"Gunslinger Girl" (2003)TV series 2003-2004

Writer:

Junki Takegami (writer) (episodes)

Seasons:

1

Genre:

Animation | Action | Drama | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

The girl has a mechanical body. However, she is still an adolescent child.

Plot:

The Social Welfare agency, a government sponsored corporation is in the business for saving orphaned...

Plot Keywords:

Anime

Cast

Yuka Nanri	...	Henrietta (13 episodes, 2003-2004)
Hidenobu Kiuchi	...	Jose (13 episodes, 2003-2004)
Mitsuru Miyamoto	...	Jean (10 episodes, 2003-2004)
Kanako Mitsuhashi	...	Rico (9 episodes, 2003-2004)
Sendai Eri	...	Triela (9 episodes, 2003-2004)
Hirofumi Shimozaki	...	Giorgio / ... (9 episodes, 2003-2004)
Ami Koshimizu	...	Claes (8 episodes, 2003-2004)
Makoto Tomita	...	Terrorist / ... (8 episodes, 2003-2004)
Hiroshi Yanaka	...	Lorenzo 2 Kacho (7 episodes, 2003-2004)
Masami Iwasaki	...	Alfonso (7 episodes, 2003-2004)
Masashi Ebara	...	Hirscher (6 episodes, 2003-2004)
Norihiro Inoue	...	Marco (6 episodes, 2003-2004)
Rie Nakagawa	...	Ferro (6 episodes, 2003-2004)

Country:

Japan | USA

Language:

Japanese | English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:TV-14 | Australia:M

Company:

Marvelous Entertainment

Movie Connections:

Followed by "Gansuringâ gâru: Iru teatorîno" (2008)

Absolutely Fantastic! A must see.

To the outside world, the Social Welfare Agency is a benevolent organization dedicated to helping children with life threatening injuries and severe disabilities. However a darker secret lies behind the compound walls. The young girls the Agency claims to save are in fact fitted with artificial body parts, chemically brain washed, and trained in the art of killing. They are the girls of Section Two. An elite squad of deadly assassins charged with doing the Italian Governments dirty work.

Each girl is paired up with a Handler – a male agent who is responsible for training and caring for his partner. The two together are called a fratello. The "conditioning" the girls are put through emotionally bonds them to their handler, making them fiercely loyal. The relationship within each fratello is different. Jose is very kind to Henrietta, treating her like a little sister. Hilshire and Triela seem to have a dysfunctional father daughter thing going on, while Jean treats Rico as nothing more then a tool to be used up and discarded.

Even though they kill without remorse, they still have all of the emotional ups and downs of normal adolescent girls and it's these internal conflicts that make this anime so fascinating. You truly feel for these girls as they struggle to hold on to their humanity under very inhumane circumstances.

If nonstop action is what you are looking for, then this is probably not for you. Yes there is plenty gunplay and copious amounts of blood and gore, but that is not the main focus of the series. What it concentrates on is the relationships between the girls and their handlers and each other.

I'll admit that at first I found the subject matter of this series disturbing; children being turned into ruthless killers in the name of Italian national security. However, the longer I watched, the deeper I was drawn in. It becomes a story of how the girls survive a situation that would break most adults. It becomes a story of their inner strength and perseverance.

Whether or not you are an anime fan, (I am not) you definitely should give this one a watch. I highly recommend it.