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Title (English) Gunslinger Girl

Title (Japanese) Gunslinger Girl

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Fantasy Novel

Notes Parental discretion advised.
There is also a manga (available in the US).

Classification -

Synopsis

Review "Gunslinger Girls" makes me think of the old saying about the difference between melodrama and tragedy: "Melodrama is the conflict between Good and Evil. Tragedy is the conflict between Good and Good." And "Gunslinger Girls" is a melodrama that goes full out to manipulate the "cute-girls-with-guns" fans by presenting a sort of cross between a thinking-man's Saikano" and "Noir", but with more and younger girls than in either of the other earlier shows.
The series is set in Italy - the traditional view of Vesuvius and the Bay of Naples from Sorrento is used to frame the relationship between the re-engineered orphan-killer Henrietta and her mentor/boss Jose. And at one point Jose tries to pass himself off as a reporter for an Italian newspaper. But wait a minute, doesn't anybody in this show have Italian names? Maybe the creators of the manga/show didn't know any better, but Jose (which is pronounced in the Portuguese manner as "Joze" and not Spanish as "Hoze") is Joseph in English and Giuseppi in Italian. I'm not sure what Henrietta is in Italian, but Henry is "Enrico". And the writers obviously don't know the typical "o" versus "a" endings for masculine versus feminine names, which means that "Rico" would never be a girl's name.
Okay, nit-picking aside, what we have here is an attempt to wrap the titillation inherent in portraying pre-pubescent girls as mini-skirted killing machines in a cloak of reputability by focussing on the "evil" inherent in the situation. Everyone in the show is evil - the bad guys, the good guys, the doctors, the Government, and so on, with the exception of the narrator Jose, who is going through a crisis of conscience. Jose thinks of Henrietta as a surrogate little sister and is torn by her unexpected and unplanned return of affection and loyalty. So the stage is already set for a sad denouement, as if this were a medieval morality play.
It's instructive to compare "Gunslinger Girls" with another anime that successfully addresses the horror of child soldiers - "Ima Soku ni Iru Boku", in which none of the kids are portrayed for the titillation of the audience. The tragedy is relentless, even in the final "happy" denouement, and the kids are portrayed as having some, albeit limited, power over their own lives. In contrast, the girls in "Gunslinger Girls" are portrayed as powerless objects in the same manner as in any of a number of "cute girl" series.
It's also instructive to compare Jose to Marcello Mastrianni痴 protagonist in "La Dolce Vita", who also is faced with decisions as to how to live his life - accept what the world gives as fame or do what he knows is right. In "La Dolce Vita" the tragedy is that the protagonist isn稚 heroic - he doesn稚 end up doing the right thing, and we see in the end that he suffers from this because he knows that he made the wrong decision in his Faustian bargain. In contrast I致e got to doubt that the writers of "Gunslinger Girls" will have the vision or fortitude to transform the series from mere melodrama to true tragedy.
(Dave Baranyi)
I thought this was clearly inspired by "Noir" and its ilk, and though it's quite well made I found it dubiously exploitative. Why do the killers have to be cute young girls? Asides from the obvious, there's no answer. Do we really want to encourage the production and distribution of anime like this one? (GC)

Credits

Episodes

Release

TV Showing See the whole series for free? This series may be syndicated to regional cable, satellite or terrestial TV stations. For Europe click here.

Date 2003

Production

Broadcaster

Animation

References & Help Look up the latest data on this title at:
Richard Llewellyn's Animated Divots, or
Anime News Network (see Encyclopedia section) ,
or in "The Anime Encyclopedia" (Clements & McCarthy, Stone Bridge Press, 2001).
Help & further information.

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Information
Title (English)	Gunslinger Girl
Title (Japanese)	Gunslinger Girl
Advertising Fantasy Novel
Notes	Parental discretion advised. There is also a manga (available in the US).
Classification	-
Synopsis
Review	"Gunslinger Girls" makes me think of the old saying about the difference between melodrama and tragedy: "Melodrama is the conflict between Good and Evil. Tragedy is the conflict between Good and Good." And "Gunslinger Girls" is a melodrama that goes full out to manipulate the "cute-girls-with-guns" fans by presenting a sort of cross between a thinking-man's Saikano" and "Noir", but with more and younger girls than in either of the other earlier shows. The series is set in Italy - the traditional view of Vesuvius and the Bay of Naples from Sorrento is used to frame the relationship between the re-engineered orphan-killer Henrietta and her mentor/boss Jose. And at one point Jose tries to pass himself off as a reporter for an Italian newspaper. But wait a minute, doesn't anybody in this show have Italian names? Maybe the creators of the manga/show didn't know any better, but Jose (which is pronounced in the Portuguese manner as "Joze" and not Spanish as "Hoze") is Joseph in English and Giuseppi in Italian. I'm not sure what Henrietta is in Italian, but Henry is "Enrico". And the writers obviously don't know the typical "o" versus "a" endings for masculine versus feminine names, which means that "Rico" would never be a girl's name. Okay, nit-picking aside, what we have here is an attempt to wrap the titillation inherent in portraying pre-pubescent girls as mini-skirted killing machines in a cloak of reputability by focussing on the "evil" inherent in the situation. Everyone in the show is evil - the bad guys, the good guys, the doctors, the Government, and so on, with the exception of the narrator Jose, who is going through a crisis of conscience. Jose thinks of Henrietta as a surrogate little sister and is torn by her unexpected and unplanned return of affection and loyalty. So the stage is already set for a sad denouement, as if this were a medieval morality play. It's instructive to compare "Gunslinger Girls" with another anime that successfully addresses the horror of child soldiers - "Ima Soku ni Iru Boku", in which none of the kids are portrayed for the titillation of the audience. The tragedy is relentless, even in the final "happy" denouement, and the kids are portrayed as having some, albeit limited, power over their own lives. In contrast, the girls in "Gunslinger Girls" are portrayed as powerless objects in the same manner as in any of a number of "cute girl" series. It's also instructive to compare Jose to Marcello Mastrianni痴 protagonist in "La Dolce Vita", who also is faced with decisions as to how to live his life - accept what the world gives as fame or do what he knows is right. In "La Dolce Vita" the tragedy is that the protagonist isn稚 heroic - he doesn稚 end up doing the right thing, and we see in the end that he suffers from this because he knows that he made the wrong decision in his Faustian bargain. In contrast I致e got to doubt that the writers of "Gunslinger Girls" will have the vision or fortitude to transform the series from mere melodrama to true tragedy. (Dave Baranyi) I thought this was clearly inspired by "Noir" and its ilk, and though it's quite well made I found it dubiously exploitative. Why do the killers have to be cute young girls? Asides from the obvious, there's no answer. Do we really want to encourage the production and distribution of anime like this one? (GC)
Credits
Episodes
Release
TV Showing	See the whole series for free? This series may be syndicated to regional cable, satellite or terrestial TV stations. For Europe click here.
Date	2003
Production
Broadcaster
Animation
References & Help	Look up the latest data on this title at: Richard Llewellyn's Animated Divots, or Anime News Network (see Encyclopedia section) , or in "The Anime Encyclopedia" (Clements & McCarthy, Stone Bridge Press, 2001). Help & further information.