Gunslinger Girls

[countzarroff]

Let me start off by saying, personally, this is not my kind of anime. I am into comedy-romance animes for the most part, sometimes mixed with a little bit of action, but it has to be funny.

So to sum up the story quickly, Gunslinger Girls is about a government agency that hires young girls to train as assassins. The main character is Henrietta the youngest and quietest of the girls who is shy and still trying to learn how to use weaponry and please her trainer. That's about it for the most part. I've only seen about five episodes and that sums it up.

Again, personally, I like animes that are funny, warm and leave me with either a happy feeling or a thrilling feeling at the end. I found this anime to give neither effect. It is depressing and it's concept seems too contrasty, (The whole concept of little girls being trained as killers just hurts my brain.) So if you're a romance-comedy kind of person like me, you probably won't like this anime. IT WILL DEPRESS THE HELL OUT OF YOU.

However, on the other side, some people may find the bizarreness behind this anime interesting and the gloomy tone to it meaningful. So I guess I can say that I would only suggest this anime for people who like serious SERIOUS drama and don't suffer from after-movie syndrome. If so you might like this.

I would personally give it a 6/10

[mard80]

Girls with guns anime has always been popular, however Gunslinger Girl does not in anyway glorify this premise. This 13 episode anime is both sweet and disturbing. Set in modern day Italy - which in itself is a breath of fresh air - the series follows the lives of cyborg girls who work for a military organisation mainly to battle terrorism. Each girl has a handler who trains and is solely accountable for the girl.

The plot follows the manga pretty well, and the series is not intended to be an all action spectacle as the title suggests. The emphasis is on the girls and their relationship with their handler. It can be quite disturbing to see the handlers hitting the girls, and seeing what they are out through, yet in the same vein what is equally disturbing is the constant serving nature of the girls. The series is adequately paced and as countzaroff points out, it can very depressing.

Yet this depressing nature is what makes the series likeable. At times you are crying out for these girls to be, well just girls and not heartless killers. And seeing that contrast is fascinating. The main plot of the organisation battling a terrorist organisation is a decent enough backdrop, but the series is more of a character study of both the girls and their respective handler. It made me think of how I would be if i were a handler, would i be able to cope with it? what attitude would i have? how would the girl see me? is this right???

The animation is excellent by Madhouse Studios and follows very closely to Yu Aida's original artwork. The music is what you expected, lovely sweeping orchestral pieces fitting the mood and surroundings. The girls as youd expect sound so cute. Cute. That is what you feel, what you hear, what the girls are and seeing them treated as machines, killing, creates a dividing feel inside of you.

The series ends quite nicely and looking forward to watching the second season.

Overall i would rate this 4 out of 5. A mark not awarded as this series is solely down to personal tastes and you need a tough mindset to accept what is being shown on screen.