Genre Action
Age Rating 18+
Price $12.95

Publisher's summary of volume from the back cover: "Will...will you...keep me... as your pet?" With Kurono and the others having reutnred to their own separate lives after barely surviving the fight to the death with the onion alien, Gantz starts collecting a new group of participants: gang members lured into a trap by a rival group, a grandmother and her grandson killed in an accident, and Hojo and Sadako, who were caught up in the same collision. Nishi has been spending his days and nights finding pleasure in the cruel slaughter of animals. Suddenly Nishi, Kurono, and the others find themselves unable to move and transported once ag ain to the G antz room with orders to catch the Tanaka alien!

Now this is honestly the volume where Gantz starts feeling contrived. Whereas the second volume ended on a high note, this one picks up from there and kicks off the next story arc. The first part seems cliche such as the episode with the bullies. And then there's the male-fantasy dialogue that no amount of translation will save: "Will you... keep me... as your pet?" I mean let's be honest, no sane girl would ever make that kind of request. The fact that it's followed by gratuitous fan service--not essential to the plot but certainly great eye candy, especially with those awkward nude positions--only proves what kind of demographic Gantz is aiming for. This is sex for sex's sake people so if you're looking for something more mature and sophisticated, you've been warned.

That's not to say this particular volume isn't without its merits. The cover, as usual, is stylish and I can throw as many complaints against Hiroya Oku but never that he's a bad artist. Too bad though that much of it is spent drawing nude female bodies, including a splash page or two, as there's not much action here. Perhaps that's the biggest flaw of this manga, that this is a transition volume, and Oku throws in lots of sex to make up for the lack of conflict. Those following the mystery of Gantz on the other hand get more clues as to the enigmatic rules and agenda of Gantz and to be fair, the manga does end on a high note--a cliffhanger to be exact that makes you eager for the next volume. But aside from that, this is pretty much a lackluster volume, especially considering what's been established in the previous volumes.

Lots of fan-service and little of the action we've come to expect. Sets up the next volume but otherwise indulgent and unremarkable.

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