Thursday, 14 January 2016
Having watched all of the episodes of the GANGSTA Anime, and reading all of the Manga volumes, plus gone through various website that provides information about the series, I have manage to compile all of the information into a clear and comprehendible structure, appropriating and reworking the information into a new story. However, the episode structure for the series follows the anime, although, a more in-depth analysis is provided into each episode, and various aspects of the episodes such as the location, time in which the occurrence took place have been changed.
Besides providing a synopsis for each episode, I have also created original pitches to inform the audience of what each episode is about.
The idea behind providing this information is so that the series executive producer and writer Frank Darabont, can look over this information and work upon it more, in assistance with the Manga illustrator Kosuke and the selected team of assistant writers.
The story
The series is set in 2016 within a fictional post-war dystopian city called Ergastulum, home to Twilights, criminals and refugees from various countries, which is overseen by 4 mafia crime syndicates known as “The Four Fathers” and also the Ergastulum Police department. As the story unveils we’re exposed to many different themes casually introduced such as: sex, money, power, corruption, racial discrimination, vengeance, violence and nihilism.
We initially follow the lives of the two lead characters, Worick and Nicolas, a neutral party within the city whom are known as Handymen, as they navigate their way through the seedy underworld of Ergastulum, taking jobs from the “four Fathers”, in addition to the police and many of the city’s other residents.
At the beginning of the series, Worick and Nicolas receive a request from their acquaintance police detective Chad, to take down an up-and-coming Gang disrupting public order, when they run into a certain prostitute. Her name is Alex; she is being made to conduct her business in the city’s off-limits area by order of the Gangs boss, Barry. Through the actions of Worick and Nicolas, Barry and his crime syndicate is wiped out. Claiming Alex as their “trophy,” she joins the Handymen, working as a receptionist answering their phone.
As the series progresses, we’re slowly introduced to the City of Ergastulum, which revolves around money, power, sex and violence, witnessing the Civil unrest amongst the ordinary citizens and the Twilights; whom are people with genetically enhanced strengths from birth – most hired as mercenaries to carry out tasks involving acts of war - which leads them to getting the blame for the city’s current state of affairs in which everyone is living.
Episode synopsis
#01 Naughty Boys
In the city of Ergastulum, which is run by four crime families, a pair of "Handymen" provide a service doing dirty jobs for anyone who calls and hires them. A fifth power tries to gain a foothold within the city.
The episode opens with Nico (Nicholas Brown) watching Alex Benedetto from his window ledge being scolded by her boss Barry Abott for not earning enough money. Later, while Nico and Worick Arcangelo are dealing with some thugs harassing Granny Joel Raveaus shop, they see her being abused by an irate customer. As she walks away, Nico anonymously drops a handkerchief on Alex’s head so she can wipe the blood off her face. The two Handymen then meet up with Inspector Chad Adkins, who hires them on behalf of the “Four Fathers” to eliminated Barry's organization, which has been trying to get a foothold in Ergastulum, disturbing the city’s balance of power. Before they leave, Nico asks if they can take a trophy. Worick then meets up with Alex, who asks him to thank Nico for the handkerchief, and Worick tells her that they have been hired to kill her boss. Nico is then seen attacking the gang, and Worick shows up in time to finish off Barry. Alex shows up and takes Worick's gun, firing several shots into Barry's dead body in a fit of despair as she's relieved to no longer be under his control, but is now rudderless. Speaking with Inspector Chad afterward, Worick reveals that they have chosen Alex as their trophy. Inspector Chad protests, but Nico cows him into acceptance with a display of his superhuman strength. At the end of the episode, Worick asks Alex if she can answer their phone for them while they’re out working.
#2 Hundermarken
Nina, Dr Theo's young nurse, shows up to deliver some medicine to Nicolas, and to ask for the Handymen's help in dealing with a Tag who is threatening their clinic. Alex learns more about the dogtags that Nicolas wears.
Nina arrives at the Handymen's office to deliver Nico's medicine. Upon arriving, Worick has a hunch that it’s not a social visit, guessing that someone is causing trouble at the Dr’s clinic again. She confesses, telling them that Dr Theo is being harassed by a "Tag", one of the people like Nico. Nina and Nico leave for the clinic, but Worick spots some suspicious characters and stays behind. Using Alex as a distraction, he manages to dispose of them. Meanwhile, the “Tag” and some other men are pressuring Dr Theo to join their organization. They begin to threaten Nina, and are surprised when she arrives unharmed with Nico. Nico and the “Tag” then begin to fight, with Nico claiming that he can take him down in three minutes. Worick begins to explain the concept of Tags to Alex, but they are interrupted by Nico's fight as he defeats his rival. Afterward, Inspector Chad arrives, and berates them for the problems they have caused. Alex asks Nina if she is afraid of Nico, and Nina says she is not; she says, “Alex is” because she doesn't know about Twilights. Elsewhere, an unknown person kills the wounded Twilight that Nico fought for failing to complete his mission.
#3 Ergatsulum
When Worick has to make himself available for his primary occupation, Alex accompanies Nicolas as he makes deliveries around Ergastulum. Joel offers Alex some advice about staying with the Handymen.
Worick wakes up from a dream of Nico killing his father. Since Worick has to work his other job, Alex and Nico leave to make deliveries for Dr Theo. Nico explains to Alex that Worick is a gigolo. While making a delivery to Granny Joel store, Alex sees a newspaper featuring an article about the killing of the Arcangelo family twenty-two years ago and the kidnapping of their youngest son. Worick then joins them after finishing with his customer. They make a delivery to Daniel Monroe, one of the “Four Fathers”, who asks Nico to re-join the Monroe family, but Nico refuses. Next they deliver a batch of Twilight drugs to Georgiana, the madam of the brothel called “Pussy” where Worick used to work. Before they leave, Alex sees Nico in a room with a mysterious woman. The next day, Worick and Alex talk about his past and his job as a gigolo. The episode ends with both Nico and Worick having a flashback to their childhood.
#4 Nonconformist
After a massive body dump is discovered, Chad must take Worick and Nicolas in for questioning. Daniel Monroe enlists the aid of the Handymen during a gun battle. Worick recalls the first time he and Nicolas met.
After a mass dump of severed body part is discovered in District 6, Worick and Nicolas are apprehended and brought into Ergatsulum police station for questioning by Inspector Chad and his junior partner Cody Balfour. Making use of Woricks’ photographic memory to help identify the faces found in the pile of mangled bodies, Chad receives a call from Daniel Monroe, asking him to send the Handymen over to assist in a gang war against him in an attempted assassination. Monroe and his men are then attacked by a knife-wielding Twilight of the same rank as Nico, who kills many of them. Nico arrives to fight the Twilight, and Monroe asks his men if they want to place bets on who will win. Worick and Nico's backstory is interspersed with flashbacks of the events during the episode, showing Nico being hired as a mercenary bodyguard for Worick, who is at first outraged that his bodyguard is disabled with a hearing deficiency while the rest of his family's bodyguards are not. However, he soon comes to empathize with Nico. Meanwhile, Alex hallucinates Barry's bloody and animated corpse when faced with the dilemma of staying with the Handymen, or living on her own.
#5 Sanctions
The Paulklee Guild learns that Doug, one of their Twilights, has taken a job without their knowledge that would violate the Three Laws. Worick and Nicolas have their hands full trying to protect Monroe.
The episode begins with a flashback to a young Worick with a client, juxtaposed with a newscaster talking about the state of affairs in Ergastulum, and the Three Laws which are about to take effect. Worick runs back to Nico to share his earnings and to tell him about a café that serves Twilights where they can eat, but is stunned to find Nico crouched and bleeding in an alley. Chad tends to Nico's wounds. In the present, Ginger, assistant to Gina Paulklee who is boss of Paulklee Guild and one of the “Four Fathers”, reports to Gina that Doug has taken a job outside of the Guild's jurisdiction. Worick interrogates a mercenary behind the attack on Monroe. Doug meets his match in Nico, who has overdosed on Celebrer to dull his pain. Monroe recalls an attack by a Twilight (possibly a young Nico) who destroyed his estate and decimated his staff. Worick reports that the Corsicans Family, one of the “Four Fathers” are making a move. Delico, Monroe's D/0 Twilight, saves Monroe from Doug. Worick tries to stop Nico to keep him from overextending himself, but before he can, Ginger and Gina show up. Gina explains to Nico that the Three Laws have to be observed or Ergastulum will fall apart. She shoots Nico and Doug with Celebrer "downers". Alex, who was studying the sign language book and watching the rain, sees a shadowy figure, which is revealed to be Barry. The sound of heavy footsteps on the stairs has her cowering on the floor wondering how it could be that he survived being shot. The episode ends with Worick draging Nico and Doug to Dr Theo's clinic, and using their phone to call Alex, but she fails to answer as we see the “Handyman’s” office empty.
