Gunslinger Girl
Synopsis:
Henrietta is a young girl who works for a "welfare group" that does the government's dirty work. Cybernetically-enhanced and specially-trained, she is one of a group of elite hit-girls, remorseless killers with no memories of their past. Jose, her partner, has taken care of her since she was brought into the organization following the murder of her family, and struggles between his affection for her, and his opposing duty to his employer. But, time is running out.. for with each bullet they fire, Henrietta and the other girls lose a little more of their humanity.
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Noir
- TV (26 eps)
- 2001
Mireille Bouqet has become a reputable assassin working in France. However, all changes after she meets Kirika, a mysterious young girl who knows nothing about her past but possesses killing skills that dwarf hers. Further intrigue unfolds as both characters explore their shadowy past and come to a head with a clandestine organization that seeks to control destiny itself.
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14 people think you'd like this because...
add recIf chicks with guns is your thing, then you have come to the right place! Both Noir and Gunslinger Girl have a group (or duo) of strong, young women who are assassins; it doesn't get much more "girl power" than this!
The girls/women have pasts that slowly unravel as the series go forward, and to a certain extent, explain their need to do what they do.
Both are great series.
Girls with guns, assasination training, and no memories - these are the basics that define both Noir and Gunslinger Girl. But the similarities don't stop there; both series are largely story driven, while also having intense action scenes. Noir focuses more on the girls and their mysterious past, while Gunslinger Girl focuses more on the girls future and loss of humanity, but both have a similar atmosphere overall.
While both Noir and Gunslinger Girl fall quite accurately into the "Girls with Guns" or "Assassin" genres, both are focused less on the action (common staple of both genres, for obvious reasons) and more on stories and characters. Not to say they don't have their share of action, just that it's not the focus. The stories are very different ones, but both keep to a more serious and realistic standard than much of their genre. Both stories are also based in Europe.
Both these anime's have girls who are assassins. Throughout their jobs they both meet different people and aquire strange connections to other people which causes a awkward type of feel for the anime's, killing people and meeting people that you get close to in the process.
Saikano
- TV (13 eps)
- 2002
In the not-so-distant future, mankind is at war with itself. The lives of Chise and Shuu are torn apart when Chise is chosen to become the ultimate weapon to fight for Japan against their enemies. Death, sadness, and the hardships of love accompany Sai Kano in its grim look at war and its consequences.
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9 people think you'd like this because...
add recSaikano and Gunslinger Girl both deal with the feelings of little girls turned into deadly weapons and show the way they handle their fate and conceal a rather normal life. They also show the intensive training or fighting the girls have to go through.
Saikano and Gunslinger Girl are both about little girls who have had their body's altered to become great weapons. If you like great violence and cute girls watch these series.
Saikano and Gunslinger Girl are heart wrenching tales of girls whose bodies are tampered with so that they may become weapons. The main characters are young females who are denied a chance to be children and put through poignant ordeals. The focus of this anime is on the human element and the inherent tragedy that makes them such an excruciating viewing experience is tampered with a sober approach of a believable cast. Not for the weak of heart, Saikano and GG may be manipulative in the way they force the viewer to sympathize but they do so in a most competent fashion.
Both feature stories of young girls being physically altered into powerful fighting machines. They both question what it is to be human and the issues of morality involved with these girls. These series both offer plenty of action, but are not lacking in emotional impact as well.
Both have young girls enhanced as weapons against their will and used as tools with shortened lifespans. GSG approaches this much more reasonably and explores ethical/moral dilemmas. Saikano uses this as a backdrop for a love story.
Both series manage to pull of beautiful, heartbreaking tenderness and cruelty without ever feeling false or gimmicky.
Elfen Lied
- TV (13 eps)
- 2004
For Kouta and Yuka, finding the bloody naked young girl on the beach would change their lives forever, for better or for worse. Unable to speak or function as a normal human being, she is named Nyuu by the duo, and taken into their home in an effort to save her. But what neither teenager knows is that this innocent young girl is actually a killing machine -- an experiment gone terribly wrong -- and it is only a matter of time before the murderer in her awakens again...
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8 people think you'd like this because...
add recIMHO, GG is the closest parallel to EL. Both stories are centered on children deprived of everything and doomed to die early and kill until they die. Both demonstrate that, even under these conditions, it is still possible to remain human and find love and happiness. They show how little is actually needed for it. Both share the atmosphere of sad beauty and bright fatalism. Even in death there is life, and even in such desperate life can be a purpose.
GG is much more calm and light than EL, which is entirely torn apart by painful emotions. GG tells of a silent acceptance of one's destiny, whereas EL depicts a revolt against it.
If you liked Gunslinger Girl, you would like Elfen Lied because both animes have a bit of violence in them. However, most of the story involves the development and relationships between people. Also, both series have the same kind of contrast in them: Gunslinger Girl has little sweet girls who are killing people, whereas in Elfen Lied, Nyuu's sweet and innocent personality contrasts with Lucy's violent personality.
