Gangsta (manga)

Gangsta.
The cover of the first manga volume released in Japan on 8 July 2011
ギャングスタ (Gyangusuta)
Genre	Action, Crime drama
Manga
Written by	Kohske
Published by	Shinchosha
English publisher	NA Viz Media
Demographic	Seinen
Magazine	Monthly Comic @BUNCH
Original run	2011 – present
Volumes	7
Manga
Gangsta.: Cursed
Written by	Kohske
Illustrated by	Syuhei Kamo
Published by	Shinchosha
English publisher	NA Viz Media
Demographic	Seinen
Magazine	Quarterly Comic Go Go Bunch
Original run	9 April 2014 – present
Volumes	2
Audio drama
Original run	27 August 2014 – present
Episodes	5
Anime television series
Directed by	Shukō Murase
Written by	Shinichi Inotsume
Music by	Tsutchie
Studio	Manglobe
Licensed by	NA Funimation UK Anime Limited
Network	ABC, Tokyo MX, TV Aichi, BS11
English network	NA Funimation Channel
Original run	1 July 2015 – 27 September 2015
Episodes	12
Novel
Written by	Jun'ichi Kawabata
Published by	Shinchosha
Imprint	Shicho Bunko nex
Published	1 August 2015

Gangsta. (Japanese: ギャングスタ, Hepburn: Gyangusuta), stylized as GANGSTA., is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Kohske. It has been published in Shinchosha's Monthly Comic @BUNCH magazine since 2011. The series has inspired a spin-off manga, an audio drama series, an anime television series, and an original novel.

Plot

The series revolves around two "Handymen" who take on jobs for both the mob and the police force that no one else can handle. The two, named Worick Arcangelo and Nicolas Brown, work in the town of Ergastulum, which is full of mafia, hoodlums, prostitutes, and dirty cops.

Characters

Main characters

Worick Arcangelo

Voiced by: Junichi Suwabe, Ayumu Murase (young) (Japanese), Ian Sinclair, Justin Briner (young) (English)

Worick Arcangelo (ウォリック・アルカンジェロ, Worikku Arukanjero) (formerly Wallace Arcangelo) is Nic's partner. He has been a gigolo since he was thirteen, and views it as his side job. Nic worked as a Worick's personal guard, bearing witness to the abuse his father put him through. Nic killed Worick's abusive family (with Worick's permission) twenty-two years ago in a fit of psychotic rage after witnessing Worick's father press a lit cigarette into his left eye, which to this day he wears a patch over. He has hyperthymesia and carries a M1911A1 pistol.

Nicolas Brown

Voiced by: Kenjiro Tsuda, Natsuki Hanae (young) (Japanese), Brandon Potter, Micah Solusod (young) (English)

Nicolas Brown (ニコラス・ブラウン, Nikorasu Buraun), or Nic, is a "Twilight", or someone with superhuman abilities gained from the drug Celebrer. Nic is the result of a former West Gate mercenary named Gaston Brown sleeping with a Twilight prostitute. Gaston had impregnated the prostitute for the sole purpose of avoiding the expense of hiring a Tagged mercenary, and murdered the woman after Nic was born. Nic was abused by Gaston, who saw him as nothing more than a monster. He is deaf, and communicates primarily through sign language, but has exceptionally strong vision and lip reading skills. As a child mercenary, he was hired by the Arcangelo family to be Worick's bodyguard. Like all Twilights, he is identified by the dog tags that he wears. With his natural ability, he is a B/5 level Twilight, but gains A/0 level by overdosing on Celebrer.

Alex Benedetto

Voiced by: Mamiko Noto (Japanese), Felecia Angelle (English)

Alex Benedetto (アレックス・ベネデット, Arekkusu Benedetto), or Ally, is a former prostitute. She joins the Handymen after the police have Nic and Worick eliminate the gang she was working for, and Worick decides to spare her life. Alex was previously under the control of Barry Abbott, who is suspected to have drugged her to keep her submissive. She is learning Sign Language in order to communicate better with Nic, and on several occasions has comforted Worick when the latter was in the throes of a nightmare. She is a calm, caring person who is unafraid of violence when Worick, Nic, or Nina, are threatened. She is revealed to be a talented singer and occasionally works for the Cristiano family in that capacity. She has a younger brother named Emilio, who she worked to support.

