Gunslinger Girl

Also Known As: GSG

Genre: Action/Drama

Format: 13 Episodes

Allegiance: Madhouse Studios/Bandai Visual

Director: Asaka Morio

Vintage: 2003-2004

Intelligence Agency Report by: Ritalin

A non-profit welfare organization in Italy has picked up five very special young girls. What these girls have in common is they have all experienced a life-changing event before being taken to the organization. Brainwashed and given a mechanical body, Henrietta, Rico, Triela, Claes, and Angelica work for the organization as scientific experiments and assassins for the government with no mercy behind the seemingly cute and innocent disguise. These girls are so tuned, they won't hesitate to kill an innocent face and not think of it again. However, this brainwashing is slowly destroying them on the inside and and not allowing them to grow.

Field Agent Report by: Ritalin

Plot
Characters
Impact
Visual
Audio

7.50
8.50
9.00
8.75
8.50

Overall

8.50

(not an average)

Fresh from Japan comes a new and slightly different style of the "girls-with-guns" anime genre. With an atmosphere like the anime Noir; an even closer psychological plot such as Serial Experiments: Lain, comes Gunslinger Girl. What you may expect is not what will be delivered. Heads up: this isn't for action lovers.

This anime starts with a bang! Literally, it opens with Henrietta going berserk and blasting away at the government targets. During the action sequences the animation shines like a light in the dark. Undoubtly, the animation is nothing but the best that Madhouse has already lived up to in the past. Clean, smooth, and crisp cels all through-out the series keeps fans coming back for eye-candy. Along with it, the soundtrack is very enjoyable. The opening song "The Light Before We Land" performed by The Delgados is truly breath-taking. On several occasions I found myself repeating the track over again. The lyrics give a nice foreshadowing and actually match the anime. Furthermore, the relationships between characters is where the real juice of the anime lays. As previously stated, this anime isn't meant for the action, but rather for the impact of each character to one another and how they look up to their "brothers."

The plot, sadly, has to be what draws some anime fans away from this anime. It doesn't seem to focus on one thing, it's very underlying. While some find this as annoying, It's been done before (FLCL anyone?). It can easily be taken as mindless action that serves no purpose but to look cool, but that is far from true. Rather, the focus lays on the relationship between all the characters, and characteristics. It focuses on the what's and why's of their persona. While this is a gold mine for some fans, this is also the downfall of the anime. It can't hold the attention of an average viewer for very long, which will drive away many fans half-way through this series. I guarantee you though, if you stick to it you may have a pleasant suprise.

This anime is definitely a different take on the "girls-with-guns" genre, almost not even in that genre. Regardless of the structure of the plot, fans will all find something in this anime they can like. It gives fans something to talk about, and hell, even the action lovers will drool over the action sequences.

Field Agent Report by: Niner

Plot
Characters
Impact
Visual
Audio

7.75
8.50
9.00
8.75
8.50

Overall

8.75

(not an average)

Just from the premise, you can pretty much guess that Gunslinger Girl is going to be a sad and depressing series. However, like any good anime, there is a lot more to it than that. While there are moments of lightheartedness and happiness that distract from the melancholy, the essence of this series is rooted in the relationships between the girls and their mentors and between the girls themselves. It is about how they grow as people and especially how they cope with the harsh realities of their unusual lives.

The partnerships (fratellos) really drive the story more than anything else. Each fratello is explored, showing the different relationships the girls have with their respective mentors and the closeness (or lack thereof) they share. In each girl’s case, she must cope with who and what she is. Their partners play a key role in that process whether they choose to or not. The dichotomy between being young girls doing simple things like sharing afternoon tea and being cold-blooded assassins carrying out executions becomes more and more poignant as the story progresses. It is central to the story’s theme of innocence being lost and regained over and over again.

The attention to detail given to the surroundings is astounding for an anime series. Studio Madhouse really did their homework on Italy because the settings are authentic, accurately depicted and really provide you with a sense of the country’s beauty and culture. I remember in one particular episode, the Uffizi Gallery of Art in Florence is featured prominently. Many other famous landmarks show up in subsequent storylines. The arsenal at the girls’ disposal is impressive as well. These are not just your generic-looking handguns, á la Noir, but real, detailed firearms, like Henrietta's FN P90 submachine gun and Rico's Dragunov sniper rifle. This level of authenticity is unparalleled in any other gun anime and really adds a sense of realism and excitement to the gunfights.

Despite all the attention placed on the girls and their mentors, nothing is ever really revealed about what they’re doing and why. The bad guys always seem to be Republicans plotting against the government and there is no back story on the Corporation itself and those who run it. Jose and many of the other fratello brothers are shown to have military experience, but not how they acquired it and how and why they’ve come to work for the Corporation. The anime’s relatively short length at 13 episodes means you’re introduced to the characters, but you only get to see so much of them before the series finishes. This is disappointing especially if you’ve become attached to certain ones. The ending leaves much to be desired, as it doesn’t let you know what becomes of the fratellos. It is really very abrupt and gives you no closure. You’re left feeling like there could have been so much more.

Gunslinger Girl is a gloomy series that will leave you a little bummed out. But don’t let that stop you from watching it. Sure, it has its holes, but the character development and the well-researched setting more than make up for them. I enjoyed this series; it is definitely something to watch.