The bloody bits are staged to prompt gape jawed reactions. Even if he is suffering rather than enjoying the thrill of sex and excitement, Gantz exalts those qualities. There's a flip side to the hell that Kurono goes through.

Except, in this manga, the consequence of lack of forethought often arrives with grisly fatality. As in reality, the subjects of Gantz are guilty of not thinking through their actions. Characters aren't simply thick, in service of moving the plot along. Kurono is far from alone in looking like a not entirely undeserving victim of his circumstances. This quality makes him look like a complete heel, especially he as surveys young women with the expectation of finding a replacement hook-up. With this attitude in play, he curdles his relationship with Kishimoto, which in turn makes him dejected in the face of survival/victory. Though he has yet to demonstrate it in virtue or effectiveness, Kurono thinks of himself as the hero. A sign of bad gender politics in fiction is when the protagonist becomes entitled to gratification because of his heroism. Beyond showcasing the character exacerbating his mortal peril, the manga also showcases how he is miserable in his dealings with the opposite sex. The volume opens with Kurono in dire straights after outsmarting himself leading into the latest alien hunt. However, beyond the acute external threats, Hiroya Oku has a sharp pen when it comes to depicting personal failings and missteps. Like a genie's wish that turns against its caster, this grotesque serves to underscore how nightmarish this particular exercise in dream realization has turned. Like Battle Royale, Kurono and company are locked into a kill or be killed situation marked by a disquieting specter of savage violence. Though Gantz opens with a corporeal resurrection, the manga makes it explicitly clear that the consequence of screwing up is more along the lines of spending a few, final moments bleeding out the eyes than merely a set back. This is no 'with great powers comes great responsibility.' In this case, it's more like 'with a skin-tight black suit comes accusations that you're a geeky deviant.' Anyone who sees the weapons derisively scoffs at them as 'toys.' Yet, that embarrassment is the reward for surviving encounters with foes such as birdmen whose brain melting screech will have your organs running out your ears. Gantz's situation proves to be a brutal one, in which the participants get chewed up and often look stupid doing it. Except, in actuality, the super powered bug hunt doesn't prove to be honorable, pretty or satisfying. So Kei Kurono has the opportunity to get the girl, get the glory and prove that he is in fact the wolf in the world of sheep. More so when chesty peer/fellow resurrectee Kei Kishimoto opts to shack up with him when she finds she can't go home. Given some Halo-esque guns, he and a group of similarly resurrected folks are turned out into Japan's streets to hunt down 'aliens.' In theory, this should be a wish fulfillment scenario. Kei Kurono is given the opportunity to prove that he's actually special when he's plucked from death by ongoing express train, equipped with a skin-tight black suit that allows him to leap the length of a football field, crush bones with grip strength, and survive steam rolling attacks from creatures with monstrous physiques. Its lead is a hormonally driven teen who think he's a bright beacon trapped in a dull world. On one hand, Gantz scores points for its acerbic view of humanity. As Gantz has developed, the latter seems to be dominating, with nastiest dog in the fight vigor, but the manga still manages an interesting cocktail of a bit of column A and a bit of column B. Then, there is 'mature' manga that is defined by 'oh shit! Don’t want the kiddies to see that' moments. There are mature manga that address subjects in a thoughtful, adult manner.

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