Gangsta.

Somewhere in the middle of making this show the production company went bankrupt and pushed out a few more episodes in a last ditch effort to either save the company from going under or to just get the show out there to show it could have been great... cancelation isn't what stopped this show from being one of the top anime of all time.. I haven't seen it in the better part of 10 years so forgive me if I'm wrong but the main idea of the story is something like this .... Nicholas Brown and Worwic were the protagonists the show was centered around. They were considered "handymen" which were essentially mercenaries that would take any job, since a corrupt police force as well as powerful Gangs running the town and lining the police's pockets meant crime was being done and nothing was being done to stop it, and the mercenaries essentially played both sides... as the story progresses you come to know that Nic is a "twilight" or an offspring of (a) parent(s) that had been taking Celebrer, a drug produced and originally used during war time to increase strength speed and agility of soldiers. The drug itself had essentially been bound to their DNA and the gene was passed down to their children, giving them incredible abilities and usually some sort of handicap to offset them (nic was deaf) but would end up living a short life if they couldn't take the drug regularly. Twilights were treated as worse than 2nd class citizens and had to be labeled as such with dog tags and be relatively subservient to anyone that wasn't a twilight or be hunted down. Nic was a high class twilight, but you find out later that he only attained the rank because he would overdose on the drug to get even more heightened abilities and ended up taking the tags off of someone he had hunted down. The twilights that didn't get in line and had survived up until this point were usually high ranking with incredible speed and strength. As the show progresses you follow nic and Worwic on the jobs they'd do... the story starts to fall apart since the production company was crumbling around them, plot holes and redundancies appear more and more, and the show itself ends on some major cliffhangers. It could have been something great. In recent years the Manga was picked up by a different company since the original was shelved because of what was happening with the accompanying anime and has stayed pretty true to the original, which leaves potential for someone to pick up the reigns and reboot the series as an anime... I only hope at some point they make another run and can make something half as decent and actually complete it... as it is, it's still worth a watch to both see the potential it had as well as to enjoy the show... I recommend any action anime fan gives it a shot.

Ergastulum is a place filled with gangsters loyal to four main families. A violent city filled with hookers, thugs, drugs and Twilights. Twilights are humans born with extraordinary strength and speed, but who live short lives and generally have a handicap to 'compensate' for their abilities. The Twilights are ranked according to their skill level and wear dog tags, and are often referred to as 'tags'.

Nicholas is a high level tag and life-long friend of Worick (a 'normal') and together they're the Handymen. They do odd jobs around town (kill people, act as gigolos, etc) and are not loyal to any of the main families. Occasionally they help the cops solve particularly nasty crimes. The story mainly revolves around Worick and Nicholas as they try to keep the streets safe for their friends in an increasing violent turf war and as anti-Twilight factions try to kill off all the remaining Twilights.

This show was definitely my kinda thing. The character development was good (for only a 12 episode series), the animation was good and the violence factor was high. Not a show for kids though or anyone looking for light-hearted entertainment. As for why I only gave it a 7/10, well without spoiling the ending, I'm thinking they already have a second season planned, or otherwise just dropped it due to budget constraints or a lack of interest, because it seemed very abrupt. Well worth a watch anyway.

It is what it is and it is not so bad. Almost like Black Lagoon - but Gangsta is unfinished. It is not an open end or something, it just ends at a random point in the story due to lack of money or something.

So, as it is so similar to Black Lagoon or even Cowboy Bebop: Go watch these! They are also way better in my opinion.

For some reason, this Gangsta is on the recommended list for those who like Black Lagoon series. What a joke!

Yes, it has a few interesting ideas but that's all it has. Cardboard characters, boring and messy story (with no conclusion btw) subpar visuals and lazy directing.. what tedious watch it was.

In Ergastulum, crime is almost part of the daily routine. Corruption, theft and prostitution plague the city while the police can only look on helplessly. In this seedy town, deaf Nic and part-time gigolo Worick work as 'garbage men' and 'handy men', taking care of the town's trash and doing the dirty behind-the-scenes work that everyone else is too good to do .

The anime manages to present interesting characters in a good setting with nice animations.

The anime really grabbed me and I devoured it in one piece.

Unfortunately, the anime will not be continued, which I personally think is a pity, because I think you can make a lot out of it.