In the heart of Italy, the Social Welfare Agency rescues young girls from hospital beds and gives them a second chance at life using the latest in cybernetic advancements. With their artificially enhanced bodies, the girls are brainwashed and trained as assassins to carry out the dirty work of the Italian Government. Despite all the modifications, they are still just children at heart, struggling for recognition from those they love, even knowing the love they feel is manufactured. This tragic tale unfolds as these girls grapple with their emotions in an agency that treats them as nothing but ruthless killers.
[Written by MAL Rewrite]
Nenhum episódio encontrado.
Comentários
Yuunagi
“I’ve tried turning you into someone stronger, but lately, I feel uneasy whenever I look at you.” Content: Simply put, Gunslinger Girl is about hopeless children who are granted another shot at life at the cost of their freedom and innocence. They are given cybernetic implants which enhance their combat capabilities and drugs which impose upon them unquestioning loyalty to their respective masters. Paired with their handlers, they are known as “fratello”, and they must face not only terrorists but the tragedies of the past and the uncertainty of the future as well. Admittedly, the question “Does the end justify the means?” has been asked implicitly inmany other anime and manga. However, GSG is more realistic in its delivery and, some might argue, more socially relevant in the light of the so-called “war against terrorism.” The series shows people on both sides often pursuing honorable goals through questionable means, and the viewers are left to resolve the ethical dilemma on their own.
Nonetheless, the battles against terrorists, corrupt officials, and the mafia serve only as plot devices in most cases. The series focuses instead on the intertwining personal stories and the effects of the conditioning on the girls.
If analyzed individually, the characters themselves are relatively plain. However, it is their complex web of relationships which makes the series shine. The bonds between fratello cover a wide range of roles such as those of parent and child, elder and younger siblings, mentor and student, master and tool, superiors and subordinates, colleagues, and accomplices; and each pair shows varying degrees of compassion and indifference. Several antagonists also retain a certain degree of dignity, further blurring the line that separates “the good guys” from “the bad guys.” Every character has a unique personality as well as a plausible backstory, and these make their interactions all the more interesting.
Execution:
The anime adaptation closely follows the events of the manga and is faithful to its spirit even with the introduction of new content in the later episodes. However, this may be one of those few instances wherein the anime adaptation is actually more successful in bringing out the full potential of the story. The pacing works better on the screen than on paper, and the quality of the audio and visuals give it the impression of a cinematic experience.
The animation is fluid, consistent, and brimming with fine details. The firearms are shown accurately to the point that it is touted by some as the gun enthusiast’s anime. Prominent brands, landmarks, and works of art are regularly featured, and these contribute to the distinct European ambience of the series. The animators also seem to have deliberately emphasized and blurred light and shadow, giving the show a certain haziness as if to reflect the moral ambiguity which permeates the story.
The soundtrack is composed primarily of intricate orchestral music and unusually devoid of typical J-pop, which seems rather fitting since the events take place in Italy. The Japanese voice actors did well in portraying their respective characters while the English dub is tolerable though stiff sounding in comparison.
As for the opening song, The Light Before We Land by The Delgados sounded odd the first time I listened to it but I later came to appreciate its significance. It’s hard to imagine that the song wasn’t written specifically for this series since its melancholy lyrics and melody fit the show like a glove.
Overall:
Gunslinger Girl is sober both in content and execution, using a level of subtlety and realism that separates it from other tragic dramas such as Elfen Lied and SaiKano. The series refuses to deal in absolutes, painting everything in shades of gray rather than plain black and white. It shows tragedy and injustice but it also presents a moral dilemma which encourages the viewers to question if the sacrifices have been worth it and if the alternatives would have been any better.
Its open-ended nature would undoubtedly irritate/frustrate some viewers but I think it’s rather fitting for a series that emphasizes hope amidst uncertainty and misery. As Dr. Bianchi might put it, what the audience needs is not proof but faith that the girls would find happiness, even if the facts and metaphors suggest otherwise.
codehorizon
Gunslinger Girl is a very tough anime to summarize. Part of it is action, most of the story is drama, some sci-fi, and a dash of comedy make this a blend of many different genres. However, Gunslinger Girl nails the mark on every level, making this one of the most compelling anime shows I have ever seen. The content of this show is ultimately the highlight, and also the whole reason for the controversy: young girls that have had their lives torn apart are given a second chance by having their memories wiped and insides replaced with mechanical parts, and are then trained to dothe governments dirty work. What further adds to the controversy are that the young girls have to have supervison by their guardian/superviser called the "handler". Now this may sound kind of wrong, but the story never veers into that perverted/pedofilic territory, which is a bit of good news, for those who were worried.
Now the story is the highlight of the show, and in turn, makes this a bit of a slow moving show. Don't get me wrong, it definetly has action scattered throught, and it is top notch when it takes place, but its nowhere as heavy as the story, however, I like that aspect. And what a good story it is. Henrietta, Rico, Triella, Angelica, and Clyce are all loveable, and their handlers even have a bit of backstory, including Jose and Marco, however the real stars are the girls.
The animation, even for being a 2004 show, is superb. The characters, the environments, and even the guns have a very real look, even though this is still an anime. When shown, the guns are rendered in painstakingly realistic detail. In the first episode, you can see how Henrietta layed out all the parts of her pistol on the table, yes all the parts. Even the reloading details are superb, and add to the realism. Lighting is also very well done, especially on the last episode with the fireworks, so this was the cherry on top of the ice cream for the animation/lighting.
Sound was another flawless piece. All the voices, and even the English dub, were fantastic. When you have the Japanese and English dub on the same level, you know you have a hit. To compliment the animation and detail on the guns, the sound is perfect. I have seen countless movies, and played many video games, and the sounds in this were perfect, and on key with the actual sounds of the guns of their real life counterparts. Test this, especially in the second episode where Rico is using the Dragunov sniper rifle. Awesome. Surround sound setups will definetly get their workout here.
Overall, Gunslinger Girl is a deep, thought provocing show, that really shouldn't be missed. The characters, the guns, and overall, the story, make this one to have on your must see list. Because of all the above, this is my all time favorite anime.
GonzyChan
Whether disturbing or not, any subject matter should not be shied away from being written into a story narrative because it’s too dark for the mainstream audience to handle. Since the last century, almost all the well-regarded films have implemented controversial social commentary and brought about heavy subject matter that involves sex, violence, and political corruption. These days we don’t often see anime take advantage of showing people the profound impact our world has within the dark deception of our own universal culture. Gunslinger Girl will leave some people with a sour taste in their mouths; whether they were expecting action-packed girls with guns show,as the title Gunslinger Girl represents just by saying it aloud, or because of the disturbing nature of the characters. However, the actual argument is how it handles developing those themes and characters mentioned beforehand.
It would be fitting to compare this to Stand Alone Complex in how every episode has its plot, yet every one of them is connected to the development of its characters. Execution should be the key to establishing an overall impression of how we view each character through fresh and innocent eyes before removing our innocence and making us experience the disturbing nature underneath the foreground of the show. Gunslinger Girl has one of the most heart-wrenching and almost beautiful representations of showing the development of each girl in question.
One scenario, in particular, involves one of the girls named Rico, who is now put into a position where she has to eliminate any emotion regarding the job she is given. Now she is thrust into a situation where she finds interest in someone who makes her question her existence concerning why she’s a part of the organization. What makes the execution written so well is just how subtle you see her ponder the questions coming out of her mind after the job is done in a harrowing and profound atmosphere. Typically, dealing with robotic characters who ponder about love and how they question has been done to death in some instances and can be seen as silly or laughable. But seeing how the atmosphere is so dark and hardly has any inclination of humor in the characters makes it believable. It's debatable whether there should have been a more convincing or less clichéd way of bringing up melodrama, but that shouldn’t necessarily be a massive draw on the writer’s part.
With this in mind, however, one begs whether the writers only wanted to develop the girls fully and hardly bothered trying to give the same amount of development for the “Fratello” or the girls’ master that is given to them. Some people could argue that the show's point was mainly focusing on the girls instead of their masters. Even with that said, they try to give a smidgen of development from how they question their organization. The problem is that they don’t ever go far enough, it’s as if they had an idea of how the adults would grow into a different mindset than before, but they decided that it wasn’t as important. There’s nothing for me to feel about them, whether I should pity or sympathize with them other than the girls.
Narratively speaking, the plot doesn’t gain any weight as how it’s structured since there’s hardly a plot to follow other than the fact it’s supported mainly by character interaction. There are some episodes where the story of one particular mission didn’t feel like it was written with any focus on how it was structured. They didn’t have a goal in mind when they wanted to establish any conflict or a stable plot arc. Not to say all of them did, but on occasion, it does.
