Category: Gunslinger Girl

Another week, another episode of Gunslinger Girl. This week marks more of the same for our child soldiers, which is both a blessing and a curse. So without further ado, lets dive in!

Now like I said, this week is very similar to the last two. It’s a character focused episode, this time dialing in on Triela and her own relationship with the Agency. However while this is interesting on the macro level, its always nice to learn about our characters, as a viewer I am starting to lose engagement. 4 episodes in it feels like all we are doing is getting info dumps on these characters, rather than moving forward any sort of plot. Gunslinger Girl has taught us about Henrietta, Rico, Triela and their brothers, but it hasn’t really challenged them in any way. It hasn’t set anything in motion, it just feels like they are existing in this world and nothing more. So while these individual episodes are nice, I just wish/hope they tie into a larger plot moving forward. That said, onto details!

Continue reading “Gunslinger Girl – 4 [Bambola (Doll)] – Throwback Thursday” →

Another week, another dose of child soldiers and government conspiracies with Gunslinger Girl! This week is another character focused one, though surprisingly not with our main pair. So why don’t you all join me in welcoming the newest member of our cast, and my current favorite Rico! Lets dive in.

First up, as usual, production. Once again we aren’t really seeing any of those animation chops from the first episode. Small bits, such as Henrietta slipping on a bullet or the occasional “hair in the wind” bit. But for the most part Gunslinger Girl stays rather subdued animation wise. However in this case I think this is for the best, because of the kind of story Gunslinger Girl is trying to tell. All of these character focused episodes, these bits and pieces of the children’s lives and how they view working for the government, etc. None of these would land quite so neatly if their brutal business was glorified with some high octane action animation. Take the finale of this episode, delivered straight without any flashy animation or direction, just a pulled trigger and cut to black. It’s a shame, I love the early animation, but it works for now.

Continue reading “Gunslinger Girl – 3 [Ragazzo (Boy)] – Throwback Thursday” →

Welcome all to episode 2 of Gunslinger Girl! Where last week gave us a fair bit of action and gunfights, this week we slow it down and get to know our characters. There is a lot worth talking about so strap in!

Alright let’s get the negatives out of the way first, because there was really only one. And to be frank, I really have no idea why Gunslinger Girl did this. A stylistic choice perhaps, but I could do without the 5 minute opening recap. Maybe they wanted to reintroduce us to the scene, since this episode primarily takes place in the middle of episode 1. In that sense, it’s not a bad idea to reintroduce us to how episode 1 started. However we didn’t need 5 fulls minutes of that, just give us a quick rewind or something. Considering the themes and ideas Gunslinger Girl is trying to tackle, you’d think it would trust its audience to be smart. To be able to follow along between episodes, especially considering how sudden it treats some of its flashbacks. Let’s just hope this isn’t going to be a consistent thing.

Continue reading “Gunslinger Girl – 2 [Orione (Orion)] – Throwback Thursday” →

Welcome all to the new season of Throwback Thursday, this time featuring Gunslinger Girl! Anime is well known for it’s loli’s, and well known for gratuitous violence, but what about gratuitous loli violence? That is a sentence I never thought I would write, but here we are, so without further ado lets jump in!

Starting off, lets talk visuals, because I am a bit mixed on Gunslinger Girl. Animation wise, it’s great. Once everything starts moving, guns start shooting and characters get running, everything is smooth. The big standout here was of course Henrietta’s gunfight near the end of the episode. Firing, shells hitting the ground, bullets hitting the environment, reloading, it all looked great. I also like the expressiveness on characters such as Giuse, I understood his emotions throughout the episode just from his face. But that brings me to the character designs, which I’m less enthused about. They aren’t bad, they just felt sort of.. flat? Washed out? I can’t tell if it’s the emotionless eyes or perhaps I just need to dial back after the colorful nature of Princess Tutu. Because it reminds me a lot of anime like Monster, which I love dearly. I suppose we will see moving forward.

Continue reading “Gunslinger Girl – 1 [Fratello] – Throwback Thursday” →