「SIBLINGS」


Dip in Quality:

GANGSTA has never been the most visually impressive with its art and animation – more so its pacing, exposition, and effective composition – but this episode took a severe dip in quality. It wasn’t easy to get 36 screencaps that actually looked half-decent. The character models were off, the faces were skewered, and the some of the fight scenes were poorly executed. Of course, that’s not enough to call this episode ‘terrible’, because it wasn’t – it just didn’t look very well put together. I can only hope things will be back to track next week.

Less Subtlety, More Action:

Overall, I do suspect many fans will be pleased with this episode. GANGSTA has had its fair share of action, but the drama and careful exposition has been the focus for the majority of its run. This episode, however, put its subtlety to one side and gave us a plethora of fights. If that’s what you’ve been waiting for, then I imagine this episode met your expectations.

But for me, this was probably my least favourite episode (though would still say it was very good). I’ve grown to appreciate GANGSTA’s storytelling and fleshing out of its three main characters; it really does feel like we were on a journey with these handymen, even if the story hadn’t truly kicked in. I expected lots of battles and bloodshed once the shadowed enemies made their appearance, but I’d still much rather get what we’ve had up until this point. GANGSTA is smarter than you’d initially give it credit for, so if we can balance the action with the hints and clues of future developments, then I’ll have little to complain about. Thankfully, that is what I think will happen, going by the end of the episode.

Aside from Mikhail (Tanezaki Atsumi) and his borderline insanity, my favourite moment of the scrap at the club would have to Ginger’s entrance and the revelation of S-ranked Twilights, making her the sixth(?) highest possible rank, and the strongest in the series to date. On the opposite side of the power scale, we find out that Nic is only really an A/O when he’s overdosed on his drugs. He’s labelled a ‘fake’, because his actual rank is of a low B-class. In one fell swoop we’ve learned that there is a whole other level to the Tags, and that Nic is nowhere near as strong as we’ve been led to believe. If this episode is anything to go by, then he may actually have some difficulty going forward, especially if he needs those drugs to do the damage.

Unexpected Siblings:

When I saw the title for this episode, I expected it to focus on Alex and Emilio (Majima Junji), but we barely saw either of the pair. I thought perhaps they’d meet once again, but that seems even more unlikely for the time being. Alex taking that gun for protection and then using it when she could was as much as she could provide to the battle, and Emilio has joined the group of hunters at the end of the episode, who seem to be allied with two of Ergastulum’s families, if I’m not mistaken. When Alex and Emilio eventually do meet, I suspect it won’t be the heartfelt reunion I’m hoping for.

Instead, the siblings that we focus on are Delico and Erica (Shimamura Yuu), who look so similar they could be twins. Whether these two are allies or enemies in the grande scheme of things will be revealed in due course, but the web is growing by adding characters that are related to the already established cast. Amid all the action, we’re being set up for various re-unions and future conflicts, which has me rather excited.

Overview – What’s Next?:

I wouldn’t say this episode was mindless violence, because there is nothing mindless about GANGSTA. As I’ve said time and time again, we’re getting the story bit by bit, and even though we didn’t see much of that this episode, the fact that Erica and Emilio are being shown as villains, and that they have ties with the Delico and Alex should make for exciting developments. Maybe I would have appreciated the action more this week if it looked better, but I shouldn’t complain all that much. It’s still GANGSTA, and it’s still awesome.

Full-length images: 06, 36.

27 Comments

  1. Op child chars annoy me so the kid has been fully disregarded.
    Loved this episode and can’t wait to see what the revelation of Erica means. We could talk about Alex and Emilio, but that’s kind of obv to predict so far.
    Mainly curious as to why someone is trying to destroy the balance of ergastulum, particularly why a family is interested in that. It’ll destroy this well oiled machine and it’s clearly for their own gain, but why?
    I’m devastated Nic isn’t op 🙁 and is the gangsta equivalent to archer

    Kabble
  2. Samu, S rank for the twilights is the highest possible rank to achieve in terms of strength so Ginger is extremely powerful. She’s only a rank S/5 though, if she was a rank S/0 then she would be unstoppable. On terms of the villians in this episode i’m upset that everyone is haring on them when they play a HUGE role on this entire series!! Especially Erica! Also, the bond with Alex and her brother Emilio would be deepened as the story goes along. I wonder where they’re going to stop with this anime since the series isn’t exactly over and i have a feeling they’re going to stop midway.

