Gantz Omnibus, Volume 3

Gantz #7-9

by Hiroya Oku, Matthew Johnson

The stakes rise for the conscripted Gantz team as they face an increasingly deadly array of bizarre alien adversaries. But while the team remain in the dark about the nature of the lethal "game" they're forced to play, the consequences of losing couldn't be more crystal clear!

Hiroya Oku's Gantz is a manga phenomenon, selling over fifteen million copies in Japan and spawning an anime TV series and three feature films. A boldly erotic adult science-fiction, Gantz is violent, disturbing, and visually stunning, an apocalyptic vision of staggering imagination. This value-priced omnibus collection features over 650 pages of havoc and horror!

Genres: Manga, Horror, Science Fiction, Graphic Novels, Comics, Comic Book, Seinen

680 pages, Paperback

Published May 28, 2019

About the author

Hiroya Oku (奥浩哉 Oku Hiroya, born September 16, 1967 in Fukuoka, Fukuoka) is a mangaka who is the creator of Gantz, Zero-One and HEN, all of which have been serialized in Young Jump. He has finished working on his most renowned manga, Gantz, which began in July 2000. His manga often contain explicit violence and gore, as well as sexual situations.

He won the second prize of the Youth Manga Awards in 1988, under the penname Yahiro Kuon.

He designed a character for Namco Bandai's Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 fighting game, Soulcalibur IV named Shura.

Reviews

[Baba · Rating 4 out of 5]

Can't get enough of Gantz. This omnibus covers volumes 7 to 9, featuring the Buddha aliens and then 'Shorty'. This is manga gone wild. Each mission feels like it gets harder than the preceding one and Hiroya Oku ratchets up the suspense, mystery and action chapter by chapter final volume in this chapter really turns it up! I really don't know what to write this series has single-handed-ly made me revaluate my views on manga. This is an utterly top drawer series with sublime black and white art, but more essentially most excellent mystery suspense storytelling over a sci-fi horror reality! 8 out of 12, Four Star read.

2024 read

[Kay · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm really enjoying the character development for Kei. He's gone from a total asshole to a somewhat-acceptable member of the Gantz team. At first I thought this manga might keep him as the typical asshole-16-year-old-horny-man-with-a-misogyny-problem kind of guy, but he's developing at a natural pace as he experiences more of the world.



Y0ur L1V35 h4v3 3nd3d.

H0w y0u us3 y0ur n3w l1v3s 1s 3nt1r3ly up t0 m3.

Th4t's th3 th30ry 4nyw4ys.

[Rod Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oof! The bloodiest volume of Gantz yet. So much death.

I had started my re-read of Gantz with Omnibus 4, but I'm glad I then backtracked to start over with Omnibus 1 to really immerse myself in the world, characters, and the original missions. Now I'm ready to head into Omnibus 5, which will have material I have never read before.


FOR REFERENCE:

Omnibus collecting Gantz volumes 7-9.

Contents: Volume 7, Chapters 71-82 -- Volume 8, Chapters 83-94 -- Volume 9, Chapters 95-106

[灰 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Let’s get one thing straight, I DO NOT LIKE KEI but his character development is *chefs kiss*

This series is a roller coaster in good and bad ways but I’m enjoying it I suppose. I can survive without seeing all the tits though it’s OVERKILL.

[Urbon Adamsson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is so good!

How is this not more popular?!

Sometimes I really don't understand what makes something popular or not.

I guess the brutality of some panels is not appealing to many people.

[Etienne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good. Tons of action and a decent story with a nice intrigue to keep the reader into it. I like it!

[MEMYSELFI · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fecking brutale

[Francisco · Rating 3 out of 5]

Everyone dies, and I should care more, but I don't. After 106 chapters, the fact that the game rules are still so vague makes it feel like the game is rigged. With no real plot development and it's insistence to rely on shock value to keep you reading I fear the 200+ chapters left to go are going to be a very repetitive game of people coming back to life only to die again until it eventually wraps up with an unsatisfying and vaguely opened conclusion.

[Jon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Too many sexual drawings lmao but god DAMN does it get good. There is a VERY dark turn of events that I absolutely did not see coming. If it wasn’t for the weird pinups at the start of every chapter, I would recommend the series

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoying this series.

[Matthew WK · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Not sure if I'll continue - want to, but the plot is moving at a glacial pace. There is a lot of mystery left, but at this pace I feel like we should be a bit deeper into the story.

[Michael Sorbello · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a review of the entire series.

Synopsis: Gantz tells the story of a teenager named Kei Kurono, among others, who die but find themselves brought back in perfectly healthy bodies and forced to participate in a "game" where they must hunt down and kill aliens.

Review: I almost gave up on Gantz several times, but now that I've read it all the way to the end, I'm glad I stuck with it. The beginning is dragged down by repulsive and unlikable characters, a messily paced story, unnecessary sexualization and gratuitous violence without much substance. As it progresses, however, the character development becomes pretty incredible and the growing threat of the enemies feels truly well done. Once the real enemies are revealed, it's mind-blowing how the series had been secretly foreshadowing their arrival from the very beginning.

Although it takes a while, some really good characters are introduced later on in the series and they're the ones that made me want to read to the end. Some characters that were absolutely unbearable in the beginning became polar opposites of their original selves and even made me sympathize with them quite a bit. The protagonist Kei for example, I hated him with all my heart for the first third of the series, he became progressively more likable in the second third of the story and then he evolved into one of the most memorable, unlikely heroes I've ever seen in this storytelling medium throughout the final third. The last third of the series is unbelievably terrifying with some of the most gruesome and disgusting battle/survival scenes in the history of fiction. It's much more bearable and intense in the final third because this time the violence and horror is happening to people we actually care about instead of a bunch of unlikable nobodies.

