rayflo into pieces.   Every character had a distinct look, the battles were enjoyable to watch, and the sceneries are detailed.  There is a nice mix of action and comedy which I was surprised to see.

While not yaoi or shounen ai,  Charley sucking Rayflo's blood, Rayflo swimming nude, and artwork involving Rayflo and Charley; Vassalord obviously caters to a female audience.  With that said, there are female characters with their own distinct looks, parts, and personalities.

The OAV is only thirty minutes and left me wanting more.  The manga starts off the same way as the OAV and continues from where the OAV ends.  I'm guessing that the OAV was made to attract new people to the manga.  I am sure that Charley's inner conflict with being a child of God and need for blood will probably get on my nerves but the action, artwork, and interactions between Rayflo and Charley will keep me going.

Sword Art Online Review

This review came from here

Only a few shows about video games manage to get the idea of people playing videogames right.  Shows like Reboot and .hack//sign come to mind for good video game themed shows and Level Up comes to mind for the worst video game themed show I have ever seen in my life.  Showing on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim segment is a massive multiplayer online role-playing game themed anime called Sword Art Online and I could not be happier to watch it.  

           

Sword Art Online Limited Edition Blu-Ray Set 1

Sword Art Online follows the story of Kirito, a solo beta tester for the MMORPG named Sword Art Online.  Sword Art Online uses a virtual reality helmet called the Nerve Gear.  The Nerve Gear allows the player to experience the world of Sword Art Online physically through an avatar.  On the first day of the game's release, Kirito finds out he and other players can not log out of the game.

The Summary 

The game creator has locked everyone inside Sword Art Online and the only way out is for someone to beat the final boss.  If someone takes the Nerve Gear off of the player's physical body then that player's brain will be fried and they will die in the real world  If a player dies in Sword Art Online then that player dies in the real world as well.  Anyone who has played a MMORPG knows that MMORPGs are full of beginners, the highly skilled players, people who are not good at fighting, and players who take joy in killing other players.  

Knowing that everyone in the game has to live inside Sword Art Online, player killers have become real criminals and players look down upon beta testers.  Kirito must learn to become a team player in order to survive and beat Sword Art Online.

There is obvious knowledge of mmorpgs and the situations people face in mmorpgs in this anime.  I found myself relating to Kirito's situations as a solo player, recalling how many males and females who play the opposite gender of their avatars, and trying to stay away from players who like killing other players.  

Characters  

Our protagonist Kirito maybe one of the best players but he still has his challenges when grouping with other players who are often weaker than him.  The love interest Asuna comes off as a likeable female protagonist who can hold her own in fights and is a good leader of her own guild.  The relationship between these two develops nicely with it's ups and downs.  I would like to see these two make it through the game and get together in the real world.

Sword Art Online is an anime that mmorpg game fans would love to watch.  For those that want to see Sword Art Online on TV in English can now look at Adult Swim every Saturday night.  

Pacific Rim Review

Review link: http://ofanimeandvideogames.com/pacific-rim/

Becoming older now I am getting less surprised with Hollywood’s upcoming list or and past list of movies with similar themes, predictable plots, and formulas.   After seeing a trailer where two people fight together in huge mechs and punching a gigantic monster in the face; I knew I had to see Pacific Rim.  The director Guillermo del Toro has made a movie inspired by manga and anime and I loved the 2 hour ride.

In short, aliens called the Kaiju have come through a portal on the Earth’s sea  and started wrecking havoc.  Countries from around the world start forming together and create giant robots called the Jaegers to start fighting the Kaiju.  In order to pilot a Jaeger, two pilots must be mentally bonded together and work as one to take down the monsters.  The movie follows the two protagonists Charles and Mori as they team up, overcome their struggles, and take down the Kaiju, and close the portal for good.

This movie is a visual treat to the eyes.  The designs of the Kaiju and Jaegers are diverse and creative.  I loved seeing Hong Kong, Japan, Alaska, and various others diverse locations and nationalities.  There are plenty of colors in this film and the colors go so nicely together.  There was obviously a lot of design work done on this film.

For those who love deep and complex characters might want to look elsewhere.   The majority ofPacific Rim‘s characters fit anime archetypes such as the hot shot who hates the Charles for no reason, the scientist who is too into himself, the socially awkward nerd, etc.  I’m all for complex characters but this movie is all about the action.  Despite the archetypes, watching the characters interact with each other was entertaining.

