Gangsta (stylized as GANGSTA.) (Japanese: ギャングスタ, Hepburn: Gyangusuta) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Kohske. It has been published in Shinchosha's monthly magazine Comic Bunch since March 2011. The series has inspired a spin-off manga, an audio drama series, an anime television series, and an original novel. The anime series was the last to be produced by animation studio Manglobe before its bankruptcy.
Synopsis
Setting The story of GANGSTA. takes place in the city of Ergastulum (エルガストルム, Erugasutorumu), a place filled to the brim with hoodlums, prostitutes, and dirty cops. It is governed by four major mafia families. Each syndicate controls a district of the city and distribute specific rackets. However, Ergastulum is ultimately an open-air internment camp for superhuman individuals known as "Twilights" (黄昏, Tasogare), also called "Tags" for the government issued dogtags they are required to wear. Twilights are the descendants of those who took the drug, Cerebret, developed during wartime to create enhanced soldiers, increasing their strength, speed and agility. Their children inherit these qualities, making them an unintended consequence. They are dependent on consistent doses of Cerebret to stay alive and avoid withdrawal symptoms. At the same time, however, it slowly poisons them, significantly slashing their lifespans and giving them disabilities. They are kept under surveillance, having been herded into Ergastulum, and xenophobia between them and the "Normal" non-Twilight refugees who settled there is constantly brewing. The Cerebret they need to survive is strictly regulated, expensive, and used to keep the Twilights on a short leash.
Plot Two "Handymen" named Worick Arcangelo and Nicolas Brown take on jobs for both the mob and the police force that no one else can handle. 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.
One day, Nicolas and Worick are brought in by the police for questioning on the mass murders that have taken place in the sixth district. All of the bodies appear to exclusively be Twilights. However, they leave quickly when Daniel Monroe calls for their assistance. Monroe is being attacked by a young Twilight named Doug, a member of the Pauklee mercenary guild. There Nicolas battles Doug to a standstill, but their fight is interrupted by the guild's head, Gina and her high-ranked assistant, Ginger. Nicolas recovers along with Doug at Dr. Theo's clinic. After recuperating, Doug divulges that his mission was given to him by the Corsica family, who are infamous anti-Twilight advocates. In addition, Daniel Monroe's right-hand man, Ivan, is revealed to be a mole for the Corsica family.
The anti-Twilights sentiment in Ergastulum steadily increases as the murder rate of Twilights continue, leading the Handymen to take a job gathering stray Twilights to be brought under the Christiano Family's protection. Hiding them within the family's club, Bastard. While Worick and Nic are out, Alex stays inside the club and is encouraged to sing for the patrons. Eventually, the club is attacked by the Twilight Hunters. Loretta's bodyguards, Galahad and Marco momentarily hold them off until Nicolas arrives and engages the Hunters in a brutal fight. Eventually they subdue Nic, preparing to kill him before his reinforcements arrive in the form of Worick, Doug, and most importantly Ginger who the two quickly realize they can't defeat. Forcing them to hastily retreat into the night.
The Paulklee Guild is attacked by two hunters, wanting to test their defenses. The figures reveal themselves as members of the Third Destroyers and agents of Uranus Corsica. In the assault, Doug is killed. Upon learning that one of the hunters is Delico's long-lost sister, Erica, him and Yang resolves to go look for her. They ask around if anyone has seen Erica, but with no luck. As they search District 7, a young Twilight named Heather attacks them, mistaking Delico for Erica. Delico and Yang manage to convince Heather to guide them to Erica's known location. After the attack on Bastard, Nic is assigned to protect Loretta and Worick goes to help reinforce the Monroe mansion. Only to find that Monroe himself is nowhere to be found. When speaking to Miles, the estate is attacked by Striker, a member of the Destroyers looking for Daniel. Striker swiftly decimates the estate's security but is eventually driven off when Worick injects him with a downer. In the conflict, Worick is stabbed and thrown out of a window.
