Gantz Vol. 9: Judge, Jury and Executioner 2004 ADV Films Official US Website Buy It Now Official Japanese Website

The deadly onslaught of Gantz continues. The series has taken a very, very drastic and brutal turn that has shown no matter who the character is, no matter how much you may like having them in the series; they aren't always necessary for the story to progress. Even I have had my favorites outside of the immediate three that I was routing for, and sadly, they didn't make it. You might think there have been enough changes in the series, but not by a long shot as the ninth volume, "Judge, Jury, and Executioner" proves.

If you haven't seen volume eight, then I strongly urge you to stop reading now, but if you have, then you already know the horrible truth; Kishimoto is dead. That came to a shock to most I'm sure, and if you think that there's going to be some mysterious way that Gantz is going to bring her back to life, you'd better think again. Gantz may provide a second chance at life, but it seems that two is the limit. After that, it's game over, and there are no saves and no resetting. The bloodshed isn't close to being completed though, not by a long shot.

The series is once again putting me in a rather difficult position. There are more changes; I don't want to give away too much information regarding some of the shocking developments in the series. So, I will simply inform you that the battle with the statues does conclude, and the final scores are rather low for heavy toll that the battle has resulted in. No one has scored 100 points yet, so that means yet another visit to the tiny apartment and with a completely new group of individuals, but this time they all seem to have some kind of connection to Kurono.

The two bullies that the group saw prior to their battle with the Buddha statues have both been killed and are now here. Kurono's teacher, also seen during the last battle, has been killed by her lover's wife, and now she's here. The bookstore owner where Sei placed her special order, another person that Kurono has had dealings with, has found himself in the wrong place at the wrong time, and is yet another plaything for Gantz.

A new group means a now alien hunt, and Gantz is playing its usual tricks. This time the target is the Kurono alien, and the likes, dislikes, and special skills in this case end up being quite hilarious. This puts everyone against Kurono save for a single individual, and within minutes, everyone is on the verge of killing each other. No matter what, Kurono is made out to seem like a deadly foe, this is all thanks to some rather interesting illusions on Gantz's part. As the volume draws to a close, we find the killers Kurono saw earlier holding a hostage, his teacher pointing a gun at him, and an anxious wait for the next volume.

This volume contains an interview involving members of the original Japanese cast. The sound director Hiroyuki Hayase as well as voice actors Masashi Osato (Kato) and Hitomi Nabatame (Kishimoto) are all involved, but I wouldn't say that there are any major revelations about the series. There are some interesting tidbits, but for the most part its just a reflection of their work on the series. You will also find that clean versions of the opening and closing animations are included once again.

It's going to be very interesting to see how Gantz concludes. There are any number of possibilities that it could end with or something completely out of left field, and I think that will actually be the case. This volume becomes a tease as it ends, and hopefully the tenth volume which concludes the series won't allow the series to end on a less than stellar note.

Episode 21 - Big Brother?

Kurono is on the verge of death and while Sei looks after him, Kato goes off in search of the deadly Shiva statue. More members of the team have been eliminated and Kato discovers that one of them seems to have somehow become one with the statue.

Episode 22 - Don't Ever Say That Again!

Kurono has returned to the real world, but he has found himself alone, trying to find his friends. As his search continues, a new group is on their way to meet Gantz, and as Kurono will discover, he has had dealing in some fashion with many of them.

Episode 23 - Kurono Alien!

The target: Kurono. Now Kurono finds himself trying to survive in the deadliest hunt that Gantz has presented to date, and even friends and associates are turning against him in order to survive.

-mike-
 

Genre: Psychological / drama   Series Director: Ichiro Itano   Directed by: Episode 21 - Daisuke Tsukushi Episode 22 - Atsushi Nigorikawa Episode 23 - Hazuki Mizumoto   Written by: Episode 21, 22 & 23 - Masashi Sogo   Voice Cast: Daisuke Namikawa (Kei Kurono) Masashi Oosato (Masaru Kato) Hitomi Nabatame (Kei Kishimoto) Masahito Yabe (Joichiro Nishi)

DVD Features: Dual Language Japanese/English English subtitles Clean Open and Closing Animation Interview w/ Hiroyuki Hayase, Hitomi Nabatame & Masashi Oosato  Contains Episodes 18 - 20