Gangsta.: Cursed

Gangsta:Cursed.: EP_Marco Adriano is technically a spin-off manga of Gangsta but might very well be a prequel. They go hand in hand, almost. This mini-review of sorts will be spoiler-free. Gangsta stands as a really underrated seinen full of action and lots of intriguing characters. The anime gave it a huge popularity boost, but due to the hiatus and slow release, it unfortunately does not receive that much attention. I am mentioning this because KOHSKE the author and artist of Gangsta, continues to work on the manga, but at a very slow pace. If you follow her Twitter account, you will constantly see updates on howfar the manga has progressed, etc. Being busy with the original manga, this spin-off is done by an assistant of hers, Syuhei Kamo, and it's their debut manga as well, which comes with a couple of minor flaws, mainly in the art department. The art is not as good as the main story, although, be it very close, clearly working as an assistant, they have been able to pick up on KOHSKE's art style, and they did a good job at staying true to it, but it remains a downgrade, be it from the lacking backgrounds or the lesser quality action scenes (that are still pretty good!). There is confusion on whether or not you should read this one before Gangsta, and I believe that you should definitely be somewhat familiar with the parent story first, whether it be the manga or the anime. Reading it first will likely confuse you or make you feel a bit left out in a way, and that's mainly due to how fast-paced it is. The plot is basically one massive war that's happening in a city where there's a lot of parties involved, and the author clearly assumes that you have a bit of Gangsta knowledge to begin with because they don't take the time to explain the world to you, or the different fractions, or the gangs involved... nothing at all, which is the second flaw here. The MC of the story is Marco Adriano, who is a troubled character, to say the least. In this spin-off, they are basically a clueless child, and they are influenced by other characters, and a lot of their actions are done based on what other people told them to do. They are essentially a brainless killing machine for a bit until they finally start waking up, opening their eyes, and seeing the actions that they are committing, experiencing emotions that they haven't experienced before, being at a loss, and possibly regretting their actions. The manga takes time to show and focus on the consequences of their actions, which is very nicely done. It's a bit over the top, and there's a lot of killing, but Gangsta world is dark and violent, and it's called Gangsta, so what did you expect? All in all, I am a fan of Gangsta, and the character of Adriano coming from the parent story was intriguing to me, and I am glad I got to check out a bit of the earlier events of Gangsta. We do get to see our Gangsta main characters, and that part is also nice to see, but remains a bit in the air on whether or not it is cannon. If you are a fan of Gangsta, check this out; it's good. If you like the parent story, you will like this too. Simple as that.