Gantz Characters


Gantz players

anime - gantz horror anime

Kei Kurono

the main protagonist of the series; a 10th grader who is summoned by Gantz, along with Masaru Kato, after being hit by a subway train in an effort to help a hobo who passes out on the tracks. In the beginning, he is a rather selfish character who often ends up being the reluctant hero. However, after Kato dies in the third mission, Kei starts taking care of other people as well, and he starts to avoid casualties amongst Gantz team members. His immense skill and his steady leadership quickly make him a hero to most of the other members. During missions, Kei often uses unconventional tactics to great effect. After reviving some of his former friends, Kei leaves the game due to a request from his comrades. The vampires group searches and eventually finds Kei, killing him. After Nurarihyon is killed, he is revived by Masaru Kato but remembers nothing beyond his choice to leave after the Oni Mission.

Masaru Kato

summoned, along with Kurono, by Gantz after they were hit by a subway train while helping an unconscious hobo who fell on the tracks. He is an old friend of Kurono and serves as a secondary protagonist until his death and as the main protagonist in phase 2. At school, he acts as a guardian to the weaker students who often find themselves bullied, getting himself a bit of a reputation for fighting. He initially lives with a violent aunt who reluctantly adopted him and his brother after they were orphaned. They leave after Kato can no longer stand his aunt hitting his little bother. He is killed during the Buddha mission but revived months later. After that, he managed to kill Nurarihyon and gains 100 points, choosing to revive Kurono. In the Japanese series, Kato is voiced by Masashi Oosato, and in the English dub by Illich Guardiola.

Kei Kishimoto

first appears naked in the Apartment as her death involved slitting her wrists while in a bathtub. Unlike many of the characters of the series, she did not exactly die. As Nishi revealed, Gantz can make mistakes. Gantz accidentally created a copy of Kishimoto to use in missions while her original self survived. Kurono has a deep crush on her, but she herself has a crush on Masaru Kato. Finding here 'real self' alive she is forced to live with Kurono who is delighted to see her at first but later resents being used by her as she is clearly not interested in him. Gantz calls her by the names "Boiled eggs", "Titz" and "Miss Melons" (in the original Japanese: "Kyonyu" (??, "huge breasts"?)) due to her fairly large breasts. She dies during the Buddha mission to protect Kato from the acid attack of the boss alien, Thousand Arms.

Shion Izumi

once participated in Gantz's missions, achieved 100 points, and left the game with his memories erased. Since then, he began to remember the excitement of the missions. He committed a mass shooting on a busy street disguised as a black man, killing 387 before being stopped by Kurono, in an effort to return to Gantz, which he succeeded. Izumi possessed tremendous fighting skills and, aside from Kei Kurono, proved stronger than any other member on the team. He showed very little regard to ethics and cared only about the missions and reaching the goals. He was ambushed by the vampires near the end of Phase 1 and was able to kill all of them. The four vampire leaders then decided to kill him themselves. Though the leaders were stronger than the normal ones, Izumi still managed to kill three of them but was killed by the sole remaining vampire while protecting his girlfriend.

Joichiro Nishi

a middle-school veteran of the Gantz world, having arrived there over a year before the beginning of the series. While running away from police officers after shoplifting, he fled onto an apartment building roof where he fell to his death. Much like how Kurono started out, he is also selfish and has a Social Darwinist approach to life. Nishi is reluctant to reveal anything about the Gantz or himself, but he runs a web site where he posts information about it (carefully avoiding Gantz's rule about informing outsiders, which would in turn prove fatal). Gantz calls him "Mr. Nishi," which is rather interesting given how informally or derisively he refers to most of the other participants. Nishi is killed at the beginning of the Tanaka/Suzuki Alien mission, but after six months of existing only inside Gantz's memory banks, he is revived by Kaze at Kurono's request following the end of the Oni mission. Ostensibly, Kurono hopes that Nishi will be able to provide information about Gantz to the game players. Up to now, Nishi has revealed the existance of a timer which he triggered by saying "Catastrophe" which is believed to be a timer to an epic war that will possibly destroy humanity.

Masashi Yabe voices him in the Japanese series, and Chris Patton in the English adaptation.

Yoshikazu Suzuki

best known as "Old Man"*. Not much is known about him except that he is a fairly old widower who has a grandson. Surprisingly, it does not take long for Kurono to grow attached to him and vice versa. He sees Kurono as a role model, and even gives his 100 points to revive his friend Masaru Kato so that Kei may leave the game. He sees Kurono as the world's hope for "survival". He has saved Kei's life multiple times and he emulates Kei. After Kei dies however, it seems as if his morale lowers and he sides with the majority on not trying to help others because it was too dangerous.

