Gantz: O (2016) - FFF - Through the Eyes of Cat

By Cat

Number Rolled: N/A

Movie Name/Year: Gantz: O (2016)

Tagline: None 

Genre: Animation, Sci-Fi, Drama, Fantasy

Length:  95 minutes

Rating: TV-MA

Production Companies: Digital Frontier, Netflix

Producer: Meng Hee Wee

Directors: Yasushi Kawamura, Keiichi Saitô

Writers: Hiroya Oku, Tsutomu Kuroiwa

Actors:  Chris Jai Alex, Saori Hayami, Mao Ichimichi, Shuichi Ikeda, Yûki Kaji, Tomohiro Kaku, Teruaki Ogawa, Daisuke Ono

Stunts: N/A

Blurb from Netflix:  Teams of recently deceased people who've been revived and given high-tech weapons must cooperate to defeat an army of monsters in Tokyo and Osaka.

Cat's Point of View: 

I couldn’t resist the temptation to watch another anime for this penultimate installment of Foreign Film Friday. The thumbnail and blurb for this movie have been fascinating me and beckoning for me to watch ever since the title landed on Netflix.

Anime purists might not relish movies of this nature because of the animation style – but technology is pushing the boundaries and offering new challenges for animators. Traditional animation style will always have its place, but this new generation of anime is here to stay. It’s come a long way, even, since Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (2001), Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children (2005), which are similar offerings within the genre.

The visuals were just absolutely stunning, and a few times I almost forgot that I was watching animation.

Action lovers will find plenty to enjoy in this movie. There’s hand-to-hand combat as well as quite a few pieces of interesting futuristic weaponry. It’s fast-paced but not so much that anything feels rushed.

I learned that this film is based on a popular manga. I haven’t read it before, though, so I’m afraid I’m unable to advise whether or not it follows the story accurately. There does seem to be a couple other Gantz-based movies out there in live action. I’m not sure if any parallel this film, however.

The story left me with several questions that went unanswered, but overall it was interesting and easy to follow with the subtitles. Now, this movie is offered in English audio; but I chose to watch it in Japanese, which was its original language.

I thoroughly enjoyed this anime and wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it – though, it is definitely one geared to adults. There’s quite a bit of gory graphic violence as well as some bizarre nudity.

Hopefully Netflix will offer a sequel sometime in the future. I’d love to find out more about what happens with these characters.

  

Languages:

Speech Available: Japanese, English, French, German, Spanish

Subtitles Available: English, Japanese [CC], Spanish, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese

Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score – None

Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score – 68%

Metascore - None

Metacritic User Score – None

IMDB Score – 7.2/10

Trust the Dice: Cat’s Rating – 4/5

Movie Trailer: