Friday 2 October 2015
The Manga/Anime that i'm interested in adapting is a series called Gangsta.
This post is an overview of the series, just to give you an idea of what the series is about and an insight into the Gangsta. world.
Animated Series Trailer
Information about Gangsta.
Gangsta. (ギャングスタ Gyangusuta?), stylized as GANGSTA., is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Kohske. It has been published in Shinchosha's Monthly Comic @BUNCH magazine since 2011. The series has inspired a spin-off manga, an audio drama series, an anime television series, and an original novel. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gangsta.)
The animated series adaptation is written by Shinichi Inotsume who is the series planner, directed by Shuko Murase, and was published by Manglobe (company closed down on 29th september).
Genres: action, drama
Themes: crime, gangs, Mafia, Violence, neo-nior crime
Synopsis & Plot summary
GANGSTA. follows the lives of Worick and Nic, a duo called
Benriya (meaning “Handymen") that operate in the alternate history city of
Ergastulum. Rife with racial tension between humans and the superhuman
“Twilights”, Ergastulum’s uneasy balance is maintained by three ruling families
and the Paulklee Guild. Benriya operate independently, taking jobs from both
the mafia and the police.
In the crime-ridden, mafia-governed city of Ergastulum, Worick and Nicolas are two "handymen" known as "Benriya" who would take any dirty job from either police or mafia -- for a good price. After an assignment from police the two met and later joined by Alex, a former prostitute who got interested in the mysterious background of the team, in particular of Nicolas' abilities.
Leyla Aker, Vice present of publishing and Gangsta. Editor.
“GANGSTA. is an incredibly accomplished and addicting take on the neo-noir crime genre,” saysLeyla Aker, Vice President of Publishing and GANGSTA. Editor. “The storyline features plenty of high drama, low comedy and, of course, tons of action, all rendered in a fresh art style that's as sharp-edged as the violence it depicts. The antiheroes of the story, Nic and Worick, are easy to root for, as is Alex, the damsel in distress. But no one's quite what they seem, and the series pulls you in as the mysteries of their pasts are slowly revealed.”
Twilight
Twilight (黄昏, Koukon?) is the title
given to the children and descendants of those who used the Celebrer drug.
While Ergastulum was created to control and house Twilights due to an influx of
them after the war, they are still a source of controversy. Anti-Twilight
factions are prominent in the city despite pro-Twilight support from three of
the four Big Fathers.
From birth, they are registered and controlled using tags
embedded with chips that monitor their vital signs. Thus, they are also known as
"Tagged". These tags also have their rank - speculated to be a
measure of the Twilight's strength - with D/5 (the default) being the lowest
and S/0 the highest. After a Twilight's confirmed death, they are automatically
deleted from their category and their family registration. Every record of
their existence is erased.
Ergastulum
is a city in an unknown country in which the series GANGSTA. takes place.
Ergastulum was founded in the wake of the War of Unification
in 1913. It was originally intended as a quarantine for Celebre users from the
war, later known as Twilights. Twilights born outside of Ergastulum, or
"strays", are targeted by the government to be identified, tagged and
relocated to Ergastulum.
Geography
Ergastulum is divided into ten districts with the government
neutral zone occupying the heart of the city.
Government
While Ergastulum is theoretically part of a larger country,
the primary governing forces internally are the local mafia families and the
guild. The heads of these four organisations are considered the "Four Big Fathers" of Ergastulum. These organisations are:
- Corsica Family
-
The Corsica Family is one of the four big mafia families in the city of Ergastulum. The location of their headquarters is currently unknown.
- Monroe Family
-
The Corsica Family is one of the four big mafia families in the city of Ergastulum. The location of their headquarters is currently unknown.
- Cristiano Family
-
The Corsica Family is one of the four big mafia families in the city of Ergastulum. The location of their headquarters is currently unknown.
- Paulklee Guild
-
The Paulklee Guild is one of the four big mafia families in the city of Ergastulum. The Guild occupies the "0 Street" area at Ergastulum's southern tip, directly adjacent to South Gate. It appears to be populated entirely by military-organized Twilights.
Main Characters
The character descriptions are taken from http://gangsta.wikia.com and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gangsta.
This is not covering all of the characters, however it's giving you an introduction to the main characters of the series.
The main characters of this series are:
This is not covering all of the characters, however it's giving you an introduction to the main characters of the series.
The main characters of this series are:
Appearance
Nic is a light skinned male, who has short spiky black hair
with bangs that are brushed to the right, and dark eyes. He also has a lean yet
muscular body, with a large scar that runs diagonally from the centre of his
abdomen to his right thigh, as well as numerous small ones all over his body.
He has a tribal tattoo across his upper back, extending to both shoulders much
like Worick. Compared to the other males of the series Nic is quite short,
which partly have to do with him being half-Asian.
Personality
Nic is mostly quiet and aloof even from people he likes.
Occasionally he speaks out of irritation or when someone isn't able to
understand sign language, but largely he doesn't bother to accommodate people
who can't communicate with him. Though
frequently irritable he's also capable of small acts of kindness, such as
playing with Nina or steadying Alex when she's shaking too badly to open her
medication. He likes to pick on people and has a dark and sarcastic sense of humour.
