First of all a note on the viewing order: The first episode is timed near the end of the series, effectively spoiling the plot; just like Berserk did, but Gungrave's spoilers have a bigger impact. I suggest skipping the first episode; it repeats on episode 18 anyway.
The artwork is superb. Everyone's favorite studio Madhouse, delivers one more time. Although the anime is a little bit old (2003-2004) the artwork is better than most of the fall 2015 season's anime; I have a perpetual nightmare where the cgi armor from Garo chases me and screams to me in a digitized voice “Behold the future”.
Returning to Gungrave, it begins as a strict seinen work, meaning the pace is little slower and the bullets actually find their intended home, but unfortunately, beginning in episode 18 the anime degenerates into it's shounen roots -it is based on a FPS game for PS2 after all. So the third -and last- act being a collection of shounen clishes, really hurts the quality of the anime. That phenomenon continues up until the climax, but it manages to deliver a fulfilling ending in my opinion.
One third of the episodes sucking, usually manages to damage the anime irredeemably, but Gungrave's characters manage to save the day; Brandon and Harry grow older, mature, and face tough decisions through beautiful storytelling, making them complete, fleshed out characters, in sharp contrast with the stereotypes Japanese writers love to serve us. The supporting cast, for the little time it manages to stay alive, is memorable, making Gungrave a collection of real characters.
The aforementioned collection brings us to Gungrave's core, which is the bonds. Gungrave for all it's mafioso glory is a study on the bonds between characters. It offers plenty of emotional scenes where painstakingly forged bonds are put into the test, demand increasingly larger sacrifices in order to survive, and collide with other bonds to find which one is the stronger; it's like the bonds have a mind of their own and want to imitate the mafiosos in a deadly zero-sum game to find who will sit on the top.
Of course, all those beautiful depictions of character interactions are made possible by the great characters. No one cares about the conflicts and tribulations of paper thin characters, but Gungrave's characters, although they are all morally bankrupt by any common standard, manage to snatch an emotional investment from the viewer.
The characters and the bonds they form between them manage to salvage this flawed anime to a 7/10.
I don't think Gungrave has an anime equivalent; sure is shares some elements with Berserk, Cowboy bebop , and Trigun -Also, Gangsta is clearly inspired by Gungrave I think- but none of them manage to capture the Mafia essence which drives the story. Oh and I know Black lagoon has also a rotten city and lots of handguns, but that's where the similarities stop. Black lagoon's silly (and very entertaining!) action does not compare with Gungrave's seinen-ness.
So, if you liked Gungrave, I suggest taping on the rich mafia works of the live-action medium: The godfather trilogy, anything Scorcese made with De Niro, and the TV-show Sopranos.