Supporting characters

Dr. Theo

Voiced by: Satoshi Mikami (Japanese), Robert McCollum (English)

Dr. Theo (テオ, Teo) is a doctor who supplies Nic and other Twilights with Celebrer and other treatments. He runs a small clinic in District 7 and tries to stay neutral between the rival gangs. He is missing two fingers on his left hand. Dr. Theo is a kind person except when his clinic and Nina are threatened.

Nina

Voiced by: Aoi Yūki (Japanese), Bryn Apprill (English)

Nina (ニナ) is a young girl who works at Dr. Theo's clinic as a nurse, and is close friends with Worick and Nicolas.

Chad Adkins

Voiced by: Tetsuo Kanao (Japanese), John Swasey (English)

Chad Adkins (チャド・アトキンス, Chado Atokinsu) is a police officer in Ergastulum. He hires Nic and Worick to do jobs for the police and often has to clean up their messes when they get into trouble. There are indications in the manga that when Nic and Worick were young teens that Adkins acted as a protector and surrogate father to them.

Daniel Monroe

Voiced by: Katsuhisa Hōki (Japanese), Mark Stoddard (English)

Daniel Monroe (ダニエル・モンロー, Danieru Monrō) is a mafia boss, and head of one of the three main 'gangs' in Ergastulum. He is Nic's former employer.

Delico

Voiced by: Tomohisa Hashizume (Japanese), Marcus D. Stimac (English)

Delico (デリコ, Deriko) is a rank D/0 Twilight who works for the Monroe Family.

Loretta Cristiano Amodio

Voiced by: Kana Ueda (Japanese), Alexis Tipton (English)

Loretta Cristiano Amodio (ロレッタ・クリスティアーノ・アモディオ, Roretta Kurisutiāno Amodio)

Fourteen year old daughter of the former boss and current leader of the Cristiano family. She uses her family's resources to help Twilights in need. Her associates and de facto protectors are Marco Adriano (who has superhuman strength) and Galahad Woeher (a Twilight).

Sir Gina Paulklee

Voiced by: Yoshiko Sakakibara (Japanese), Clarine Harp (English)

Gina Paulklee (ジーナ・パウルクレイ, Jīna Paurukurei)

Referred to as 'Sir' by her subordinates, she is a Twilight and head of the Paulklee Guild, which takes in rogue Twilights and hires them out. Gina believes strongly in the Three Laws that govern Twilights, which are based on Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics: No action can be taken against 'normals', obey your master, defend yourself. She is taller than Nic, which is something he comments that he hates.

Ginger

Voiced by: Mikako Komatsu (Japanese), Jamie Marchi (English)

Ginger (ジンジャー, Jinjā) is a highly ranked Twilight and member of the Paulklee Guild. She is seemingly Gina Paulklee's lover. She is a rank S/5 Twilight.

Doug

Voiced by: Hiroyuki Yoshino (Japanese), Greg Ayres (English)

Doug (ダグ, Dagu) is a rank A/0 Twilight, like Nic. He worked for the Paulklee Guild and was roommates with Galahad Woeher.

Joel Raveau

Voiced by: Masako Isobe (Japanese), Rachel Robinson (English)

Joel Raveau (ョエル・ラヴォー, Joeru Rabō) is an old woman who runs a shop in Ergastulum, and a frequent customer of the Handymen.

Uranos Corsica

Voiced by: Hideyuki Umezu (Japanese), Greg Dulcie (English)

Uranos Corsica (ウラノス・コルシカ, Uranosu Korushika) is the head of the Corsica Family. He has a large scar on his forehead. He bears an intense dislike toward Twilights.

Constance Raveau

Voiced by: Ami Koshimizu (Japanese), Jād Saxton (English)

Constance Raveau (コンスタンス・ラヴォー, Konsutansu Ravō) is the owner of a gun shop who is on friendly terms with the handymen.

Media

Manga

The manga, which is written and illustrated by Kohske, was launched in 2011 in Shinchosha's Monthly Comic @ Bunch magazine. Gangsta. is the author's first manga series, after she debuted in Shōnen Gangan in 2009 with a short story. Viz Media announced in July 2013 that it had acquired the rights to publish Gangsta. in North America, with plans to release a new volume on a tri-monthly basis. The series went on hiatus due to Kohske's health in November 2015. In January 2016, she posted on Twitter that she was preparing to resume the series.