On this same day, Connie goes to her grandmother's shop and encounters another Destroyer, Berreta. Believing she's a customer, Connie offers her some cigarettes, but Beretta proceeds to kidnap her. Being tied up and gagged, Beretta then presents Connie as a gift to Striker, who is very pleased. While Worick is recovering at Dr. Theo's clinic, Nicolas speaks to the doctor about an experimental version of Cerebrer. Bestowing the user, a stable amplification of their overall strength. Injecting Nic before he sets off to search for the two Hunters. As the two parties search for Erica, Nic comes across Yang and Delico in an alleyway. He further explains that he's here to interrogate Mikhail. Also making it clear that Delico will have three chances to kill or capture Erica before he takes over and does it himself. Delico approaches their hideout in disguise to lure Mikhail out. As Nicolas fights Mikhail, Erica appears before Delico. Who she seems not to recognize, stealing his tags as he pleads for her to acknowledge him. Yang and Delico attempt to subdue Erica before Nicolas is drawn into the fight as well. Delico and Nicolas manage to immobilize Mikhail, and then Monroe and Ivan appear. Monroe reveals that he was behind the attack on the orphanage as well as Erica's kidnapping and Ivan routinely sexually assaults her revealing himself as her "handler". During this, Nic is starting to come down on the Celebret and feeling sickly. Enraged, Yang lunges forward and aiming his gun at Monroe. Delico reflexively shoots Yang in Monroe's defense, but soon realizes his mistake. Nic then attacks Daniel, who incapacitates him by shooting him in the leg. Monroe, Ivan and Erica depart, leaving the injured Mikhail behind. Not before long, Heather arrives with help from Worick, Marco and Theo.
At the clinic, Nicolas start to have a seizure as a side-effect to the experimental Cerebrer and Yang is in critical condition. Theo is ready to consider his tests on Nic a failure and began to administer a downer, but Nic knocks it out of his hand, telling him to give Yang more attention. While at the Destroyers' warehouse, Constance escapes from her restraints and stabs Sig in the thigh with a shard of glass. In retaliation, Striker tears her left arm off and sends it to Marco. Leading Marco to venture out on his own to retrieve her. On the way, Marco is ambushed by Colt, only to be saved by Galahad and the Guild. Finally reaching the warehouse, Marco battles Striker and Beretta. After fleeing with Constance, Striker catches up with them, leading the couple to use a suicide bomb as a last resort. Leaving Striker critically injured.
Shortly after the appearance of the Hunters and Destroyers in Ergastulum, Worick murders Miles and presents the severed head to the Corsica family, leaving behind some money and a note for Alex, telling her to leave the city while she still can. While Nicolas is recovering at the Theo's clinic, four members of the Guild attempt to apprehend him, Theo and Alex. Nic attempts to fight them off but is unsuccessful. The Guild brings them into custody for questioning. Worick begins working for Corsica under the name "Storage". Utilizing his photographic memory as his strongest asset. While meeting with Uranos, its revealed that Corsica placed the Hunters under his control. So, they may carry out the annihilation of all Twilights within the city.
Characters
Main characters Worick Arcangelo
(formerly Wallace Arcangelo) is Nic's Handymen partner. His abusive father hired Nic as Worick's personal guard, but Nic killed Worick's abusive family (with his permission) in a fit of rage after witnessing Worick's father press a lit cigarette into his son's left eye over which he now wears a patch. He has been a gigolo since he was thirteen, and views this as his main job. He is highly intelligent and has hyperthymesia enabling him to memorize vast amounts of information. He carries a M1911A1 pistol. Nicolas Brown
, or Nic, is Worick's Handymen partner. He is a "Twilight", 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. He is known as a "faker" because although his natural ability is a B/5 level Twilight, he can gain the almost superhuman abilities of an A/0 level by overdosing on Cerebret. Alex 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 only remembers a few things, including her name, and later it is revealed that she is not from Ergastulum and is unfamiliar with life in there. 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, but hasn't seen him since childhood.
Supporting characters Dr. Theo
is a doctor who supplies Nic and other Twilights with Cerebret 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, but displays a hidden dark side when his clinic and Nina are threatened. Nina
is a young girl who works at Dr. Theo's clinic as a nurse, and is close friends with Worick and Nicolas. Chad Adkins
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
is a mafia boss, and head of one of the three main 'gangs' in Ergastulum. He is Worick and Nic's former employer. Delico
is a rank D/0 Twilight who works for the Monroe Family. Loretta Cristiano 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. She runs the "Bastard" nightclub and her associates and de facto protectors are Marco Adriano (who has superhuman strength) and Galahad Woeher (a Twilight). Sir Gina Paulklee