Gangsta.

Episode 8

Gangsta. has finally found its groove. It's settled into a consistent mood over these past few weeks, and its biggest point of detraction, the limp violence, has mostly faded into the background. There was also a lot of Alex's cleavage this episode, which may sate Gangsta.'s creator.

With Nic and Worick's help, Alex is making it through TB withdrawal. Memories of her life before Barry are starting to return, and she's beginning to remember that she had a family – specifically a little brother, who she raised herself. She doesn't know what happened to him and it's eating her up. Perhaps coincidentally, a young dark-skinned man has begun appearing around the city, and he recognizes her singing later on. Hmmmmmm…

In this episode, the Handymen are hired to take out an Anti-Twilight riot for the Christiano family. We also get our big introduction to their leader, Loretta Christiano. She's the young blonde girl who hangs out alongside all the hardened gangsters, and it turns out that she's their boss. She was the former leader's daughter, but he seems to have died an untimely death, and now the family's future rests on her shoulders. Despite her age, she seems like a capable leader, and her subordinates are extremely loyal to her. Still, she has a girlish side and becomes easily flustered by Worick's teasing. I like Loretta. Considering her place in the opening, she'll probably have a bigger role later on. I appreciate how Gangsta. goes out of its way to introduce cool, distinct female characters.

I've watched the episode a few times, but the Handymen's mission is still somewhat unclear. I know that they're taking out an anti-Twilight riot for the Christiano family, and that it has to be secret, but I'm not sure why. Apparently, the Christianos can't openly protect Twilights because they distribute Celebrer. But aren't Twilights their customer base? Wouldn't it be natural for them to protect Twilights? Would the Coriscans get angry or something? And if the Handymen "can't help," as Galahad said, then what exactly are they doing in this episode? Gangsta.'s narrative weak point is definitely Ergastulum's gang politics. They've tried to explain it a bunch of times, but it's so based on telling rather than showing that not much sticks in my brain. At least the character stories resonate. I'm starting to get a grip on how the Four Families relate to each other, but it's coming from interactions between them and the Handymen, not groundless round-table discussions. Ah well. If this becomes more prominent later on (or in a second season?), hopefully it'll have been drilled into my brain by then.

I never expected that a Gangsta. episode would be saved by its music, but here we are. This episode is centered around a performance by Alex. It serves a few purposes. She's hired as a singer at a party thrown by Loretta, but it's just a cover to house Twilights as the riots rage outside. Her performance keeps everyone inside and distracted. It also lures in her brother, who's refused entrance at the door. As the episode's aesthetic centerpiece, her song underscores the Handymen's righteous violence, imbuing it with somber beauty. It's a good song, too – while series composer Tsutchie can't make something sound exciting to save his life, he excels at tranquil moods. Otherwise, this was a lackluster episode in terms of production, with many egregiously off-model shots. At least we got some colors other than brown – they're still too washed out, but the purples and blues were a nice change of pace. Overall, this scene encapsulates Gangsta. as a whole. It's a quiet, moody moment at a club, punctuated with cool ultraviolence, rather than the other way around. It's adult sexiness, not Quentin Tarantino.

The show is more than halfway over and nothing resembling an overarching plot has developed. Is Gangsta. angling for a second season? Or is it just aiming to be a pleasant but aimless little mood piece? I'd be fine with that.

I didn't go over the broadcast dub last week, so here are my impressions now. Felecia Angelle's Alex is a rare instance where the English voice goes for higher and younger-sounding than the Japanese. It works well, though. It creates a lighter, less battered Alex, but still encompasses the character's highs and lows (some fake-sounding crying aside.) I like Ian Sinclair's Worick a lot. It's a fairly close match to the Japanese, only a little less comedic and a little more gruff. Brandon Potter's Nic is difficult to evaluate since it has such unique requirements as a performance, and I have no way of knowing how accurate the original Japanese was to how Japanese deaf people speak. I can say, however, that it's suitably guttural. There was nothing distractingly off about the scripts. Overall, I like it. Gangsta. is largely a tone piece, so this makes it easier to get into.

Grade: B

Gangsta. is currently streaming on Funimation.

Gabriella Ekens studies film and literature at a US university. Follow her on twitter.