The manga inspired a spin-off series, titled Gangsta.:Cursed. EP_Marco Adriano, which began serialization in the fourth volume of the Quarterly Comic Go Go Bunch magazine, preceded by a prologue in the third volume, which was published on 9 April 2014. The series is illustrated by Syuhei Kamo. Gangsta.:Cursed. EP_Marco Adriano focuses on mafia staff member Marco Adriano, a character from the original manga. The first collected volume was published on 9 July 2015. Viz Media announced in April 2016 that it had licensed the series under the title Gangsta.: Cursed.

List of volumes

The series has been collected into seven tankōbon volumes, six of which have been republished in English. The fifth volume made it onto The New York Times manga best sellers list, ranking at number three.

No.	Japanese release date	Japanese ISBN	English release date	English ISBN
1	8 July 2011	ISBN 978-4-10-771625-5	18 February 2014	ISBN 978-1-421560-77-9
2	7 January 2012	ISBN 978-4-10-771646-0	20 May 2014	ISBN 978-1-421564-53-1
3	9 July 2012	ISBN 978-4-10-771667-5	19 August 2014	ISBN 978-1-421564-54-8
4	9 February 2013	ISBN 978-4-10-771694-1	18 November 2014	ISBN 978-1-421566-00-9
5	9 October 2013	ISBN 978-4-10-771719-1	17 February 2015	ISBN 978-1-421573-48-9
6	9 July 2014	ISBN 978-4-10-771754-2	19 May 2015	ISBN 978-1-421579-06-1
7	9 July 2015	ISBN 978-4-10-771826-6	19 July 2016	ISBN 978-1-421586-48-9

Gangsta.: Cursed

No.	Japanese release date	Japanese ISBN	English release date	English ISBN
1	9 July 2015	ISBN 978-4-10-771828-0	20 December 2016	ISBN 978-1-421590-54-7
2	9 January 2016	ISBN 978-4-10-771868-6	—	—

Audio drama

The manga has been adapted into a series of audio drama CDs, released by Frontier Works, the first of which was released on 21 August 2014. The series was originally intended to end with the third CD, but five have been released as of June 2015. It was announced in November 2015 that the sixth and seventh CDs, scheduled for 25 November 2015 and 27 January 2016, respectively, had been delayed until further notice.

No.	Release date
01	21 August 2014
02	29 October 2014
03	24 December 2014
04	29 April 2015
05	24 June 2015
06	TBA
07	TBA

Anime

An anime adaptation was announced through a wrap-around jacket on the sixth tankōbon volume in Japan. It was later confirmed through the series' official Twitter account for the drama CD and anime project that it would be a TV anime, and would be produced by Manglobe as their final television anime before succumbing to bankruptcy. The series is directed by Shukō Murase, with character designs by Yōichi Ueda and music by Tsutchie. Shinichi Inotsume is in charge of series composition, while Koichi Hatsumi serves as series director. Additional crew include Masahiro Kubota (art design), Masatoshi Kai (art direction), Yuuko Saitou (color design), and Shinobu Tsuneki (prop design). Yuuichirou Nagata from Asahi Production serves as the series' director of photography. Tomoki Nagasaka is the series' editor, and Yukio Nagasaki serves as sound director. The cast from the audio drama return to voice their characters in the anime. The opening theme song is "Renegade" by STEREO DIVE FOUNDATION, while the ending theme song, performed by Annabel, is "Country of the Night" (夜の国, Yoru no Kuni).

The series began airing in Japan on 1 July 2015, and was broadcast on Asahi Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), Tokyo MX, TV Aichi, and BS11 in Japan, and was streamed on the Bandai Channel and Niconico. The anime is licensed by Funimation in North America, and was simulcast on their website as it aired in Japan. Funimation also streamed an English dub of the series. Crunchyroll licensed the series for simulcast in France and French speaking territories (Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Andorra, Monaco, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, New Caledonia, and Quebec). AnimeLab licensed the series for simulcast streaming in Australia and New Zealand, and Anime Limited licensed the series for streaming on Viewster in the United Kingdom. The series switched from a Wednesday broadcast date to a Sunday one starting with the fifth episode.

