Gantz (ガンツ or Gantsu) manga!

I have been reading Gantz since over a week ago. I was at my parents’ house about a week or so, and the only Internet connection that they have is dial-up. I had thought of reading only the first few chapters of Gantz manga online, to see how it looks like and stuff, since Gantz is quite popular amongst manga fans (it was number 6 on the most viewed manga at MangaHut this week!), especially in Japan itself.

And I can say that I was hooked pretty immediately from the first chapter of Gantz! Unlike Katekyo Hitman Reborn, which took me a few chapters until I felt comfortable and hooked to the manga, Gantz hooked me right away at the very first chapter!! Even though with the slow loading with the dial-up connection back in my parents’ house, I just couldn’t stop reading the Gantz manga online!

GANTZ MANGA SUMMARY/PLOT

So what is “Gantz” all about?

Taken from AnimeNewsNetwork:

“Kei Kurono is a typical high school student in a selfish world, not caring about anyone other than himself. However when, by chance, he was forced to help out his childhood friend, Katou Masaru, rescue a drunkard who fell into subway tracks, both he and Katou were killed… Or not. After being run over by the train, they were suddenly teleported to an enclosed apartment with others who recently died. And now their lives are controlled by a mysterious black ball inside the apartment called GANTZ, and they are forced to participate in a “game” of unprecedented danger and horror.”

Taken from MangaHut:

Somewhere in Tokyo, there is a room. In that room is a black sphere. Periodically, people who should otherwise have died are transferred to the room. There, the sphere gives them special suits and weapons, and sends them out on a mission to kill aliens here on Earth. While these missions take place, the rest of the world is largely oblivious to them. These missions are lethal - few participants survive them. The sphere calls the shots, and it’s not the slightest bit nice. It’s name… Gantz.

Kei Kurono

In my words:

Gantz centers around the main character, Kei Kurono, a typical 1st year high-schooler who basically only cares about himself and himself only. He lives alone in an apartment, and is a serious pervert. If there’s one thing that he cares about, it’s probably swimsuit models with nothing but their bikini’s, or one of his many pervs magazines.

The story starts in one incident while Kei was waiting for his train, back from school. He spotted his childhood friend, Masaru Kato, who he thought wouldn’t recognize him anymore since Kato transferred to different elementary school years back.

Then a few moments after, a homeless guy fell on the train track and seemed to not be able to get up. No one seemed to want to go down the train track and help this homeless guy. But finally Kato, the childhood friend of Kei who hadn’t noticed Kei’s present in that train station, went down the track and tried to help the homeless guy up from the train track. And then Kato accidentally saw Kei Kurono and shouted at Kei to help him. Kei, who actually didn’t care if the homeless guy die, found himself climbing down to help Kato.

To cut the story short, these two teenagers had a difficult time trying to get the man up, and once they managed to get the man up the railway track, the train was coming. And it was too late for them to save themselves. They were hit by the train in a tragic accident (well, both their heads were cut off and flew off).

But even though the people at the train station saw the accident, no one could find the boys’ bodies or even any evidence that the accident took place after it happened.

In the meantime, the boys, Kei and Kato, realized that instead of hitting by a train, they were actually running inside an ordinary apartment, where they could see Tokyo Tower from. It turned out that everyone else in the apartment was “saved” or “brought back to life” just before they die, just like them.

The only thing that wasn’t seemed right was that they couldn’t get out from the apartment by any normal mean, and there was a big ball (like a very big crystal ball) inside the apartment.

This ball, which is called “Gantz”, is telling them that their lives now are in his (Gantz’s) control. Now they have to gain 100 points by killing aliens in their assigned missions before they could be freed.

So each one of the people who were brought to that apartment by Gantz then has to go to assigned missions, with the weapons and suits given by Gantz, until they reach that 100 points mark. If they die in the given mission, they won’t be able to get back to the apartment, and their lives end right there.

MY COMMENTS/REVIEW

I like this manga series! I’m not a big fan of ecchi (this manga is an ecchi!), but the fast-pace plots and the interesting story makes me hooked!

If you like action and adventure type of manga, and probably like some ecchi, this manga is DEFINITELY for you. You won’t get bored. It’s really interesting to see the main character, Kei, who is a selfish brat, works his selfish ways and turned to be a hero instead in certain events. Yo’ll see what I mean when you read the manga. So even though my favorite character is Kato, and I sometimes feel like kicking Kei’s ass, but actually at times Kei can be interesting.