The character's nickname in Japanese, "occhan", is not as rude-sounding in Japanese as "Old Man", and may have been better translated to something like "gramps".

Hiroto Sakurai

a psychic who receives instructions on how to unlock his latent powers from Sakata after attempting suicide. He is then encouraged by Sakata to kill his bullies who sexually abused him with the use of his powers, which he does. However, he later regrets it, realizing how it feels to be a murderer. When he and Sakata witness Izumi's Shinjuku massacre, he insists in trying to stop Izumi and convinces Sakata to join him, arguing that it is a good opportunity to redeem themselves for the murders they committed themselves. While they do put up a good fight, Izumi still does manage to kill both, leading them to Gantz. A phenomenal learner, he masters his abilities rather quickly. He dies in the fight against the Flame Oni, but is revived by Sakata. Gantz calls him "Cherry", taken from the Japanese Sakura and which is his online handle. As of 279 hes no longer a "Cherry", sexual reference. He has a girlfriend named Tonkotsu who he first met after he murdered the people who abused him. With her, he is seen trying to catch murderers using his psychic powers, in order to further redeem himself.

Kenzo Sakata

another psychic. He teaches Hiroto Sakurai to use his latent psychic powers, thus Sakurai refers to him as "master". He and Sakurai die while trying to stop Izumi's massacre in Shinjuku, leading to his arrival to Gantz. He seems to have an unorthodox view on people's lives; he tells Sakurai that he was like him once and that he himself has killed, and encourages his pupil to kill those bullying him. Gantz calls him "Stupid Newb" and "Dumbass". His psychic powers are significantly reduced, and a recent medical examination indicates that continued use of his powers has significantly aged his internal organs. After the Oni mission he uses his 100 points to revive Sakurai. In the Osaka mission however, he says that they should forget about the death and that by bringing them back it "cheapens" their lives. He is killed in the battle of Nurarihyon by holding off the 100-point alien while the rest of the Tokyo team escapes.

Reika

a beautiful, young and popular idol. Like almost everyone else, she is caught in the line of fire during Izumi's killing spree in Shinjuku. She develops a crush on Kurono after seeing him in action during her first night as a participant in the game. Surprisingly enough, she proves to be a formidable opponent against the Aliens. She uses her points to resurrect Tae because she wants Kurono to be happy. It is not until Kurono chooses to be free that she confesses to him that she loves him. After Kurono departs from the game, she is appointed the new team leader of Gantz. After Kurono is revived, Reika confesses her feelings to him, but Kurono, having rekindled his relationship with Tae, rebuffs her. Distraught over Kurono's choice, Reika suffers an apparent mental break, and resolves to earn 100 points to revive a new Kurono for herself.

Daizemon Kaze

a tall and incredibly powerful martial artist who comes from the countryside to Tokyo looking for a good fight. He first meets Gantz after the Shinjuku massacre, where he makes a valiant yet doomed attempt at stopping Izumi. He seems to care about Takeshi, a young child who admires Kaze as his "Muscle Rider" savior. After the Oni Aliens mission he collects slightly over 100 points, but chooses to remain in the Gantz game in order to both continue testing his strength and fighting skills against more powerful enemies and to protect Takeshi. So instead of being freed he chooses to revive another person, settling on Nishi after asking for Kurono's suggestion. Despite his cold outlook, he does have a softer side—in fact, he weeps when he thinks of how Takeshi died at such a young age without ever having experienced love. He also takes some sport in the game, though nowhere near as much as Izumi. He is the only team member who doesn't use weapons, relying on nothing but the Gantz Suit which amplifies his already incredible strength.

Kouki Inaba

an ordinary Joe, gunned down in the Shinjuku massacre. His full-time occupation is later revealed to be as a designer. He is the only participant apart from Izumi that does not train with Kurono as he thinks Kurono should not be leader. He even sides with Izumi during the Tae Alien mission to assassinate Tae. Eventually, he realizes his only chance of survival is under Kurono's guidance. And at the end of the Oni mission, he gives Kurono his support. He is quite the coward when it comes to fighting, and tries to feign a cool head in these situations. It is hinted at numerous occasions that he is attracted to Reika, and he has admitted the fact to an Oni Alien he thought was Reika, subsequently having sex with the alien. After the Oni mission, he gains respect for Kurono and believes that Kurono could actually become the group leader. Despite the fact that Kurono dies, he still participates with the other Gantz team members in fighting the aliens.