#6 Thorn
Monroe makes arrangements to bury the men lost in the previous day's shootout. Nina tends to Nicolas' injuries as Worick pieces together the threat to the city's balance of power, and search for Alex whilst having flashbacks of his childhood memories.
While interrogating a henchman, Worick learns that Uranos Corsica, Boss of the Corsica family, doesn't want to kill Monroe; he only wants access to the Celebrer-supplying Cristiano Family, one of the “Four Fathers” that he protects. Monroe holds a funeral for the men killed by Doug. Meanwhile, Nina and Worick discuss Nico's injuries, as he lies unconscious at the clinic. When Nico awakens, Worick tells him that the body dump discovered in District 6 were all Twilights; one of them was the Tag that Nico had fought previous outside of Dr’ Theo’s clinic. When Worick returns to the office, he finds Dr Theo there; Theo tells him that Alex is likely suffering from withdrawal symptoms due to drugs given to her by Barry, which have caused her hallucinations. Searching for Alex, Worick finds her in the alley, where she fails to recognize him and mistakes him for a customer. When she continues to hallucinate Barry, Worick head-butts her to bring her to her senses. In a flashback to their childhood, Worick begins to teach Nico to write. When he asks how Nico got a bruise on his arm, Nico replies that he fell down. Later, Nico and the other mercenaries are dispensed to put down Anti-Twilight riots outside Ergastulum. While retrieving the sign language book that Worick gave him, Nico is almost hit by a hand grenade. He returns the damaged book to Worick. Noticing an injury that Worick's father gave him, Nico asks what happened, and Worick says that he fell down.
#7 Birth
Worick has a nightmare, flashing back to when he found out that Nicolas was a Twilight. Doug returns to the Guild, disappointed that Nicolas wasn't who he thought he was. The Four Fathers meet to discuss the slain Twilights.
Worick awakes, bolting up panting with cold sweats, from a dream about the time that he learned that Nico was a Twilight, and Alex comforts him. Meanwhile, Inspector Chad arrives at Dr Theo's clinic and informs Doug that he is in trouble with the Guild. Dr Theo tells Inspector Chad that the Twilight bodies found in District 6 were likely killed by other Twilights. The “Four Fathers” gather to discuss the recent string of Twilight killings, including another batch of bodies that has recently been discovered. Loretta, Boss of the “Christiano Family” is suspicious of Uranos Corsica, but he vehemently denies his involvement, despite expressing pleasure at the outcome. In a flashback, Worick reveals to Nico that he has purchased Nico's contract from Gaston Brown. Worick's father finds him smoking, and presses a lit cigarette into his left eye. Nico sees this and, outraged, kills Worick's father and the rest of the family. Nico is about to kill himself too, but Worick forcibly stops him, telling him that he will have to suffer for what he did before he lets him die. In the present, Worick and Delico meet, both being excluded from the Four Fathers meeting, and Worick contemplates that being killed in the Twilight hunt wouldn't be a bad way for Nico to die. By the end of the episode, we see two unfamiliar new characters as they’re killing some Twilights and collected their Tags. Afterwards, Nico and Alex pass the two Twilight killers in an alleyway, and Nico, seemingly recognizing them, grins as the episode finishes.
#8 Evening Dress
When three more Twilight bodies are found, all signs point to an anti-Twilight campaign being carried out. The Handymen are hired to repair Constance's gun shop, and Alex discovers that she has some important memories missing.
