I've been doing nothing as usual. Reading manga. Gantz specifically.
Gantz is an awesome manga, and I think its like the 5th most popular non shonen manga in japan. And its deep. Very deep. The character development is solid, the setting is intriguing. I strongly recommend it, also it has some gore and nudity, and by some I mean a lot. A lot a lot.
I think Daryl told me about it in year 2, he called it "Zombies Vs Aliens"
Basically, its about people who are given a second chance after death to return to the living in return for bounty hunter services. The authority figure is a mysterious black ball that possesses almost godlike abilities with an air of non nonchalance regarding the lives of the bounty hunters. The ball's "game" is played as such: You receive high tech weapons and armor and are sent forth to kill aliens living on Earth. The aliens are usually extremely deadly, and its a kill or be killed mentality. You get to watch the main characters exercise their morality over the game, like one main character refuses to kill aliens because he refuses to kill. Expectedly, he is killed first. Another usually has no respect for life, but when he is given the opportunity, he freezes and is unable to do it. He's killed too. You watch as they bend and twist themselves in order to survive. And you're left with a question.
What would you do?
Imagine someone holds your way of life hostage, and asks you to kill another person, that person, understandably, is hostile, and you have to kill or be killed.
Would you freeze up? Would you try to reason? Personally, I think I would be the second person. Killing seems so easy in your head, but when it comes down to the split second trigger pull, I would probably hesitate. And die.
The other philosophy encountered is when you win the game. Each alien is assigned a set number of points. When you get a 100 points, you are presented with a choice.
1. You are set free from bounty hunting, cheating death and your memories of the black ball erased, and everyone associated with it.
2. You trade all your points for a more powerful weapon to wield, increasing your chances of survival.
3. You trade in all your points to bring 1 person who died in combat back to life. But he is still enslaved to the ball until he reaches his own 100 points.
For 1, you go back to your ordinary life, forgetting all the pain and friendships you made while enslaved to the ball. Going from the rush of battle to the mindless tedium of everyday life, some people go crazy.
For 2, you voluntarily risk your life to become more powerful, a deal with the devil. Characters who chose this become addicted to killing and to the rush of battle, and are seen scorning the lives of their own teammates, choosing points over life. They measure your worth by your points.
For 3, while risking your lives together against the very real threat of death, some of your hard fought comrades will die. Long friendships of watching each other's back instantly gone. Would you risk your life again just to bring them back?
I think the choice between 1 and 3 is the hardest. You are guaranteed another chance at life, but would you give that up to see your best friend again? Both of you are not even guaranteed to make it out. You may condemn the both of you to pain and death, when you should have taken the exit. Can you move on and accept a friend's death, when you have the power to bring them back?
I wouldn't know what to do. Would you?
Anyway, Gantz is an awesome manga, and if you can stomach the gore and nudity, its a really great read. I'll put a link here: http://view.thespectrum.net/series/gantz-volume-01.html
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