Gunslinger Girl

[Mind you this is a copypasta from a review I did back in 2006 on an Airsoft site based in UK ~Sam]

Gunslinger Girl is not just another anime show with guns and girls and senseless violence. Actually there is very little violence (Will be mentioned later on). Gunslinger Girl’s storyline has a more emotional and physiological aspect as the story weaves its trail from one protagonist to another.

Set in modern-day Italy, the story of Gunslinger Girl revolves around a corporation called the Social Welfare Agency, sponsored by the Italian government. Publicly, the mission of the Social Welfare Agency is to save and rehabilitate human lives. In reality, the Social Welfare Agency is a public front for Section Two of the Political Warfare Section, a subdivision of the Italian intelligence responsible for counter-intelligence, counter-terrorism and a series of experiments designed to create the perfect government-commissioned assassin. While Section One conducts their operations with normal human operatives, Section Two employs the use of young cyborgs on the fringe of technology.

The protagonists are Henrietta, Triela, Rico, Claes, Angelica, and their mentors are Guise/Jose, Hilshire, Jean, Raparo, and Marco, respectively. The handler is directly responsible for his girl’s training, conditioning, field performance, development and overall welfare. Once the handler takes charge of his assigned girl, he is free to use the teaching methods he considers best suited for his character. These methods vary with the handler, though he has the option of using greater amounts of drugs and brainwashing. Some handlers prefer to treat their girls more humanely with minimal conditioning (as Guise and Hilshire did) while others prefer to rely more heavily on conditioning their girls, treating them like machines (as Jean and Lauro did).

It is important to mention that another fratello is suddenly brought up in episode nine, Lauro and Elsa.

As mentioned above, the action is quick and short, but powerful and bloody. The idea of Gunslinger Girl is to not have just girls shooting people. This anime is geared more towards drama and the effects of the cybernetic implants and conditioning.

The animator’s attention to detail is extraordinary. Take these screencaps for example (Those living in Italy would know these sites: Florence, Uffizi Gallery, Spanish Steps):

As for the weapons:

Henrietta:

SIG Sauer P239

Fabrique Nationale P90

Triela:

Winchester Model 1897

SIG Sauer 230SL
SIG Sauer 230BK

Heckler & Koch G3A3 (Episode 3 and 12)

Rico:

CZ-75 Version 2

Dragunov SVD

Beretta SPC-90 (Episode 7)

Galil MAR (Episode 3)

Claes:

Heckler & Koch VP-70

Angelica:

Steyr AUG A1

Elsa:

SIG SG550

SIG Sauer P229

Episode Titles:

- Fratello (Big Brother Little Sister)
- Orion (Astronomic Observation)
- Ragazzo (Young Boy)
- Bambola (Doll)
- Promessa (Promise)
- Gelato (Payment)
- Protezione (Protection)
- Il Principe del Regno Della Pasta (Fairy Tale)
- Lycoris Radiata (Herb Spider Lily)
- Amare (Fever Love)
- Febbre alta (Tender Emotions)
- Simbiosi (Symbiosis)
- Stella Cadente (Shooting Star)

The anime consisted of thirteen episodes. Gunslinger Girl left me wanting more, however it is understandable that the series was short because it cost a total of ¥169,000,000 for all thirteen episodes, however, I was satisfied with the emotional ending at the end of the series. The manga series is still going, up to volume 6. Gunslinger Girl is probably the only anime that I have seen that follows the manga series so closely. Except for timeline differential, what is said in the manga is what is said in the anime.

If you like excellent classical music, guns, action, a perfectionistic attention to detail, Beethoven Ninth Symphony, and the idea that the Colt M4A1 is no where in sight (Gunslinger Girl is based in Italy, what do you expect), then you would definitely like this short, but well made anime. If you don’t like the idea of big grown men working with little girls, then you might not like this show, however, in my opinion, it felt more of a big brother, little sister relationship. A fratello.

Trailer can be found here: Gunslinger Girl Trailer High Bandwidth Version
Just click and your default video player should popup. If not then copy paste link into WMP or your fav media player.

Post Review – I think the OST is better than the anime itself. BEST ORCHESTRAL PIECES EVAR!! Classical Music FTW!1!112 Almost on par with the masters of classical music. Some of my schoolmates think its Mozart….¯\(°_o)/¯