Both of these movies have a darker theme and slowly introde you to girls who have had a very tramatic childhood. Although, one lies in fantasy (Elfen Lied) and the other in a more sci-fi world. In both cases you find yourself feeling sorry for a girl who is a cold blooded (and very good at it) killer.
Both Gunslinger Girl and Elfen Lied are about re-conditioned girls and their lives, a body count that keeps rising, and misplaced love.
Both Gunslinger Girl and Elfen Lied share quite a few similarities when it comes to the basic story. What separates the two is the tone that they take. While Gunslinger Girl is a straightforward realistic future approach to the girls with guns genre, Elfen Lied is a more whimsical, and slightly ecchi take on a common horror theme. What really brings these two stories together is the glimpse of innocence that prevails even through a storm of blood and destruction. The love that forms between seeming strangers in both series is shown to be a fragile thing which is sometimes stronger than the hate that the heroines must inevitably fight against.
Gunslinger Girl and Elfen Lied have similar main characters; they are killing machines that seem heartless at first, but soon show they're much more human than people would think. Elfen Lied has much more gore though, and has a more comedic aspect, sometimes it's even ecchi.
Gunslinger Girl and Elfen Lied are both about adorable little girls who are merciless killers. Ethical question are brought up about killing and love and what is right. The fights in both are well animated and drenched in blood. If you like this, watch the other.
Both anime's are surrounded around young girls who kill. Frankly that should be enough, but if not... They both have had circumstances that caused them at a young age to be used and through that they develop a connection to someone close to them, thus creating a series of events that usually ends in chaotic killing.
Gungrave
Brandon Heat and Harry MacDowel were best friends who lived by the law of the street, until one day they picked a fight with the wrong people and their life of freedom was suddenly taken away. With no one to turn to and nowhere to run, the choice to join Millenion, the city's most powerful syndicate, seemed like an offer they couldn't refuse. Now, amidst heartache, tragedy, and utmost betrayal, Brandon must take up the gun and help Harry climb the ranks of Millenion to succeed, in order to protect the people he loves, even if it means killing countless others in the process.
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5 people think you'd like this because...
add recGungrave and Gunslinger Girls have some common themes in them one of them is disappear and the other is hope. In the series Gungrave the story is very dark straight from the beginning of the show. The main charades loss everything that they hold precious to them both and then regain it all just to lose it all in the end. While in Gunslinger Girls the story is that of tragic events that lead each one of the girls to the agency in which they work. Though the idea of hope is present in each show. In the case of Gungrave there is a young female that is said to help bring the company back to its true ideals and make things right. In the case of Gunslinger Girls the hope is that each girl is alive and has the opportunity to make their lives better. The voice acting for both is great as they breathe life in to the characters. The music for both is engaging and will make you want to listen to it even when the shows not on. The style for both can be bloody at some times and dark, you have to see past to see the future of the characters in both of the shows. If you like guns, Shakespearean drama, and sci-fi then both of these show's are for you.
I notice most people making a recommendation for these series are looking more at the violent aspect of the shows. But for me, Gunslinger Girl and Gungrave were a lot more than that.
The animation is beautiful, the narration is faultless and the characters are all well developed to the point you feel you know them and have grown with them. Don't go into either expecting a gunslinging battle, as the action is not the main focus.
An epic story line, with a very satisfying ending makes both of these absolute gems in the anime world.
Monster
Dr Kenzo Tenma is a genius surgeon working in post-Cold War Germany who has a bright future ahead of him. He is admired by his colleagues, loved by his patients, and due to marry his boss' daughter, the beautiful Eva Heinemann. One day, when two patients in desperate need of emergency surgery are wheeled into his hospital, Tenma faces a terrible choice of saving the orphaned boy who came first or the mayor of Düsseldorf, whose recovery would raise the hospital's profile and boost his own career. Against the demands of his superior, Tenma does what he believes is right and saves the child. However, his decision not only damages his prospects, but unleashes a chain of events so horrific that it might have come from the depths of his worst nightmares. Laden with guilt, Tenma begins a journey across Germany in search of a formidable young man who will challenge his morals, his love for life, and his very sanity.
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4 people think you'd like this because...
add recGunslinger Girl and Monster definitelly appeal the same people. Compared to other anime they both have a slower pacing and more story. But most importantly: they show us how the characters think. Mental fragility or the lack of moral aspects are two topics that several characters emphasise.
Monster and Gunslinger Girl are very intelligent anime that explore serious issues such as the impact of conditioning on children who are driven to commit murder, the role of education and that of personal choice in the shaping of one's personality. Both are quite realistic and tragic in the compelling manner they reveal a highly believable cast to the audience. In Monster and in Gunslinger Girl, the human element is what is at stake even as definition of what is human is questioned.
These two series share the subject (in both anime we have very young people, for whom killing is everyday life and although brutal murders are showed, the emphasis is put on the psychological site), very alike graphics, ascetic music and the place - they both happen in Europe.