The fact that the show is slow-paced does help in some cases to help us figure out what the world of Gunslinger Girl is like. The political climate and corruption are put into context, how it impacts the characters, their struggles with coping, and whether they like it. There is an issue regarding how the show hardly gives any context to the actual political office in question. Suppose you asked me now what the people in the government were like or what their motivations were. In that case, I couldn’t tell you because of how so little explanation is given to their reasons, and therein lies how narrow the political landscape is like, unlike how Stand Alone Complex did it correctly in its political realm.
While it is argued that this is entirely different from your typical girls with guns show, that isn’t to say there aren’t tropes that can be associated with the genre. How they handle the violence and action is very intelligent and almost strategic in how the characters feel in any given action scenario. While there are some questionable scenes, such as Henrietta pretending to be an innocent child to a group of terrorists inside a building where it’s evident that no one else but them is inside. How it is directed and choreographed is intense and realistic to its very core. It doesn’t glorify the violence to the point where it’s severely distracting; when you see a person get shot, you feel that he’s been shot right in your gut.
Direction-wise, the show is stellar in its animation and pacing, even if, at times, it goes a little too slow in parts where it didn’t need to be. While it isn’t impressive compared to others, the animation is still done well from how the action scenes are played out in the end, and the art designs of the characters are crisp and clear to the eyes. The one thing that typically wouldn’t be needed in discussing animations is the actual gun designs themselves that are almost on Angel Beat’s level of precision and detail in how they are portrayed as an embodiment of the girls. Almost like a subtle metaphor in how you see a gun next to a girl in nearly every scene they are on-screen, whether they are carrying it with them on a mission or if they are cleaning them.
The music in Gunslinger Girl is pretty to listen to, implementing excellent orchestration to capture the disturbing nature of the show’s framework. The sound design is one aspect of the show that I wholeheartedly admire and commend with open arms. It’s extraordinary how authentic it is from how the guns sound like actual firearms and not just cookie-cutter weapons on any other anime or movie and the subtle ambiance of the show’s natural landscape. There was a moment where I almost wanted to cry from just how beautiful and sad the people who worked on the front put forward to crafting this realistic atmosphere that gives Gunslinger Girl its unique look and feels from other anime.
From its dark subject matter to its beautiful nature, this is a show that might rub some people off the wrong way. That can be understandable, but at the same time, that should not sway people who are nevertheless intrigued in giving Gunslinger Girl a watch to see how anime can go to unfamiliar territory by using familiar tropes and pull it off in a serious fashion. It may not be perfect in how they didn’t go far enough as it needed to be in establishing a well-rounded world that deals with political corruption. But as time goes on, we have to appreciate at least the effort put into writing a gripping character drama with excellent development from our main characters, minus the supporting cast. We sometimes have to embrace the darkness of the natural world to cope with our insecurities, and Gunslinger Girl lives up to its credit as one of the most underrated that has these qualities to deal with.
Grade: A-
jet2r0cks
Madhouse never fails to deliver for me. At first I was a bit hesitant about watching Gunslinger Girl. I was afraid it’s going to end up too serious and too difficult to comprehend. I was wrong on both counts. The girls made the anime more suited to my taste (not like I’m a pedophile or a dirty guy or anything like that). It gets serious and hard to understand sometimes, but for most of the time, I actually enjoyed myself. I’m a bit disappointed that it’s not as violent as I thought it would be. Sure there are bloody parts but they come at a minimum andthey’re not really that brutal. However, those parts were done tastefully so it’s all good.
It’s a nice plot, but I’m too afraid it’ll attract too many lolicons and pedophiles. I mean, preteen girls wearing nice, cutesy clothes and wielding weapons at the same time. Feeling that I’m watching an anime that attracts people like that kind of bothers me.
On the other hand, what I really like about it is the setting. Anything that has something to do with Europe, especially Italy, instantly captures my heart. I even picked up a few Italian lessons from the episode titles and the ending song.
Anyway, the illustrations are nicely done, but I found that the faces were too pudgy for my taste. For the girls, it’s acceptable, since they’re supposed to have baby faces, but even the adult women have huge faces and small eyes. Because of that, I got a feeling that the illustrations were influenced by the western style. The backgrounds were nice too. The colors of the background were more subdued compared to the characters’ so the complimented each other really well. Speaking of the colors, I noticed that the colors were mostly in cool tones, which fits the anime’s feel, which is also somewhat cold and indifferent.
However, the girls make the anime much more likable. They use guns (really kick ass ones too), they’re part mechanical, and of course, they kill people but I just find them all sweet. My favorite is Angelica, she’s the loveliest and gentlest of them, but I also like Rico. I feel sorry for her because she’s stuck with someone like Jean. I also like Elsa, despite her bitchiness – she seems interesting to me.
Voice acting is another aspect of this anime that I find favorable. Although I find it weird that they’re speaking Japanese fluently while in Italy, It’s not that bad. When they mentioned Italian terms/names, they had the correct pronunciation. Besides, this is not the first time it happened. Most of the seiyus are actually quite young, like Hitomi Terakado, Angelica’s VA. I think she’s only 19, but she did a good job. What surprised me is that Ami Koshimizu, Claes’ Seiyu, also did Tenma Tsukamoto from School Rumble and Anemone from Eureka 7. Those are three different characters, and I’m definitely impressed by her ability.
Music is actually quite impressive, and that’s thanks to Toshihiko Sahashi, who’s also responsible for Akazukin Cha Cha, Gundam Seed and Gundam Seed Destiny, Cutey Honey and Hunter X Hunter. I love the Delgados opening theme – it’s a touching song that’s also well made. The ending song, which was in Italian, was also nice to listen to. The background music was also nice, although most of them are a bit dreary – I like them nonetheless.
It’s not one of my favorites, but I thought it was very good and interesting to watch. It had the ingredients of a really good series, but I’m not too impressed by it. Although, I kinda want a second season just so I know what happens. The last few episodes were implying that something big was about to begin, and I’m curious as to what that thing is.
Venneh
Title: Gunslinger Girl Manga, Anime: Gunslinger Girl was originally a manga by Yu Aida, is currently ongoing, and runs in Media Work's Dengeki Daioh magazine. It stands at nine collected volumes in Japan. ADV licensed the manga Stateside, and the last volume released was the sixth, back on November 30th of 2007. As of May 2008, ADV said that the rest of the manga would be forthcoming, but with the company's recent financial issues and its relicensing of several shows, it is unclear if the manga will continue to be released Stateside. Gunslinger Girl is a thirteen episode anime that was produced by Madhouse(famous for their work on Paranoia Agent and Death Note), and directed by Morio Asaka (famous for his work on Chobits and Cardcaptor Sakura). It ran on Japanese TV from October 8th, 2003 to February 19th, 2004. It has been licensed Stateside by Funimation, and the Viridian Collection Box Set was released on November 11th, 2007.
Story: The Social Welfare Agency of Italy supposedly is a government sponsored corporation involved in saving lives -- however, in reality, it is an agency that takes girls in terminal condition, gives them cybernetic implants, and uses "conditioning" to turn them into deadly assassins for the government with utter loyalty to their handlers, called "fratello". "Henrietta", who survived the brutal slaughter of her family and assault, is the agency's newest girl, and works along with four other girls doing the government's black-ops work.
This story is a study in duality; one moment, you see these preadolescent girls generally being preadolescent girls - giggling, talking with each other about things, being cute in general - and the next, they're gunning down or beating the shit out of terrorists with submachine guns or their bare fists. And the show doesn't let you forget that these sides exist within the same girls - the girls might be discussing plans for the night as they're in the middle of an operation, or they might be out to dinner and a threatening gesture makes them leap to protect their handlers. And it can be utterly unnerving to watch at times.
But besides this duality, each of the girls' backstories is at the very least hinted at, if not explored, and their personalities are developed quite well through the show, along with showing the darker side of what's been done to the girls. It's hard to watch at times, but it makes the story that much richer. And the general how and why of the agency and the process of making these girls into what they are is incredibly well fleshed out.
This would be all good and well if it weren't for how the story plays out. Most of the story is development of each of the girls, along with some more minor characters that show up throughout the series, and it's all done quite well, as I said before this. But in the last five episodes or so, there's an attempt at an overarching plot involving other agencies, and it kind of works, but the show leaves off with several threads still hanging. It's almost like this was the first half or so of a longer series, and the production team just never got the notice that it was only thirteen episodes.
Admittedly, there is a second season entitled Gunslinger Girl -Il Teatrino-, but I don't know if it picks up where this season leaves off; I will probably end up watching it at some point in the near future.
