gangsta

GANGSTA. – Episode 4: “Noncomformist”

Brown and grey and read all over. Screenshot_2015-07-23-18-06-40 I keep wanting to talk to people about this show, so it looks like GANGSTA has made my episode blog schedule. FUNImation is still being delightfully unclear about its actual release date (their schedule says Sunday but the last two episodes have come out at various times on Wednesday), and since my mid-week schedule is already packed with My Love Story and Sailor Moon, I’m shooting for Saturday posts at this point. I’ll let you know via Twitter if that changes.

[EDIT: Thanks to some broadcasting delays, it looks like GANGSTA will in fact be a Sunday show from now on. Fingers crossed that doesn’t change again.]

For those just now coming in, I did a Premiere Post and a Rule of Three as well, so feel free to catch up on those before diving into this one. Also, as with all my episode posts, it’s assumed you’ve seen the episode under discussion. I haven’t read the manga, though, so there won’t be any spoilers for that, and I’d ask that commenters refrain from discussing anything in the manga (even “they left out X,” as they could work it in later) for the sake of both myself and other readers. Thanks! Now hit the jump for an Episode 4 rundown. Continue reading →

Rule of Three Review: GANGSTA. – Episodes 2-3

You’ll want to check your expectations at the door, but that should by no means stop you from coming in.

gangsta4-5

I did this one a disservice in my Panning post by comparing it to Black Lagoon and Jormungand, when really the only thing they share in common is an interest in the less-than-legal underworld and the personalities that live there. GANGSTA is also not going to be the next Michiko & Hatchin or Cowboy Bebop (although it’s probably closest in tone to that last one’s more somber episodes)—although I want to stress that that is in no way a knock against it.

GANGSTA is damn good and has the potential to be damn great, but it’s also its own thing, and a much quieter show than any of the shows you’ll be inclined to compare it to. The tone is less grandiosity and more… well, melancholy, I suppose. But then, in a city called “Ergastulum,” named for the Roman buildings used to imprison or punish slaves, I guess I shouldn’t have expected anything else.

Continue reading →

Panning the Stream: GANGSTA, Ushio and Tora, SHIMONETA

It’s okay to be a little GARish sometimes.

Screenshot_2015-07-06-13-04-03

Summer shows continue to run the gamut in terms of genre and content, and so it’s unsurprising that today we turn to series that look nothing like anything else we’ve seen so far this season: A criminal underworld drama and a classic shounen action/adventure. Oh, and a weak attempt at satire which earns a spot as my first official dropped show of the season. But mostly the first two. Hit the jump for even more summer series that caught my eye and popped with potential.

Continue reading →