    Kiminobokuwa
    1. I assumed S/0 would be the highest rank, which makes Ginger (S/5) the sixth highest. It’s good to know she’s the strongest to date, until we see some more S-rank Twilights (which I’m sure we will).

      Samu
      1. I wish we would get more of Ginger though. She’s too amazing just to be a side character!! I also have to agree with you on the animation!! I think it’s supposed to pick up for the next few episodes!! But the quality dropped a little this episode. Which sucks, but i still love Gangsta!!

        Kiminobokuwa
    2. i would not wonder, yet Higher the Tag Rang, yet shorter Lifespan he/she has. S Rank, to get this Speed her Body will surly take her tool. and Tripple S? She will, die even before reach teen hood…

      Yet Stronger you Burn, yet faster your Light goes out

      WorldwideDepp
  3. If these people are supposed to be so very dangerous (which they obviously are), why not just shoot them or stab them in the head when given the opportunity during the fight. It should be clear to all parties involved that with a Twilight even a one second hesitation is one second too long.

    Obviously it’s better for the story for them to survive but it should have been over for one if not both of them (or even Nic for that matter).

    7godeohs
      1. Well at one point that kid is tied up (more like monster, so the ethics on that would be debatable). Anytime in there would have been fine. Ginger also had one of them with a gun in their face point blank. That would have done the trick as well.

        7godeohs
      2. A gun is only going to be useful in the hands of someone as powerful or more powerful than they are, hence Ginger. Additionally the tags are almost never seen using guns.
        If any of the rest of them had tried that nonsense Erica or the boy would’ve easily taken care of them. And hopefully you don’t mean they should shoot to kill, because gathering information takes highest priority.

        Kabble
  4. Gangsta’s mangaka is now taking questions from Western fans via ask.fm’s Q&A account.
    http://www.crunchyroll.com/anime-news/2015/08/30/gangsta-author-responds-to-fans-english-language-questions

    Some answers:
    1) She loves drawing older, grizzled men. (“Older faces are easier to draw”)
    2) She wanted the female characters’ boobs to jiggle more. (“Gainaxing is insufficient”)
    3) Nicholas’s design is her preference (she uses “fetish” to describe it)

    zztop
  5. I love this episode but it is the visually least pleasing of all Gangsta has offered. Aside from crudely drawn designs, my main beef is the action scenes being reminiscent with MS Powerpoint at some points. Come’on, you can do better than this.

    samui
  6. I read here and there, that the Manga is not very far ahead, and perhaps our Manga-ka or Anime-Writer could need some help in Inspiration

    Here is my fan fiction:
    Show Spoiler ▼

    WorldwideDepp
    1. Well, there is Yukio Washimine from Black Lagoon… Though…
      Show Spoiler ▼

      While I hope that Loretta won’t suffer a similar fate as Yukio, I wouldn’t be surprised if that does happen. Heck, her charitable actions towards Twilights and being a reasonable authority figure towards her subordinates–though admirable–would be considered a death flag in a crapsack setting. (Or maybe that’s just the Game of Thrones experience speaking… Oh well.)

      Incognito
  7. I will say this about this episode. I was highly disappointed. For one; It seemed like it was rushed. Two; the quality wasn’t as good as the others. And three; Even though it might not seem something to get mad about, but Loretta’s voice didn’t fit to me. I’ve read the manga and was excited when the anime started. I didn’t like this episode at all.

    Just Saying

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