Art: Madhouse did an excellent job with this production.
Their typical emphasis on realism makes the show that much more heartwrenching, because these girls act and are animated like your kid sister and given their own mannerisms, and that realism, combined with absolutely amazingly choreographed action scenes with mostly realistic moves, makes for amazing episodes, and plays into the duality of things. The girls themselves have very good character designs, and there's at least minor changes in their outfits from episode to episode, which is always good. Even better is that the scenery looks almost exactly like Italy; I can take pictures from friends who are in Italy, and put it side by side with stills from the series, and, besides the fact that it's animated, there is no discernable difference between the two.
Music: The background music itself is mainly orchestral and well-scored; it's not anything that particularly stands out or anything, but it's still quite well done. The OP and ED, however, are absolutely spectacular; the OP is a slower song with some excellent harmonies and is just a neat song in general, while the ED is a mix of techno and either Catholic mass-esque or operatic aria-esque, just an absolutely beautiful effect.
Seiyuu: There aren't any particular voices that I recognize, though I particularly like Triela's seiyuu, Eri Sendai. Otherwise, good job on the casting here, as always.
Voice Actors: I did watch one episode of this in English, as I bought the Viridian DVD set. All in all, the voice actors did a pretty passable job on here; some places where the voices are far too wispy where they shouldn't be, but otherwise, it's not half bad. The only real issue I have is that Triela's VA blatantly sounds like an older, adult woman, where the other girls are clearly younger-sounding voices; now, admittedly, Triela is the oldest of all the girls, and my all-around favorite, but she is not quite to the stage where she would sound like an adult woman.
Dub: Funimation did a pretty passable job with this. I have a few issues with them in how they chose to translate things, as the sub says one thing while the English lines say something entirely different; consistency matters, here, and yes, we do notice this. Oh, and speaking of consistency, on the subject of Henrietta's handler's name: PLEASE decide whether is Jose, Giuse, or Giuseppe - I saw all three variants of this name in the subs, and you seemed to switch between the names every two episodes or so, and it makes things incredibly confusing.
Length: As I said earlier, Gunslinger Girl feels like the first half of a much longer series; whether or not Il Teatrino is a continuation of where episode thirteen or not remains to be seen, but either way, there probably could have been better planning to give a bit more of a definitive ending, or a clear notice of continuation.
Overall: Gunslinger Girl is a series with beautifully developed characters, a well-fleshed-out world, excellently choreographed actions scenes, a great sense of duality, solid music and realistically detailed animation, great seiyuu and an atypically passable VA cast and dub. There are some issues with consistency in the dub and some VA casting choices, along with a story that only seems to be the beginnings of something bigger; however, Il Teatrino can probably rectify the story issues.
Story: 8/10
Art: 8/10
Music: 8/10
Seiyuu: 8/10
Voice Actors: 7/10
Dub: 7/10
Length: 8/10
Overall: 54/70; 77% (B-)
DraconisMarch
To say that the image of an ~11 year old girl removing a P90 from a violin case and wasting a room full of adult men is powerful would be an understatement. Story: 6. I liked the premise, although it wasn't very original. This is a very character-centric piece, and any trace of an overall story that may be present merely serves as a means to develop the characters, which is fine. I'm still scratching my head as to why the assassins they use have to be young girls. They say that they use young ones because the brainwashing process is easier,but why can't they be boys? I can only venture a guess: Nobody would suspect a cute little moe-blob holding a violin case to actually be a lethal cyborg, and nobody would suspect that the violin case actually holds a P90.
Art: 10. The animation is YEARS ahead of its time--a DECADE, I'd even venture to say. Compare it to other anime of 2003-2004 and... well, there's no comparison. It's even better than a lot of CURRENT anime out there right now. The style is extremely unique and interesting; I've never seen anything like it before. There is *huge* attention to detail, including but not limited to: the guns, the characters, the scenery, the art, and even lighting and shadows. Everything is clear, crisp, and fresh-looking. I'm amazed that even with current anime, many of them STILL seem to have trouble with animating simple movements like walking, and Gunslinger Girl suffers absolutely no problems in this regard. All in all: The visuals/animation are so good I had a hard time believing it was really from 2003.
Sound: 7. The OP and ED are very *different*. I don't care much for them; they're not my cup of tea, but they may appeal to other people. There's actually a shocking lack of general music to alleviate dead air or create a mood, but equally shocking is that it seems to work just fine without it. The tracks that we DO get, though, don't stick out at all. However, the voice acting (English) is pretty awesome--especially the ones playing the girls, and helps up the score in this regard here. The sound effects are also pretty good; they're well-synchronized with the visuals, and are also very detailed, down to the last bullet casing hitting the ground.
Character: 8. As I mentioned, this series is really all about the characters; namely, the girls and their interactions with their handlers. The girls all have their own tragic backstory that led them to get this lot in life (although not all are revealed), and each has her own colorful personality. It's interesting to see the massive variance in relationships between girl and handler: You have the handler that willfully spoils his girl and cares a lot about her; you have the handler who cares a lot about his girl but has a "weird" way of showing it; you have the handler who doesn't give a f*** about his girl and views her solely as a tool. Regardless of how the handler treats the girl, she's always devoted to him no matter what, because that's how the brainwashing makes them. Speaking of brainwashing, there is quite a prominent psychological element. It focuses a lot about how, in spite of said brainwashing, the girls are still very much affected by their past life, and how their past is still buried deep within somewhere--guiding their actions. Their conditioning also causes them to lose their memories and shortens their life span, and it's quite heart-wrenching to see. Equally as heart-wrenching is how the girls don't mind their lives as cold-blooded assassins, and their mindless devotion for their handlers--for better or for worse (although the latter can be pretty heartwarming at times as well). The handlers themselves are defined entirely by their interactions with their respective girls. The girls are moe without letting that quality define who they are as characters.
Enjoyment: 6. I liked watching it, but I didn't enjoy it much. Does that even make sense? Well, let's see... There was significantly less action than it seemed there should be. The action sequences were few and far between, which is a big shame, considering how incredibly well-done they are. The style of story telling is kind of a hassle: It jumps around randomly quite a bit chronologically, so it can take a while to piece all of what's happening at a given time together. Some people like this style of story telling, but I don't--especially with how random it is. To help illustrate, say that event 1 is the initial event chronologically, and event 10 is the final. Some stories go straight from 1-10. Some start at 10, then go back to 1-9. Some go 10, 1, 9, 2, 8, 3, 7, 4, 6, 5, where 5 is a key piece of information that fits the entire sequence together. But here, there are times when it looks like 9, 3, 7, 2, 5, 1, 4, 6, 10, 8, and it's a pain to keep up with.
Overall: 7. I wish I could've scored this better. I definitely liked it, though. If you like character-centric anime with good art and some action and psychological involvement, definitely give this a try. If you want a unique/driving story, tons of action, or an outstanding soundtrack, you may want to pass this up.
And now, the decision rests with you~
ZeroReq011
What to make of this title? Cybernetically enhanced adolescent girls? Modern military grade small arms and light weaponry? Terrorists? Ah... I know! Girls with guns. Girls on guns. Plying with them. Playing with them. Toying with them. Touching them. Kicking ass. Showing some as well. Skirts so short flipped up from the gusts of grenades. Breasts scantily clad baring through the air as the rest of their curvaceous figures hit ground. Bodies, barrels, bullets highlighted to the finest set of orgasmic ecstasy. If these were your first impressions, slap yourself and get real. Or leave and never look back. An anime adaptation of a manga ofthe same name by Yu Aida, Gunslinger Girl was directed by Morio Asaka and produced by Madhouse, the same studio responsible for animating such shows as Death Note, Chihayafuru, Casshern Sins, and Death Billiards. We enter Aida's fictional universe, an officially united, yet undoubtedly divided Italy under siege by extremist groups based off the real world discontent of a prosperous North having to provide for the indigent South. To combat the violent dissent, the Italian government established a secret armed group. Officially, it conducts medical research and provides prosthetic assistance to the public as the Social Welfare Agency. Its primary objective, however, is the eradication of terrorism via the use of cybernetically enhanced assassins. Studies conclude that adolescent female are the most pliable to being “conditioned” for the role, yet how does one find a supply of them without drawing unwanted publicity? Simple: take the poor ones, the broken ones, the ones dealt so cruel and wretched a fate that no one would notice or care if they disappeared. Victims of massacres, mutilations, poverty, and paralysis... of desperation, depravity, indifference, and avarice, they are fixed up, made to forget everything, and are soon after sent off to and for the slaughter. Yet, there's a bug to the brainwash. Mechanical as they are, these assassins aren't unthinking or unfeeling. They aren't devils.
