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Officially, Italy's Social Welfare Agency is a government-sponsored
corporation that's in the business of saving the lives of
children. At least, that's the ruse. The reality is far more
sinister. The Agency operates on the fringes of advanced technology,
giving young, female terminal patients another shot at life
with the help of cybernetic implants and psychological conditioning.
The process effectively shapes the patients into efficient
killing machines specifically designed to handle the government's
undercover dirty work...
Gunslinger
Girl combines elements of Luc Besson's Leon and
La Femme Nikita to produce a 13-part saga recounting
the exploits of a group of young girls conditioned to become
ruthless, government-trained assassins.
Set
in modern day Italy, this series follows a number of girls
who have all been taken from hospitals from all over the country.
Each has been cybernetically enhanced, brainwashed and trained
to be assassins by a secret branch of the Public Corporation
for Social Welfare, also known as Section 2. Each of the girls
has a trainer, also known as their "brother", assigned to
them. These individuals are employed to train each girl in
the art of combat as well as ensure that their missions are
carried out successfully.
The
first episode, Fratello (Siblings),
introduces us to one of the girls, Henrietta. She was brought
into the employ of Section 2 when her entire family of six
were killed in a vicious homicide attack. Henrietta has her
memory erased and is put under the supervision of Jose.
Being
new to the Public Corporation for Social Welfare himself,
Jose is unskilled in the rearing of a mechanised body and
he ends up treating Heneritta more like his daughter, buying
her gifts, educating her and protecting her, far from the
harsh measures that the other girls receive from their brothers
who treat them more like an expendable machine. While
on an important mission Henrietta loses it and opens fire
without the express permission of Jose. But what is it that
made her lose the plot? Is it poor training? Or something
much deeper?
Orione
(Orion) - Eager to get to the bottom of why Henrietta
lost it while on a mission, Jose take her to a restaurant
to help her train how to interact normally. However, when
a waiter clears away some unused cutlery, Henrietta believes
that Jose's life if in danger and quickly incapacitates the
poor man. Jose starts to become more attached to Henrietta
and starts to treat her like a little girl, instead of a cyborg.
Tagazzo
(Boy) - While on a mission to stakeout a hotel, Rico bumps
into a young bellhop named Emilo. The two form a quick bond,
but Rico's brother (Jean) is suspicious of why she took so
long to complete her mission. Rico keeps her new friend a
secret from Jean, but can she really have any friends in this
line of work?
Bambola
(Doll) - Triela and her brother are after a member of
the Mafia who will testify against his boss. Triela is suffering
from period pains and issues with her working relationship
with Hilshare. Why does he treat her like dirt when she makes
a mistake, and like a lap dog the rest of the time.
Promessa
(Promise) - is an Angelica Claes tale that sees the history
of her and her brother. We get to witness her first mission,
an attack on a group of subway youths, as well as her relationship
with Captain Raballo - who is reluctant to bond with her.
Not
only is the quality of the scripts and animation far superior
than most of the anime currently in production, but the music
is more cinematic than we have come to expect from this genre.
Toshihiko Sahashi's score is beautifully composed. Never intrusive
on the action, it does add that little extra emotion to the
moving moments in this series. The
theme tune, The Light Before We Land, is particularly
catchy.
Extras
are a little thin on the ground and include Building Henrietta
(which shows the various layers that are used to draw Henrietta
- a bit of a pointless extra, really); textless opening and
closing credit sequences; and trailers.
If
you're looking for a light-hearted series then you'd better
look elsewhere. If, on the other hand, you fancy some intelligently
written animation with a dark edge to it, Gunslinger Girl
is worth checking out.
Darren
Rea
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