| Title: | Gantz |
| Episode: | 12: Kato, You Wait Here |
| Synopsis | |
| Nishi lies dead at the riverbank, one Suzuki alien has been caught using the "net gun", but there must be another somewhere nearby, because the "hunters" haven't been transported back to the Gantz. Kei is disturbed to notice that seeing a person die no longer scares or saddens him like it once did. The group realizes that Grandma ("Kayo") and her grandson Ryota are missing, and might run into the second alien on their own. They also deduce that leaving a prearranged one square kilometer area must have caused Kinji's head to come off. Haruya is angry and blames Tetsuo for failing to save either Kinji or Kosuke. Kato declares that he will go after the other alien; since Kei lacks a suit, he instructs him to remain behind. Kishimoto and Hojo agree to help Kato, and they head off. Back at the river, Haruya declares himself to be the new leader and disarms Kei and Tetsuo--Kei however, has a concealled weapon that Haruya isn't aware of. Kishimoto urges Kato to be prepared to use a gun. Using the tracker, they find Kayo and Ryota; then the device detects the second alien--and a third... and more. "We'll take them with our bare hands" Kato declares... | |
| Comments | |
| I can't help but be confused, and I don't think it's because the makers of Gantz wanted me to be confused! What does Kato expect to achieve by fighting the aliens hand-to-hand? Does he hope to wrestle them to the ground and somehow "capture" them without actually killing them? Would Gantz accept prisoners? I wonder if the "net gun" (for lack of a better name) kills the aliens or, as it seems, just transports them somewhere--if Kato is so reluctant to kill, wouldn't you think he'd be eager for a weapon like this? Somebody ought to perform a test by using it on that asshole Haruya! I cannot for the life of me understand what these people are thinking--at one point Ryota whines about being hungry, and Kayo wonders where they are, but just having seen a man's head explode doesn't seem particularly noteworthy to them! And why can't no less than five aliens harm Kato? The net effect is that I have little idea what is and isn't dangerous, which, like I said, breeds confusion and frustration rather than excitement. Gantz is a good show, with the genuinely intriguing mystery behind the plot, but it could have been a great show if these action scenes hadn't been screwed up so badly! P.S.: Hey, I think I saw stalker girl this time! Also, I thought Nishi was an interesting character, with a good deal of (evil) personality to him, so I'm sorry (and surprised) to see him go. =============================== [Devil Doll, 2006-10-22:] I'm also missing Nishi who could have given a number of answers. Despite Kato's weird combat tactics this episode provides some real progress: Finally the group members have begun interacting, by effectively cooperating (Kishimoto, Hojo) resp. threatening each other (Haruya). I dislike the random time delay of the gun used by Kishimoto, and the girl's inability to fire a weapon from a greater distance than one meter; the tactical level still doesn't make a lot of sense. And these long breaks in the midst of a fight remind me of Sailor Moon... | |