One common criticism of this show revolves around the implementation of its action segments. Whenever action occurs, it ends too quickly to really savor. To this, I say it's unwarranted: it would be dumb for any professional assassin to take his or her sweet time when a confrontation gets hot. Success in that line of work is parts preparation and decisiveness. Realistically, the actual moment of take down is brief compared to the long periods of wait to make it happen. But there are many regardless who prefer the majority of their armed external conflicts consist glorified death matches, to which I say once more: This probably isn't the show for you. In fact, be glad most of the tedium of preparation is omitted. In their conflictual place is the show's gem: introspective dissonance at what's been done. When we see characters enter and leave a shootout, the viewer isn't meant to feel a sense of adrenaline pumping elation over the fact you killed a bunch of generic baddies. Rather, you feel sobriety for the consequences and implications behind killing these baddies, who may not, in fact, be just baddies. And then there's the act of killing in general, especially how frighteningly desensitized these girls are behind their barrels. If you haven't realized from the synopsis in the last paragraph, there's no definitive camp of good or evil. Both the separatists and the government fight for the causes they believe in are just, for reasons that are both consider legitimate and sympathetic. Both use dubious means to see them through, in particular, the Social Welfare Agency's use of what effectively are child soldiers. The handlers of each have own approaches to dealing with the specific one under their care, and their own misgivings (or lack thereof) toward the government's foremost stance on them as killing machines. Each of the child soldiers in turn have their own personal dynamic toward their specific handler, though common denominator between them is a form of love. Whether that love is artificial or natural, something genuine or an obsession, varies with each pairing, or fratello, as the show takes its sweet time meticulously mapping them. The slow and steady pacing is just right to cover this facet among others, when the girls are on the job and when they are off it in between. In a sense, it makes the atmosphere all the more melancholic, in a resplendent, yet somber sort of way.
What else contributes to this atmosphere? One is the cinematography. Every background and object, every sequence of animation is beautifully and fluidly rendered, respectively. Though look closely. The somewhat faded colors, off-color lighting, and carefully placed shadows... it all plays off wonderfully to the maturity of the character designs and the show's general tone.
Two is the immersion. An indicator of excellently executed immersion happens when one can honestly watch a show and feel that its universe can trump on in time regardless of whether or not there happens to be an audience watching. Combined with the fact that many of the tensions explored throughout the series are very real issues in real life and the meticulous attention to detail, not excluding the accurate design of each gun and the mention of each gun's specs, every plot-essential element, every plot-shot character, and every plot-important motivation is so seamlessly integrated, that if were one were to momentarily disregard that cyborgs exist in the capacity that is presented in the show and that separatist movement never historically became as terribly tumultuous as the show presents it as, the show can, in turn, become something of a real experience.
Three is the music. The OP “The Light Before We Land” is an English number sung by the Delgados. Combined with the crash of the drum set, the strum of the electric guitar, and the embellishments of the chorus, the female singer, complemented by a male vocalist in the background, has this harrowing air, reverberating with power yet, at the same time, calm. The ED “Dopo il Sogno ~ Yume no Ato ni” by Opus has as its title a mixture of Italian and Japanese: “After the Dream: There is no Dream After All.” Featuring the vocals of a female, complemented by the pipes of the organ, the reverberations of the marimba, the plucks of guitar strings, and brushes on cymbals, crooning Italian in an expressive, operatic style, the crooning broken into two parts by what sounds like some form of prose. It overshadows the OP's and ED's rather lackluster visuals, the former consisting of a rather plain set of introductions of the main girls, the latter simply an image of a spent handgun and casings laying about in the rain. The OSTs of worthy note throughout the show, at one time given its own seconds to cry out, come in various in different versions, I, an orchestra, II, a lone violin, III, a lone piano, IV, a piano, a choir, a string section, a wind section, yet carry a similar melody, a similar truth, a similar pain. A similar tone. TEMA
There's a couple of things about this show that I have to take from the show. A good portion of Episode 2 was more or less a differently angled retelling of the events of Episode 1, and while Episode 9 introduced some excellent characterization, it took some of the edge off what was supposed to be a bombshell revelation in Episode 10. Nitpicking aside, Gunslinger Girl's semi-major problem isn't what it has. It's what it doesn't. The show spends quite a bit of time towards the fleshing out the characters in how they fit with the universe. It's all well and good, but little goes out toward the development of these characters overtime, and what development occurs gives more credence what's going on in the background versus what's going on with them. This isn't to say each character doesn't feel whole and distinct, but I wished there was a little more to them that I could work with. But then again, I'd rather have the current product, pacing and all, over something rushed.
FN P90, Winchester Model 1897, SVD Dragonov, Steyer AUG A2, H&K VP70M. Henrietta, Triela, Rico, Angelica, Claes. In the end, they aren't quite just weapons themselves. In the end, they are still people, still children. In the end, and if you has the patience to see this show as it is through to the end, you may realize, in both your mind and your heart, your brain and your bowels, that they are still adolescent girls.
I give Gunslinger Girl a 9 out of 10.
Sick_Bastard
Themes: Girls with Guns, Sci-Fi, Action Age Rating: TV 14+ Availability: Common Publisher: FUNimation -- Story - The story is one that hasn't probably ever been done before, because of the sheer edginess of the topic it deals with. The story was rather original, although it does take it's basis from a rather widespread genre. The story was well executed, and left you happy at the end. You actually felt a connection with the characters, and felt their emotions. Art - Some of the best art I have seen in awhile. Everything is detailed, I mean everything. The bullets shine when they are coming out of the gun. Thegirl's hair flows. The blood is well done, but not overdone, and I think that that was a very good take on the producers part. The blood is realistic amount, when somebody gets shot, they bleed, like they would in real life -- their head doesn't explode and gush blood for the next twenty seconds as the camera pans around their corpse, like in many other series. Realistic art, and great character designs. All the girls, although around the age of twelve, were dealt with in a good way with their designs, and no fan service was given.
Sound - Great sound. I watched this series subbed, and the Japanese Vocal Soundtrack is great. All the voices fit the characters, and are believable. The guns sound effects are what really bowled me over though. The noises that the guns make are unbelievably crisp and realistic. You hear each individual shell fall to the ground after they shoot. Also, at the end, the girls sing along to Beethoven's Ode to Joy, which was a nice touch, it being the best song ever written. (Not opinion -- FACT)
Characters - I felt that the characters, who are all young girls and their masters were done outstandingly. All the girls were designed not as much cute as they were with womanly charm. The characters are great - you feel their emotions, you get attached to them - everything. There is also quite a bit of character development in this anime, which is great.
Enjoyment - I enjoyed this so much that it was literally hard for me to stop watching. Time flew as I watched this anime, and before I knew it, I had watched the entire thing in a day. Fans of Girls with Gun-type shows or NOIR will absolutely love this series.
Overall - A rare gem. Go out and pick up this classic as soon as you can, you will enjoy it.
xbobx
"Pupa perfume and an Amati violin... That girl must be the beloved daughter of a wealthy family." This quote, whose subject is nobody else than Henrietta and the speaker a bomb-making terrorist, is probably the best representation of this series. Its irony is not only painful but extremely clever. As one who've read the synopsis would guess, Henrietta is not the daughter of a wealthy family, but a trained child assassin that carries her P90 automatic PDW on a violin case. The perfume is a "reward" she received from her Agency "guardian" for the successfully termination of an 8-members terrorist group. She doesn't have a true family, andwhenever she'd be truly loved and cherished if she ever failed on her duties is unknown.
Still, if they've met 2-3 years ago, that bomb-maker would be right on the spot. Henrietta used to be, and have, all of those things, until the day violence struck her life and killed her family. She was supposed to be dead with them, if it wasn't the Social Warfare Agency, that saved her, healed her and gave her a new reality.
A reality that protects others from the fate she had, smells like gunpowder and tastes like blood.
Should she be thankful? Regretful? Comply or rebel?
She know it not.
She can not know.
When the Agency took her in and made of her a weapon, she received "conditioning" -letter soup for brainwashing-.
So, ultimately, the question will inevitably be: Is this ethically acceptable? Isn't this fight terrorism with terror?
And still, why little girls? Couldn't they do it with grown man? Wouldn't it be more socially acceptable to do so?
Well, conditioning (brainwashing) works better with little kids.
Also, it sells more figures and merchandise.
Oh.
Gunslinger Girl is a heavy and exhaustive drama, that constantly shifts through cruelty, social criticism and glimpses of hope for a better world. All in form of TV animation, and you watch it... for entertainment.
It's not something you will easily forget on the day after, and comedy lovers might stop reading right here because there's none of it.
