The theme of the story is based on the the feudal Japan. A very old era where the weapon of choice was the katana, but in this anime there are guns as well, actually the anime itself centres around the use of this guns and specifically in the marksmanship abilities of Tendo Rushuna, the main female character. So being her a female with REALLY big breasts expect a lot of echi shots (lol she reloads her revolver with her real pair of guns) on the action scenes, this will make you think that the fights lack seriousness but in the end it just looks refreshing because the echiness just matches perfectly with the action sequences, that are actually quite impressive and varied. The story goes on well from the first episode through the 9th one. But then one get's the feeling that the 12 episodes range this anime has is not enough to reach a conclusion, so the last 4 episodes really are like rushed for that needed conclusion and drain the essence of the anime. But it is really an enjoyable story, not a great one just a decent one. Even so it would have felt better if they had did a, at least, 24 episode storyline for this one.
The concepts and design of the characters are nice to watch. Rushuna looks very sexy in her double-layered, boob revealing outfit. The art focuses more on female characters than it does on male ones. The exceptions are the Jester and (partially) Yajiro, also the design is focused more on the size of the breasts of the females and probably the facial expressions. The artistic design goes all out in the action scenes as well. The gun tricks that Rushuna performs are diverse and really clever, of course being a bit exagerate at the same time. The space in which the story takes place looks like a feudal-western type scenario, this really reflect that this anime mixes (and does it really well) the marksmanship with the swordsmanship themes (obviously focusing more on the marksmanship), giving as a result a really polivalent world filled with all types of characters and locations.
The sound makes justice for this anime. The opening is a bit slow but it has a adventure-theme tune that captivates and leaves the viewer wanting to see where these "travels" will take him. The battle BMG's are very good indeed, they sound really well combined with the gunshots tracks and manage to connect one stance with another in a action sequence to make it feel like a original and different one every time watched.
The characters are very rich in personality but in looks the vast majority (females) look too much of the same, I mean all of them have huge chests (except Mikan). Only Rushuna differenciates totally from all the other females with a unique and gorgeous look adequate for a female main character. Rushuna's personality is just wonderful and, at some point, seductive, "a caring mother actitude" is what the director of Grenadier describes it like. Also love Aizen Teppa perverted behavior, it does add spice to the plot. On the other hand I don't like Mikan as a character because she rarely acts as a girl, her balloon tricks are awful and her involvement in the story conflict is just lame.
"The ultimate battle strategy is to eliminate the enemy's will to fight without a combat, and to achieve that one must be unarmored to truly be able to smile and to strip the enemy off his armor as well ". This is really what this anime is all about: fight with no violence at all just by using a smile to try to make the enemy feel the same way you feel, to share your ideals.
At first glance this anime looks like a typical one. I think that is just above a average-stardard anime in story but if you mix it with the great artistic design, sound and character personality you get a really good anime that has a big enjoyment factor and an unusual theme that projects really nicely. I recommend this one whole-heartely.
