Gantz (One of the greatest manga of the decade.)

It's one of the greatest seinen manga and one of the best manga in general.
Kei Kurono is possibly the greatest protagonist in a manga. You'll never feel for a character the same way you feel for Kurono. You hate him, then love him, hate him again, then go right back to loving him. You'll never look at a protagonist the way you'd look at Kei Kurono.
It was also one of the most highly demanded manga in the U.S.

Also, HSotD fans, this manga is highly recommended. They are both very much alike in theme. (Even though I personally think HSotD's protagonist is a poor man's version of Kei Kurono. Sorry guys, I still love HSotD though.)

For those that want to know what it's about here:

Gantz Plot said:

Kei Kurono, a rather unpleasant teenage student, is run over by a train after he and his childhood friend Masaru Kato rescue a hobo from the rails. Instead of being dead, suddenly Kurono finds himself in a small apartment along with Kato, a bunch of weird people (including a hot naked girl, a dog, and a middle-school boy who seems to be the only one who knows what's going on) and a Giant Black Sphere.

The Black Sphere names itself Gantz, sings an old war song, and explains the situation: They were dead, but Gantz needs them for the mission of killing a weird alien creature (the first of a series, as it turns out). The rules are easy: They have one hour to complete the assignment

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Anything else beyond that is kind of spoiler-ish.

It's warped, and it's twisted; It's got chunks of meat flying around, and enough blood spilt to fill several swimming pools.
But behind all that goreiness is a brilliant coming-of-age tale that deals with diverse themes: not only the usual love/friendship commonly found in similar works, but also deeper topics such as the intrinsic value of life, the escapist instinct and other juicy fun stuff.
This, when married to awe-inspiring storytelling - the kind that renders one unable to stop reading until the end of the book (only to set one off on a mad quest to find the next volume afterwards,) - you, uh, get something really cool.

Although i haven't read the manga I loved the anime, well for the most part anyway.

I agree Kei was a good protagonist for the reasons you said.

Think I had the Takashi V Komuro discussion before, HOTD has only aired 9 episodes compared to the 2 seasons/load more chapters of Gantz. There is still a lot more time for character development on Takashi's side (If a second season of HOTD comes too that is)...so i will hold my judgement until then, or when i have given the manga a read.

GANTZ SPOILER.

-Lapras- said:

Although i haven't read the manga I loved the anime, well for the most part anyway.

I agree Kei was a good protagonist for the reasons you said.

Think I had the Takashi V Komuro discussion before, HOTD has only aired 9 episodes compared to the 2 seasons/load more chapters of Gantz. There is still a lot more time for character development on Takashi's side (If a second season of HOTD comes too that is)...so i will hold my judgement until then, or when i have given the manga a read.

GANTZ SPOILER.

Spoiler:

Although it seems like i'm more a HOTD fan i really doubt that anime will make me as sad as Gantz Second Stage (or whatever it was called) did....When everyone started getting killed i was close to tears, especially when Sei Sakuraoka got lazered. It's cool to make up words right?

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You have to read the manga. The anime is nothing compared to it (It got the Fullmetal Alchemist treatment.). The manga is where Kei Kurono actually gets his incredible character development.