It's filled with angst, suffering, and violence. But not graphic violence like similar titles with little assassin girls.
Wisely enough, this series' strength, instead, lies on the reflexive dialogues and the great character design provided by Madhouse.
This doesn't mean, though, that there is no beauty on it. Love, empathy and hope sprouts even on the most unlikable of the situations, and this story surely proves it.
The content of the script is close in mood of the paragraphs above. It does not have many action sequences (a shame, as they are still gorgeously animated) but rather shows the common daily life of the characters, that, on the surface won't portrait the sadness it actually carries.
It's a master of immersion, and that's what hits most of us the most. As you start to sympathize with a character and his/her actions, comes something that makes you doubt him and his morals. But this is no easy thing because as the series constantly makes you judge characters' decisions, it brings to the table whether you'd not do the same thing were you on their position.
This strongly contributes to the deep character agency, but unfortunately not so much to their development.
While these are complex characters with marvelously written personalities and the most convoluted pasts orienting their actions, Gunslinger Girl fails at delivering an actual development (alike the manga, which only focused on it after 5+ volumes). This doesn't affect much of the overall job, but leaves a huge gap on expectations.
Perhaps, though, this was intentional, as a result of the discussed bellow:
The story is organized in a floating time-line.
It does not make clear at the start of an episode if that happened after or prior to what you just watched and you'd only get such information by hints thru it. It's imaginable that some situations would be easy to set on a straight time-line but one will notice as he watches that such thing is not necessarily true for Gunslinger Girl and the reason itself is part of the story.
I understand this might sound confusing but here's the gist of it:
Director Morio Asaka's intention was to show that all of that could be happening right now/at any moment, but ultimately, it evokes a strong melancholy as it shows that no matter what happens or is done, things are prone to stay the same. It's eerie and depressing and that's exactly their goal.
Enough of story, Madhouse did used to spoil us when it came down to soundtrack and animation. This came out in 2003, had a poor budget and still got better in-betweens than currently airing stuff.
The OST fits perfectly the Italian scenario, and the ED runs smoothly with every episode. OP is fine, but also a puzzle on itself: It's a song by a Scottish indie rock band, with lyrics in English, for an anime set in Italy.
One of the reasons this series makes so much emotional impact is surely attributed to character's facial expressions and body language.
The void look on the girls' eyes, the horror of their butchered foes, Giuse's struggling looks, Henrietta unsteadiness while in public, all of it along extremely detailed weaponry, with clear mechanics, and no "anime magical bullets" that makes curves or doesn't have shells.
It's no surprise that many of us, myself included, shall never acknowledge the existence of a "second season" as the studio in charge of that couldn't even dream of matching the quality of this work and just fucked things up.
Finally, I don't have a TL;DR for this.
The motivation for writing this review was that, after 5 years I finally finished reading it, and felt the need to spread the word.
Gunslinger Girl (manga) is definitely not for everyone and will only be fully appreciated by tragedy theater fans.
The anime, however, shines with all its moral debate but also shades a soft light on... hope.
Yes, it manages to balance heartbreak with heart-warm and show the beauty even in the most twisted situations.
Who else did that on the history of this industry?
Gunslinger Girl is a one-in-a-lifetime watch, and a must for any drama anime appreciator.
Neichus
An idyllic bay overlooked by a Mediterranean city fades into view, church bells tolling in the background. The scene basks in the omnipresent light. It is an important setting: beautiful, honestly and truly, with no reservation. What transpires is another matter, but this first impression should be remembered. A man and girl walk into the scene. The man's gaze is inscrutable, but it is not one of appreciation for the beauty. Turning to look at the girl behind him he muses on their relationship. "She's my sister..." Her stare back is a mixture of doll-like emptiness and ready anticipation.It isn’t unhappy, but it isn’t happy either. Simply…attentive. There is the sense she was wearing this visage before he looked at her.
The man begins to walk again without saying a word. His ward's face lifts ever so slightly and she scampers after him eagerly. Like a dog following its master, or a duckling instinctively falling into line. The automaticity with which she stopped and started seems completely natural to her. The narration continues as they move offscreen. “Brother and sister. People joke about it, but what are you going to do? It’s pretty much the truth.”
There is something disconcerting about this situation. The opening scene presents the viewer with a conundrum: what is the relationship between these two? The man's tired explanation is clearly insufficient, and the offhanded way it is offered suggests he hardly believes it himself. He certainly finds the joke in poor taste. The girl is uncanny, her focus never leaving him for a moment. A brittle rationale coupled with an eeriness of behavior sets the stage for the series.
-----------------------------------------------
Gunslinger Girl is a peculiar and profound anime. Its description, that of a clandestine government organization modifying young girls for use as assassins, is unimpressive. The anticipation is an action series that mixes the usual glorification of force with a heavy-handed bid to garner sympathy using children in distress. Just another emotional joyride, one which ends promptly and safely with the final episode. Rate on MAL, post which girl was best, and then move on.
Gunslinger Girl is not this series. A closer investigation will reveal that the violence is not heroic, the anguish not contrived, and the suffering not a spectacle. It is a sincere depiction aiming to inform rather than entertain.
This series is not for everyone. It is both muted and slow, focusing on the psychological interactions between the characters. However, it is the opposite of dramatic; many of the strongest feelings, the most painful and joyous moments, are marked with little more than a slight adjustment of the eyes or mouth. The characters must be watched to be understood, and the significance of events only coming to light after some reflection.
Seething beneath the interplay lies something...wrong. This situation is demented, the usage of innocence in this fashion grotesque. It is a horror that rarely comes to the surface, but continually darkens the atmosphere and deepens the melancholy. I have seen Gunslinger Girl critiqued as a moral quandary concerning the of use of children as weapons. This is incorrect: it is a refutation of using the girls this way, of everything the Social Welfare Agency stands for. The magnitude of the depravity cannot be properly expressed, if for no other reason than that of decency: this suffering is not so cheap as to be worth only our voyeurism.
The result is a deeply haunting series, for there is universality in the setting. An identification of loss and pain, of impending mortality, of a sense that things are not quite right with the world. While Gunslinger Girl is substantiated by its well-crafted details, they should not obscure this point. What happens is less important than why it does, or that it is possible to happen at all. Its lack of plot and antagonists is a fundamental reflection of this emphasis: it isn't about resolving their story, for there is no resolution to be found.
If this were the full extent of Gunslinger Girl, it would be worthy of praise for its expert and tasteful handling of the subject matter. A grim tragedy of expendable innocence. However, there exists yet one more layer to the series, for which all of the above serves as a backdrop. What is this core ethos, then? I do not mean to sound cryptic, but as best a summary that can be given is that it is a meditation, a reflection on the unmitigated suffering and an affirmation of something beyond it. I will expand on this no more here, as I would inevitably fail.
-----------------------------------------------
Story: 9/10
Despite appearances, there is a story underneath the series' episodic appearance. It is a story of Henrietta, and is twined closely with the allegory in a way that unites her psychology and dynamic with a greater meaning. It is not, however, particularly dramatic and expectations otherwise should be trimmed to avoid disappointment.
That said, this is as good a place as any to remark on the uneven quality of the episodes. While most are very high, a few of the middle episodes feel notably inferior to the surrounding ones. The series is not ruined for this, but given my devotion I like to offer full disclosure.
Art: 9/10
The series is beautifully animated. There is a remarkable attention to detail which aids the verisimilitude. Inherited from its source, the weapons and firing technique are given unsurpassed effort. The major locales (Rome, Florence, Siena, and others) are all identifiable from their depictions alone. Finally given the importance of psychological states, the facial expressions are exceedingly subtle. All of this is drawn in a muted pastel which perfectly reflects the beautiful-but-melancholy atmosphere.
With this said, the series certainly has its failing moments. There are a few scenes which reuse animation (not the first two episodes, but later events which are intended to be separate). There are also some scenes which have poor overall quality, but these are never the crucial ones. The series put its budget in the right place.
Sound: 9/10
The sound work is good. I am no expert, but given that the weapons all sound different I presume just as much attention was given to their audio as their visuals. But what really stands out is the sound track, a composition in the classical Western style that matches the Italian setting. If you want to know Gunslinger Girl, just go to YouTube and listen to "Tema I," "Silenzio Prima Della Lotta," or "Tristezza." The series also secured the use of, "The Light Before We Land" by the Delgados for the OP, and is half the reason I never skipped it while watching.
Like the art above, there are a few quibbles here and there. In particular there is a "punch" sound in episode one which sounds comically out of place. But nothing that could be considered a significant failing.
