The Tanaka Alien Mission is the second mission seen in the Gantz series.
The mission lasts from Chapter 34 to 53 of the Gantz manga, and has been adapted into Episode 5 - 14 of the 2004 anime series. It has also been adapted as part of the 2010 Gantz movie.
In this arc, Kei Kurono, Masaru Kato, Joichiro Nishi, Rice and Kei Kishimoto are sent back to the room to kill more aliens being joined by four members of the Zoku Biker Gang, Masanobu Hojo and his stalker Sadayo Suzumura and the Sugimoto's a grandmother and grandson with all of them being forced to hunt and survive mostly dangerous aliens.
Game Area[]
The game area is a part of Itabahsi, Tokyo and includes several blocks of houses and includes the bridge where the alien is first encountered and their lair. Once you reach the border of the Game Area you hear a ringing noise and if you leave it the bomb in your head activates and you die which happens to Shinsuke Nishikawa as they are running away from the bridge.
Mission Objective[]
In this mission, the alien that appeared on the Gantz screen was most likely the Shopping Tanaka Alien since the Black Sphere directly transported the players to him. Again the shown alien was made out to be the sole target of this mission which it wasn't. Instead there were 11 more aliens plus dozens of hatchlings and Eggs. Every adult Tanaka killed was worth 5 points while their Boss was worth eight. This led to Kato getting 5 points, Kishimoto and Hojo getting 10 points and Kurono getting 38 points.
Targets[]
- Tanaka Alien Eggs
- Tanaka Alien Hatchlings
- Shopping Tanaka Alien
- Flock of Tanaka's
- Apartment Tanaka's
- Tanaka Aliens' Boss
Players[]
Summary[]
After being brought to the Tokyo room the new hunters demand to know what is going on and Masaru Kato starts explaining things to them which angers Joichiro Nishi. He also convinces most of them to put on the soft suits. One of them then shoots at Nishi who retaliates with shooting back killing him. He is then send out first followed by Kurono whom left his suit behind at his apartment and immediately comes faces to face with the Shopping Tanaka Alien as he is being send out of the room. The alien however ignores him but when Kurono points its gun at him its hatchlings climb upon Kurono and start biting him. This causes Kurono to try to shake it off which angers the alien whom starts to follow Kurono as he meets up with the others. Whom discuss him as an invisible Nishi shoots one of its hatchlings causing it to angrily turn its head and fire at him, rendering him partially visible. Nishi then jumps away form it into a river and the alien flies after him intent to kill him. They then start fighting in the water with Nishi been rendered visible after a few shots then as it tries to finish Nishi off he manages to punch it into a wall and starts calling out for help as his suit malfunctions but three of the new hunters which are part of a biker gang start insulting him while laughing about his predicament. Kato however jumps of the bridge to help and as Kishimoto makes to follow him Kurono stops her and leads her to the water side. Meanwhile Nishi's eyes get blown up by the alien and Kato starts fighting it. Then as it tries to kill Kato, Kurono shoots at it with the Y-gun but it dodges by flying beneath it closer to Kato. Who dodges it and wrestles with it in the water and gets his arms around it and he then starts crushing it in a bear-hug. Elsewhere the new hunters try to leave the game area and Shinsuke Nishikawa's head is blown off. Kato then crushes the alien which opens it head revealing it is actually a big anthropomorphic bird that is wearing a Tanaka shaped shell. It then tries to get out of its shell but Kurono shoots it with the Y-gun and sends it away.
