Gunslinger Girl

My review is not all on the positive side, I don't know whether I see it from a different angle. But take it for what it is, for this is perhaps a different opinion.

Advantages: Good character construction; Beautiful Scenery

Disadvantages: Long wait periods; No active plot line; depressing; cold characters towards one another.

"A good job is the constant pile up of simple duties." Henrietta

The characters in the anime are well thought out and quite honestly beautifully crafted. They are well made in the sense that they have both skills and flaws instead of just one or the other like in most animes. The are ... given back stories and pretty straight forward reactions to events, even if the reactions are not what you expected.

The graphics are very pretty and well done. THe shots are in line with the way an actual gun fires and the music adds to the effects. Despite being kind of classical that you might actually want to sleep to. Those are the upsides to this anime.

But when you looks at the flaws, it is hard to see how it is so popular. My biggest pet peeve is that the episodes don't follow any kind of storyline. There is an episode for each character that doesn't move forward in any overarching plot.

The camera will sit on some images for a really long time, some episodes you spend one third the time watching the sky or the grass or some random image, while the characters wait for the mission to commence. Which is kind of obnoxious, and since the music is as slow as the talking scenes you can't watch this when you are tired.

Another thing is that the over mood of Gunslinger Girl is kind of depressive. Nothing positive is ever portrayed and quite honestly the girls are treated like trash. Which is something that the anime really doesn't need.

In this anime being less then perfect makes everyone cold towards you, so bless the stars that you dare mess up anything.

I like action anime and drama but I just found this kind of sad. Lacking in any plot construction.

It is almost a blessing it is so short.

Gunslinger Girl is one of those animes that don't come around very often that the characters themselves make the whole story that made me find GG so moving. During the story you learn a little bit about each character and the organization they belong to along with the handlers perspective of life. Its hard to tell if these girls are being used considering they arent even considered human by some of the handlers. GG was a bit disappointing in the fact I wish the anime would have shown more of the lives the girls lived before they were turned into assasins. I did enjoy the ... fact the the plot wasnt to strong letting the characters point of veiw get soaked in but a bit sad that there wasnt much of an ending. I found the music to be amazing and the art exceptional. ^_^

When I began this show I was ready to be amazed. I was ready to witness the inspiration for powerhouses like Code Geass and Death Note, the beautiful story of morality in politics. Instead I get this... convoluted mess. I was so set on enjoying this show that after every single episode I would make excuses for the show. Whether it was the episodic beginning of the show or the fact that there was literally no underlying story behind the show, I would constantly try to reason it away. But now, after finishing all 28 episodes, I have nothing else to hope for except that ... the manga will be better. Lets do the categories.

Story: 0 or 3
I want to give the story a 0 cause it didn't have one... but I went with a 3 to be fair. The first season starts off episodic and then each episode basically deals with its own event even after the show stops being so episodic. After a while, the characters start to work together but there is still no true story to the season. Which is absolutely stupid considering the girls are fighting terrorism. Hell, the RF in season 1 could have been the big "boss", but instead they just fall apart and you dont even know why. And thats not even a spoiler. Im not even kidding. Its such a waste of potential.

Characters: 8
Despite giving this an 8, its STILL a freaking let down. This show should have been a perfect 10. I mean, you have your 5/6 fratella who each operate in their own way. Thats brilliant. And to some extent this part is done quite well. You get to see how the handlers cope with the stress of treating girls like tools. You get to see how the girls choose to think about their lives, how they mature, how they interact. My issue with this show is the complete lack of characterization for the terrorist groups (Outside of Pinocchio in season 2). By making the welfare agency "right" in this conflict (Which is what happens when you dont show us the terrorist perspective) the show completely loses all nuance. Even the moral question of what the agency is doing to the girls loses nuance. Its a complete waste.

There is nothing else I want to say honestly. I think this show suffers because it does not introduce the "enemy" perspective. Had it shown WHY the RF was fighting the government, WHY the RF wanted the bridge blown up, WHY the Pedonta existed and WHAT their goals were, this show would be a masterpiece to rival those that came after and before it. But it didnt, and instead we get this.

