I dropped the Gantz manga series quite some time ago, but it was only a few days ago when I picked it up from where I last stopped. I think it was the after the Temple arc, where everyone except Kurono died. I realised how stupid I was to have dropped such a great manga series. The storyline’s pretty solid. And there’s one thing I like about Gantz.
The characters die. Yes. I am no sadist, but I’m actually happy that the characters, even Kurono (main character), died. Why?
The answer is simple. Characters dying in a gory manga with such intense violence adds on to the realism. Also, deaths which have some form of meaning add bonus points to the series too. There are many great anime/manga series, but those great ones which have characters dying are uncommon.
Many anime/manga series do not easily kill of characters for two reason. They are either shonen genre, and killing characters would be as good as indirectly teaching the kids that “Killing is good”. Or, they are afraid to lose viewers/readers once they kill off a character. Take One Piece for example. Look at all the fights the Straw Hat Pirates have been through. They won every single one, but has any villain who they have defeated died? No. The reason is probably because it’s a Shonen series. But then again, killing off villians would not have any impact anyway. If a member of Luffy’s crew died (would probably never happen), there would have been some sort of impact on the viewers/readers.
Then look at Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann. Many characters died. Gainax did not hold back killing characters when they needed to, despite it being a shonen series. They almost lost many viewers when they killed off their first character, Kamina. I almost dropped it as Kamina’s death made the series depressing. This followed on with more deaths of some members of the Dai Gurren Dan. However, it turned out that their deaths were of a great impact to the storyline, and played a great role in how the story ended. That’s an example of what I am trying to say about character deaths in anime/manga.
And lastly, Battle Royale. Mimura’s death was totally unexpected as everything was going his way. In fact, I was expecting him to own Kiriyama’s ass. I almost wanted to drop the manga after he died, as he was my favourite character in the story. His death played a huge role in encouraging Nanahara to fight on and survive. This could have been a good example of a manga which uses death to make a great impact on the story, but I refuse to use it as a valid example as almost everyone is supposed to die in the story.
I’m not trying to say that all anime/manga series which have fight scenes should have characters dying. Not all series are suitable to have character deaths.
In the case of Gantz, I really salute the author for being willing to kill off characters, making them drop like flies. I cannot remember how many have died ever since the start of the manga. Random characters in every hunt are flicked off the storyline, and so are the innocent citizens who get annihilated in the crossfire of battle. The important point,however, is that the main characters’ lives were not spared too. Kurono and Katou both died, and both deaths had an impact on the way the story went.
This shows that the mangaka does not have any qualms about casting the death sentence to any character. This only adds on to the excitement, as any character, even the strongest, could just die anytime in battle. Instead of losing readers due to their favourite character being slain, it actually hooks the reader onto the story.
However, one thing that should be avoided would be overkilling. If the entire cast keeps wiping, and new members are constantly introduced, it would eventually turn into a failure. But, I doubt this would happen, as the series is going fine as of now.
So far, I think Gantz is the only series that I can think off that can get away with killing characters. The ability to revive characters when one hits 100 points allows it to do so. I am guessing that Kurono would be revived once the current battle in Osaka has ended.
To end off this post, deaths in media, not only anime and manga, can create a desired impact on the viewer/reader, making them lust for more knowledge on how the story continues, only if it’s used properly. Mass killing random characters would not do a thing to improve the story, and only make it a typical brainless massacre story. Something that viewers/readers who watch/read for a great storyline would hate.
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