The others then returns and the two remaining bikers start killing the hatchlings as Nishi is dieng while calling for his mother. They then figure out there must be one more and Kato pulls out Nishi's controller which is broken and then new hunter Masanobu Hojo shows the one he grabbed while the biker named Haruya Numata shows he has one of them too. Masaru then wonders what to do and tries to question Nishi who tells him about getting 100 points before dying. Kato then takes a leadership position as he tells them that if they want to be free they should try to help him capture the other Tanaka alien. They then find out there is a time limit of 32 minutes and Kato leads them all away telling Kurono to stay behind where it is safe since he doesn't have suit. As Kato leaves the bikers double back and put Kurono at gun point demanding his gun, Kurono tries to resist and get away during which he manages to grab Nishi's gun and hide it away as the bikers force him to start walking. Kato and those with him are then boxed in by a Flock of Tanaka's whom start firing at them, but Kato tackles the nearest to the ground with a bear hug causing the other four to gang up on him. Kishimoto then tries to shoot one of them but is blasted away by an energy shot. Kato then forces the bird from its shell which starts running away, but Kato breaking through the other four tanaka's chases it and punches it to the ground. The other four then come up behind him and start blasting his suit rendering it inert, luckily Kishimoto shoots one of them while Hojo bear-hugs another which gets out of its shell and runs away from them. The other two then fly off. Two of the new hunters grandmother Kayo Sugimoto and her grandson Ryota Sugimoto have walked away from Kato's group and Ryota takes a leak during which the remaining two Tanaka's show up and Kayo tells Ryota to run away which he does. He tries to get a cop to help him but the cop can't see him so he runs back to his grandmother whom collapses onto the ground seemingly killed by the aliens but as Ryota starts hugging her she hugs back trying to shield him from the aliens who then mercilessly kill the both of them.
The remaining alien then tries to get back in its shell but dies before it can manage to do so. Kato then figures out the other two flew off to chase the Sugimoto. Elsewhere Kurono is forced to go into the lair of the Tanaka's and when he is forced to go to the second floor he finds himself surrounded by Tanaka hatchlings and six Apartment Tanaka's. A door opposite of him then opens revealing the back of Tanaka Aliens' Boss whom is surrounded by Tanaka Alien Eggs. Kurono thinks he is going to die as the aliens around him start calling out for Yuzo which Kei tells them he is which seem to please him but then as he gets bitten by hatchlings which he carefully tries to put down on the ground he accidentally starts stepping on one making the boss turn its head and get up while the other aliens all become angry at him. The boss then walsk out of its room and walks to Kurono hulking over him while looking down at Kurono who thinks his days are numbered. The bikers outside wonder what is going on while Kishimoto and Hojo leave Kato behind to deal with the final two aliens. They then each manage to kill one of them by shooting it multiple times. Kato then checks the Sugimoto and finds out that they are dead. Then with 15 minutes left they head for the final aliens. Kurono in the apartment with the final aliens pulls out his gun and puts it next to the boss his beak threatening to kill him if the others don't back off. They then start firing upon him and Kurono shoots but the boss dodges it, Kurono then shoots the floor and the walls as they all attack him. Then after falling through the floor he manages to run out of the apartment building which collapses in on itself apparently killing all of the aliens inside. Kurono then screams in joy about taking them down. Kato then joins up with him and they wonder if it is over.
The biker Haruya then wonders what Kurono did before being lifted into the air by the Tanaka Boss who literally bites his head off before releasing the rest of his body. It then lands in front of Hojo and looks him down before noticing and chasing Kurono while pushing Hojo out of the way before grabbing Kurono into its shoulder and lifting him high into the air. It then tries to bite of Kurono's head but he dodges it then tries to pull Kurono apart by grabbing his leg but Kurono manages to grab a hold of its breathing apparatus instead and pulls it off making it drop him. Then as he falls from the sky he manages to shoot off its head killing it. He then lands on a rooftop as the body of the alien falls onto the nearby road. They then get transferred back to the room.
Survivors[]
- Kei Kurono (was stuck on a roof, earns 38 points)
- Kei Kishimoto (earns 10 points)
- Masaru Kato (earns 5 points)
- Rice (earns 0 points)
- Masanobu Hojo (earns 10 points)
- Sadayo Suzumura (earns 0 points)
- Tetsuo Nemoto (earns 0 points)
Equipment[]
- Basic Suit 8x
- X-Gun 4x
- X-Shotgun 1x
- Y-Gun 2x
- Controller 3x
Trivia[]
- Before the start of this mission, it has been the only mission seen thus far where a player is killed before the actual game starts.
- Tanaka was named after Seiji Tanaka, a folk singer from the 1970s whose song lyrics were often quoted by the aliens.
- Even though it is spelt like Tanaka everybody says it as Suzuki.
- None of the biker gang can get his name right. They call him Yamada, Sato, and Yoshida. Tetsuo is the only one to get it right (though in the English version of the anime he did once get it wrong by calling him Subaru, and no one corrects him).
- People speculate how Nishi was killed so easily, as he has survived many games before and got killed by such a weak enemy. One reason for this is that he got shot before the game began, which made the suit weak, or indeed Nishi's luck had ran out.