History YMMV / GantZ

* DarknessInducedAudienceApathy: Aside from the blood and gore everywhere and the overly gritty tone, it's really hard to sympathize with the main characters as many of them are {{jerkass}}es at best and downright malicious at worst. Even with the series getting EarnYourHappyEnding, it still feels like a chore to read through for some.
* DesignatedHero: Kurono is an ''asshole'' in the early parts of the story. He gets better.

* GrowingTheBeard: For the first 9 volumes, Gantz was a GuiltyPleasure consisting of naked women, {{Gorn}}, and a JerkAss AntiHero. Along came Tae and much needed CharacterDevelopment for the protagonist, and the manga never looked back since. Well, you still get LudicrousGibs and loads of {{Fanservice}}, but both are now ''beside the point.''

* {{Wangst}}: Kato's actually strong, tolerably smart by the series' standards (which, granted, aren't all that high), and fairly effective whenever he manages to stop boo-hoo-hooing about ... well, pretty much everything ... and actually ''do'' something other than just whine about it. Which is to say, almost never, at least up through the Buddhist Temple arc.

** Also Ayumu, Kato's little brother. Both their parents die and are took in by their aunt, who constantly abuses them. Just when they finally gathered enough money for the two to live on their own, Masaru dies and he is abandoned for more than 10 months. When Kato finally is revived, he discovers Ayumu rumming through garbage cans, implying he was surviving on his own during the time Masaru was dead.

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: The Vampires subplot itself is also casually forgotten, when their involvement in the alien invasion side-by-side with the Gantz players could've been extremely interesting

* DesignatedVillain: Some aliens only try to live through normal lives, without bothering anybody.

* HollywoodHomely: Tae. Her face is a bit unusual compared to most other characters, and it's not entirely clear at first whether this is meant to suggest that she's ugly, that she's not pure Japanese (some mainland Asian peoples have that kind of facial structure), or that she's mentally challenged (it's also similar to the characteristic appearance of people with Trisomy 21). That said, there are plenty of characters in the series that are actually ugly (most "thuggish" characters... the Yakuza, the school bullies, the bikers... tend to be ''hideous''), and Tae isn't one of them.

* SeasonalRot: Although the first and second phases are liked by most fans, the third and final phrase is panned by readers. Reasons include its RomanticPlotTumor, {{Padding}}, [[TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter several famous characters being ignored]] and focus on action over horror.

** During the Osaka arc, [[spoiler:some Osaka team members are seen raping various female demon/aliens, which is bad enough. But then you see one stuffing his hand in the ''mouth on the back of one's head''. That took it to new levels of grossout.]] Not to mention how many times they have pointless [=ECUs=] of people's spit coming out of their mouths; not total grossout, but it'd be nice if there was less of it.

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: The Vampires sub-plot itself is also casually forgotten, when their involvement in the alien invasion side-by-side with the Gantz players could've been extremely interesting

* {{Padding}}: There's a lot of meaningless pages of running, screaming, grunting and moaning, The series can be shortened a few volumes if you erased these parts.

*** The female demon/aliens being raped is a Futakuchi-onna and a Rokurokubi.

* SeasonalRot: Although the first and second phases are liked by most fans, the third and final phrase is panned by readers. Reasons include its RomanticPlotTumor, {{Padding}}, [[TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter Several famous characters being ignored]] and focus on action over horror.

** For the most part, Nishi was a JerkAss HeelFaceRevolvingDoor. He finally crosses the line, however, in Chapter 364 [[spoiler: during his final fight against Kei. While fighting him, Nishi sees Tae standing nearby. Knowing how important she is to Kei, he sports a SlasherSmile he fires a cheap shot at her. While Tae barely hangs on, Nishi's morality points are moot judging from [[EvilLaugh his laughter]] and [[EvilGloating shameless gloating about killing Kei's girl.]]]]

* DamselScrappy: Tae gets under the skin of some readers because she needs to be rescued often. [[FanDumb another source of hatred has been the fact she's not as attractive (thus "good for Kurono") as]] [[FanPreferredCouple Reika]].