Character: 9/10
The characters are in some ways unremarkable, but in others very real. There are no standout personalities that define the series. Yet that does not matter, for the genius is in their reality and depth, both as individuals and in the unique relationships they share with their handlers.
The series constructions these skillfully with minimal exposition. It does not tell us what the characters are thinking and feeling, but instead demonstrates them through the actions they take and the expressions they wear.
Enjoyment: -/10
I cannot offer a rating here, for it is my earnest belief that to completely get Gunslinger Girl is to recognize that it is not entertainment. It isn't unpleasant to experience, but neither is it pleasant. I have never cried while watching it, but have been reduced to tears when contemplating it later. It fails all normal metrics of enjoyment: it does not seek to evoke emotional extremes but muffle them. The action is infrequent and brief. Sexual titillation is entirely absent. It exists for another purpose.
Overall: 10/10
Gunslinger Girl is more than the sum of its parts. In execution it is superb, in message sublime. I find it to be deeply resonant, subtle, tragic, and beautiful. It is my heartfelt recommendation that every thoughtful person take the time to view it.
Paraturtle
To preface: I absolutely abhorred this show. While I'm about to bring up many things that I felt were bad with the show, and I'm going to bring up a lot in a concise manner (as I may do an in depth video review in the future) I feel the need to quote my bio on MAL. "Please note that while I intend to be as critical as possible, everyone views a work differently. All my reviews, at heart, are nothing more than personal opinions." Story: Gunslinger Girl is an abstract way of telling stories about different platonic relationships men have with young girls. By abstract, Imean very loosely using the plot point that the girls are revived from near death by implementing bio-mechanical android capabilities a la Deus Ex (The amount of, "I never asked for this!" is unreal in this anime). I say 'loosely used plot point' because the whole premise isn't really used all that well to infer it's necessary inclusion. As you watch, it's never explicitly mentioned who the girls are fighting against or for, what their end goal is, what's beyond that goal, what makes them important in the world they're in, etc. Now, anyone could say I'm missing the point, because the show isn't about the world so much as it is the girls and how they perceive it, but it's hard to sympathize with any of them when the world isn't shown in any fashion to me as a viewer.
For instance, the show goes from one character to the next in an episodic fashion and gives us different settings, characters, and motives for everyone. This would be fine if there was an underlying goal that each character was working towards. If the company they worked for was trying to get a certain target and these missions where to get said target to reveal themselves, then that's enough of a foundation for me to keep interest. However, each episode opened up with new EVERYTHING, so not only did I have to learn new motives, but the setting these girls were interacting with, and then I had to interpret how they interpreted the events, making me wonder what the hell the creators were attempting to interpret.
Just a mess. A real big mess. There's an event that takes place near the end of the show that seems to have some semblance of a goal that could have made for a great mystery throughout the show, but it showed up far too late in the series to redeem anything, and at that point it was already so miserable and boring to watch I just couldn't care who or what the characters (who, at that point, I knew well) wanted or worried about.
Not only that, some of the conflicts aren't relatable to begin with. Now, the power of storytelling is you can make any fantastical situation believable and relatable through the power of strong characters and circumstance. The key thing here is that Gunslinger Girl is just a tad too unbelievable to get behind. There isn't really an effort to make sense of why young girls are chosen other than the writer wanted to satiate some sort of disgusting fetish of his or he just wanted to be a little edgy with his world building. "Oh, we could have random people be revived and become android people. Better yet, why don't I pick LITTLE GIRLS? That'll tug on the heart strings! And if not, at least it'll make my loins tingle seeing girls shoot people dead!"
I'm hyperbolizing, no doubt about it, but when the show spends little-to-no time giving any depth to the world it's set in, poorly writes reasons for reasons, and attempts to discuss somewhat mature discussion themes, you have to wonder what's going on in the minds of those behind the screen.
Credit where credits do. As an episodic show, there were 2 that I found enjoyable and fairly tight. Again, the little arc at the end of the show was somewhat engaging and I really do wish it was prolonged from the beginning to end to give me some kind of hook. Anime can be short but when I commit to a show I hate to think I'm stuck spending 4 hours being miserable and bored the whole time.
Art:
I didn't find the animation all that engaging and the washed out filter every color had was so grimy and disgusting. The show wasn't pretty (not that it had to be) but the gritty feel didn't seem to fit, either. Is it so impossible to add a bit of warmth to your series without it seeming like a film of dust coated the lens?
Similar to the story, the artwork is forgettable. Character designs are enough to tell everyone apart but I've already forgotten what they look like. Perhaps that's because, thankfully, everyone looks close to realistic in this show, but when I think about other shows with realistic character designs (Texhnolyze, for intance) I can picture a character in my head and their design immediately. Perhaps that goes to show the importance in characterization when it comes to design, but also, it's possible that this is a FAULT of poor characterization. I don't know. I just know what I know, and I know the artwork is quite tasteless. It's not like eating wet bread, but more like toast without cinnamon. Just crusty sustenance to get you through the day.
Sound:
Things sound alright and the OST is functional at best but there wasn't anything spectacular. There's a them of classical music used throughout the show but it feels really pretentious considering the show itself failed to exceed any value beyond "boring and ridiculous." I don't know what could have been used in place of it, but I do know that it's laughable and snooze worthy.
Also, the best part about the OST is that one of the low toned tracks sounds just like a song used in Disney's Haunted Mansion ride. Better yet, it's not even the song USED on the ride, it's a song that plays in line as you go into the mansion. Holy cow, I couldn't take any scene seriously when that song came on.
Character:
I don't know what else I can say about the characters. I've said so much in the story section and I even had a part discussing them in the art segment. What else can I say? They're not just underdeveloped, they then treated like important and relatable characters at all times.
Enjoyment:
Miserable. Miserable. Absolutely miserable. I was so bored. I couldn't wait to be over with this anime. It was so uninteresting and everything about it was a complete turn off to me. I enjoy introspective narratives, I like tactical espionage with a splash of science fiction, but I mean, come on, the second episode nearly repeated the first half of the first episode, and then later in the series the same scenes are shown AGAIN. Do you know how CONFUSING that is when your SECOND EPISODE seems so similar to the first? I thought my Netflix messed up replayed the first episode. Holy cow, who storyboarded this show?
((If you liked this review, check out my other reviews by going to my profile and clicking the 'reviews' tab. I review virtually all anime and manga I find!))
ktulu007
Gunslinger Girl is an ongoing manga written by Aida Yu. The manga has been going for close to a decade so it's only natural that it has some adaptations. Including a series of PS2 games, an OVA and two anime series. Let's take a look at the first anime which originally ran from late 2003 to early 2004. Gunslinger Girl doesn't have an over-arching story. It's a series of episodes, mostly stand alone, which are connected by the overall scenario and the characters. The premise is that you have a government agency that enhances young girls with cybernetic parts and conditioning and then sends them onmissions, mostly involving counter-terrorism. The episodes are really interesting and they cover a lot of material focusing primarily on the girls. The action scenes are intense and the series has a lot of spectacular moments. It forces the viewer to think about the morality of the situation since, in many ways, the girls are better off now that they're part of the agency. The only real story issue is that a few episodes reuse parts of earlier episodes for no real reason and it feels like needless filler. This is especially true for the second episode.
The characters are especially important in Gunslinger Girl, since the story revolves around them. Fortunately, the characters are very well done. They have a lot of complexity, they interact well with each other, they have interesting back stories and the major characters have to be the most adorable killing machines ever, especially Claes. The only real issue with the characters is that Henrietta's crush on Jose gets annoying really quickly. There's one other girl with that kind of dynamic with her handler, but they only appear in a few episodes so it doesn't have much time to start getting on your nerves.
The art is excellent. The background and characters are all very well down. The guns, stars and other various objects are very realistically detailed. The whole things catches the viewer's attention. The art is very carefully used to draw your focus to specific points for important scenes and the effect is spectacular.
The voice acting is very good, most of the time. Unfortunately, there are several foreign words and names that are used in the series, since it's set in Italy, and a lot of them aren't pronounced properly. I know, they're not using their native language, but you'd still think that the director would learn how to pronounce these words and pass that on to the actors. The most distracting of these, because it's mentioned the most frequently, is "Jose", which is said all the time, since he's an important character, and never gets said properly.
The yuri factor is a 2/10. There are roughly three scenes that are slightly homoerotic, but there are very few of these scenes. The girls are all friendly towards each other, but it never goes beyond that.
My final rating for Gunslinger girl is a 9/10. It's masterfully put together. As a character study, it really works. I only have a few complaints and they're pretty minor. If you're a fan of high-paced action and complex characters, I would definitely check it out.