The synopsis of Gunslinger Girl misrepresents the anime as an action show. Based on other reviews and discussion on this website, many viewers are surprised to find that they have chosen a drama to watch. This was initially disappointing and although I tried not to let it influence my opinion, Gunslinger Girl overall turns out to be an average show.

The anime follows the Italian government’s “Social Welfare Agency,” an organization that takes ill or orphaned children and modifies them into “cyborgs” to hunt down terrorists and enemies of the state. Each girl is given to an adult male “handler,” which is essentially a trainer. There ... isn’t really a focal duo, rather, the show follows a different pair or two each episode. It is less about the missions each “brother and sister” goes through, rather the relationship they share.

The girls are fully devoted to their handlers, but it is never fully disclosed whether or not their feelings are honest or a result of conditioning. The show questions whether or not the girls’ love is reciprocated, which is answered by varying degrees of “no.” Many handlers see the girls as objects, often referring to them as puppets, pets or tools. Making even a small mistake will warrant physical or verbal abuse from the handler- the girls are pushed, slapped and belittled. The girls simply get up, apologize and promise they won’t screw up again.

Conceptually, the series is disturbing, but it overall feels repetitive. From episode one (and the synopsis) we understand that this is a twisted operation, but each episode tends to follow the same formula. Really the last few episodes are the most interesting as several of the girls develop an existential crises.

On a technical side, the animation style and aesthetics are very early-2000s, so make of that what you will. While short, the action scenes peppered throughout are pretty good. I like the color selection. Rarely are there bright colors in the frame, rather, the browns, blacks and grays represent the grim world these girls inhabit. The soundtrack is pleasing as well.

Gunslinger Girl had potential to be a really thought-provoking show, but is unfortunately bogged down by repetition. This isn’t a terrible show, but I wouldn’t place it high on any watch list. This is a decent anime for anyone with a weekend to kill or in the mood for an alternate to standard magical girl series.

Gunslinger Girl is a good choice for you if you want to see little girls fighting for the approval of their father and their daddy issues. Isn't that enough to get you interested? Fair enough. Gunslinger Girl is a good choice for you if you wanna see a story about the tragic life of some children, how they cope and how the world treats them.

Basically, in this story, these children are taken from some already tragic circumstances and brainwashed into being assassins. What the story does is show that these children will still be children and even if they're used as tools for the government ... and they would've lead shitty lives regardless, it isn't morally sound no matter the fact a very positive relationship might result from their struggles. And how it weighs on both the parental figure for these children and the children themselves. It's a story about tragedy.

The joke I made about daddy issues stems from the fact they're all girls and they're all assigned a male handler but that doesn't change the story in any aspects. Girls are seen as better for portraying innocence and men are seen as more fitting for the portrayal of someone a somewhat cold and reserved attitude, yet somewhat affectionate, towards their children. It's merely an artistic choice to help in the portrayal of the fact that the children that are being used as coldblooded murderers are still children and the decisions of the handlers do affect them but they ultimately do their best to ensure they do their job.

One of the strengths of this series is the fact that the portrayed relationships are done well. Like for example I'll use two relationships in the series as an example, with both not being really a spoiler, so don't worry. The main girl, Henrietta, is a girl that is treat well by her handler and has very little conditioning done on her. Due to this she has developed genuine affection for her handler because he does have her best interests at heart and as such, she tries her best to do the best possible job she can in order to please her handler. While her handler, Giuse, is a guy who does feel genuine guilt over having to put a child through this kind of difficulty so he does try to make her life as good as possible, part of which is also making sure she does do her job. Rico is a girl who is thankful for the second life she's been given and she wants to do the best possible she can in order to survive and not be deemed useless by her handler and discarded, so she can continue living a life she considers satisfying. Jean, her handler, is a guy who just sees the cyborgs as a means to an end, he didn't sign up to babysit a child and he does only what he needs in order to maintain his asset in the game, while making sure the child has to be useful to him in order to stay in the game.

Basically each girl has their relationship with their handler portrayed rather well and they're pretty differentiable in that aspect. Since the artstyle is bleak and the girls don't have any memorable traits as far as appearance goes, them being noticeable through this aspect and differentiable is only a testament to how well the show has portrayed their tragic lives through the use of these relationships. Each child is indeed, a person, just like the handlers are also, people. Despite the atmosphere and how the series looks, you can see and understand their perspective on things and why they act the way they act, which is a lot more than I can say about a lot of characters in a lot of shows.

Although the show has some pretty solid strengths the show has some weak spots as a result of these said strengths. Basically, the show stays very true to its theme, tragedy. However due to how much it focuses on displaying tragedy, the show can't be watched for much of anything else. The art style of the show's color palette is pretty bleak and even scenes that are supposed to look impressive visually don't fill you with anything due to how committed it is to its tragedy atmosphere. The sound is either ambience, like some birds in the distance or some overall noise or classical music. But no ambient sound is what fits most of the scenes in the series because they're useful to the theme and that's also there. Most of the show tries to stay as morally ambiguous as possible, but due to its inherent atmosphere, it's hard to take what it's trying to do sometimes as positive due to a negative thing or negative due to a positive thing. It mostly comes across everything is bleak because the world is bleak.

Still these aren't what derive the actual weakness of the show directly, because the actual weakness of the show is that it didn't really focus on doing anything else. You see, the show doesn't really have any overarching plot or any strong point other than displaying the morality and relationship of these characters. It does have action and such things but most of the time I've watched the action bits I was wondering "is this portrayed right?" because children with guns and overall fight scenes with guns can always use some work in most things. And about that in this anime's case, anything that seems weird I can generally give it one excuse "it's because they're children/they're fighting children."

Other than that, it has an one track mind. It would've worked far better if there was something happening, some overarching plot, rather than a slow paced character study, because it could've only strengthened the theme and challenged the relationships and driven better points in them. And perhaps people could also the series for the events that are happening rather than to see who, what and why are the characters? There's nothing in this show other than its strong theme. It could've worked for an hour and a half movie if this type of focus would've been chosen but in this case, it doesn't really.

I could recommend this show to you if you're interested in a story about tragedy displayed in a melancholic tone and that tries to be as ambiguous as it can in its morality. But I can't recommend it for literally any different factor. If you're interested in a character study, this is a decent choice.

About viewing: The anime flows at singular pacing within the stories of mechanical girls who fight terrorist and criminals. It's audiences are not like people who come here looking for reviews. It's the benefit from what common attractiveness it has on certain people.

A lot of people try to make out what's up with an anime, what their messages are and how the entirety of the content gains some sort of ideal goal that matches with their scene. This anime is at a certain wavelength for people who are sublimed and looking for escape. The situation here is some what, inferiority complex revolt around the adolescents ... and because of their conditioning they are able to effectively fight single handedly. However, the plot deepens between the handler who takes care and lead them is explored. The manga series is a much more expanded though, the anime is an introduction to looking for a standpoint.

Ratings & reviews:
Story is fair because there are many greater stories than one about adolescents and tragedy.

Art has unique style and isn't bothersome, the animation consecutively done well scene after scene the whole 12 episodes.

Sound is technically decent, the opening song was pretty wonderful. The voice acting is well pitched.

Characters were very good to watch, it gets stale watching it straight no brakes.

Overall Fair.

I've seen a lot of 10/10 reviews on this site, and I think that's a pretty big stretch, but Gunslinger Girl is nevertheless a solid, good to very good but not great show that I'm glad I watched. I think the proper rating is about 7.5, but this site only allows whole numbers so I'll be generous and round up as opposed to down, as I guess it's SLIGHTLY closer to an 8 than a 7 if you held a gun to my head and made me choose.

Art-

I liked the art style a whole heck of a lot. The presentation as a whole is likely ... the strongest point of the show. From the gorgeous opening sequence to the sharp, crisp character models that superbly convey the omnipresent melancholy and desperation of the story to even more subtle touches such as the expertly crafted and beautiful clip that plays in the background on the blu ray episode select screen, you're in for a visual treat free of CGI and over the top special effects from start to finish. This show is truly beautiful in its presentation.

Sound-

The music, which to me is also part of the presentation, is GORGEOUS! This is seriously some of the highest quality and most gorgeous music you're ever going to hear in an anime and it's always super fitting to the scene and the tone of the current situation. The composer, Toshihiko Sahashi, has a lot to be proud of.

Likewise, the voice acting was covered by a team of established and accomplished professionals who, as always, nailed it. Rico's voice in the dub is a bit annoying in my opinion but that's a minor nitpick as opposed to an actual problem with the show. Again, not to be a broken record, but the presentation of the show is excellent and there is very little to complain about in this department.

Character-

The main cast of five Gunslinger Girls are all likable, sympathetic figures and they're all badasses. Likewise, most of the handlers, especially Jose, are likable and believable. This anime doesn't have a blatantly obnoxious or blatantly unnecessary character the way many others do.

The problem here is in the length and structure of the anime. With only 13 episodes, which is definitely too short for having so many main characters and so much potential in the core concept of the story, and with each of the five girls having an episode devoted almost solely to introducing and developing them, very little room is left (only eight episodes after taking away the five "special to this character" episodes) for an overarching story or for further character development. Other than the continued day to day, week to week operations of Section 2 and the continued relationship developments between the girls themselves or between girls and their handlers, there really isn't much of anything in the way of an overarching plot. There simply isn't enough time with the low episode count to properly develop five main characters PLUS their handlers, nevermind characters beyond that.

Enjoyment-

I liked what I watched, as the presentation was gorgeous from start to finish and most of the characters were really likable and believable, but the episode count is simply too low, in my opinion by quite a lot, to properly develop the characters and build a proper story. The anime as a whole felt incomplete to me. I got a glimpse into this world and these relationships and then it was over and it felt like there was still so much more to see and so much more that could/should happen. We don't get any closure whatsoever as to what happens to any of the girls. The anime simply ends without answering a whole heck of a lot of questions and that felt very unsatisfying. And don't even tell me "there's a season two for a reason"- it came out five years later, was made by a different studio and is a significantly worse show overall. It's not the continuation of what they'd already built that it needed to be.

Overall-

A unique and tragic story with all the potential in the world and one of the most gorgeous presentations I've ever seen in an anime significantly diminished by a far too low episode count (should have been in the vicinity of 24) and as such a feeling of simply being unfinished.

+Exceptional, gorgeous presentation and music
+Unique, tragic story concept
+High quality, professional voice acting
+Likable, sympathetic characters

-Far too low episode count
-A feeling of being incomplete- lack of answers/closure

OBJECTIVE RATING- 7.5 ish, rounded to 8 because I'm forced to choose a whole number and the presentation is just that damn good

PERSONAL ENJOYMENT RATING- 9 or more throughout, but 6 or less at the end, as it simply felt incomplete.

The art of assassination has always been about sticking when your target least expects it. But what if the 'when' is expected but the 'who' is the last thing in the world you would think of? Then you know you will always have the upper hand.

Gunslinger girls story is about a group of near death, primary school girls that get converted into cyborgs for new life, ineradicable feats of strength and trained as assassins. Sounds amazing right? Well the excitement is short lived as you realize how lives of the characters are and you get told the story behind each girl. It doesn't have a ... linear focus as it just revolves around the work life of the welfare girls meaning its story is all over the place and a few of the episodes can be watched in almost any order desirable and still have the same outcome. Tragedy is forever overhead as past lives for the girls is each its own sob story and their lives due to cybernetic enhancements, don't get much better as the years pass.

The art style of this anime really gives the feel of an older style eastern and central Europe and for its time, really does a good job at pulling it off. Even though the technology and forms of transport are 2003 style modern, the forever brown color it gives to all the buildings and the glistening background scenes makes it seem like something out of an older mafia type movie. This being said, the animation itself hasn't really been don't well for slower type scenes as movement in the animation is kept rather simple and almost lacking as can easily be spotted for moving objects at a distance.

Sound is at times well done and to detail and others seems like it was 3rd rate as they have recreation times, little things like the cup being placed back on the saucer, is a nice touch but then things like doors, running and glass breaking, all seem to use the same sound just rehashed over again. Music weighs highly to the orchestral side and fits really well with the anime's style of a modern yet older feel Europe. A few famous pieces such as Beethoven's 9th make an appearance while a lot of music for chase or action scenes is all original work.

The characters seem to be all played out well and after each has their story explained, can see why they act the way they do however as for the overall development itself in the present, it lacks in a lot of characters quite a bit. After being made cyborgs, only a few seem to change throughout the anime while the others exit as they entered making you feel a little disappointed in their character.

The enjoyment factor in Gunslinger Girl is admittedly low as the action scenes are quick to pass and it seems to just focus solely around the miserable cuts of their current lifestyles. This at first makes you think it's going to be an anime that will cut deep into the feels but as it goes on the gloomy aura never goes away and you get accustomed to it making it seem rather lacking on the emotional level. The ending seems to have the largest portion of emotion conveyed as it mixes both joy and sorrow with a bit of a cliff hanger ending that leaves the viewer questioning the morale of certain character.

A group of little girls with big guns is not uncommon in anime. This series focuses mainly on "Girl" rather than "Gunslinger".

This short series is all about its characters. It revolves (no pun intended) around members of specialized division experimenting with cybernetic enhancements for military purposes. But these cyborgs are young girls and that means a lot of emotions. Every girl has a handler and every handler-cyborg relationship is unique. Plot takes place in Italy.

There is not really much of a story, everything is about the characters, their emotions and ways they are dealing with their problems. If you are intrigued by the title, know ... that action just happens to be there. It serves mainly as a reason for girls and other members of division to react and think about the way their life is.

In the end I think Gunslinger Girl is typical quiet, philosophical and melancholic anime series with a hint of action and classical music.

Gunslinger Girl is not your typical anime. This is a story of the sad reality of what can happen to someone who is mentally (and physically in this case) manipulated for one specific goal, regardless of the well being of that individual. The best way I can describe this is that it's basically the government program Treadstone or Operation Blackbriar from the Jason Bourne Trilogy but for 7 or 8 year old girls. It's not for everyone because although it has it's share of action, it's also very drama intensive with only moderate dialogue. There is very little, if any comedy ... so don't expect to laugh. I gave it a 5 overall, but don't let that keep you from watching it. It was just a little slow for my taste even though I stuck it out through the end. If you choose to watch it, give it 3 episodes before you decide to keep going or to drop it.

So i finished Gunslinger GIrl S1. and i have to say i'm a bit disappointed. Not really in the quality of the series overall but what the series actually is. Granted though i got used to pretty fast. An anime about Cyborg assassin girls you'd think this story would be more action focused but thats not the case. In fact the assassination isn't really the main part of the story at all. Each Girl has a Male Adult Handler, and for those cyborg girls there entire life revolves around those handlers. For some its family love, For some its a master/slave relationship and for ... other one sided love. The series isn't really about action but more of a SOL type series of the relationship between the Cyborgs and there handlers. Which i think this series did relatively well. However the pacing was somewhat slow throught the series. Turns out they adapted 2 volumes in 13 episodes which is rare i guess. Overall though i did enjoy the series it just felt kinda lackluster however the last 4 episodes were quite entertaining. I think this is a good series if your looking for a series where it revolves around 2 characters because i think the depiction on how each of these characters feel i felt were quite well done. It doesn't change the fact that i felt somewhat sleepy throughout the season. Nontheless i think the anime was fun and entertaining and brings up quite the interesting points the series.

Overall 6/10. A fun good time if you don't mind the slow pacing. They did adapt 2 volumes in 13 episodes.