He also seems to enjoy fighting, as he often is seen smiling while in combat.
When fighting people weaker then himself, he is shown to toy with them.
Background
Nicolas is the son of West Gate Mercenary commander Gaston
Brown and an unnamed Tagged prostitute. Gaston killed Nic's mother after she
gave birth and took the child to add to his mercenary group to avoid the
expense of simply hiring a Tagged mercenary. Nicolas was born deaf, and between
his disability and Gaston's control of his Celebre supply, Gaston kept him
obedient and dependent. He endures constant abuse from his father and the rest
of the mercenary group without resistance.
Gaston assigns Nicolas as Worick's bodyguard and the two
eventually become friends, bonding over their abusive fathers. Worick teaches
Nicolas how to write and the two learn sign language together. Nicolas is
injured during the Anti-Twilight riots and his self-stitched wounds become
infected, leaving him seriously ill. Worick intervenes and pays off Gaston,
thinking to help Nic, but this ultimately results in Nic's total abandonment by
his father. Despite the fact that his father was abusive this seems to leave
him in a state of shock.
After his recovery, Nic remains as Worick's bodyguard. When
Worick's father's abuse escalates to putting out a cigarette on his son's eye,
Nic snaps and murders Worick's family indiscriminately. Worick stops Nic from
killing himself afterwards, saying that he won't forgive Nic and that Nic has
to live on to die full of painful memories as Worick's family did. The two run
away from the carnage together and start a new life on the streets with Nic
taking odd jobs as a mercenary. It is strongly implied that Nic was involved in
the attack on the Monroe Family at age fourteen.
Later on, the two start Benriya together and eventually take
in Alex, an ex-prostitute who becomes their secretary.
Appearance
Worick is a light-skinned man with long blonde hair, which
is set in a ponytail, a very thin moustache and a thin amount of hair on his
chin. He also has blue eyes but wears a black eye patch over his left eye,
which was burned out when he was younger. He has a thin amount of body hair and
a tribal tattoo on his back, just underneath his neck. He is usually seen
wearing a black suit with a white shirt. He gets a lot of attention from women,
and is considered attractive.
Personality
Worick is an easy-going and cheerful person who gives away
smiles like confetti at a parade. He is kind-hearted to a fault and is
extremely protective of people he cares for, though despite his friendly
attitude he seems to keep most people at an arm's length when it comes to his
personal issues. While he has a fairly laid-back attitude, he takes things
seriously when it's important and gets the job he's required to do done. Worick
does tend to tease people a lot, and has a naturally mischievous attitude.
Despite his cheerful exterior and laid back demeanour,
Worick seems to have a somewhat nihilistic view on society as a whole, a view
that he hides behind humour and a good-natured personality. While his alignment
isn't a façade entirely, he does admit to hating both Twilights as well as
non-Twilights, though quickly covers it up as a joke.
Background
Worick, formerly Wallace Arcangelo, was the second son and
the sole survivor of the wealthy Arcangelo Family. Worick was an illegitimate child, a fact his
father used as an excuse for the constant abuse he heaped on him. If not for
the violence of his life, Worick would have led a relatively sheltered
existence surrounded by servants, a private tutor and a succession of
bodyguards ending with Nicolas. Worick initially disliked Nic both for his
silence and for his "uselessness", but he later apologised and the
two became friends. He taught Nic to read and write and the two learned sign
language together. Worick ultimately paid off Nic's father in order to save him
from his abusive situation, but Nic reacted with shock at being abandoned.
After recovering, he offered to kill Worick's family. Though Worick's answer
was not conclusively shown, Nic does eventually snap and do just that. Worick
seems to carry some guilt from this event.
Now on his own, Worick took a job as a gigolo, initially at
the Corsica-run brothel "Pussy". At some point he and Nicolas started
Benriya, though he still took gigolo jobs on the side as a freelancer. He later
saved Alex and took her in to work with Benriya. She became their secretary and
he enjoys flirting shamelessly with her.
Appearance
Alex is a very attractive young woman with long black hair
reaching her mid back, blue eyes and rich brown skin. She also has a
well-endowed figure that many of the women in the series envy; her chest was the
first thing Worick noticed, Alex's attire mostly seems to consist of plain tube
tops with mini skirts or black dresses. She also wears simple black heels with
every outfit.
Personality
Alex is quiet, though after Worick and Nicolas take her in, she
is still quiet but speaks up for herself more. She's kind, caring and acts like
a big sister or a mother to some people. Alex is also shown to be protective
and courageous, willing to put herself in harms way just to protect those she
cares about. We see this when she tries to stick up for Nic when she hears rude
comments about him from some prostitutes, comforting Worick when he was having
nightmares about his past to even hitting a thug with a pipe to stop him from
raping a little Twilight girl
Background
Not much is known about her past, except for the fact that
she has a younger brother that she used to take care of before she left with
Barry to go to Ergastulum. She once had a father who wishes that the two didn't
live so that the mother was alive. After taking the TB medications given to her
by Dr. Theo, she remembered that she might have once known Nic when she was
younger.