* FanPreferredCouple: Kurono/Reika...with the interesting twist of [[spoiler:having two Kuronos now]]. Other fans see her as a scrappy.

* HollywoodHomely: Tae. Her face is a bit unusual compared to most other characters, and it's not entirely clear at first whether this is meant to suggest that she's ugly, that she's not pure Japanese (some mainland Asian peoples have that kind of facial structure), or that she's mentally challenged (it's also similar to the characteristic appearance of people with Trisomy 21). That said, there are plenty of characters in the series that are actually ugly (most "thuggish" characters ... the Yakuza, the school bullies, the bikers ... tend to be ''hideous''), and Tae isn't one of them.

* Also Ayumu, Kato's little brother. Both their parents die and are took in by their aunt, who constantly abuses them. Just when they finally gathered enough money for the two to live on their own, Masaru dies and he is abandoned for more than 10 months. When Kato finally is revived, he discovers Ayumu rumming through garbage cans, implying he was surviving on his own during the time Masaru was dead.

** The female demon/aliens being raped is a Futakuchi-onna and a Rokurokubi.

* {{Wangst}}: Kurono's actually strong, tolerably smart by the series' standards (which, granted, aren't all that high), and fairly effective whenever he manages to stop boo-hoo-hooing about ... well, pretty much everything ... and actually ''do'' something other than just whine about it. Which is to say, almost never, at least up through the Buddhist Temple arc.

* AngstWhatAngst: [[spoiler: Cloned]] Kurono seems to get over the fact that he is not [[spoiler: the "real" one]] rather quickly. Of course, living with an IdolSinger who falls head over heels for him obviously helps.

* RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap: Nishi started off as an ''asshole'' who, while experienced, was constantly seen disappearing from battle and leaving much of his colleagues to die. That all changed in chapter 341 [[spoiler: where he kicks the viral monsters' asses and saves Takeshi from the explosion at the department.]]

* {{Squick}}: During the Osaka arc, [[spoiler:some Osaka team members are seen raping various female demon/aliens, which is bad enough. But then you see one stuffing his hand in the ''mouth on the back of one's head''. That took it to new levels of grossout.]] Not to mention how many times they have pointless [=ECUs=] of people's spit coming out of their mouths; not total grossout, but it'd be nice if there was less of it.

** TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: The Vampires sub-plot itself is also casually forgotten, when their involvement in the alien invasion side-by-side with the Gantz players could've been extremely interesting

* {{Wangst}}: There's a ''reason'' the page image for the term is of Kato. He's actually strong, tolerably smart by the series' standards (which, granted, aren't all that high), and fairly effective whenever he manages to stop boo-hoo-hooing about ... well, pretty much everything ... and actually ''do'' something other than just whine about it. Which is to say, almost never, at least up through the Buddhist Temple arc.
** But.... The image is Kurono.

* Padding: There's a lot of meaningless pages of running, screaming, grunting and moaning, The series can be shortened a few volumes if you erased these parts.

* CrowningMusicOfAwesome: The opening to the anime [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ivgva0XdV4E Super Shooter]].

* FanNickname: [[spoiler:Clonerono]]. Also, "Muscle Rider" for Daizemon Kaze (which is his in-story nickname, but only Gantz and Takeshi call him that).

* MoralEventHorizon: Shion Izumi has done more than his fair share of [[KickTheDog dog kicking]] (just ask the '''387''' people he killed just to selfishly get himself back.) But all those 387 deaths were not as irredeemably heinous, [[TearJerker nor tragic]], as when he [[spoiler: cold-heartedly killed Tae in Volume 16.]] And while it was Gantz who assigned the mission, it was clear that one could choose ''not'' to kill her, much less in such a sudden, vile way. Rest assured though, [[spoiler: [[LaserGuidedKarma the vampires slay Izumi four volumes later]] and Tae gets revived by then.]]

* UnfortunateImplications: The African Americans that tried to fight the dinosaur-like aliens. It must probably have been done in purpose.

