Gunslinger Girl II Teatrino OVA   Starring (voice): Anri Shiono, Kana Akutsu, Kouzou Mito and Takehito Koyasu Manga Entertainment RRP: £14.99 MANG3094 Certificate: 15 Available 24 October 2011

The girls of the Social Welfare Agency are no ordinary children. They are the grizzly remains of human wreckage pieced back together with cybernetic implants and trained to kill by the government. The oldest, Triela, pursues her targets with a ferocious enthusiasm - unwilling to settle for less than total annihilation. Her mirror in this bloody stalemate is Pinocchio - a shell of a boy raised as an assassin by the FRF - a terrorist faction at war with the SWA. Cold and cruelly efficient, he wields sharpened steel as though it were his own hand. Once human, these shattered souls have become murderous machines with only vague recollections of what it meant to be real - and a brutal compulsion to be the last killer standing...

Gunslinger Girl: II Teatrino OVA contains the two OVA episodes (both lasting 23 minutes) The Light of Venice, The Darkness of the Heart and Fantasma.

The Light of Venice, The Darkness of the Heart: Jean visits the graveside of his fiance and bumps into her brother, Fernando. Jean and Rico fly to Venice for their latest assignment; to eliminate a local mafia boss backing the Rome terrorists. During an exchange of gunfire with the terrorists, Rico falls into the lagoon. Jean rescues her and as a reward, gives her the rest of the day off to play on the beach.

Fantasma: Henrietta and Rico, escorted by Hilshire, sail to Sicily to meet Jose and Jean. Henrietta discovers the clothes of the Croce brothers' dead younger sister, Enrica, in the closet and Jose gives her one of the dresses. Jean dreams of Enrica, who scolds Jean for letting Jose dress Henrietta in her clothes, saying it is not fair for Henrietta to replace Enrica in Jose’s heart. The following day, the girls are playing in the water as the handlers discuss matters before walking out to be with them.

These stories are a little removed from the usual Gunslinger Girl storylines. While the stories are sweeter than usual, they are also slow going. That said, fans of the series will enjoy the slight change in pace. Sadly these were the last episodes made for the series.

Extras include Japanese Cast Interview: Voice of Hilshire (Masaya Matsukaze) (24 min 31 sec); and textless songs.

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Nick Smithson