Dirzd
Mandatory note: Glosses over the whole franchise without too much spoiling. “I swear on my beating heart I will continue to run until I burn away.” That’s the high point of the Gunslinger Girl franchise, this verse from “Tatta Hitotsu no Omoi” in the second season. It’s a nice and fuzzy feeling. You have to watch both seasons and read the manga to see where that feeling leads though. I promise everything’s great though, even the low budget season 2. I think huge time lapses in publication and the different mediums are why Gunslinger Girl reviews are so polarizing. The story was conceptualized in the late 1990s. Seasonone aired 2003-2004. Season two aired 2008. The manga ran 2002-2012. This franchise has some pretty interesting generation gaps especially when you think of the audience. Probably very few of the old reviewers have experienced the whole thing. I could write miles and miles about Gunslinger Girl but I’ll just bullet point some interesting things about the franchise. I’ll be a bit forgiving and write about the franchise in general since it all ties together anyhow.
-Yu Aida is a savant and does excellent background research
-He apparently completed the main plotline of Gunslinger Girl shortly after the manga began serializing, so plot inconsistencies are kept to a minimum or are at least somewhat believable. Very respectable, many mangakas just make stuff up as they go along.
-Season 1 is super bizarre because it started airing when only 11 chapters of the manga were out. Morio Asaka took some creative liberties spinning the story for the 13 episode format and I think it turned our great.
-Yu Aida mentions liking Madhouse’s adaptation in a Gunslinger Girl exhibit available at meiji.ac.jp. I recommend taking a look at it when you’re done with the franchise, it’s very nice but it does contain spoilers.
-So many ideas are based on things that actually exist or actually happened. The Italian “years of lead” did actually happen, and the government actually utilized a policy called “strategy of tension” where they encouraged fighting to blow off steam. There are fringe story elements that are seemingly based on minor successes with the U.S MKUltra experiments. A bit later in publication you get ideas related to the war on terror that many readers/watchers can probably relate to.
-The Italian government portrayed in the story has a lot of similarities with the CIA
-Look at the genres for GSG: “Action, Psychological, Military, Drama, Sci-Fi”. These genres are hard to combine without feeling corny. One way the author makes up for this is by sprinkling heaps of historical context into the story to make it easier to believe. The story for GSG is actually sane and totally believable in comparison to some other things.
-I love how you can research something about the story and find out it’s based on something real
-You will see a lot of terrorists and they’ll generally have somewhat plausible motives. I highly encourage reading up about the “Years of Lead” to fully appreciate some of the crazy stuff that actually happened.
-People fling ideologies around and try to enforce them with violence. I love the moral ambiguity.
-There is definitely a cohesive storyline but you’re never forced to agree with what’s being shown to you. If I had to draw a parallel the delivery’s like Raiden’s story in Platinum Games’ Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance.
-The setting is mostly Italy in the early 2000s. Somewhat detailed in both anime seasons, super detailed in the manga. Lots of pretty architecture to look at.
-Conceptual-wise some of the characters are based on mythos and they either play their roles or subvert them. Triela is Snow White for example. Personally I think Rico’s a Hecate.
-I tend to love most of the character designs
-Cypress trees mean “long life” in Japanese culture yet “eternal grief” in antiquity
-Where’s Tiberius?
-Triela was named after the town of Trier.
-If you’re into militaria you’re going to like this story a lot. Weapon depictions are mostly accurate, well-researched and sufficiently detailed. Madhouse did a great job animating weapon handling and gunfights in season 1. They faithfully adapted banal details like a brass catcher. This falls apart a bit in season 2 though, the lack of budget didn’t allow much detail to go to the guns and that banal detail would constantly appear and disappear.
-A certain character’s shotgun is basically a character in its own right with the amount of implied backstory it has. If you tally up some weapons you’ll notice it’s a double entendre about Germany complaining about trench guns in WWI. That was super amusing so I just wanted to put this in somewhere.
-Some characters are SUPER memorable but I didn’t feel like any of them were underdeveloped
-The story does a terrific job conveying “feelings” and providing subtle commentary about them without being cheesy
-Please think about the idea of parenting when you read/watch this. There are nice parts and bad parts and they’re all eye-opening. I can understand if this story makes people uncomfortable.
-The action in season 1 is low budget but it’s generally nice to watch
-Season 2 is even lower budget and it’s just passable most of the time
-Season 2 looks weird because Yu Aida played a big role in directing it. The season’s art style reflects a new style he tried late in the manga’s publication and it only lasted a few volumes. Unfortunately it didn’t look that good and by the time he reverted his manga’s changes it was already solidified into season 2. That doesn’t excuse how weird it looks, just know that it was somewhat intentional and the apparent lack of budget didn’t help.
-OST is really, really good. Especially the miscellaneous music CDs, they often foreshadow plot events or tell stories by themselves if you bother to translate the lyrics. Check out “La ragazza col fucile” and “La ragazza col fucile e poca felicita”
-The ending of the story is in volume 15 of the manga and it’s really good, highly recommend reading the manga.
-Triela is obviously best girl
That still ended up being a mile of non-specific text but anyways, Gunslinger Girl 10/10 seriously underrated. I’m just glad I didn’t have to wait decades to get the full experience.
Sparksafly
If you are watching this anime just for the action, then you'll be missing the main point. Many people complained that they wish the story would focus a little more on violence, but thats not what the story is about; the violence and guns is just what bonds the girls together. In general, I simply loved this anime. Everything about it. I loved the art for it, looks very high quality no matter where you watch the show, if streaming or non streaming. The opening and ending songs with any melodies in between were in fact music to my ears. I was drawn in bythe story line the most, however, for it is like one I would have never imagined in my life. This is always how I compare things, to if I would have ever been able to come up with the story. Sure the main points of the story seem familiar: assassins, training school, young girls fighting, etc. But the characters and elements that develop a long with the tale is something that exceeds what I ever could have created. If you were an innocent little girl, dying for one tragic case or another, and there was no other cure other then to become inhuman, what would you do? The government finds you somehow randomly from the hospital you're at and gives you the option: stay alive, get a new chance at life, but with you're memory erased of the past and at the cost of becoming an assassin for the remainder of that life killing so called "bad guys"? Or, would you say no and die?
The story unwinds with 5 little girls who had made the choice to live; each assigned an "older brother" (their partner). You slowly learn the past of each girl, their struggles, and their skills during missions. But theres a twist; you also learn the partners past story and skills. At first I didn't understand why that was even needed, the anime story itself was already so good! But then it dawned on me: what type of person would it take to sell their life into secrecy and devote yourself to training a stranger, a random little girl? Each partner chooses which little girl to save and become partners with. Some are harsher then others and how they treat the little girls, as the girls newly developed personality starts to reveal this. The "older brothers" themselves have dark pasts that are portrayed slower than the girls. This is because at first you think you understand the partner and therefore understand the little girl, but then all of the sudden you learn even more about the partner; realizing that you're theories of why a older brother treats the younger sister a certain way is in every way wrong.
The anime not only has action, adventure, drama, suspenseful, and with comedy every now and then; but also a proper portion of romance. Though these girls are some of the best assassins in Italy, they are still little girls struggling to deal with growing up. Struggling with how to gain attention, first time crushes, and love. Soon, you start to experience their adolescence with them and feel yourself maturing with each new knowledge the character gains as well. Causing you to relate deeper to each character then you had planned, making their situation that more real.
Note: My friend read the manga, so if you plan on watching the anime (both seasons, like I did) then theres no disappointments or anything, but the manga continues with different girls stories at the company while the anime stops after the second season. Just a note if you start to love this anime and can't believe its about to end or did end.
SeriouslyAnime
This is one of my most favorite anime shows. STORY: The story really shows the audience the hardship that these girls go through. The creators have done a really good job on getting the audience attached to the girls and then exploiting that emotion. ACTION: The action in this anime is very well done, it is paced just right and very fluent. There are no outrageous punches thrown or slow motion punches every 5 seconds. ART: The art work is very well done and very professional. You can deferentially see that the creators spent time and dedication with the art work. SOUND: The audio is very well done too.The voices don't make me cringe and I really enjoy watching the dubbed version. The only complaint I have about the dubbed version vs the subbed version is that there are a few times where someone will say something completely different in the dubbed than in the subbed and it changes the episode a bit. Other than that the audio is great.
CHARACTER: The characters are very well designed and each have a different type of personality. None of the girls are over the top happy, but are instead just the right amount. As I watched the series i begin to have an attachment with the girls and really start to feel for them and the life they have. The creators of this series did not leave one blemish within the girls personality and all are very unique and amazing.
ENJOYMENT: This anime really had me wanting to watch more. This is one of those few shows that have the right mix between action and drama. I consider this the most enjoyable anime i have ever seen.
