GANTZ live-action movie

GANTZ Japan premiere on January 29, 2011(Natsuna Watanabe, Kanata Hongo, Ken'ichi Matsuyama, Yuriko Yoshitaka, Yamada Takayuki, director Shinsuke Sato)

Two college students Kei Kurono and Masaru Kato die in a train accident, but brought back to life by a mysterious entity known as GANTZ. Equipped with advanced weaponry and special suits that give them superhuman abilities, they're forced to carry out alien assassination missions, earning "points" toward eventually buying their freedom.

Kazunari Ninomiya as Kei Kurono
Main protagonist. In the beginning, he is a rather selfish character, who often ends up being the reluctant hero. However, afterall Kei starts taking care of other people as well, and he starts to avoid casualties amongst Gantz team members.


Ken'ichi Matsuyama as Masaru Kato
Childhood friend of Kei Kurono. He is understanding and gentle, pacifist and uses force only when necessary. He is constantly looking for a second way to ending the game rather than just killing the targeted aliens. In life often acts as a guardian to the weaker ones who often find themselves bullied.


Yuriko Yoshitaka as Tae Kojima
Kei Kurono's first actual girlfriend. Shy and awkward girl, kind and understanding girlfriend to Kurono, giving him a reason and something to look forward to from coming back from the Gantz missions.


Natsuna Watanabe as Kei Kishimoto
Member of the first Gantz team. She has gentle, kind hearted and naive nature. Unlike many of the others characters, she did not exactly die. Gantz accidentally created a copy of Kishimoto to use in missions while her original self survived.


Kanata Hongo as Joichiro Nishi
Middle-school veteran of the Gantz world, having arrived there over a year before the beginning of the Gantz. He is calm, cold and very blunt about the facts of the Gantz game, don't care about the other players.


Tomorowo Taguchi as Yoshikazu Suzuki
Best known as "Old Man" ("Occhan"). Fairly old widower who has a grandson.


Takayuki Yamada as Masamitsu Shigeta
The mysterious man, original character for live-action movies.

And also
Kensuke Chisaka as Ayumu Kato
Kazuyuki Asano as Kurono's father

Onion Alien mission
Toshimasa Komatsu
as school teacher
Motoki Ochiai
as blond guy


Kazuhide Kobayashi as yakuza

Tanaka Alien mission
Merii as Shiraishi Izumi

Buddha Alien mission
Donpei Tsuchihira
as priest
Yusuke Furusawa
as man in camouflage


Shun'ya Shiraishi as Hiroto Sakurai

(Hint: hover on image for cast info, images are also clickable)

Kazunari Ninomiya:I thought that if we were going to do a live action version, we should do it properly. But (as an actor) I couldn't talk about how the movie should be directed, and that made me a little sad. But I put everything I could into this movie.

Kazunari Ninomiya:There was a lot of waiting time (during filming) so people who didn't wear the suit would be playing around and trying it on. I'm talking about (co-star) Yoshitaka-san.

Yuriko Yoshitaka:Why did you bring that up now!? I thought everyone had gone home so I thought this was my chance and tried it on. But then, Ninomiya-san hadn't gone home yet. But when I put it on it was more revealing than I had imagined%u2026 and I threw it off because I got embarrassed.

Kazunari Ninomiya:I was concerned about who would play Kato. But they told me they were thinking of Matsuyama-san and I just went, 'if Matsuyama-san's involved, I want to be a part of this.

Ken'ichi Matsuyama:I feel very privileged to hear Ninomiya-san speak of me like that. I couldn't think of anyone else to play Kurono but Ninomiya-san as well.

source: momoedgewood

 
Making of GANTZ
into the "G" - Gantz Navigate DVD

 
Making of GANTZ part 2
into the "G" II - Gantz: Perfect Answer Navigate DVD

• Estimated production costs were approximately 4 billion yen ($45 millions).
  $22 millions were spent on CGI, stunts, and special effects.


• GANTZ body suit had cost 500,000 yen ($6, 000) to make.


• Filming started in November, 2009 and lasted almost six months.


• Japan's Nippon Television Network (NTV) has sold distribution rights to over 45 companies from 13 countries and regions.


• In USA Gantz is distributed by VIZ Company and it held the U.S. world premiere simultaneously at 300 theaters nationwide 9 days before it opened in Japan.


• GANTZ movies are produced by Takahiro Sato, who also handled such manga adaptation as Death Note and Yattaman. Screenwriter of successful trilogy 20th Century Boys Yusuke Watanabe took over screenplays. Digital Frontier (Summer Wars, Appleseed, Evangelion: 1.0) is in charge of the CG work. And the music for movies wrote acclaimed composer Kenji Kawai.

1. Kokuten Kidou (0:57)
   
2. Radio Taisou No Uta (0:49)
   
3. Keimou Housha (4:00)
   
4. Tensou (0:46)
   
5. Tsuisou Canon (3:09)
   
6. Mezamenu Yume (2:04)
   
7. Tomo (0:38)
   
8. Mezameru Yume (0:56)
   
9. Second Life (1:33)
   
10. Tanaka Seijin (3:28)
    
11. Kishuu (4:24)
    
12. Message (1:15)
    
13. WAX ON (1:57)
    
14. Kaikou (3:31)
    
15. Kyuugou No Kane (2:10)
    
16. Niou Taiko Kara No Mezame (5:44)
    
17. Senju Seisen No Hajimari (3:25)
    
18. Fukushuu (5:17)
    
19. Yomigaeru Kodou (1:35)
    
20. Eiyuu (1:22)
    
21. Ushinawareta Hikari (2:15)
    
22. Kaisei (3:08)
    
23. BOOT UP KURONO-Kidou- (1:02)
    
24. RESURRECTION IN THE GANTZ FIELD-Fukkatsu- (5:21)

GANTZ VISUAL BOOK
Ninomiya Kazunari & Matsuyama Kenichi

• Hiroya Oku's Gantz manga chapters have been published in Shueisha's magazine Weekly Young Jump magazine since July of 2000, and the 26 current volumes have sold over 10 million copies.


• Publishing company Dark Horse Comics acquired the licensing rights for the release of English translations of Gantz on July 1, 2007, during the Anime Expo.The first English volume was released on June 25, 2008. The series is also published by various companies in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Brazil, Mexico and Argentina.


• The manga have already got cult status in Japan and Europe. Several of its volumes were featured in lists of best seller volumes from Japan. During 2008 Gantz manga sold 175,000 copies in America. Volume 4 of the manga has appeared in The New York Times's "Manga Best Seller List" ranking at 8th. About.com's Deb Aoki listed Gantz as the best new seinen of 2008 along with Black Lagoon.


• Although main characters Kei and Masaru are high school students in the manga, they are older in the movie. Kei has been turned into a college student looking for work, while Masaru is already working and taking care of his younger brother. The two childhood friends happen to meet again on a subway platform.

• The original manga was adapted as anime series directed by Ichiro Itano and animated by Gonzo in 2004. It aired in Japan on Fuji Television and AT-X. The first season known as "The First Stage" ran for 13 episodes and had a direct sequel called Gantz: Second Stage, which continued the series for another 13 episodes. The First Stage aired in Japan with several scenes censored due to inappropriate content such as violence or nudity.


• It was licensed in North America by ADV Films. The series was released in uncut form, retaining the violence and nudity previously censored in Japan's broadcast. Also the anime is distributed in the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand.


• The Gantz anime has also received praise and has been critically acclaimed as being extremely "violent", "gory" and "sadistic" and yet is also very "addictive", even when it was censored when it was broadcast.