Hiroya Oku is coming back to screens, but not with the project most old-school anime fans might expect.
The creator behind Gantz is getting a new theatrical anime adaptation for Gigant, one of his strangest and most chaotic manga series. The project was announced by K2 Pictures during its presentation at the Cannes International Film Festival, where the company revealed that Gigant will be its first animated feature film.
No release date or window has been shared yet, so Malaysian and SEA fans should probably treat this as a “watch the space” announcement for now. But considering how anime films have been getting more regular cinema runs in Malaysia, this one could be interesting if a regional distributor picks it up.
What is Gigant about?
Gigant is very much a Hiroya Oku story, meaning it takes a ridiculous sci-fi idea and pushes it into uncomfortable, violent, emotional territory.
The manga follows Chiho, an adult film star who suddenly gains the ability to grow into a giant kaiju-sized version of herself through a mysterious device. She eventually becomes connected with Rei, a teenager who dreams of becoming a filmmaker.
That already sounds wild enough, but the story goes even further. A strange online-like program begins making reality-breaking requests come true, causing bizarre disasters, scandals, and straight-up absurd events. Somehow, Chiho’s giant powers end up becoming a key part of saving the world.
So yes, this is not your typical wholesome anime movie. If it comes to Malaysia, expect age ratings and possible content scrutiny to be part of the conversation. This is Oku doing Oku things — body horror, sci-fi madness, dark comedy, and emotional chaos all rolled together.
Why Gantz fans should care
For many anime fans who grew up in the 2000s, Gantz was one of those shows that felt genuinely dangerous. It was violent, grim, and not afraid to kill characters without warning. The anime adaptation also became infamous because it ended long before the manga did and went in its own direction instead of fully following Oku’s original story.
Even after that, Gantz stayed alive through Japanese live-action films and the 2016 CG movie Gantz: O. There was also a Hollywood live-action project announced back in 2021, but nothing major has surfaced since. Oku previously suggested he had very little involvement after giving approval for the rights much earlier, so that version feels pretty quiet now.
That makes Gigant more exciting in a practical sense. This is an active new anime film project from K2 Pictures, not a long-stalled adaptation sitting in development limbo.
A very different kind of anime film
Gigant originally ran in Shogakukan’s Big Comic Superior from 2017 to 2021. Like Oku’s other works, including Inuyashiki, it blends human drama with extreme sci-fi concepts. The hook is outrageous, but the appeal is watching how normal people react when the world around them becomes completely broken.
For SEA anime fans, this could be a nice change from the usual shonen movie cycle. We love Demon Slayer and Jujutsu Kaisen cinema events, no doubt, but Gigant sounds like something much weirder — closer to late-night seinen energy than mainstream blockbuster anime.
If K2 Pictures pulls it off, Gigant could become one of those “bro, what did I just watch?” anime films that fans recommend in group chats purely because it is so unhinged.
For now, there is no confirmed Malaysian release, international rollout, trailer, or cast list. But with Cannes being used to introduce the project, this is clearly being positioned as more than a small niche adaptation.
Source: ComicBook Anime