Manga for the Comics Guy - Gantz Volume 9

I think this volume was a turning point in how I view Kei. Up until now, he was a somewhat selfish hero, but a hero none the less. Here, I think the idea of him as a hero, in the pure sense of the word, is strained. And that's a good thing. It's one thing, in a story, to like a character, but it's on a whole other level when that character makes it harder for you to like him. Anti-heroes are a cliche at this point, but when done right, they can add a lot of depth and reality to a story. Unfortunately, most of the time what we get are either just regular heroes with a little bit of a roguish charm or we get complete psychopaths who only just happen to be doing the right thing. It may be too early to tell, but I think Kei doesn't fall into either one of those and is really just a conflicted teenager, which is much more realistic than if he was just a boyscout type. I'm interested in seeing where this leads him.

The battle in this volume, with Kei all alone, was great. The action on the rooftops was perfectly rendered, but, for me, the best thing about it was that it set up this one alien who is ultimately the same as Kei in that he is now alone. Having him come after Kei in the real world is a great move and totally unexpected. We now have to deal with the idea that the aliens are not just targets. They have feelings too. Also, who started it? This leads to some interesting philosophical questions that I'm looking forward to getting into. Not to mention the crossover from the Gantz world into the real world and what it means. Now that the world has seen the alien, what's next?

All in all, this is more of a set up volume, I think. The previous battle was so epic, that from an action point of view, this is a little slower. But that's to be expected. This battle is almost like a restart for everything we know so far, since Kei is now alone. But to top it off, it sets up some new mysteries, such as how are the aliens in the real world now and what exactly is the line between the Gantz world and the real world? These new mysteries, though, aren't just thrown in for the hell of of it. They seem to be the way to get to answers of what Gantz is. And what that could be, I still can't guess, but I'm sure it's not going to be a simple answer.