The final third of the story is what made me feel so glad that I didn't give up on this series. It had me on the edge of my seat more times than I can recall. There are a ton of chapters but they're very short and full of action which makes the series a quick read despite having almost 400 chapters. So even though the first third of the story was kinda bad in my opinion, it doesn't last for long and the payoff that comes after it's over truly impressed me. It's a flawed, thrilling and horrifying action series that takes a while to kick off. When it finally kicks off, however, it kicks off extremely hard.

[Eastham Erik · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting Science Fiction concept that is continuously interrupted by teen sexual fantasy.

Omnibus 3 only has one story progression; (SPOILER**** everyone except the main protagonist, is killed****) Omnibus 3, with the exception of this one element of progression, isn't a necessary read; half the book is a single battle and the second half is simply a prelude of things to come. That all being said, the set up for Omnibus 4 promises for some interesting character development in the wake of the events of Omnibus 3. As the story hasn't changed, I've simply copy and pasted the rest of this review from my review of Omnibus 1.

The science fiction nonetheless is intriguing enough to string the reader, and this one in-particularly, onto future volumes. Random characters who should have recently experienced a death, are transported to an apartment, which contains futuristic suits and weapons. The characters are given time limits to seek and kill (possibly murder) "alien beings," which only they can see. Their performance is given a score, reach a total total score of 100 points (in as many outings as it takes) without being killed and . . .

Apparently Hiroya Oku is known from his previous works, to include overly objectified sexual representations of women; I believe he states so in a written word in this Omnibus volume, perhaps as an excuse as to why it exists in this story and why the covers of the issues seem to have nothing to with the story, but rather a means to draw giant breasted sixteen year olds. That being said, my personal issue could also be I'm simply an American reader who isn't used to this type of "art."

[Joshua Jonah · Rating 5 out of 5]

With the Buddha aliens being absolutely brutal and causing what I think was one of the most anxiety inducing chapters I’ve read, this one had me glued even more so than the other omnibuses. Towards the end of this one she. We meet the Shorty Alien species, we learn about just
How relentless they are and that they stop at nothing. The refreshing take on a new cast as well as developing them enough to make them matter is tricky but they seem to be doing the minimum with that. Over all, this story seems to be progressing awesomely and I’m eager for the next omnibus.

[Collin Henderson]

Actually some big improvements in this one, although the author still can’t resist his bad habit of pointless pinup illustrations in the beginning of chapters. But there’s real weight to the proceedings here, with the Buddha statue arc having a harrowing conclusion. Kurono finally is a slightly less of a massive asshole although he still mistakes “being horny for” a female as “liking” her. But this has some jaw dropping stuff and ends in the middle of a really dark and disturbing arc

[David McDevitt · Rating 3 out of 5]

The character development has stalled, the illustration is somehow more bland and incomprehensible, and barely anything occurs for pages and pages, but I'll continue reading Volume 4 because i'm intrigued by the premise and curious about the mystery. Grateful I'm getting this at the library and not paying for it though. I don't mind a meaningful lull, so if the next volume is better, all may be redeemed.

[Peter Derk · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's bloody and violent and I kind of love it. I think the hard thing for Gantz is that Kurono starts off as SO unlikable, and he's slowly moving towards likability. But for readers just giving it a shot, it's tough. You're following a guy who's really not too great.

But I think there's a bravery in telling a story where a character develops, and not from "Okay guy" to "great guy," but "pretty bad guy" to "learning about his own humanity."

[Aaron Meyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Crazy few volumes. The Buddha battle was absolutely insane. I just can't believe pretty much everybody dies. On the last guy I was literally yelling "come on all ready and die!" Lol. Volume nine changes the entire paradigm of the series when the final alien attacks him outside of the Gantz world. Curious to see where this will go from here on.

[Noemi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another good three more volumes in this omnibus by Hiroya Oku. He is the illustrator and author. The story is imaginative, thought provoking, and entertaining. It makes me eager to read the next series. I got omnibuses #5 and #6 for Christmas. I am now reading #4. I wonder what it will bring.

[Kevin S · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is such a crazy series. The amount of over the top violence but with themes of justice, humanity, compassion....oh and every section starting with a naked/half baked manga girl hahaha. At some point, that does get a bit tedious, but the story is excellent so I will continue on!

[Ehlana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Honestly, my mouth was hung open and what a plot twist! wasnt prepared for this at all. on to book four!

[Christopher Funk · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is friggin' gold, I couldn't put it down... and just like that, it's done. And it's got me cravin' the next book already!

[Austin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Legitimately surprising twists in this one. Big fan.

[Jesse · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sad that, besides kato, everyone died but it added a little something to it.

[Greg Moonan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Was again another quick read. They really planned these omnibuses around cliffhangers.

[Jethro R · Rating 5 out of 5]

Still no idea what’s going on but it’s a lot of fun

[Cade · Rating 4 out of 5]

if they genuinely just fully killed off all those people i’m gonna be a little frustrated. sure it’s developing kei as a character but like what the fuck lmao.

[Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is essentially where the one season anime ends, and where the events that lead up to the CG-movie, begin. Underrated character development for Kurono.

[Bones Green · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bloody, speedy, angry and sad.

[Reyne Derrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first half of this omnibus is was sells the 5 stars. Such a brilliant and enjoyable section of the story.