So what are you waiting for.. go read Gantz manga now!

Doraemon ( ドラえもん )

If you live and grew up in any part of Asia, chances are you know by heart who this cute talking blue robot, Doraemon, is. He is Asia’s most popular anime icon, having been on TIME: Asia cover and selected as one of the 22 Asian Heroes (the only anime character selected!), where Doraemon was referred as “The Cuddliest Hero in Asia”.

I guess Doraemon is such a well-known manga and anime character in Asia to date, even the mangaka who created him, Fujio F. Fujiko, had died back in 1996. Probably not because Doraemon makes a lot of cool moves and actions like Naruto or Bleach (and how popular these two anime series are in North America), but because everything in Doraemon is a kid’s fantasy of the real world. Many children in Asia growing up watching Doraemon and growing up with him. So it was so dear to their hearts.

When I was a kid, I read Doraemon manga as well as watched Doraemon anime quite as much as I sucked lolly pop (well, I guess). But since Doraemon was first published in 1969, when I hadn’t even been born yet, I never read the very first chapter of Doraemon. Until just now.

All I knew the whole time of my childhood of reading Doraemon manga and watching its anime was that Doraemon was a robot from the future that was sent to help Nobita in present, in which Nobita was a boy who was always in for troubles in his everyday life.

On the first chapter of Doraemon that I just read online just a while ago, only now I know how Doraemon met up with Nobita. It brought back memories of childhood.

So, this is for those who have fond memories of Doraemon as manga and anime icon, and those who haven’t known but yet to learn about this blue robot;

Doraemon Theme Song

Konna koto ii na
dekitara ii na
anna yume konna yume ippai aru kedo

This sort of thing is good
I wish I could do it
that sort of dream, this sort of dream, I have many of them but

Minna minna minna
kanaete kureru
fushigina POKKE de kanaete kureru
sora wo jiyuu ni tobitai na

All of them, all of them, all of them
he grants my dreams
he grants my dreams with a mysterious pocket
I want to fly freely in the sky

(Hai! takekoputaa!)

(Here! Bamboo-copter!)

AN AN AN
Tottemo daisuki
DORAEMON

Ah ah ah
I love you very much,
Doraemon

Shukudai touban shiken ni otsukai
anna koto konna koto taihen dakedo

Homework, school duties, exams and errands
because that sort of thing and this sort of thing are awful

Minna minna minna
tasukete kureru
benrina dougu de tasukete kureru
omocha no heitai da

All of them, all of them, all of them
he helps me
he helps me with a convenient tool
look! a toy soldier

(Sore! tototsugeki!)

(Here! Attack!)

AN AN AN
Tottemo daisuki
DORAEMON

Ah ah ah
I love you very much,
Doraemon

Anna toko ii na
iketara ii na
kono kuni ano shima takusan aru kedo

That place is nice
I wish I could go
this country, that island, there is many of them, but

Minna minna minna
ikasete kureru
mirai no kikai de kanaete kureru
sekai ryokou ni ikitai na

All of them, all of them, all of them
he makes me able to go to them
he uses a gadget of the future to grant my wish
I want to go on a world trip

(Ufufufu… doko demo DOA!)

(Ehehehe… Anywhere Door!)

AN AN AN
Tottemo daisuki
DORAEMON

Ah ah ah
I love you very much,
Doraemon

AN AN AN
Tottemo daisuki
DORAEMON

Ah ah ah
I love you very much,
Doraemon

Clannad is quite popular as anime, I think. I’ve just so far read the manga only up to chapter 2 so I really can’t say much, but it’s pretty interesting.

So my review is going to be short since it would only base on the 2 chapters of Clannad that I have read. ^.^

I’m normally not too much of a fan of this kind of manga. Romance is not what I always look for for a manga series, so I didn’t have that much of expectations for Clannad. But it turned out pretty sweet. The story is about Tomoya Okazaki, a third year student, who has a pretty much ordinary life, until one day on his way to school he met a girl named Nagisa Furukawa who he caught talking to herself. It turned out that Nagisa is a repeated student who’s a year older than Tomoya.

Since the meeting, they befriended each other, and Tomoya is helping Nagisa with a lot of things.