I really liked Mako Mori as the main female protagonist.   Mori did not come off as a female protagonist trying to too hard to be cool and neither was she treated as a sexy female side kick.   She could fight and she obviously had her own mental issues to overcome.   Charles treated her as a partner who he could trust to fight alongside him in the Jaeger.

If you are into giant robots, huge aliens, colorful and diverse environments, and anime, this movie is for you.  Just remember that Pacific Rim  is for fun, nothing too deep beyond the action here.

The Sims 3 Island Paradise

This post comes from here

 

The Sims is one of those games where I can get excited to go to work, have and raise children, do choirs, and go to school.  I could always choose to live a normal sim life in a household full of human sims who just want to exceed at their careers and die of old age.  I could also have a hectic household full of fairies, immortal vampires, and mermaids and have the bread maker be the Emperor of Evil.  The Sims 3 Island Paradise adds a lot more opportunities for me to make my own dream homes and then some.

The Sims 3 Island Paradise is a new and probably the final expansion pack for the Sims 3.  This expansion pack comes with a new neighborhood called Isla Paradiso (“Island Paradise”).  The  neighborhood consists of islands (some hidden and some requiring effort to unlock), the lifeguard profession, dive spots, resorts, and mermaids as the new lifestate (nonhuman sim).

A family of merpeople in a pool

I could own a resort, look at the resort’s reviews, and improve the resort for better reviews and money. Thanks to the new patch, I was allowed to own a houseboat and a house by the ocean.  I love sailing around Isla Paradiso in my houseboat and stopping by dive spots and swimming down under when I want to.  Sadly, I have yet to find a single drowning soul during my few times as a lifeguard.  My sim would sit down in his chair and watch over an empty beach or watch other sims splash their feet in the water.

Isla Paradiso allows sims to explore underwater areas and find buried treasure, fight sharks, or talk to mermaids.

Mermaids require swimming in salt water to keep their fins and food made with fish or kelp in order to get full.   If I wanted to become a permanent mermaid, I would need a 5,000 points lifetime reward.  The perks to becoming a mermaid (or merman) is max scuba diving skill, of course breathing underwater, and not being attacked by sharks and the kraken.  This is a neat lifestate but I recommend neighborhoods with dive spots so mermaid sims have somewhere to go.

There are some issues I have with Sims 3: Island Paradise.  Isla Paradiso is a neighborhood that lags so much that I am considering downloading a custom neighborhood like Isla Paradiso or putting in a few dive spots in an existing Sim 3 neighborhood and move my sim families there.  My sim pets can leave the the islands in their own little taxi boats but my merman has to swim to his destinations?  Mermaid sims are not fast swimmers and take hours to get to their destinations; I ended up getting my merman a houseboat in order to reach his destination.

I love exploring the features in the Sims 3: Island Paradise but the lag in Isla Paradiso is irritating.   The lag has nothing to do with my computer’s capabilities as I have seen Sims 3 let’s players lag in their let’s plays.  Island Paradise, like most Sims 3 expansion packs, fulfill a want in a Sims 3 player.  Finally being able to play with mermaids, own multiple homes, and sail the ocean like some big shot; I’m happy with the Sims 3: Island Paradise but I wish some issues were addressed by the developers.

 

What Was Cool About This Year's E3?

This article was taken from here: http://ofanimeandvideogames.com/what-was-cool-about-this-years-e3/

Last Monday was E3 and yesterday was Nintendo Direct.  For those living under rocks, E3 is an event where game developers (or a selected spokesperson) talk about and show off their latest games.  This year was a huge one because of the Xbox One and the PlayStation 4.

Sadly....I could not find a single game that interested me during the Microsoft conference.  I highly doubt that Metal Gear Solid 5 will be an Xbox One exclusive.  A majority of video games that are developed for the 360, I found on the computer.  The interests to have an Xbox One in my household is highly unlikely, especially with the way Microsoft is treating gamers and how the Xbox One works.

Banjo-Kazooie: Grunty Land sounds interesting but this game was not shown and E3 and might be a rumor.  The game might also be another spin off of Banjo Kazooie and nothing like Banjo Kazooie one or Banjo Tooie.  If this is the case, the game would be worth a few afternoons of watching let's plays of the game.