Takeshi

a young boy of toddler's age who dies due to parental abuse (his mother's boyfriend beats him to death for eating his pudding). He draws a fictional hero called "Muscle Rider" before his death, and when he awakes inside Gantz's room as a participant in the game he believes that Kaze is his "Muscle Rider". To no one's surprise, he still does. By chapter 240, he discovers and uses the abilities of the suit, this includes the utilization of the "back attack", which happens to be Kaze's signature move. Despite Takeshi's small size, he is more than capable of defending himself against average opponents. Having imitated Kaze's fighting style to a "T", Takeshi manages to dispel a group of monsters that surround him, as well as injure a rather large and hideous creature that comes from the river. During the battle with Nurarihyon, Takeshi was seriously injured by a spray of pods that emerged from Nurarihyon's body during one of his many regenerative phases.

The Osaka Gantz Team

The most recent mission brought the Gantz team into contact with their Osaka-based counterparts. The Osaka Team is, in essence, a gang of rebels: unlike the Tokyo team, they have appointed no leader, nor do they have any attack plans. Often, an Osakan team member will choose an enemy to fight solo while the others stand by, not assisting even if that team member dies. Several team members play with their prey instead of focusing on exterminating all targets; three members are dubbed "3-S" for being extremely sadistic. Kuwabara Kazuo rapes the female aliens before killing them. Most of the Osakan team members are highly confident in their abilities, having obtained 100 points at least once. Oka Hachirou, for example, is said to have obtained 100 points 7 times. Because of their overconfidence, most of them were killed during the Nurarihyon mission. As of chapter 277, the survivors are Kuwabara Kazuo, the bespectacled 17-year-old virgin, and the two groupies.

Targets

In each mission, Gantz informs the Hunters about the current target which has to be hunted. This information includes an image of the target as well as its characteristics, things it likes, and favorite quotes. Most of the time, Gantz does not give the whole information because almost always the "boss" is not the original target or there are more than one specimen for each class. While in the anime version, there are four targets including a "Kurono alien", until this moment, there have been nine different targets in the manga.

The Onion Aliens

The first pair of aliens the Gantz team faced was the "Negi Seijin" (Negi meaning 'Green Onion' and Seijin meaning 'Alien'). True to their titles, they are green in color and love green onions. The first Negi Seijin the Hunters face was small and child-like. The Hunters quickly disposed of the defenseless creature, only to invoke the wrath of the Negi Seijin's father, a much more violent and dangerous creature. The 'Daddy Negi Seijin' massacred most of the Hunters. Kurono eventually beat the 'Daddy Negi Seijin' down and Nishi 'sent' the creature off into the sky.

These aliens are extremely resistant to modern weapons, and their left hands conceal five long, razor-sharp claws capable of slicing cleanly through bone.

The Tanaka Aliens

The second mission charged the Hunters with the task of eliminating a doll-like entity called Tanaka Alien (named for Seiji Tanaka, a folk singer from the 1970s whose song lyrics were often quoted by the aliens). The dolls were merely robotic shells that allowed a species of bird-like aliens to live in the human world - they were unable to breathe in our atmosphere without their doll-like suits. Initially, the aliens were not openly hostile, wandering around with numerous small, bird-like creatures. They only began attacking when Kurono accidentally stepped on one of their bird companions. Their main attack was a high-pitched sonic blast, emitted from the mouths of their suits. The attack caused hemorrhaging from the eyes and ears. The aliens were also extremely fast, able to dodge attacks with ease and travel underwater. When their outer shells were damaged, they emerged in their bird forms to continue fighting, though they could only survive for a short period of time in Earth's atmosphere (strangely enough, the tiny birds are able to breathe without any devices). The 'boss' of the Tanaka aliens resembled a more massive specimen of the species, and depended on pipes inserted into its mouth to breathe. Kurono Kei defeats this 'boss' by breaking its gas pipes and shooting it down in midair.

The Buddhist Temple Aliens

These aliens dwelt in a Buddhist temple, disguised as a variety of statues. The first to appear were approximately fifty feet tall and relatively powerful. Nicknamed the "Rowdy Alien" and "Grumpy Alien", they were disguised as two nearly identical statues guarding the temple at the beginning of the mission. They were revealed as organic beings when one of the Gantz players viewed skeletons and organs beneath their stone-like exteriors using the X-gun. Aside from being immensely strong and durable, at least one displayed the ability to generate a powerful blast of wind that knocked the hunters back. Kurono killed one by breaking its legs and then firing at its head; another hunter took the other one out by sniping it from a distance.

