Shion Izumi (Gantz)

Shion Izumi is a character appearing in the Gantz manga series by Hiroya Oka.

Appearance and Character
Izumi is tall and handsome, with long black hair. He excells at everything, and is a great athlete and an A-student. He is somewhat shy, but also charming.

Underneath this facade however, Izumi is ruthless and obsessive, not caring about the lives of innocents or his comrades, and desperate to prove himself in the hunt.

Before the Series
Izumi was an A-student and athlete that went to an all-boys high school. At some point, Izumi died and was sent to the Gantz room. There, along with several other people, Izumi was periodically sent on misisons wherein he was forced to kill aliens. Izumi eventually became the leader of his team, and after the Hunt on Shinjuku Street, he accumulated 100 points and chose to leave the room and have his memories erased.

However, Izumi still had residual memories of the Gantz room and became obsessed with finding a way back.

Returning to the Gantz room
Izumi eventually transfered to the school of Kei Kurono. Izumi knew that Kurono was a member of the current Gantz team, and attempted to press him for information, eventually befriending him. After the Shorty Alien came hunting for Kurono in order to get revenge for Kurono having killed his comrades, Izumi briefly fought it, being one of three (including Kurono) members of Kurono's high school class to survive.

Izumi had been contacted by Gantz somehow, and was asked to bring powerful people into the room. He finally confronted Kurono, telling him that unless Kurono killed him, he would go on a massacre in Shinjuku Street. Kurono refused, prompting Izumi to go through with his plans. Izumi disguised himself as a black man, and went on a shooting spree in Shinjuku, killing hundreds. This culminated in a confrontation with Kurono, in the form of a mexican stand-off. Kurono managed to kill Izumi, and Izumi once again returned to the Gantz room.

Dinosaur Mission
On his first mission back, Izumi equips himself with a katana, and befriends Hoi Hoi the panda. Izumi dismisses everyone else present as doomed, and hunts on his own. To his surprise, Kurono manages to keep most everyone alive, and to his dismay, Kurono scores higher than him despite not having his suit.

At the end of the mission, the team are attacked by the vampires, one of whom, the Host Vampire, recognises Izumi.

Ring Alien mission and Hunt for Tae
Izumi participates in the Ring Alien hunt, easily dispatching the enemies. The team is immediately given another mission however, to kill Kojima Tae, Kurono's girlfriend, who accidentally caught the events on photo. Kurono renegades, and attempts to protect Tae, while Izumi leads the hunt for her. The team splits in two, with half siding with and trying to help Kurono, and the other half hunting her with Izumi.

Kurono manages to neutralize most of the hunters going after Tae, even killing one, but Izumi cuts her from behind in a sneak attack, killing her.

Oni Mission
Izumi fights in the Oni Mission, the hardest one yet. While initially fighting alone, Izumi joins Kurono in the others towards the end, and together with Kurono, manages to defeat the final boss. He accumulates 100 points, and asks for a new weapon. At Kurono's behest, Nishi, an old comrade of Izumi's from before he first left the room is resurrected, though Izumi still doesn't recognize him.

Death
In between missions, Izumi is targetted by the vampires. He and Nishi are ambushed on a subway car, and Nishi, declaring that it's none of his business, leaves it up to Izumi. Izumi cuts through swathes of vampires, killing all who oppose him, until his girlfriend comes on the scene. In a rare moment of heroism, Izumi sacrifices himself to save his girlfriend from what would have been a killing blow. Izumi promises to take her to Disneyland tomorrow, but asks to rest first, as he bleeds out on the street from a sword wound.