Review by Frank Plowright

As Gantz 6 opens a new cast has been gathered to the Toyko apartment by the mysterious machine. Hiroya Oku introduced them in Gantz 5, and there’s a problematical start. Oku has established Kei as a horny teenage boy lacking behavioural boundaries, and has objectified the only woman with a significant supporting role to date. The new crew include another attractive woman, and instead of dealing with Kei’s predatory behaviour with a well deserved knee to the bollocks, she accepts his approaches.

One can see how mixing a really intriguing concept involving battling alien monsters with pandering to the sexual fantasies of teenage boys (straight ones, anyway) is a recipe for commercial success. On the other hand, there’s something very sleazy about the compliance when considered alongside Oku’s habit of starting each chapter with a girl in a provocative pose.

In-story the more immediate problem is how to persuade a group with faith in religion that if they don’t put on the armoured suits provided, the chances of surviving what happens next are considerably reduced. Despite Kato having previous experience of what’s likely to happen, he’s unable to persuade some newcomers of what’s in their best interests.

The targets for this mission are two rampaging giants, which is one hell of a problem, and as Oku isn’t a creator to finish things rapidly, they’re not a problem solved in this volume.

Oku mixes two different styles of art for this sequence. There’s his usually tidy black and white linework, but the giants are more textured, rendered in grey shading, but rather than clashing, it’s an effective visual contrast. Beyond the opening couple of chapters, it’s pretty well action all the way here, and Oku’s pages are amazing. He combines athletic moving figures with the astounding weapons, and everything is set in the decorative background of a Buddhist temple.

On every mission Kato and Kei have undertaken there’s been a point where the target appears to have been dealt with, only for it to then manifest in greater numbers. The slight variation this time is the presence of someone not within the main group and without protection, and it’s their fate providing the cliffhanger ending leading to Gantz 7.

The repetition of formula for a third time means the cracks are beginning to show, although anyone who’s not followed Gantz from the beginning will surely be entertained. Mix that with the dubious events of the opening chapter, and this is a lesser volume.