The most dangerous of them was disguised as a statue of the Goddess of Mercy, Kannon. The many-armed alien wielded swords, a pagoda lantern that fired energy beams, and a vial of acid, all of which easily penetrated the hunters' suits. It was also capable of ingesting human brains and accessing their memories and language. But perhaps its most deadly weapon was a disk-shaped artifact that allowed for instant regeneration from whatever wounds the alien incurred. Aside from Kishimoto and Hijiri, most of the team fell prey to this particular alien. The statue was revealed to be only an outer shell, as Kato hit it with a Y gun and succeeded in removing its 'head'. Its true form was a lizard-like creature with six arms. This was the first alien to speak coherently, asking why the hunters had attacked them, claiming they never did anything to hurt anyone. Eventually, Kato was able to defeat this creature, fatally stabbing it with one of its own swords, but at the cost of his life. Thus, everyone except Kurono was killed in this mission. The point value of the powerful Boss(es) of this level were never seen.

The Shorty Aliens

Also known as "The Chibi Aliens". As the name suggests, they were short in height. In this mission, Kurono faced the enemies alone, since all other Hunters were killed during the previous mission. As soon as he realized that Gantz had not recruited any new members, Kurono grabbed as many guns as he could carry. These aliens were strong, fast, and possessed strong telepathic abilities. In fact, they constantly broadcast their thoughts to Kurono as a method of intimidation and distraction during combat. Most of these aliens were killed fairly easily by Kurono, who tricked them into leaping over buildings towards him and subsequently shot them down in mid-air. Only one held back and analyzed his strategy, after which it nearly killed him by engaging him in close combat. As the time limit was reached, he failed the mission and was teleported to safety, but striped of all the points he had accumulated.

Aside from their physical and psychic abilities, the aliens had fleshy, wing shaped membranes on their back that could wrap around them and morph into the shape of humans as a disguise. This was not revealed until after the mission.

Days later, the only surviving Shorty Alien barged into Kurono's school and massacred everyone in his class but Tae and Izumi. Luckily, Kurono had brought some of his Gantz equipment with him to the school and managed to eventually defeat the alien.

The Kappe Alien

The Kappe alien itself actually posed little danger during the mission. Rather, the threat lay with the "pets" of the Kappe alien, which were in turn a wide variety of aliens posing as dinosaur statues in a museum. Notable among them: three Triceratops with the ability to stand upright and increase their muscle mass, several Tyrannosaurus rex could shoot fireballs from their mouths, and numerous raptor-shaped aliens with razor sharp tails. Near the end, a massive alien resembling a Brachiosaurus appeared. It had a massive blade that projected from its skull, which it swung to cleave its opponents. The first attempts to kill it via decapitation failed, until Kei realised that its brain was located in its torso and not the head. He subsequently killed it with a shot from the X-gun. The Kappe alien itself could increase in size and strength, but was eventually beaten by Kaze and killed by Izumi.

The Ring Aliens

This mission proved how effective the Hunters had become after training as a team. The aliens themselves resembled massive warriors wearing black armor and riding giant black horses. They relied heavily on their size and giant bladed polearms. The Ring alien mission was in fact the shortest mission in the whole series so far. The mission itself was just a setting for the "Tae" mission, since the aliens didn’t pose a real threat to the Hunters.

Tae Kojima

Tae Kojima (?? ??, Kojima Tae?) is Kurono's first actual girlfriend, first dated on a dare. He actually falls in love with her and they build a real relationship, Kurono appearing to be very protective of her. After taking pictures of the Game's participants during their mission, she immediately becomes the next target (considering Gantz wants to remain unknown to outsiders). To end the mission and preserve his points, Shion Izumi takes the pleasure of murdering Tae (while Kei and Reika want to deliberately fail the mission by protecting her life), but Reika later on brings her back to life. Similar to Kurono, she also realizes parts of her memory was missing, as hinted by pictures of her with Kurono and her paintings of him.

The Oni Aliens

The hunt for the Oni Aliens was a major turning point in the story. For the first time in the series, the target aliens were visible to normal humans. As the hunt neared its conclusion, even the Gantz hunters themselves became visible. Also, the timer displayed by Gantz simply turned off in the middle of the mission, effectively giving the hunters unlimited time to complete it.

Like the Chibi aliens before them, the Oni aliens appeared to be completely sentient and intelligent; they acted and dressed like humans, used cell phones, and even enjoying human entertainment, suggesting that they lived among humans in human guise rather than hiding as the other previous aliens had. They were also quite aware of Hunters' existence and the weaknesses of the suits.

