This week on Gunslinger Girl we finally dive into some plot, kill some terrorists and Henrietta gets some ice cream. What more could you ask for in a week? So without further ado lets dive in, and apologies for the delay, busy day.
Starting off I want to bring up Gunslinger Girls production again, as that was a big selling point initially. The animation in the first episode was fantastic, from the falling bullets to Henrietta’s movements. Sadly that hasn’t really carried through the rest of the episodes. It’s not terrible, but most of the time Gunslinger Girl lacks the same… oomph it had early on. However as if to offset that, this episode really upped the cinematography. The opening segment with the trains in particular caught my attention. Without a word, Gunslinger Girl managed to setup the bomb and the two trains fantastically. Heightening the tension, letting one pass but the bomb tick on before throwing another train coming from the opposite direction. Will this one pass? What about another? When will the bomb blow? It was a fantastic introduction to the episode and its plot.
Speaking of plot, lets talk about that. Up until now I’ve been very critical of Gunslinger Girls focus and how it has progressed. This episode we see it move away from the individual character introductions into more of an actual story. At it’s core, this is good! Seeing the characters work together and actually go out and do something was very engaging, I was intrigued by parts of it. However I think Gunslinger Girl, in its quest to establish its characters, forgot to fully establish its world. Yes this is Earth, its based in Italy and the episode is in Rome. But beyond that we really don’t know anything about these terrorists, their goals, their political affiliations or who they work for. There has been inklings about “terrorists” and “the other party”, but nothing concrete, nothing compelling. They have no face or defined goals, making them difficult to care about.
Compare that to another politically focused show, ACCA. Yes, these are two very different shows and are looking to accomplish two very different things. However at their core both ACCA and Gunslinger Girls are politically focused character drama’s. The issue is that ACCA successfully sets up its world and politics throughout the show, helping the viewer to understand, while Gunslinger Girls does not. In ACCA we are introduced to the country, its 13 states, their various leaders and regional politics. We are able to grasp the situation of each region of this made up country quickly because of how cleverly it is represented. In Gunslinger Girls though we have yet to get any real explanation as to what the terrorists are or want beyond a name. Yeah, its been introducing its characters, but we are also halfway through the season. I can only hope it explains more moving forward.
As far as the episode specific story goes, it was rather good. The plan, trailing Enrico, all of that was an interesting change of pace after all of the character focused episodes we have had. I especially like the pair of bomb makers, Franco and Franca, and what they bring to the show. Not only are they our first real named antagonists, but Gunslinger Girl goes out of its way to show their grey area. For instance I complained earlier about Gunslinger Girl failing to setup its politics very well, but one of the parts it did get right was right at the end when they met Henrietta and Franca’s comment about her being the thing they want to protect. Not only does this give them the semblance of a cause, but it creates a future conflict when Henrietta inevitably has to take them down. It’s a great hook!
Gunslinger Girl also setup their meeting pretty naturally, using the accident to prevent their arrival. It gives them a reason to be in the same area narrative wise while still letting them meet under “friendly” circumstances. As a whole really the terrorist bust was well put together. We got to see the girls in action and working as a team, along with the variety of tactics they are able to use. Even going so far as having Henrietta fake being a helpless child to get past an entrenched enemy force. It works because rather than playing on the girls raw abilities, making them seem OP compared to the rest of the setting, it plays on the enemies natural responses. Who see’s a girl in a war zone and thinks of her as a threat? It’s something that happens in real life war as well after all.
So all in all, how was this episode of Gunslinger Girl? Well aside from my issues with its presentation of politics, I am glad to see things progressing. The bomb plot was interesting enough and having Henrietta meet Franca at the end sets up a lot of possible stories down the line. I don’t think its out of the woods yet of course, we have 7 episodes left to go. But it does feel like we are finally moving out of the “introduction” of a much larger series. Guess we just have to hope next week picks up the torch and runs with it.
