Gantz: O

Directed by Yasushi Kawamura and Keiichi Saitô

Country: Japan

Year: 2016

Author review: Roberto Matteucci

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"We fight monsters like that."

Japanese mangaka Hiroya Oku is famous for his long series of Gantz, a sci-fi and futuristic manga set in the cities of Japan.

Based on his story, at the 73rd Venice Film Festival, Japanese directors Yasushi Kawamura and Keiichi Saitô presented Gantz: O.

Masaro Katu is a boy, he lives in Tokyo with his younger brother. They have no parents. During an attack on the subway, Masaro Katu is killed while trying to protect innocent people.

The fantastic begins. Masaro Katu revived through an organization committed to defending Japan from an endless series of monsters. The Tokyo team is made up of other resurrected. Gantz, a black sphere leads the team. The best of them - who kills more evil creatures according to their score - can be rewarded: such as reviving a dead team member, or - after erasing all memory - come back to life as if nothing had happened.

The battles are numerous, the deformed beings are infinite. Tokyo and Osaka are under constant assault and teams face tough situations.

It is a splat manga, with a lot of blood, and frightening violence, which also narrates the theme of death and life in big cities.

Tokyo and Osaka appear deserted, all locked in the house as monsters attack the cities. Only some unfortunate victims are out during the conflicts. Like soldiers, who conventionally armed are unable to hit creatures: "Does it exist a similar thing in Japan?" astonished exclaims a soldier while he is looking at their excessive power and deformity.

This beautiful film looks like a video game, the group fights first one monster, then many, then more and more. More monsters were killed, more and more monsters arrive again. They are incalculable. Strength and skill are not enough, to win they need courage and love.

Yasushi Kawamura comes from the world of videogames:

"I didn't particularly want to use technology from video games to shoot it, but I think ultimately it looks similar." (1)

The story has the pace and the anxiety of the Japanese for a dystopian future. The bodies, physically change, Gantz orders when the destruction of the monsters must take place. Members of the team can die again, and this time permanently.

Great merit has the computer graphics. The bodies of people and monsters have physical exaggerations otherwise not possible:

“Besides, my CGI is a new thing. I can't say I feel the pressure. I think using computer graphics shows the best part of the manga, better than live action movies ever could do. By using CGI to create the characters, this makes them closer to the original manga, besides it is possible to create action shots faster and with more fighting."

...

“As I said, CGI is in the middle between live action and animation. When we understand this, we can achieve more realistic facial expressions, but at the same time, it can deform the characters. Technology in computer graphics is perhaps not the only way, but, nowadays, especially for science fiction, it is the best we can be given to the public. The CGI can help in any case, it certainly guarantees a greater volume of information to the public." (2)

Indeed, computer graphics allow maximum freedom for a director, because it is closer to the drawing of the manga and gives them total independence concerning the human body, the appearance of monsters and brutality.

In the end, the sense of home, of the family - even if small – will survive everyone and everything.

i http://www.ilcineocchio.it/cinema/esclusivo-intervista-a-yasushi-kawamura-su-gantz-o/

ii http://www.ilcineocchio.it/cinema/esclusivo-intervista-a-yasushi-kawamura-su-gantz-o/