On Thursday, January 18th, the world premier showing of live-action “Gantz” had many a manga lover crowding into packed theaters, filled with anticipation for what could either be an amazing reenactment of their favorite manga series, or, as so many live-action films have done in the past, leave them feeling cheated.

“Gantz” is about what happens to some Tokyo residents after they die. Instead of going to the “great beyond,” they appear in a white-walled room that is completely empty except for a large black sphere named Gantz.

Gantz sends these people out on suicide missions to kill aliens. Few survive, but those who do are awarded varying amounts of points. The object of Gantz’s game is to gain 100 points to either be revived and set free or to resurrect someone who has died during the alien games.

The missions are extremely violent and are full of blood, gore and many exploding body parts. Due to the horrific nature of the manga, the live-action film is rated R, which is a definite bonus.

Being rated R, live-action Gantz was able to portray some of the most well-known parts of the manga in all their glory. This is not a movie for the weak stomached. Every other scene has someone being brutally harmed in any number of terrible ways.

Gantz is not just a constant bloodbath though; it is also sarcastically funny and filled with dry wit. Gantz himself has many hilarious one-liners.

Since this Japanese film was shown in America shortly after its completion, there was no time to add subtitles. Consequently, many heartfelt scenes were made laughable and awkward by subpar voice actors.

It is hard to know if the plot was completely ruined by the voice acting or if there was simply a lack of plot to begin with. As was mentioned earlier, Gantz is little more than scene after scene of bloody battles, and the attempts at romance and tearjerkers fell short due to the characters’ lack of humanity.

The live-action film strays pretty far away from the manga in some areas. Although the players go on the same missions and meet the same aliens, the characters themselves have changed. Fans of the series will be confused by the seemingly irrational choice of who is in the movie and who is left out.

On the other hand, someone watching Gantz, knowing nothing of the series, will likely feel lost, because the movie did a poor job of explaining the happenings in a way that would be easily understood by people who have not read the manga.

The graphics, though, are amazing. Every creepy alien, torn-apart body, crushed skull and crumbling building looks completely real. It is these graphics that make the movie stand out.

Gantz is a very popular and unique manga, and the live-action movie was highly anticipated by fans of the game, but it fell short. Whatever plot there was in the movie was masked by bad voice acting, and the choice to change some of the key points of the manga further ruined this would-be classic.

If you are a fan of Gantz, it is worth watching just to see your favorite characters come to life, but I highly recommend waiting for a version with subtitles.