OVERALL: Between the action, drama and characters, there is no reason why I would rate it any lower than a 10. The show performs perfect mixtures of elements(Where most shows fail at), and has outstanding characters and artwork. I could watch this show a thousand times and still would want to re-watch it. It is truly and amazing show!
brandotendie
Subtlety can spring up from the most unlikely of places, the most unlikely of narratives. Gunslinger Girl is one of those places. Legit, just look at the concept of this show on paper; it’s a fucking high concept blockbuster plot, a plot that can be surmised in a single sentence, and is easily pitched: “Loli orphans become brainwashed and highly skilled assassins.” Boom. Easily something that can be turned into schlock, just another seasonal Elfen Lied or Aria: The Scarlet Ammo.But wow, if you’re really coming into this anime expecting nothing but lolis with guns, you’re gonna be in for a shock.
Because this show is a goddamn MASTER of subtlety. It’s not a show that paints the picture of schoolgirl assasssins as a pretty one; it’s treating the subject matter as if it was something that is happening in real life. It’s treating these girl assassins as real.
Hearbreakingly so.
To that end, Gunslinger Girl is not a show about lolis with guns.
It’s a show about children who only know how to kill.
Everything about every girl in this show revolves around their job. Their validation, their sense of self worth, their blossoming into adolescence, their concept of love, all of it, is deeply rooted and drenched in the blood of the faceless men they’ve killed and will kill.
Murder is not a sin, nor just a job. It’s a lifestyle. It’s a gauge for these children to measure their worth, their meaning.
That theme, that aspect is constantly and unrelentingly placed on the forefront of this show. Not just in one approach, either; every single main character, every child, is not a brainwashed robot. They’re real, little girls, with real individual personalities. The way those personalities clash and highlight the personalities of their fratellos, their handlers, sheds light on how the minds of these girls operate, further highlighting that theme of killing as a lifestyle and using that as a tool to create deep and compelling characters.
It makes these characters’ actions and dialogue and interactions have more weight, have a more tense urgency to them, ultimately making them feel more REAL.
This show’s subtlety goes beyond the writing of the characters. As aforementioned, the world is painted as one that is realistic, gritty. Not tryhard gritty, but realistically seedy. It doesn’t go full on edge, amping up the blood and the darkness of the lives of these girls to heavy-handedly make us feel sorry for them, which would have been an EASY thing to do.
Instead, the heartbreak is found in just the very REALITY of their lives. Every time we see a girl pick up a gun as if it were a common everyday tool, it’s heartbreaking. When we see them discover new little joys in life by comparing it to the job of assassinating, it’s grim. It’s sad and horrible without persuading us to feel that way. It shows us how these girls live, lets us soak in their everyday life, lettingthe audience just wallow in their darkness.
But the most beautiful part of this show isn’t the phenomenal character writing, the world building, the sense of dread and heartbreak of this atmosphere, instead, it’s the smallest, littlest light that shines through; it’s the little moments and gestures that shows these girls, no matter how shitty and cold their lives are, have hope.
Even after killing an entire mafia sect, the girls have time to read, to bond with each other over tea, play with toys. Even if they know their fratellos see them as nothing more than tools, as nothing more than weapons, they still feel an emotional connection, a bond that goes deeper than conditioning and brainwashing.
They look forward to every tomorrow, to every next moment of respite, even when they FULLY KNOW, that it might be their last due to their limited lifespans. The girls don’t wallow in their misery, in the fact that they are just weapons made of flesh and blood, they rise above it.
They keep moving forward, they try to enjoy life and each other as best they could, they have hope.
That’s something that even us, as normal people, normal viewers looking in, can take home with us.
In no other sequence is this more overtly shown than in the final seven or so minutes of the last episode.
What easily could have been a bigass gunfight with blood and explosions, or even a teary-eyed monologue on the nature of life, is instead a sequence of these girls outside in the cold night air, literally singing an ode to joy.
Knowing full well that their lives are commodities, knowing full well that their shelf life is a short one, knowing full well that love is a luxury they can seldom experience.
And yet, they still sing out in the cold, holding hands, eyes bright.
Acceptance of a fate nobody should ever endure.
Hope in the face of hopelessness.
Succinct, bittersweet, and altogether beautiful, this was Gunslinger Girl.
coolpianoman
Gunslinger Girl is like nothing I have ever seen before. I stumbled upon the series enticed by the premise of young girls working as assassins, but I found so much more. I laughed, cried and grew along with each girl as the story progressed. The show might not be so well received by viewers looking for a different approach. See, although at first glance GG appears to be an action series, once you get two or three episodes in you begin to understand it's really a character driven drama. So if you go in expecting over-the-top gunfights ever other scene, you're going to be disappointed. Butthis hardly takes away from the show's weight; once you find yourself relating to one of the five main characters, you'll be hooked until the all too soon end.
That's one of the show's biggest strengths and weaknesses at the same time - it's very short, only about 4 hours, 20 minutes in all. With such a big cast to support, this means a few very intriguing characters really only get one or two scenes to shine in. But boy do they shine. Each episode is filled with very heavy overtones about mortality, unrequited love and loss of innocence, despite whatever plot happens to be going on. Not to say that the plot is poorly written or that the action is bad - on the contrary, several fights keep you on the edge of your seat, and a few specific villains were set up quite well to perhaps return later on (I haven't yet seen the sequel or read the manga). And this also means that it's quite easy to do what I did and power through the 13 episodes in a day or two.
There's one warning I have to issue above any other; GG doesn't just pull at your heartstrings, it rips them right out. I was left in tears at the end of the series, and I doubt I was the only one. Each girl's story is shown to be tragic, some even more so than others. Anyone who's ever questioned their own mortality, had a hard life growing up or ever been disillusioned about love will find themselves wrapped up in each girl's story. It's absolutely worth it, just don't go in expecting all happy endings.
What really sold me at the end of the day was the art style. Madhouse did a superb job adapting what was already a great story into a true artistic masterpiece. The animation, symbolism, dialogue (I watched the sub, but from the one episode of the dub I watched it's not much worse), music and characters come together perfectly. One thing about the music - the mostly classical soundtrack fits wonderfully, but it eventually gets a bit overused, and the strange fight music isn't as great. But overall, Gunslinger Girl is a work of art that I'll be watching several more times and that I sincerely recommend anyone looking for a emotional piece of literature give a try.
ETERNlTY
Let me start by saying this Anime has a great story I would recommend to everyone! Gunslinger Girl alone changed the way I view anime I'll admit I used to only want to watch anime I was told had great fight scenes cause I really only liked it for the fighting but after watching gunslinger girl I now view it in a totally different way and am now in it for the story and character development. Gunslinger Girl starts off with an awesome opening immediately leading you to believe your in for an action packed ride but this is not the case, although the animedoes have action scenes where these cyborg girls really show you what they can do (kicking ass and assassinating people) where the story really shines is these cyborg girls and their love for their handlers or "Fratello" each girl and their Fratello counterpart have a unique relationship and you find yourself equally interested in each one and wanting to see more and more as the story progresses, The things these girls will go through just to please their Fratello and do the best they possibly can and the affection shown from girl to handler really shows you how much these girls love their Fratello and will go to extreme lengths even giving their own lives if needed to ensure the protection of their Fratello.
As you get deeper into the story you find you no longer care about seeing flashy fight scenes, you now only care about the story and seeing these girls characters develop into some of the most interesting characters I've ever seen.
While the girls seem sweet and innocent (Which they are) the thought of knowing they could snap anyone's neck in a heart beat just adds to the enjoyment as you watch them and their Fratello go on missions together and in their everyday lives you cant help but wish someone would piss one of these girls off so you can see them do what they've been trained to do, although there aren't a whole lot of action scenes the ones they do show are tastefully done and leave you feeling satisfied. Keep in mind there are only 13 episodes and for the 13 episodes they had they did very well and with only those 13 this series made it into my top 5 favorite anime if that gives you any idea as to how good this series is you will not be disappointed after watching this anime.
Traversy
Overall, gunslinger girl (GSG) was a fairly enjoyable anime. I gave it a seven for story simply because the ending was perplexing and somewhat inconclusive. There was plenty of shooting, but not as much as I have hoped for, then again I might as well be asking for a series based solely on shooting and action with no actual plot. I had no problem with the animation and sound, the opening song popped up in that it was the first anime I\'ve seen with an English opening song. As for characters, there are many \"fratello\"s (teams consisting of a GSG and a \"handler\") and theirGSG\'s character is all based on the handler. In the end, it\'s a little less shoot-em up than I had initially hoped for, but if you\'re into this sort of thing, then you shall not be disappointed.
