After being intrigued by some previews for a "Fathom Events" presentation of Gantz (the English dub), I was lucky enough to see it, and its sequel, in their original versions at the New York Asian Film Festival last Fourth of July. I deliberately went into the two movies (screened back to back) without reading anything about the plot before hand, and the result was one of the best movie experiences I've ever had. It's not because Gantz, a Japanese sci-fi movie based on a manga of the same name, is necessarily a masterpiece. But watching the eccentric/creative plot elements unfold from a completely blank slate, combined with an incredibly enthusiastic audience of fans, was a very entertaining experience.
The music of Gantz is composed by Kenji Kawai, who I was introduced to with his soundtrack to the game "Nobunaga's Ambition Online", but who has worked much more extensively in movies and anime. His soundtracks include some classics like Ghost in the Shell, The Ring, Death Note, and the Chinese movie, Ip Man. Kawai has a very distinctive style - he seems to use orchestras and other live instruments, but he mixes them so heavily as to make them sound almost synthesized. The result is a "perfect" orchestra, with its richness and nuance stripped in favor of precision and mood. It's an effect that took some getting used to, but one that I've come to enjoy. The majority of his music goes for atmosphere over melody, but when he hits on a theme, he does it very well.
This song is an example of that. It's the final track of the first movie, used in the scene that sets up the cliffhanger. It's a heroic melody, repeating a motif a number of times as it proceeds up the scale, resulting in a nice crescendo around 4:30. This song, combined with my audience experience, definitely made the end of Gantz one of the most memorable cliffhangers I've seen. Enjoy!
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Album info: http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/detailview.html?KEY=VPCD-81693
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