List of episodes

No.	Title	Original air date
1	"Naughty Boys"	1 July 2015
The episode opens with Nic watching as Alex is berated by Barry, her boss, for not earning enough money. Later, while Nic and Worick are dealing with some thugs, they see her being abused by an irate customer. As she walks away, one of them (later revealed to be Nic) tosses her a handkerchief to wipe blood off her face. The two Handymen then meet up with the police officer Chad, who hires them to eliminate Barry's gang, which has been encroaching on mafia turf. Before they leave, Nic asks if they can take a trophy. Worick then meets up with Alex, who asks him to thank Nic for the handkerchief, and Worick tells her that they have been hired to kill her boss. Nic is then seen attacking the gang, and Worick shows up in time to finish off Barry. Alex shows up and takes Worick's gun, firing several shots into Barry's body in a fit of despair as she's relieved to no longer be under his control but is now rudderless. Speaking with Chad afterward, Worick reveals that they have chosen Alex as their trophy. Chad protests, but Nic cows him into acceptance with a display of his superhuman strength. At the end of the episode, Worick asks Alex if she can answer their phone for them while he is out.
2	"Hundemarken"	8 July 2015
Nina arrives at the Handymen's office to deliver Nic's medicine. She tells them that Dr. Theo is being harassed by a "Tag", one of the people like Nic. He and Nina leave for the clinic, but Worick spots some suspicious characters and stays behind. Using Alex as a distraction, he manages to dispose of them. Meanwhile, the Tag and some other men are pressuring Dr. Theo to join their organization. They begin to threaten Nina, and are surprised when she arrives unharmed with Nic. Nic and the Tag then begin to fight, with Nic claiming that he can take him down in three minutes. Worick begins to explain the concept of Tags to Alex, but they are interrupted by Nic's fight as he defeats his rival. Afterward, Chad arrives, and berates them for the problems they have caused. Alex asks Nina if she is afraid of Nic, and Nina says she is not: She says Alex is because she doesn't know about Twilights. Elsewhere, the wounded Twilight that Nic fought is killed by an unknown person for failing to complete his job.
3	"Ergastulum"	15 July 2015
Worick wakes up from a dream of Nic killing his father. Since Worick has to work his other job, Alex and Nic leave to make deliveries for Dr. Theo. Nic explains to Alex that Worick is a gigolo. While making a delivery to Joel, Alex sees a newspaper featuring an article about the killing of the Arcangelo family twenty-two years ago and the kidnapping of their youngest son. Worick then joins them after finishing with his customer. They make a delivery to Monroe, who asks Nic to come back to the mafia, but Nic refuses. Next they deliver a batch of Twilight drugs to the madam of the brothel where Worick used to work. Before they leave, Alex sees Nic in a room with a mysterious woman. The next day, Worick and Alex talk about his past and his job as a gigolo. The episode ends with both Nic and Worick having a flashback to their childhood.
4	"Nonconformist"	22 July 2015
Chad summons Nic and Worick to the police station to help identify a pile of mangled bodies found in District 6. Worick identifies them using his photographic memory. Chad then receives a call from Monroe, who asks him to send the Handymen over to help in a gang war he is involved in. Monroe and his men are then attacked by a knife-wielding Twilight of the same rank as Nic, who kills many of them. Nic arrives to fight the Twilight, and Monroe asks his men if they want to place bets on who will win. Worick and Nic's backstory is interspersed with the events of the episode, showing Nic being hired as a mercenary bodygaurd for Worick, who is at first outraged that his bodyguard is disabled while the rest of his family's bodyguards are not. However, he soon comes to empathize with Nic. Meanwhile, Alex hallucinates Barry's bloody and animate corpse when faced with the dilemma of staying with the Handymen or living on her own.
5	"Sanctions"	2 August 2015
The episode begins with a flashback to young Worick with a client, juxtaposed with a newscaster talking about the state of affairs in Ergastulum and the Three Laws which are about to take effect. Worick runs back to Nic to share his earnings and to tell him about a café that serves Twilights where they can eat, but is stunned to find Nic crouched and bleeding in an alley. Chad tends to Nic's wounds. In the present, Ginger, assistant to Gina Paulklee of the Paulklee Guild, reports to her boss that Doug has taken a job outside of the Guild's jurisdiction. Worick interrogates a mercenary behind the attack on Monroe. Doug meets his match in Nic, who has overdosed on Celebrer to dull pain. Monroe recalls an attack by a C/3 Twilight (possibly a young Nic) who destroyed his estate and decimated his staff. Worick reports that the Corsicans are making a move. Delico, Monroe's D/0 Twilight, saves Monroe from Doug. Worick tries to stop Nic to keep him from overextending himself, but before he can, Ginger and Gina show up. Gina explains to Nic that the Three Laws have to be observed or Ergastulum will fall apart. She shoots Nic and Doug with Celebrer "downers". Alex, who was studying the sign language book and watching the rain, sees a shadowy figure, which is revealed to be Barry. The sound of heavy footsteps on the stairs has her cowering on the floor wondering how it could be that he survived being shot. Worick drags Nic and Doug to Dr. Theo's clinic and calls Alex, but she fails to answer.
