Dismissible by some as just wasted time away from bloody kill shots, moments like that are what make a show truly great, this type of strong attention to minor detail is present in nearly every episode.
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Just one shot early in the series says everything, as Henrietta is shown disassembling a handgun diligently, but then as we pan down, instead of being some extremely creepy upskirt (we are talking about the same countrymen who make hentai, after all), we see her legs, dangling, not even able to touch the floor. The subtleties of 'Gunslinger Girl' are lost in the mix. One wouldn't think a show featuring little girls blowing the holy shit out of those they're assigned to kill would be overly intelligent, but rather than just play up a random actioner featuring deadly assassinettes, this short series delves deep into philosophical tangents, and plays the juxtapositions in cliche to the very fullest.
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'Gunslinger Girl' is somewhat like a grown up version of Mathilda (Natalie Portman) from the non-USA-butchered cut of ' Leon: The Professional,' in that these girls are thrust from innocence into lives full of slaughter, with lots of regiment and routine forced upon them, with their male counterparts instructing and guiding them, with a mixture of loving devotion and obligation, like they found an injured puppy.īeneath the surface, though, is where 'Gunslinger Girl' shines. Action nuts will get a kick out of the way these girls kick serious ass, and their innocence creates some very fun and unique situations when in combat. On the surface, the show is entertaining and can easily can retain its audience's collective attention, as the characters are fleshed out properly, with light hints of backstory melded in with their interactions with each other, as well as their conditioning and performance. It blends human existential drama with military and social politics and morals, with a heavy dose of utterly disturbing (and effective) creepiness. 'Gunslinger Girl' is a hyperbole wrapped in an enigma, in the guise of an anime. These dangerous young lasses are often called upon to solve predicaments and do odd government jobs, and their existence remains but an urban legend to most.primarily because those on the wrong end of these girls end up in body bags. Rico, Triela, Claes, Angelica, and Elsa all have varying relationships with their handlers, from hands off management, to micromanagement, to extremely caustic, abusive, and cruel mentoring. While no one girl is the focus of the show, the viewers get the most time spent with the duo of Henrietta and Giuse (joe-say), as her development is shown through the series, and her treatment is considerably better than that of the other girls. There are six of these young girls who are shown in this first season, though there are certainly others in various stages of the process. They're little super soldiers, and not the crummy live action movie. They feel little to no pain, and mostly aim to please and protect their handlers with their every waking moment. These girls are programmed/"conditioned" to follow the beck and call of their handlers (also referred to as brothers, creating the term fratello, which means siblings), and are given extensive training in combat.
This group takes broken young girls, suffering from extreme physical ailments, and repairs them in a sense, infusing into them cybernetic implants, creating quasi-cyborgs. While the thirteen episodes of the first season had much more happening under the layers of action, the hook, line, and sinker concerning the combination of the stereotypes of frailty and power was all that was necessary to initially draw me to the show.īased on the first two volumes of the Manga series from Yu Aida, the first season of 'Gunslinger Girl' follows an Italian organization known as the SFA: Social Welfare Agency. Ragazzine Piccole, Armi Grandi - Little Girls, Big Guns.
The subtitle to the release of the first volume of 'Gunslinger Girl' on DVD says so much about the show that the synopsis for the release was somewhat redundant.