■GANTZ(ガンツ)

□概要(wiki)

作者が高校時代から暖めていた、「必殺仕事人」にSFテイストを加えた「夜にみんなで集まって殺しに行く」物語^[1]を描いた青年漫画。「日本人に馴染むSF」を目指した、現実と非現実が交錯する世界観、不条理とも言える死と隣り合わせの緊張感、個性溢れる登場人物などが人気を集めている。前作、『01 ZERO ONE』に引き続き原稿はCGによって制作されており、作者は「3D漫画」と称している。背景の質感やキャラクターとの位置関係が緻密に表現されており、臨場感、躍動感のあふれる構図になっている。ShadeやPhotoshop等のグラフィックソフトを駆使して背景や効果が精密に描画され、臨場感が高められている。

2004年にテレビアニメ化され、2011年には実写映画が公開予定。

A pair of high school students, Kei Kurono and Masaru Kato, are run over by a subway train in an attempt to save the life of a homeless drunk who had fallen onto the tracks. Following their deaths, Kurono and Kato find themselves transported to the interior of an unfurnished Tokyo apartment. The pair soon realize others are present and find that they are not able to leave the apartment. At one end of the room there is a featureless black sphere known as "Gantz".

After some time in the room, the Gantz sphere opens up, revealing a bald naked man with a breathing mask and wires attached to his head, and three racks protruding from it, that offer various items for them to use. These include the custom fitting black suits Gantz makes for each of them, giving them super-human abilities, a controller which acts as a radar and stealth unit, and three types of guns.

When the Gantz sphere opens, green text appears on its surface, informing those present that their "lives have ended and now belong" to him. A picture and brief information is shown of some of the Gantz Targets, Gantz ordering them to go and kill them. All but one target shown thus far, have been aliens living on Earth, which take on a wide variety of forms. After a period of time which varies between missions, everyone except Gantz are transported to the location of the mission.

Those sent cannot return from the mission until all enemies have been killed, or the time limit has run out. If they survive a successful mission, each individual is awarded points for the aliens they have killed. They are then allowed to leave, and live their lives as they see fit until Gantz summons them back again for the next mission. The only way to stop having to participate in the missions is to earn one hundred points, and choose the option to be freed. Several participants are killed through the third mission they are given, leaving Kurono as the only survivor and the new leader from the "Gantz Team". However, as the series continues, Kurono participates with the objective to revive his deceased friends with the 100 points he can obtain throughout the missions. After several missions, Gantz's sphere indicates that the human race will be over in a week for an unknown reason, but it also frees all the participants from the game.