If you want to watch pulp crime involving heists, car chases, and briefcases full of guns, cash and drugs, well that's not this anime. Gangsta has no grounding in real world politics or criminal activity. In fact, the mob families seem uninterested in any actual criminal activity, outside of episode 1, and some mobsters, like Miss Christiano (the Tohsaka Rin of mafia bosses), seems so goodhearted as to be a downright pillar of the community.
You may be disappointed to find that Gangsta has no relationship to reality at all, set in a fictional city with a past that does not fit into our real-world history. Many of the characters are superpowered humans called Twilights, and the story arcs are driven by the existence of Twilights and how humans interact with them - as opposed to something that is more grounded in real world situations and groups- like say, looting a Nazi submarine for fun and profit.
Gangsta is also not a fast-paced action-movie roller coaster, but rather has languid pacing. This could make for a fine noir tone, but except for Nico, Worrick and Alex's flashbacks, Gangsta has neither good writing nor execution.
The entire series felt disjointed and fragmented, with the characters aimlessly shuffling through one poorly animated, forgettable vignette to the next. Conflict built up from episodes 9 to 11 ends anticlimactically, with an final episode that fails to resolve the remaining plot threads.
It was very difficult to maintain any interest week by week, let alone care about minor characters that suddenly begin to "matter."
Gangsta has no soundtrack to speak of, which only makes the show an even more low-key affair and frankly, the OP is better than some episodes.
The artwork begins on the cheap side of average, with uninteresting backgrounds, and suffers increasingly egregious off-model shots in both fight scenes and dialogue (such as episodes 8 and 9). Poor art can be forgiven if other elements fall into place, but that is not the case here.
Gangsta has some clever moments, mostly Alex's character development, Nico's unique character and his past with Worrick. But the rest of the storylines unfold clumsily with no sense of urgency, drama or resolution.
A comparison between Gangsta's 12 episodes and Black Lagoon's first cour reveals the difference in quality. The last episodes of Black Lagoon's first cour tie into and build upon themes of belonging that are raised beginning with episode 3, and ends on a self-contained high note with arc resolution and character development for its female and male leads. All things considered, maybe it's lucky Manglobe's storyboarding team have just managed to stumble the show as far along as they have, unlike Bones and their handling of Blood Blockade Battlefront earlier this year.
Gangsta is probably better compared and contrasted with Darker than Black. Both Darker than Black and Gangsta feature superpowered humans that work in the criminal underworld as a result of their superpowers. Darker than Black offers noirish story arcs rather than action movie pacing. Ultimately, both Gangsta and Darker than Black are about pleas for acceptance of the different and marginalized (Darker than Black's "Contractors").
However, Darker than Black features clever writing and compact, film noir storylines while Gangsta does not. Darker than Black grounds its science fiction elements in real world politics, locations, and organizations, enough that character motivations and situations make sense despite the vague handwaving of how people acquired their powers. It's a much better execution of a similar sci-fi/crime hybrid concept.
