kanna-chan's cafe

Gunslinger Girl started out as a manga written and illustrated by Yu Aida. The manga premiered in the magazine Dengeki Daioh on May 21, 2002, and concluded in the September 2012 issue. The anime was adapted into two seasons, each containing 13 episodes, based on the first two volumes of the manga. And...well, that's about it for development. While the first season was just titled Gunslinger Girl, the second season was titled Gunslinger Girl -Il Teatrino-, which had different character designs from the first season. There were two OVA and several video games.

Plot:

The story takes place in modern Italy and follows the Social Welfare Agency (or just the Agency), a charitable institution sponsored by the Italian government. So it seems. In reality, the Agency is a military organization that specializes in counter-intelligence and counter-terrorism.

The Agency is split into two sections: Section 1, the public safety division, and Section 2, which is Special Ops, the anti-terrorist division. Gunslinger Girl focuses more on Section 2. Section 2 is the branch that employs young girls who have experienced traumatic and near-death experiences and fits them with cybernetic implants, turning them into operatives for the agency. The implants result in heightened strength and reflexes, as well as high resilience to damage and pain. Basically, the implants create the ultimate assassin in the form of a young girl.

Each girl is paired with an adult male handler. Together, the two are fratello (siblings). Each handler is responsible for the training, welfare, and field performance of his charge. They are also free to use whatever methods they deem suitable to train their charge. While each method varies, a common part of the girls' regimen is a brainwashing process known as "conditioning." This erases the memories of the traumatic events that were experienced and provides unquestioning loyalty to the handler, but when used excessively, limits the girls' lifespan. 

Each girl has a preferred weapon that they like to use, but I won't talk about those, considering I know next to nothing about guns, rifles, and the like. So, let's talk characters.

Henrietta: Henrietta was left for dead after the brutal murder of her family, during which she herself was assaulted. Through conditioning, she forgot about these events, and is completely devoted to her handler, Jose Croce. She has brown hair and brown eyes. She has feelings for her handler and gets jealous when she sees him looking at other women. 

Rico: Rico was confined to a hospital bed due to severe birth defects. Her parents signed her over to the Agency on her eleventh birthday. She seems to be the only one of the cyborgs who remembers her past. She loves her new body and views every day as a blessing, maintaining a happy disposition. Her handler is Jean Croce, Jose's older brother. Jean is generally apathetic towards Rico and treats her harshly when she makes a mistake. However, Rico accepts this treatment without question.

Triela: Triela was originally from Tunisia. However, she was kidnapped and smuggled to Amsterdam by the Mafia, where she was assaulted during the taping of a snuff film. She was rescued by Victor Hilshire, who took her to the Agency to treat her injuries. However, she was turned into a cyborg without his knowledge. Her handler is Victor Hilshire. She has a pragmatic personality with just a hint of rebellion, and she likes to wear masculine clothing. She maintains a realistic outlook on the situation and serves as a sort of mentor to the other girls. Triela is the second-oldest of the cyborgs.

Claes and Raballo: I'm mentioning these two together, because they kind of go together for a reason. Claes was born as Fleda Claes Johansson and was the daughter of a professor who gave her a love for books at an early age. It is unknown how she arrived at the Agency. At first, her handler, Captain Raballo of the military police, was pretty detached from her, before he realized that he needed to redesign her training. He later took her fishing and on other activities outside the Agency. While they worked at the Agency, they were simply a handler and his cyborg. Outside the Agency, however, it felt more like a family. 

However, several incidents led Raballo to question the cyborg program, so he eventually quit the Agency. He was later killed in a hit-and-run accident. Because Claes had bonded with Raballo, the Agency couldn't assign her another handler, she was re-conditioned to forget Raballo and was used as a test subject for the cyborg program to test things like strength and understand the bodies better. 

Raballo re-kindled Claes's love of reading and taught her patience. Claes even wears her glasses, even though her eyesight is the best it can possibly be without them, because she promised Raballo she would be gentle while she wore them, which is reflected in Claes's subconscious.

Angelica: Angelica was originally born as Angelina. She was nearly killed in a hit-and-run staged by her father to collect a life insurance policy he had on her. At first, she remembered her family, but was later to conditioned to forget them. She was the first cyborg. Her handler is Marco Toni. At first, the two were quite close. He even made up a story for her called Il Principe del Regno della Pasta (The Prince of Pasta), about a prince who only ate pasta. However, the conditioning process changed her personality and effectiveness in the field, and her memories would become random. Marco later distanced himself from her.

Rating: It's hard to rate this anime as a whole, so I'll just rate both seasons.

Gunslinger Girl: 10/10

Gunslinger Girl -Il Teatrino-: 9.5/10

Why: This I can explain for both seasons. The animation in season 1 was incredible, whereas the animation in season 2 could have been better. They redesigned all of the characters, and while some of the designs look good, others look...a little meh. 

Not only that, but the storyline in season 2 revolved primarily around Triela, and while I understand why, I feel like they should have given attention to some of the other characters. Then again, Claes got an episode, and Angelica kind of got an episode, but the second season revolved mainly around Triela. I wanted to see more of Henrietta and Rico.

The music for the series (as a whole) was great. In season 1, the opening was "The Light Before We Land" by The Delgados, for both the English dub and the original Japanese, and the ending was "Dopo Il Sogno - Yume no ato ni," which means "after the dream." It's by Opus (I can't find anything on him/her/them, so...yeah). The second season's opening was "Tatta Hitotsu Omoi," which means "Only But One Wish" by Koika, and the ending was "doll" by Lia. The only episode that had a different ending was episode 8 of Il Teatrino, and its ending was "Scarborough Fair" (an old folk song, later covered by Simon & Garfunkel).

Well, that's Anime Monday #18! Stay tuned for Anime Monday #19 and get your tissues ready for it, because we're looking at Clannad and Clannad: After Story! Until next time! ~k