Review of Gangsta.

One of the most unfortunate cases of adaptation in recent times. Gangsta lured many fans through the promise of 'maturity' alone: actual adult characters, a gritty crime-infested setting that recall to mind the likes of noir and gangster flicks, and ultraviolence. It certainly started out promising enough, introducing three principal characters with significant amount of baggage (in its 2Male+1Female dynamic and thematic thread of 'escape from the past' linking them, there's a strong whiff of Cowboy Bebop) and establishing a slow burn atmosphere that may disappoint those looking for more 'punch shoot explode' type of series, but hugely appeals to fans of intricate characterdrama that addressed and incorporated heavy themes (e.g. marginalization, drug dependency, sex worker abuse) in fairly respectful manner. Despite its nature, Gangsta never gets too bleak or cynical, as the warm interplay between the characters reflected a considerably sized heart and sentimentality beneath all the grit. Hearing-impaired Nicolas Brown, along with the use of sign language that entailed this detail, also lend a distinct flavor to the set-up by being one of the few representations of disabled protagonist.

Then, it kind of went downhill.

There's always an awkward amalgamation of seinen (setting, main protagonists, ultraviolence, general feel and pace) and shounen (certain supporting characters, power rankings, romanticization of characters to some extent) elements in Gangsta, and while this in itself isn't a bad thing, the more juvenile bits really don't mesh well. At some point, Gangsta is dragged down by haphazardly animated fight scenes, some character design that looked like rejects from Naruto/One Piece rogue gallery, and messily developed conflict. Much worse, Manglobe's internal issues became increasingly apparent and resulted in a fatal miscalculation: the series' pacing and overall composition would only made sense if it's something like 50-episode series instead of something four times shorter. The swelling number of characters, sub-plots, and individual arcs (made worse by oftentimes ineffective exposition, editing, and cross-cutting) is something the show eventually couldn't handle, eventually crashing out with a horribly abrupt non-ending that left loose threads all over the place and basically left the viewers with a feeling that they've watched what amounted to an extended ad of the manga.

It all became more understandable after news about Manglobe's demise came to light, but it's still a darn shame. Credits where it's due, though: Gangsta has its considerable share of graceful isolated moments, and even with all its problems (both inherent and external), it's still a memorable production with potent setting and principal characters. This is an adaptation that screamed out for way more time and resource that its production studio didn't, and sadly, wouldn't ever have.