Rating: 7/10
Episodes: 12
Source: Manga
Genres: Crime, seinen, drama, action
Premiered: Summer 2015
Following Jormungand, crime anime is one of my favorite genres on top of sports, today I will be reviewing the anime.
Gangsta.
Synopsis
Nicholas Brown and Worick Arcangelo, known in the city of Ergastalum as the “Handymen,” are mercenaries for hire who take on jobs no one else can handle. Contracted by powerful mob syndicates and police alike, the Handymen have to be ready and willing for anything. After completing the order of killing a local pimp, the Handymen add Alex Benedetto—a prostitute also designated for elimination—to their ranks to protect her from forces that want her gone from the decrepit hellhole of a city she has come to call home. However, this criminal’s paradise is undergoing a profound period of change that threatens to corrode the delicate balance of power.
Ergastalum was once a safe haven for “Twilights,” super-human beings born as the result of a special drug but are now being hunted down by a fierce underground organization. This new threat is rising up to challenge everything the city stands for, and the Handymen will not be able to avoid this coming war.
[Written by MAL Rewrite]
Review
The Story
Gangsta was produced in summer 2015 by Manglobe studios that gave us anime’s such as Karneval and deadman wonderland. unfortunately the studios went bankrupt 5 years ago.
The men known as “The Handymen” are recruited by the heads of the city and the police to take out a local pimp trying to sneak his way into territory previously claimed by the Monroe criminal family. While completing the job they come across the pimps prostitute Alex, who had previously been seen about, and would always be seen near the Handymen’s office singing/humming to herself.
The story follows Worrick and Nicolas as they execute work no one else can perform, outside the rules of Ergastalum. After the mission is complete they take Alex in and decide to let her help around the office.
Following the course of the next few episodes, we learn about Worrick, Nicolas and Alex while meeting some interesting people in the process, the anime is based around a city called Ergastalum that houses people called ‘Twilights’. Ergastalum is protected by four crime families and laws that are punishable by death.
The Corsica Family : The Corsica Family smuggles weapons into the city and also runs the sex industry within the city
The Monroe Family : The Monroe Family deals with commerce within the city and also provides support for Twilights unaffiliated with the Paulklee Guild.
The Cristiano Family : Within the city, the Cristiano Family’s sole responsibility is distributing Celebrer to the Twilights
The Paulklee Guild : The Paulklee Guild supplies Tagged mercenaries to a wide variety of clients, including the three major families
lot of technical terminology are thrown around throughout the series, and I love how unique it is and how well it is made up while still making sense. I feel like this anime is more about what’s going on in the background than what’s going on in the foreground, and it’s difficult not to give anything away because that’s what makes the anime so good the first time you watch it.
This has some awesome fight scenes to say that most of the characters are like mostly human 😉
Even though this anime is only 12 episodes long, there is a lot of explanation but also a lot of mystery, such as what happened to Worick’s eyes, what is a twilight, and who are the four fathers. Each episode makes you want to watch more, from the music to the storyline to the mountain of characters, this tale is very well thought out and well made, and if it ever came back on-screen I would be jumping up and down to watch it.
What is a downside that you get a cliff hanger and that the anime brings out its chapters not fast enough, so its best if you don’t get too attached to it.
Characters
Worick is a laid-back, upbeat individual who showers others with grins like confetti at a parade. He is exceedingly kind-hearted and protective of those he cares about, however despite his welcoming demeanor, he seems to keep most people at a distance when it comes to his personal difficulties.
While he has a laid-back demeanor, he takes things seriously when they are vital and completes the task at hand. Worick is prone to teasing others and has a naturally cheeky demeanor.
If I had to choose between him and Nicolas when it comes to looks, I would choose Worick in a heart beat even though it feels like Nicolas cares more about his appearance than Worick
Despite his upbeat facade and laid-back approach, Worick appears to have a nihilistic outlook on society as a whole, which he covers behind comedy and a pleasant disposition.
While his alignment isn’t wholly a ruse, he does admit to despise for both Twilights and non-Twilight’s, but he soon covers it up with a joke.
Nicolas is a strong fighter/twilight but even though he is a capable fighter he usually overdoses on his meds which makes him stronger, faster and more agile but there are a few Twilights that don’t accept his rank of A/O because of this.
Nic is usually quiet and aloof, even when he is around people he likes. He speaks occasionally out of frustration or when someone can’t comprehend sign language, but he mainly keeps to himself to avoid having to accommodate those who can’t communicate with him. Despite his irritability, he is capable of little acts of generosity, such as playing with Nina or steadying Alex when she is shaking too much to open her medicine. He seems to get a kick out of picking on people, which demonstrates his dark and caustic sense of humour.
Alex is cryptic, troubled, and quiet, however she speaks up more once Worick and Nicolas take her in. She’s sweet, kind, and to some, she acts as a big sister or mother figure.
Alex is shown to be protective and brave, prepared to put herself in danger to defend the people she loves about. We see this when she tries to defend Nic when he is harassed by prostitutes, comforting Worick when he has dreams about his past, and even beating a thug with a pipe to prevent him from raping a young Twilight girl.
Alex has also put her life on the line to keep Loretta safe from Erica. She’s capable as well as fiery.
There are a very different opinions of Alex as a main character as some people think there was no need for her and she was just dead weight but some people like 100 word anime had this to say “Alex is a necessary plot device in the story but as a character”
Besides the main three you have many characters that are cruicel to the story this includes the heads of the four families, Daniel Monroe, Gina Paulklee, Uranos Corsica and Loretta Cristiano.
You also have Dr. Theo and Nina,and the known Twilights such as Doug, Galahad, Delico, Mikahil and Erica.
Voice acting
Gangsta was given to funimation to dub, with Christopher Bevins as the ADR director while he still lived in Dallas.
Worrick voiced by my favorite man Ian Sinclair, Alex voiced by Felecia Angelle and Nicolas voiced by the fantastic Brandon potter who I say had the hardest job since Nicolas doesn’t speak that often but when he goes its very broken since he’s deaf, I would feel Brandon had to do many takes to get the right voice but since he’s been in the industry for over decade I think he did a great job!
also hearing voices of Eric Vale, Alexis Tipton, Greg Ayres, Mark Stoddard, Robert McCollum and Bryn Apprill
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