Gunslinger Girl

Synopsis:

Gunslinger Girl doesn't really have a main plot. It's more of a collection of different stories about a government agency that's called The Social Welfare Agency. They perform odd jobs, usually assassinations using adolescent girls as the killers. These girls have been brought back from the brink of death through cybernetic implants and brainwashing to clear their minds for training and mental conditioning. Each girl is assigned a handler (... huh-huh... handler...) that will train the cyborg girl in weaponry and also provide emotional stability so the girls won't let feelings crowd their judgment.


Reviewer: Endosanity
Number of episodes watched: 13


Review:

There is nothing cute about Gunslinger Girl, it's the exact opposite. It's an extremely dark look at the behind the scenes life of being an assassin but in this case focusing on the mental impact it has on each one of these kids. There is some action but it's not the focus here nor do you see things like half of a city being destroyed just because it's about robotic children, there is not even a single hint of comedy to be found. The series plays out at different angles focusing on a different girl every episode or two and her relation with her handler and what she is doing affects her life and how she reacts to certain situations... there really isn't a main protagonist although about half of the episodes will be about Henrietta and her handler Guise.

Even though this might sound like a really good series, I was sort of put off by the pacing which is quite slow and there wasn't much variety of situations. It's usually the same thing just with a different girl and I was sort of expecting something different each time but it never happened. The characterization is hit and miss here as each cyborg girl has her own attitude that sets her apart from the others but all the handlers are cold and callous and treat their cyborg sibling as just that... a cyborg. Only Guise sometimes let's Henrietta be what she really is, an adolescent child but he never forgets the overall scope of his job. Gunslinger Girl has some great animation, decent plot (or plots I should say), even the English track is done well it's just that I found it slow moving and lacked variety between episodes but that isn't what Gunslinger Girl is trying to give you. It wants you to see the hard truths of how the world may be viewed by a killer that happens to be a soulless child.

Gunslinger Girl (opening)

Recommendation: |Below Average|