Gangsta was the first manga I consciously bought. I watched anime growing up and even had some volumes of Shaman King, but I never gave it much thought as a medium. But sometime in the early 2010s I really got into anime and wanted to read some of its source material. When I went to get some volumes, Gangsta kinda fell into my lap and since then it holds a dear place in my heart.
I still think Volume 1 is phenomenal. Gangsta looks stylish, the main characters seem interesting and it just has an edge to it. It doesn´t feel edgy but rather rough I´d say. Having a hooker, a deaf guy, and a gigolo as main characters also is something way out of the norm. And while I mostly enjoyed it till its hiatus I have to admit that the narrative kinda falls apart after the first 4 volumes.
It´s just too many characters pressed into little space. This feels especially egregious when you think about Marco Adriano becoming a full story while the main characters didn´t even have one full arc focused on them. Alex feels pushed far to the side after a short while and while Worick becomes more involved in the main plot during the ending, we will probably never see how that pans out. Also, the roughness switches more to edge and shonen tropes when the destroyers get introduced. This isn´t necessarily bad, but it wasn´t nearly as engaging as it had been before. Also the concept of twilights never made that much sense. Why do people hate them? Yes, they are stronger and dangerous but it is never shown how bad they are on a moral level. Also invoking Asimov´s three rules just seems out of place for them.
When I reread this now over a decade since I started it I have to admit that Gangsta isn´t this forgotten gem, but rather a roughly shaped one. There are great ideas, I love the vibe of Ergastulum and want to know how the story ends, but there are clear problems in many of the narrative aspects. Be it the clear lack of a focus for the story, too many characters, or the world-building. Despite that I still wish that Gangsta at least had gotten an ending and not just vanished into nothingness after a mere 8 volumes.
