Review by Frank Plowright

Kei and Kato are still tasked with killing aliens disguised as giant statues, although it’s not going well for them. As seen in Gantz 7, most of their current comrades have been wiped out, and another bites the dust in the opening chapter here. However, move forward through two chapters of frustration and Hiroya Oku has a surprise in store.

It’s a good surprise and something that could have played out in several ways. However, true to previous form, Oku rapidly discards the new to return to the old, and Kato is stuck with battling yet another alien in statue form, except in the manner of a Terminator, this one can morph its shape.

As with other volumes of Gantz, read any single one in isolation and it’s a thrillingly choreographed battle against impossible odds. The problem only really becomes apparent when one follows on and discovers the next volume is near enough the same. When it finally finishes halfway through this volume, in terms of page count, the battle against the giant statues has occupied two complete volumes. Oku even repeats himself with the non-combat sequences. We saw the female Kei die in the previous volume, so he has Kei run into someone who looks exactly like her. It strains belief, and he’s up to his usual creepy habits with no consideration of how threatening his behaviour must seem.

However, there may be repetition until the halfway point, but what happens definitively changes the status quo, and there’s considerable improvement to this volume for Oku introducing extra mysteries, not least someone else who knows about Gantz. There’s another surprise at the end as a new mission begins and it seems Kei is the only one taking part.

Perhaps Oku is finally moving on, as Gantz 9 is another departure from form.