Gangsta (manga)

 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.
Review.
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. After a job of crushing a gang, Worick decided to spare and help the (amnesiac) sole survivor, Alex, under their wing for the time being.
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 series resumed publication on 20 May 2017.
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. On December 2016, Viz Media announced that it had licensed the manga and would release it on December 20. "Go Go Bunch" ceased publication in 2018, and the manga's final chapter was featured in the last issue on February 9, 2018. 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 eight "tankōbon" volumes, seven 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.
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. They were eventually released in March and May 2016.
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 anime television series before succumbing to bankruptcy. The series is directed by Shūkō Murase and Kōichi Hatsumi, 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 .
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.
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. The releases were finally resumed 16 months after the original delay, with the third volume released on 24 March 2017 and the sixth and final volume released simultaneously with the complete set on 23 June 2017.
Novel.
An original novel based on 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."