GANTZ

[I’ve always admired Ninomiya Kazunari as an actor. I always get carried away with his acting, though not much in Stand Up!, so I thought I’d like to watch his other dramas/movies to check on his acting consistency but when I found out that GANTZ was on sci-fi genre, I thought it’ll be the last on my list because I’ve never been fond of sci-fi stuff.]

I can’t remember why I decided to watch GANTZ soon but I’m quite thankful that I did.

Ninomiya was impressive as Kurono Kei, who used to be a simple slash invisible guy. It was amusing how his character developed from someone unsure to someone with confidence. I remember their second assignment/case, when the “Boom Box” alien turned his face toward Kei. That “Me?” reaction was so funny, at least for me. I also think Ninomiya pulled it off without the annoying awkward effect. Only few actors can act awkward without being annoying.

Watching GANTZ kept me reminded why Ninomiya Kazunari was called an actor “who can act with his eyes and lips.” I’ve always been a fan of under-acting, of subtle facial expressions. Such always catch my attention. And this reminds me of Sakurai Sho and Ohno Satoshi.

Kurono Kei was an interesting character, showing complexity, compared to Kato Masaru (Kenichi Matsuyama) whom I find… dull. It’s like I couldn’t think of something to tickle my interest regarding him. I was curious though about the outcome of his relationship with his brother and what’s going on between him and Kei Kishimoto (Watanabe Natsuna).

At first, I actually thought that Kato was the acting leader of the team so I kept wondering when would he step up.

I hope the sequel of GANTZ will also be interesting. I wasn’t really attached to the plot although their third assignment reminded me why God forbids idol worship. There were also a lot of casualty and those who stayed weren’t as interesting as Kurona. That made me wonder if character development was only left to Kei.

Since this film was based on a manga, I can’t really judge the difference so everything I’ve written here were according to what I’ve witnessed and thought while watching GANTZ. By the way, it’d be better if they used more lights for this film.

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Originally posted on: 14 March 2013
Reposted on: 3 August 2013