The real excitement was Sony and Nintendo's press conferences.  Final Fantasy XIII Versus, a game that was in development alongside the original Final Fantasy XIII, was finally shown with a brand new trailer.  Final Fantasy XIII Versus still takes place in XIII's world but the game has been renamed Final Fantasy XV.  Kingdom Heats 3 and not another hand held spin off was shown as well.  Sony showed a ton of love for indie game developers by showing off a ton of indie games and saying that indie game developers can self-publish on the PlayStation 4.

I look forward to pre-ordering XV and buying Transistor, Infamous Second Son, and KH3.   I might also give Beyond Two Souls and Sleeping Dogs a try.

Amazing Trailer Right Here

The only downside to PlayStation 4 is that I will have to pay for PlayStation Plus in order to play online multiplayers like my fighting games.  Thankfully, PlayStation Plus does offer free games each month and that is a bonus for a starting let's player like myself.

Nintendo Direct is the result of Nintendo stepping out of E3 Conference and presenting their games without E3 interfering.  I would be joking if I said I paid attention to the whole event.  All I needed to see was the new Super Smash Bros and Bayonetta 2.  Since Rayman Legends is going to be multi-platform, I'll have to see what the PlayStation version has to offer before buying the game.

Love Super Smash Bros

Pre-Orders for consumers looking to buy the PlayStation 4 is available through GameStop.  People who have lost their sanity can also look to GameStop for pre ordering the Xbox One.  The Wii U is already out and seems to be growing a decent library.

Vampire Knight Anime and Manga Review

This review taken from here: http://ofanimeandvideogames.com/vampire-knight-anime-and-manga-review/

About last week, the Vampire Knight manga ended.  I could remember a time when I was hesitant to watch the short anime due to  seeing the words "vampire" and "school" in the summary.  My hesitation disappeared after watching a few episodes.  Eventually I was at Barnes n' Noble buying the manga and then I was reading the rest of the series online.  There was something interesting about the characters, setting, story, and art style.

First season of Vampire Knight anime

Volume 1-10 of the Vampire Knight manga

Summary

Cross Academy is a place where two types of people go to school: the humans during the day time and the vampires during the night time.  Since none of the day class students know that the night class is full of vampires, Yuki (our protagonist) and Zero must protect the day class from vampires.  Yuki has no memories of her past ten years before being saved from a vampire and being adopted by the head of Cross Academy.  She believes that vampires and humans can live together someday and looks up to Kaname, the vampire who saved her when she was a child.  Zero has an extreme hate for vampires before being adopted by the head of Cross Academy and wants all vampires dead.  These two beliefs leads to some conflict between each other and the vampires.

Positives

• I enjoy the shoujo and gothic art of Vampire Knight anime and manga.  Despite almost all of the characters being in uniforms, all of the characters are recognizable in the anime.
• Vampire Knight surprised me with a dark story as I continued to watch the anime and later read the manga.  There were surprising twists and turns as the anime/manga went on.  When Cross Academy becomes less important, the mythos of Vampire Knight is explored, Kaname's motives become clearer,Yuki's past is revealed, and Zero's feelings for Yuki are challenged.

In the Middle

• I do not hate or like Yuki as the protagonist.  There are times when Yuki's actions and thoughts towards Zero and Kaname go back and forth and it seems like Yuki could not make up her mind.   Yuki is not completely helpless as she doesn't back away from a fight but she is often saved by someone or sometimes sits on the sidelines of some fights.  Considering that there are some really annoying shoujo anime and manga female protagonists out there, at least Yuki never wanted to make me stop looking at Vampire Knight.

Negatives

• There are too many series (anime, TV, movies, etc) with vampires in some kind of school.  My interests for Vampire Knight were finally pinged near the second season of the anime.  The beginning of Vampire Knight is slow and I know a few people who dropped the series before things started to become interesting, thinking that Vampire Knight was all fluff and no bite.  
• I felt the ending of the Vampire Knight manga (yes...the anime ends shortly and the manga continues where the anime left off) was rushed.  I had to reread the last few pages, so I could understand what happened.  It was almost like some panels were missing from the manga.  I do like the resolution to the love triangle between Yuki, Zero, and Kaname though.
• The advantages of the anime, is that all the characters are in color.  Sometimes the black and white makes it hard to tell some characters a part in the manga.

