Gantz 8/10

 Gantz has a special place in my heart, since it was one of the first "adult" anime I saw as a kid, and even after rewatching, I must say, it held up pretty well. That's mainly thanks to the amazing writing of Hiroya Oku. 

 The anime starts pretty mundane, Kei and his high school friends are standing at the train station yapping when a drunk homeless guy falls on the tracks. After Masaru tries to help the person, Kei tries to help Masaru as well (reluctantly), but both end up dying after the train comes in - and then both are resurrected in a strange room. That's when things shift into sci-fi territory, and we meet more and more people, that died and get resurrected in that special room.

 

 

Inside this room, that no one is able to leave, we are introduced to our 3rd main character, a girl names Kei also, but everyone calls her Kishimoto. She is heavily sexualized in the series, some will like it, some will be grossed out by it. After almost getting raped, the girl is once again saved by our hero Masaru, who she develops a crush on. Much to the disappointment of Kei, who develops a crush on her (or just wants to sleep with her).

 Inside the room is a round machine, Gantz, who finally starts speaking to the "contestants" and explains to them, that they're dead, but get another chance to live, if they play a game of survival. They get special suits and guns, and have to kill a bunch of monsters. If they die, they are dead for good, but if they survive, they can go back to the real world and continue to live their life. Everyone in the room is soon transported to an area of town and can't leave until they have eliminated the targets selected by Gantz. This goes on week after week, very few survive long enough to see the last episode. 

 The monster hunts are quite brutal and gory, if you don't like nudity, blood or exploding organs, this might not be the show for you. But Gantz did become a cult classic over the years. After the manga became a success, there were several anime and TV show/movie adaptions, so you can check out whatever medium you prefer.

 

Gantz is a solid sci-fi anime, the characters, aside from the main ones, are not well written though. There are enough twists and turns to keep the audience hooked and exited, but again, I was hoping to get more answers towards the end. The animation and the music are top-notch for their time. The opening is still one of my favorite anime openings of all time, so I'm giving it an 8/10. Yes, nostalgia plays a role too.