Masashi Yamada (山田 雅史, Yamada Masashi) is a member of the Tokyo Team also known as the Gantz Team in one of their missions, dying in the only one he participated in.
Appearance[]
Masashi is a pretty young elementary school teacher of average height and weight with tidy black hair and big glasses. Due to his profession, he dresses formally; a dark suit, black pants a white shirt and a tie. He also wears glasses and a pair of dark shoes.
Background[]
He was a regular elementary school teacher at Nerima Elementary whom was very well liked. He died when his motor scooter swerved and slipped, scraping him to death on the asphalt.
Personality[]
Both in the anime and the manga he is a very sociable person. Encouraging others to introduce themselves and he takes the initiative and starts doing so. He is also very naive quickly believing he isn't death and that he is part of a tv show in which he can win a lot of money if he kills some aliens. He is also tries to fool himself into keeping to the belief everything is part of a tv show even when reality has shown this isn't the case this makes him hallucinate before his death that it was indeed a tv show. He is also very positive to the end thinking he will be brought back to the room before he takes his final breath.
Plot[]
Onion Alien Mission Arc[]
He is first seen in the Tokyo room as Kei Kurono and Masaru Kato are transferred in, asking them if they were about to die too. He then tells them that all the exists are shut and that they can't even touch the wall itself. He then takes the initiative asking everyone to introduce themselves with their names and stories. He then introduces himself and chooses Kurono to go next. He then leads the introductions skipping over an eager Rice. He was skeptical of the idea that everyone in the room was dead, and came up with the notion that the whole thing was part of a TV show with hidden cameras, being pulled of by means of hypnotism. Then Kei Kishimoto gets transferred to the room and he tells of Kurono for touching her and quickly deducing she committed suicide. As the Black Sphere starts playing an exercise song he gets more convinced they are part of some TV show as he checks out Gantz message he wonders if there is going to be some kind of game. He then check out his suit and the weapons then panics as Takashi Inamori points the X-gun at him. He then watches people being transferred out and he starts to panic extremely as the same starts happening to him.
After being transferred out of the room, the middle schooler Joichiro Nishi tells him that it is indeed a TV show and that they can win 10 million yen which he exclaims, forcing Nishi to tell the others whats up. He then runs off along with the two yakuza and Takashi Inamori, he then finds the Kid Onion Alien coming out of an apartment and is then joined by the other three. It then gets mucus on them which angers the yakuza which pusses it against the wall making it flee. They give chase as it falls in front of Masaru Kato who helps it up only for it to run away still chased by the four of them. After Inamori blows up a wall the four of them manage to corner it again, it then tries to fight them and they shoot it and then despite Masaru Kato protestations after first shooting of its arm and legs they kill it.
Kato then questions if this is really TV and tells him to feel the remains which he does and it makes him puke. He then tries to convince himself it is just TV or an Eichmann Test. They then find out that they can't be seen by other people after which the alien's father shows up, it looks at his son's remains and attacks the yakuza Hiroshi Hatanaka by grabbing his head, they then raise their guns and Inamori accidentally shoots Hiroshi, thanks to the alien blocking the shot with his body. While shooting at the alien he thinks that the staff is going to come out, instead he loses his arms. Then while dying, he hallucinates that it was all a TV show, and that everyone was still alive and well, while being greeted by the staff and crew including the actors who play the aliens. However, he soon wakes up from his hallucination and he screams in horror when he sees his arms are gone. He then bleeds to death, still clinging on to the hope that he'd be transferred back to the Gantz room again.
Anime/Manga Differences[]
- In the anime, all mentions of his speculations on the Gantz room being a TV show are removed. Also, Nishi never tells him about it actually being a TV show, since his story in the anime was changed to him being the son of "Vice-Minister Nishi" and that the aliens and guns were all real.
- He was the one who accidentally killed Hatanaka in the anime due to panicking. In the manga, it was Inamori who shot first.
- Another difference is that his delusion of being perfectly fine after the alien cuts off his arms is not present in the anime, so he dies immediately afterwards instead of saying that he wants to go back to the room.
Abilities & Skills[]
Masashi shows little fighting skill or ability, even so he quickly learns how to use the X-gun and he becomes eager to win the game. During the mission he actively engages in finding and chasing down the Kid Onion Alien after being convinced it is all part of a TV show. He is physically fit and a rather advanced thinker however not just a great critical one. He show to be well educated and generally he is kind only by thinking it is all just a TV show could he do the things he did.
Gallery[]
Quotes[]
- (After Kurono and Kato are transferred in)"And here are two more"
- (While Kurono and Kato are still catching their breath) "Were you boys about to die to"
- (Taking charge of the room)"Let's all take the time to introduce ourselves!! First your name then your occupation and then how you died."
- (While trying to convince himself they aren't dead) "Of course there must be a camera somewhere."
- (After Kishimoto is transferred to the room)"Uh I, I don't think you should do that"
- (After Kato notices the blood on Kishimoto's wrist) "Then suicide"
- (When looking at the mission details on the black sphere)"Do you suppose there is going to be some kind of game?"
- (While looking at the weapons) "These must be toys"
- (Seeing Gantz)"There's a person in there"
- (After Nishi tells him it is a TV show) "TEN MILLION YEN"
- (While grabbing the kid onion alien)"I caught him."
- (After killing the alien when challenged by Kato to pick up its remains) "Oh, uh right of course"
- (Trying to convince himself it isn't real)"It's TV, it's just TV, no, aha that's it!! It's an Eichmann test!! Yes this is an eichmann test!!"
- (After realizing they are invisible to other people) "They can't even see us"
- (While hallucinating)"Oh good it was just a TV show, that's all"
- (When realizing reality) "Huh? My arms? I have no arms."
- (Right before dying)"Hahh, oh, of course. I'll go back to that room again. Of course, just like nothing ever happened. Just like it did before. I'll go back."
Trivia[]
- He is the first character to speak to Kei Kurono and Masaru Kato as they arrive in the Tokyo room
- He was very eager to participate in the game when thinking it was just a TV Show in which he could win money.
- In hbi2k's Gantz: the Abridged Series, his name is Joe Salaryman. And he is very well received and liked by all.