Conclusion

Vampire Knight is one of those series that took me giving the series a chance before I became addicted to it.  The artwork is pretty and gothic and I hope I can find another shoujo manga  with similar artwork or a dark story.  If you liked the anime, I would invest some time in the manga as the story continues, there are extra chapters and side stories to enjoy, and more information on the world of Vampire Knight is explored.

Gantz Anime and Manga Review

The review came from here http://ofanimeandvideogames.com/gantz-manga-and-anime-review-for-a-perfect-combo/

Since the manga for Gantz is probably coming to an end in two chapters, I have decided to do a review for a series I have surprisingly come to like.  Normally I am not fond of sitting down and reading 200 or more chapters of an ongoing manga but after seeing the surprisingly short anime of Gantz, I wanted to know what happened next.

The story of Gantz starts off with a perverted ass hole named Kurono.  Kurono is by no means you’re happy or determined typical protagonist, he clearly has no redeeming qualities about him or any goals for that matter.  He seems standoffish and ready to bite anybody’s head off.  When he and his friend Kato is ran over by a train in the subway, after saving a drunk bum is when the the story takes off.

Originally in the world of Gantz when people die, they can get transported to a game where an alien named Gantz forces the contestants to play a game. The game allows the contestants to fight and kill aliens, receiving points for each one they kill. If a contestant reaches 100 points they have three choices:
1. Have their memories wiped of the game and have a second chance at life.
2. Revive someone who has died in the Gantz game. This reduces their 100 points back to zero and they must continue to play Gantz in order to reach a 100 points again.
3. Exchange the 100 points for a stronger weapon. The player’s points are reduced to zero and they must continue to play Gantz in order to reach a 100 points again.

Yes, all of these rules come into play.  Gantz is full of a variety of characters and personalities and it is interesting to see who spends their 100 points on what.  Sadly-well depending on who dies- some characters never reach a hundred points; dieing in the game permanently.

Not for the Feint of Heart

Watching the first few minutes of the anime and reading a few pages of the manga will tell anyone that Gantz does not shy away from full descriptive frontal nudity and  highly detailed gore.  Pin up drawings of Gantz female characters are on each starting chapter page for a long while (although I wonder what made the artist do a male pinup here all of a sudden), and there is enough blood spilled to fill a nation of starved vampires.   I find it funny that the Gantz manga censored male frontal nudity for a while but later started showing male frontal nudity without any forms of censorship later on.  This is a warning for those who like to read manga or watch anime in front of people who might have an issue with huge amounts of nudity or gore.

Gantz is not work safe in the slightest

Diversity and Surprisingly Deep

I love how each Gantz game introduces new contestants with different personalities.  The contestants range from students, helpless grandmas, yakuza members, and even a dog and later a panda.  Some contestants are excited to run into the Gantz games and kill with pleasure and others try to hide from the aliens and end up dead.  Some characters’ personalities do develop through each Gantz game and I wanted to see Kurono, Kato, Kei, and some of the contestants willing to team up with Kurono, survive the Gantz games and return to a normal life.  Gantz also does a good job of making some really despicable characters and seeing those characters die permanently is sometimes amazing.

Long Series

The anime unfortunately ends shortly with a chapter different from the manga and the manga still kept going and going and going.  I don’t have ADD but I do have an issue with long series (like Naruto, Bleach, majority of Shonen Jump, and almost everything from Rumiko Takahashi).  Gantz went from being a simple game for people to reclaim their normal lives, to fighting humans, to fighting vampires, to fighting aliens on another planet and parts of Earth being destroyed.  Of course there is nothing wrong with making a story bigger as it goes on but a few characters and plot points become lost or loose the impact the creator might have been going for in the process.  Sometimes I had to stop and think of who characters were that were introduced chapters ago, disappeared,  and later come back a hundred chapters later.  A few manga chapters have some obviously drawn out scenes.  For a few months, I did not read Gantz in hopes of seeing if the story moved along by the time I went back to read it.

In Conclusion

Gantz may look like an anime or manga insistent on showing gore and nudity but it is a surprisingly deep series.  Unfortunately it may take some time to get to the last chapter of the manga due to Gantz’s long length (over 300 chapters) and deepening and plot that gets crazier and crazier as it goes on.  There are a bundle of characters who’s personalities are very diverse and work well with the main cast of characters.  Gantz anime and manga is worth a look and hopefully the manga ends soon.  Both the anime and manga is dirt cheap on amazon at least.