6	"Thorn"	9 August 2015
While interrogating a henchman, Worick learns that Uranos Corsica doesn't want to kill Monroe; he only wants access to the Celebrer-supplying Cristiano Family that he protects. Monroe holds a funeral for the men killed by Doug. Meanwhile, Nina and Worick discuss Nic's injuries as he lies unconscious at the clinic. When Nic awakens, Worick tells him that the body dump discovered in episode four were all Twilights; one of them was the Tag that Nic had fought in episode two. When Worick returns to the office, he finds Dr. Theo there; Theo tells him that Alex is likely suffering from withdrawal from drugs given to her by Barry, which have caused her hallucinations. Searching for Alex, Worick finds her in the alley, where she fails to recognize him and mistakes him for a customer. When she continues to hallucinate Barry, Worick head-butts her to bring her to her senses. In a flashback to their childhood, Worick begins to teach Nic to write. When he asks how Nic got a bruise on his arm, Nic replies that he fell down. Later, Nic and the other mercenaries are dispensed to put down anti-Twilight riots outside Ergastulum. While retrieving the sign language book that Worick gave him, Nic is almost hit by a hand grenade. He returns the damaged book to Worick. Noticing an injury that Worick's father gave him, Nic asks what happened, and Worick says that he fell down.
7	"Birth"	16 August 2015
Worick wakes up from a dream about the time that he learned that Nic is a Twilight, and Alex comforts him. Meanwhile, Chad arrives at Theo's clinic and informs Doug that he is in trouble with the Guild. Theo tells Chad that the Twilight bodies found in District 6 were likely killed by other Twilights. The Four Fathers gather to discuss the recent string of Twilight killings, including another batch of bodies that has recently been discovered. Loretta is suspicious of Uranos Corsica, but he vehemently denies his involvement, despite expressing pleasure at the outcome. In a flashback, Worick reveals to Nic that he has purchased Nic's contract from Gaston Brown. Worick's father finds him smoking, and presses a lit cigarette into his left eye. Nic sees this and, outraged, kills Worick's father and the rest of the family. Nic is about to kill himself too, but Worick forcibly stops him, telling him that he will have to suffer for what he did before he lets him die. In the present, Worick and Delico meet, both being excluded from the Four Fathers meeting, and Worick contemplates that being killed in the Twilight hunt wouldn't be a bad way for Nic to die. In the end of the episode, Nic and Alex pass the two Twilight killers in an alleyway, and Nic, seemingly recognizing them, grins.
8	"Evening Dress"	23 August 2015
The episode begins with the handymen performing repairs on Constance Raveau's shop after a shoot-out, and Worick invites Alex to a soiree hosted by the Cristianos. While talking with Constance, Alex suddenly remembers that she has a younger brother who she had forgotten, and wonders how that could be. She then begins to hallucinate Barry, before being calmed by Nic. Meanwhile, an unknown man arrives at the East Gate of Ergastulum. The Handymen arrive at the Cristiano nightclub, where they are greeted by Loretta and her two bodyguards, Marco Adriano and Galahad Woeher. As the party gets under way, Nic and Worick leave to help Twilights who are being chased by anti-Twilight rioters. The party is revealed to be an attempt to gather the Twilights together in order to protect them. Meanwhile, Galahad and Loretta coerce Alex into singing for the gathered Twilights. The mysterious man hears her singing, but is turned away at the door. As the song ends, Nic and Worick successfully escort the last of the Twilights to safety. Meanwhile, the two Twilight killers from the previous episode prepare to take action.
9	"Siblings"	30 August 2015
Ivan Glaziev, one of Monroe's henchmen and secretly an anti-Twilight sympathizer, blackmails one of the Twilights at the party into attacking Loretta by holding his child hostage. When she attempts to question the Twilight, he is killed by Mikhail, one of the two Twilight killers, who arrive and begin slaughtering the guests. Galahad and Marco engage Mikhail, and manage to defeat him before the other Twilight killer, Erica, arrives and turns the tables. Meanwhile, Worick fires a signal flare to summon help. Erica threatens Loretta, but Nic arrives just in time. While fighting her, he realizes that she is Delico's sister. While talking with Alex, Galahad reveals that Nic is what is known as a "faker", a Twilight who overdoses on Celebrer to attain a level higher than they would naturally have. As Erica is about to kill Nic, she is stopped by Ginger from the Paulklee Guild, who was brought by Worick's signal. Erica and Mikhail, realizing they are outclassed, decide to retreat. They meet up with Ivan and Uranos Corsica, who is revealed to be part of the group behind the Twilight killings, Esminets. As the episode ends, Corsica welcomes the mysterious man from the East Gate into their ranks, and he is revealed to be Alex's younger brother, Emilio.
9.5		6 September 2015
The episode serves as a recap episode which retells the events of the previous episodes as well as outlining the introduced characters.
10	"Land of Confusion"	13 September 2015
11	"Absence"	20 September 2015
12	"Odds and Ends"	27 September 2015