I still have a little bit more to catch up, but so far, the only thing I had to complain is the group that did the scanlations for this manga series. The translations are, believe me, just terrible! It’s like a direct translation without the sense of story flowing. If you plan on reading the manga and plan to read it online, I suggest that you go watch the anime instead. There would be a better translation done by fansubbers.

Probably by now I gotta say I have changed my mind about a few bits of Katekyo Hitman Reborn manga series. I still quite like this manga. Like I said previously, it’s a fun read. But what I don’t quite like at this point is how the mangaka keeps on introducing new characters without significant development of existing characters.

Now I think that the manga actually targeting people below the age of 16, probably. Older readers would find it interesting and not boring if the expectations are average, and not too high. For those who actually hoping for more actions and nerve-wrecking plots will likely to get disappointed. Katekyo Hitman Reborn is for easy read. An easy read while waiting for a bus to school, or when your getting ready to sleep at night.

I’m not sure about the anime though, since I haven’t watched it (I probably will in just a while). But reading the manga, I think it would probably be more interesting watching the anime.

Have you watched Katekyo Hitman Reborn anime? Tell us what you think!

THE STORY, AS EXCERPTED FROM THE MANGA

A home tutor decided to come to the home of a junior high kid, Sawada Tsuna, who was spending a dull life. The name of this home tutor was “Reborn!”. He looked like a baby, but his real job was a high-class hitman. His reason for coming from Italy to Japan was to make the 10th heir of the mafia family, Vongola! If you are willing to die for it, you can do anything! So, Tsuna’s life risking study days began to start!

THE STORY, IN MY OWN WORDS

Sawada Tsuna was kind of a loser in his junior high school. He was called a “no-good Tsuna” all the time by his peers. He flunked every test and exam. He sucked at sport and made every team he was in lose everytime. The only reason he went to school was because of a girl, named Kyoko, whom he had a big crush on. His life was pretty much a mess, until a private home tutor was hired by his mom to teach him privately at home.

It turned out that this home tutor, was not a regular home tutor. His real job was a high-class hitman, whom, was instructed by the famous Italian mafia leader of Vongola family, the 9th Generation Leader, to come to Japan to especially search and train Tsuna to be the next 10th Generation Leader of the mafia gang.

Tsuna, who had no idea of this mafia gang and family, constantly denied to be the 10th Generation Leader. But since his mom had allowed the home tutor, alias hitman, whom name was “Reborn”, to live in their house until Tsuna’s grades went up, Tsuna was trained by Reborn, both for academic and mafia kind of stuff with crazy and merciless methods.

Along the way, they gather candidates for the mafia family and subordinates for Tsuna.

MY REVIEW

Starting last night, I have read up until chapter 20 which titled “Eat And Run”. What can I say, this manga is a good fun. It’s quite a fun read. If you love a fair amount of comedy (as what most Japanese manga surely have) and a little bit of actions plus school setting and some crazy plots, you’ll probably like this manga. Katekyo Hitman Reborn! has a little bit of those mixed together.

For once, if you are someone who like actions but don’t like reading something so tense like Berserk, but also don’t feel like reading Naruto or Bleach kind of stuff, then read Katekyo Hitman Reborn!

Reborn! is suitable for all ages. But in my opinion, for those who craves for quick plot and story development would probably get a bit tired of the story. For me, all the characters introductions were put pretty well, starting from the beginning of the story. But up until chapter 20 (I know it’s still too early to decide), I would want to see “how” Tsuna would actually benefit from the will-bullets afterwards when he isn’t shot by it and had to face a situation.

So far (as what I am currently reading), I haven’t seen yet that Tsuna actually “being trained” by Reborn. What I see is Reborn came and benefit Tsuna from his will-bullets and spice/improve Tsuna’s life with that. More like in the manga Doraemon, where Doraemon’s present is to help improve Nobita’s daily life.

Tsuna wouldn’t be getting shot by Reborn everytime he had to do something for the rest of his life, especially when he officially becomes the 10th, is he? So it would be nice if by now we started seeing that Reborn’s bullets actually make Tsuna realize of his true strength and start acting by it rather than the bullets.

But still, like I said, “chapter 20″ is still too early to decide on anything. So I’m gonna continue on reading.

My favorite character? Gokudera-kun. Why? He’s acting all tough and all but actually he’s funny! ^.^

Have your say about Katekyo Hitman Reborn manga or anime? Leave your comments!