* {{Wangst}}: Your Mileage ''May'' Vary, but realistically, it won't. There's a ''reason'' the page image for the term is of Kato. He's actually strong, tolerably smart by the series' standards (which, granted, aren't all that high), and fairly effective whenever he manages to stop boo-hoo-hooing about ... well, pretty much everything ... and actually ''do'' something other than just whine about it. Which is to say, almost never, at least up through the Buddhist Temple arc.

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* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: That entire scene in the Room of Truth. Some extremely powerful god-like aliens deliver soul-crushing {{BreakingSpeech}}es to the heroes before sending them right back to the Giant Alien mothership to finish the series. Said god-like aliens are never seen or mentioned again, and even without the abrupt nature of the ending, they seem to exist solely to justify the Gantz technology, and pretty much explicitly say "So ... yeah ... you did what we wanted you to do, we're done with you now, your 21 grams of data can have a nice eternity being reincarnated, or not, we don't really care either way."

* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: That entire scene in the Room of Truth. Some extremely powerful god-like aliens deliver soul-crushing [[HannibalLecture Hannibal Lectures]] to the heroes before sending them right back to the Giant Alien mothership to finish the series. Said god-like aliens are never seen or mentioned again, and even without the abrupt nature of the ending, it's unknown what exactly Oku planned to do with them in the first place.
** Probably ''exactly what they did''. They seem to exist solely to justify the Gantz technology, and pretty much explicitly say "So ... yeah ... you did what we wanted you to do, we're done with you now, your 21 grams of data can have a nice eternity being reincarnated, or not, we don't really care either way."

* DamselScrappy: Oh, boy, all that "[[SayMyName TAAAAAEE-CHAAAN]]" business has surely gone under the readers' skin. Of course, [[FanDumb a part of the hatred has always been fueled by the fact she's not as attractive (thus "good for Kurono") as]] [[FanPreferredCouple Reika]], but still the author's efforts to keep the other characters busy rescuing her look almost perverse.
** YMMV greatly on this. Kei leaping from roof to roof to try to rescue Tae is seriously one of this series greatest Crowning Moments of Awesome.

* DesignatedVillain: Apparently some aliens only try to live through normal lives, without bothering anybody.

* FanPreferredCouple: Kurono/Reika...with the interesting twist of [[spoiler:having two Kuronos now]].
** Again, YMMV, Reika is viewed quite as something of a Scrappy by other fans.

* HollywoodHomely: Tae.
** Her face is a bit unusual compared to most other characters, and it's not entirely clear at first whether this is meant to suggest that she's ugly, that she's not pure Japanese (some mainland Asian peoples have that kind of facial structure), or that she's mentally challenged (it's also similar to the characteristic appearance of people with Trisomy 21). That said, there are plenty of characters in the series that are actually ugly (most "thuggish" characters ... the Yakuza, the school bullies, the bikers ... tend to be ''hideous''), and Tae isn't one of them.

* NeedsMoreLove

* TheWoobie: Takeshi, for officially having the worst childhood ''ever.'' The heartbreaking part? He's still a toddler.

* NightmareFuel: [[{{NightmareFuel/Gantz}} Has its own page.]]

* CrowningMomentOfAwesome: [[spoiler:An eight-year old kid beating up a 30m alien with nothing but his fists.]]. In a recent chapter when [[spoiler:Sakurai, lamenting over his dead girlfriend proceeds to use his PsychicPowers to tear apart a bunch of the invading aliens, who are just casually snacking on captured humans.]] Even more recently, [[spoiler: the original Kurono singlehandedly takes down a squadron of the invading aliens on their home turf, with only his Gantz gun and katana]].

* CompleteMonster: Shion Izumi. His apathy towards people (including his ''girlfriend'') and his delight for killing people just to return to Gantz is sickeningly evil and shows that he doesn't give a damn about others as long as he gets what he wants. [[spoiler: [[MoralEventHorizon And how he kills Tae Kojima puts his status as one beyond all doubt.]]]]
** Though, in his last moments, he seems to redeem himself by saving his girlfriend from the vampires.