Home video

The first two episodes were released on Blu-ray/DVD on 25 September 2015, with each further two episodes originally scheduled to be released once a month, followed by the complete box set on 24 February 2016. Starting with the third volume, however, the home video releases were delayed until further notice.

Product		Episodes	Blu-ray / DVD artwork	Bonus features	Audio commentary	BD / DVD Release date
	Vol. 1	1	Kohske	Original comic by Kohske	Junichi Suwabe (Worick), Kenjiro Tsuda (Nic), Mamiko Noto (Alex)	25 September 2015
		2			Suwabe, Tsuda, Noto, Akira Mikami, Yuki Midori
	Vol. 2	3	Kohske	Original comic	Suwabe, Tsuda, Noto	28 October 2015
		4			Suwabe, Tsuda, Noto, Tetsuo Kanao (Chad), Kaito Ishikawa (Cody Balfour)
	Vol. 3	5	Kohske	Original comic		TBA
		6
	Vol. 4	7				TBA
		8
	Vol. 5	9				TBA
		10
	Vol. 6	11				TBA
		12
	Blu-ray Box	1-12				TBA

Novel

An original novel based off the series and written by Jun'ichi Kawabata was released on 1 August 2015 as part of Shinchosha's Shincho Bunko nex series.

Reception

Rebecca Silverman, reviewing the first English volume for the Anime News Network, gave it an overall score of B+, giving the story a B+ grade and the art a grade of B. She was positive toward the characters and story, commenting that the author "makes some interesting choices with her characters", but felt the art was occasionally subpar, pointing out an image that was reused three times, and commented that the name of the city "sounds like some sort of stomach disorder". Reviewing the second volume, she remarked on improvements in the author's art style and praised the development of Worick, but criticized Alex's reduced presence. She was also positive toward the third volume, writing "Gangsta. is so gritty that you kind of feel like brushing off your skin after reading it, but it's that way with a purpose that is starting to become clear and it's going to feel like a really long wait for volume four".

Reviewing the first three episodes of the anime, Gabriella Ekens stated that it was "a languid execution of a promising story". She also criticized the series' musical score and animation. She stated, however, that she was looking forward to the show, and that "its flaws are as intriguing as its strengths."

External links

• Gangsta. official manga website (Japanese)
• Gangsta. official anime website (Japanese)
• Gangsta (manga) (manga) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia