1. Young troubled girls in short skirts.
2. A secret government agency that goes after terrorist groups.
3. Cyborgs and guns.
Yet the series is nothing that I have seen before. It tugs at your heartstrings. It raises personal questions and dilemmas. It seems almost real. If I had to compare Gunslinger Girl to other shows, I'd say that it raises the philosophical questions of Mushishi, the artwork of a Ghibli drama such as Grave of the Fireflies and Whisper of the Heart, and the complex relationships that one finds between Holo and Lawrence in Spice and Wolf, all without bordering on the artificial female innocence as found in the characters of Clannad. Yet in the combination and execution of these various aspects, this series surpasses them all and is one of only two that I rate 10/10. You can look at my profile pic to guess the other one. But to the series itself:
Story:
Admittedly, the plot, taken by itself, is nothing special. A government agency creates cyborgs and conditions them to obey the organization and kill terrorists. Although personally I'm a sucker for government conspiracy plots, this plot adds nothing new to the genre. It has no sudden twists and turns – in fact, I correctly reasoned almost all of the "shocker" events. It's predictable. At times, it might even seem a bit repetitive. Nevertheless, the action scenes are well executed. There are some interesting subplots. There are no gaping holes in logic. That's really all that a plot requires in its basics. 7/10
To address the pacing of the series, it matters how to look at the series itself. Going into the series, I never expected it to be only action. By the end of the second episode, I saw it as a drama. By the end of the third, it became a slice of life. Most of the series is not set to advance a certain overarching plot, but instead examines the personal lives of the girls. The story is their lives and who they are. Each episode became a psychological exploration, and to do this right, a slower pace is necessary. However, at no point was I not completely hooked onto the series, for reasons I will state below.
Art:
The series shines in its art and animation, and is one of the first in its class. Most surprising of all, it was made in 2003! Ten years later, its artwork is still better than most series. The animation is fluid and seamless. Bullets stream through the air and shells rain onto the ground. Although I'm not a gun expert, I have heard that the guns are rendered in great detail to their originals, and it certainly seems like that. The characters are very appealing in their design: they were drawn before the present moe age and thus do not have the gigantic quivering eyes, the rainbow colored hair in various unnatural arrangements, and the wholly disproportional body that characterizes the genre. They are realistic, unique, and, well cute, without once raising the thought of sexuality. The girls naturally melt into the scenery of the series, which is perhaps its strongest aspect. The series takes place in several modern Italian cities including Rome, Florence, Sienna, Naples, and Messina. I can actually list the cities from the details that the scenery provides. We see the Tiber, the Cathedral of Florence, the Uffizi Gallery, the narrow alleyways of Naples, and the sea from Messina, rendered in lifelike detail. The trees, buildings, and the landscape are all presented as they are in Italy. No details are overlooked – even the stars in the night sky are correctly placed in their positions. The dull color hues that are used also bring out the characters and the landscape, providing a beautiful softness that just adds to the enjoyment. It’s as if some of the scenes were painted in watercolor. 10/10
Sound:
As a story located in Italy, one would expect great music, which the series delivers. The opening sequence is perhaps my most favorite ever: a song (in English surprisingly) dark in its undertones, yet promising. It explores the ideas of feeling, loneliness, and the future, promising to “fix what is wrong” and “buy a little time”, exactly what the series does. The animation of the opening is also well executed, showing the darkness that surrounds the characters, and their desire to create something good of it. The opening is also good, with an emotional Italian song rolling with a gun and scattered shells being rained on in the background. Throughout the series, we also hear a violin, piano, and even the choral symphony to Beethoven’s Ninth being sung by the girls. One of the sounds that you will remember from the series is the sound of a gun shooting and shells clanking against each other as they fall on the ground. Superb. 9/10
Characters:
The most important part of any story, I believe, are the characters. The story should be about them, exploring who they are, what they believe in, their relationships with others, and how they change as they realize more about the world. The girls of Gunslinger Girl deliver. Although horribly traumatized, they seem innocent and cute. Not the girlfriend or damsel in distress cuteness overused in today’s moe world, but the young daughter cuteness, which although similar in its emotion connections, is an absolutely different approach to creating lovable characters. After seeing them, you wish you had a daughter to buy ice cream for and watch the night sky with. Yet, they are not weak. They are killing machines! They know what they need to do in difficult moral circumstances. They stand up for what they believe in. They have desires and beliefs, and are willing to go after them, which is more than many female characters have in anime. They have different facets to their lives which makes them real, and we get the opportunity to explore these different sides to them. No character is the same, and we don’t have many stereotypes that fit them well. Their emotions and relationships with others, from Rico to Emilio, Henrietta to Giuse, and Elsa to her handler (I don’t remember his name), seem real to us. They’re not overdone, yet they have the edge that pulls us in. The question remains, do they change as the story progresses? Change is always a slow process and shouldn’t be too noticeable. I personally hate it when the main character meets a girl and they instantaneously fall in love and want to get married, or when the main character suddenly realizes what they need to do and does it to win the battle. The path to change is littered with self-doubts and confusion, wanderings and pain, all of which the series accurately represents. The girls certainly do grow within the series as they gain new memories and the desire to be “a normal girl”. 10/10
Themes:
The quality that distinguishes a great series from a good one is that at the end one can say that they actually learned something from the series. Many reviewers cite the question of means vs ends as being the main theme of the series, and it certainly is one. Is the trauma suffered by the girls worth continuing their lives and serving as killing machines? As Rico lays in her bed, she tells herself that having a body is great. The sacrifices that she has to make, including murder, are worth it to her. However, I think other questions are raised as well. First is, how do we treat others who we see as “broken”? Giuse does it by buying gifts and treating Henrietta to vacations, taking on the role of a father in raising her as a regular girl. Does he do so because he knows that she is no longer completely human? Does he do it out of sympathy, love, affection, or some other reason? Is Henrietta “weak” because of this? We also see a relationship between Claes and her handler, who got her to go fishing and read books because as he says, it’s important to be able to spend time leisurely. He compares him taking her fishing to his father taking him fishing – is that an acknowledgement of her still being human? Ultimately, should we treat those who are “damaged” from a desire to “fix” them, to provide pleasure for ourselves, or some other reason.
I’ve written enough already, so it’s time to stop.
A masterpiece, 10/10