The episode begins with the handymen performing repairs on Constance Raveau's shop after a shoot-out, and Worick invites Alex to a soiree hosted by the Cristiano Family at their Headquarters “Bastards”. While talking with Constance, Alex suddenly remembers that she has a younger brother who she had forgotten, and wonders how that could be. She then begins to hallucinate Barry, before being calmed by Nico. Meanwhile, an unknown man arrives at the East Gate of Ergastulum. The Handymen arrive at the Cristiano nightclub, where Loretta and her two bodyguards, Marco Adriano and Galahad Woeher, greet them. As the party gets under way, Nico and Worick leave to help Twilights who are being chased by anti-Twilight rioters, escorting them to the Cristiano nightclub. The party is revealed to be an attempt to gather the Twilights together in order to protect them. Meanwhile, Galahad and Loretta coerce Alex into singing for the gathered Twilights. The mysterious man hears her singing, but is turned away at the door. As the song ends, Nico and Worick successfully escort the last of the Twilights to safety. Meanwhile, the two Twilight killers from the previous episode prepare to take action.
#9 Siblings
A few of the Twilights inside the night club suddenly pull knives out and start attacking those around them, forcing Marco and Galahad to take action. Mikhail joins the fray, collecting dogtags, as Worick begins connecting the dots.
Ivan Glaziev, one of Monroe's henchmen and secretly an anti-Twilight sympathizer, blackmails one of the Twilights at the party into attacking Loretta by holding his child hostage. When she attempts to question the Twilight he is killed by Mikhail, one of the two Twilight killers who arrive and begin slaughtering the guests. Galahad and Marco engage Mikhail, and manage to defeat him before the other Twilight killer, Erica, arrives and turns the tables. Meanwhile, Worick fires a signal flare to summon help. Erica threatens Loretta, but Nico arrives just in time. While fighting her, he realizes that she is Delico's sister. While talking with Alex, Galahad reveals that Nico is what is known as a "faker", a Twilight who overdoses on Celebrer to attain a level higher than they would naturally have. As Erica is about to kill Nico, Ginger, from the Paulklee Guild who was brought over by Worick’s signal stops her. Erica and Mikhail, realizing they are outclassed, decide to retreat. They meet up with Ivan and Uranos Corsica, who is revealed to be part of the group behind the Twilight killings, “Destroyers”. As the episode ends, Corsica welcomes the mysterious man from the East Gate into their ranks, and he is revealed to be Alex's younger brother, Emilio Benedetto.
#10 Land of Confusion
While Nicolas is again treated for his injuries, Alex discovers how important Dr. Theo is to the city's Twilights. Cody learns why the Handymen are independent. A lone woman is seen entering the Abandoned District, leading to the Paulklee Colony.
Overlooking the rooftops of Ergastulum, as a news broadcast plays in the background, Emilio has a flashback of his sister as he dwells with the rest of the Destroyers. Over at Dr Theo’s Clinic, scared to receive multiple injections to cure his injuries, Dr Theo forces Nicolas down, somewhat unnerving Galahad and Marco in the process as he also scolds him for his overexertion of the Celebrer drug. Shocked about Dr Theo’s strength, Alex ask if the Dr is a super Twilight, and Nina dispels the myth, telling Alex how important the doctor is to the twilights. Meanwhile, Cody learns of Worick’s incredible Memory ability called Hyperthymesia, as Worick casually identifies the bodies of the Twilights Killed in the “Bastard” Massacre over at the Police Department mortuary. Afterwards at the Monroe’s mansion, Worick confirms Erica’s involvement with the Twilight murders, and we’re shown a brief flashback of the time the orphanage was attacked 15 years ago and Erica was kidnapped. Later on, Sig; a member of the Destroyers walks into the “Abandoned District” and she begins massacring twilights from the Paulklee Guild. Raising the alarm, Tris informs Hausen of the situation, and he mobilises the guild members into action, sending Doug off with a team to get the message to the outside. Causing mass destruction around the “Abandoned District” an explosion creates a huge smoke cloud, which grabs the attention of Nic whilst he’s sitting at the bottom step of the “Handy Man” base.
Plot breakdown
Here is the plot break down for the whole series