It was also the first time the aliens were waiting for the arrival of the Gantz players, and had gathered in enormous numbers in order to finish the Hunters once and for all. The average Oni alien was capable of assuming human form. Their true forms were humanoid but with long tentacles in place of arms, sword-like claws, elongated necks, and an acid spit that easily penetrated the Gantz suits' defenses. They also had short horns that made them not unlike the traditional japanese folklore depictions of Oni.

The Nurarihyon

It is the supreme commander of all Yokai, including demons, ghouls and spirits. As was the case in their previous mission, the Hunters were visible to normal humans. The two Vampires did not know that this was unusual, or that there were rules which required them to stay within the designated hunting area, and attempted to leave the area with the three other newcomers. When the newcomers died, they guessed that bombs had been planted in their heads, and turned back.

The female vampire commented on whether they should be killing their own or trying to realize their original goal of eliminating the Hunters. They ran into a group of three aliens atop a shop. The Vampires talked to one of them, who told them that since they have the Hunter signal, he wouldn't do anything to protect them. They then found two more aliens and seemed to work together with them by killing three members of the Osaka team. However, the aliens decided to kill the Vampires as well.

As shown by a device used by one of the Osaka team members, the most powerful aliens in the mission are Nurarihyon, worth 100 points, a Tengu alien worth 71 points, and humanoid dog alien worth 68. The Nurarihyon has the power to transform rapidly, changing from an old man, into a young man, into a child, then into a woman while leaping from the platform into a crowd that appears to be ritual sacrifices.

The Nurahihyon then regenerates into an amalgamation of its female and beastly forms, which Oka, the most powerful player from the Osaka Team, obliterates from a short distance using a burst of power from the cap in the right palm of his suit.Oka, after some time fighting the alien, realizes that he can't beat it and leaves him to the Tokyo Team.The Nurahi then regenerates three more heads and other various parts, claiming to 'understand' Kaze's technique. Afterwards, Kaze does his signature attack and kills all of Nurahi [except his bottom half]. Then, Nurahi revives itself again from blood and organs. They once again continue to fight, with Kaze losing his upper hand until the rest of the Tokyo team jumps in to aid him.

Suddenly, Nurari states that he 'understands' and proceeds to leave the fight entirely, venturing to an unknown destination. At this time, the Tokyo team attempts to devise a way to defeat the monster. It is noted by Katou that Nurari is unable to quickly recover from attacks that it cannot predict or sense [as seen in its fight with Oka Hachirou] -- the Tokyo team then creates a strategy of sniping Nurari from outside his range of perception, limiting his ability to regenerate.

The Nurarihyon then returns after killing Oka Hachirou and confronts Katou, who is acting as bait for the sniping ploy. The two exchange a brief discussion as to why GANTZ players are forced to kill aliens, though nothing concrete comes from the dialogue. Nurari is suddenly shot from multiple directions, greatly injuring him. "Host Samurai" then leaps into the fray and splits Nurari down the middle.

The Host Samurai and Nurarihyon continue to fight, with Nurari very weakened and only able to rely upon lasers fired from his eyes. Katou, his legs dismembered by a stray laser, summons enough strength to lock on and pull the H-Gun's trigger, completely annihilating the Nurarihyon before it can fire a laser at Reika.

The Vampires

The "vampires" are sworn enemies of the Gantz game's participants, who they refer to as "Hunters". Kurono's younger brother, Akira Kurono, was one of them; a fact of which Kurono is still unaware. They can see past the Hunter's cloaking modules with special contact lenses or sunglasses, in addition to being able to spawn weapons from their bodies. The vampires are a result of numerous nanomachines within the human body, giving them super-human reflexes and strength. Vampires are able to maintain a regular human diet but suffer from dizziness and a bat-wings-shaped eczema on their back if no human blood is consumed. For the vampires, sunlight is lethal, though some take some special medicine that toughens their skin, allowing them to walk around in the daylight. They mainly attack the "Hunters" at night. The vampires seem to have connections with some of the aliens seen in the latter part of the series, including the Oni Aliens.

At the start of the Second Phase of the manga, two vampires (one, a vampire leader, nicknamed "Host Samurai" by Gantz and the other,a female vampire nicknamed "Kill Bill", also by Gantz) latch onto Reika and Suzuki during a fight between the Gantz Team and the vampires, transporting them back to the room and ultimately making them members of the Gantz Team, down to the cranial implants that detonate when exiting the playing field. Despite this, they remain on somewhat friendly terms with some of the aliens they encounter, even killing part of the Osaka Gantz team with them on their first mission out.