so are we just not going to talk about the goncharov manga

because this series was so revolutionary in japan that it still influences artists and writers to this day, like there are major characters you are familiar with who are directly riffing off of the japanese version of goncharov. and this is precisely because the setting translated so perfectly from russian mobsters in 1973 italy to russian mobsters in 1976 japan.

the manga was so successful it even spawned an anime adaptation from 79 to 82 and a series of japanese live-action films from 85 to 89. in fact you probably didn't realize it at the time, but you've likely seen clips from the goncharov anime in late 90s european techno music videos, because it was still a cult favorite and was aired over there well into the 90s.