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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...
The
second volume of Gunslinger Girls builds on the events
that unfolded in volume
one. Henrietta
is quickly becoming regarded as one of the most efficient
assassins. However, life for the other girls at the Agency
is not so sunny.
In
Gelato (Frozen), Jose and Henrietta are assigned to help
a bomb expert stop a terrorist bomb maker. A bomb in the subway
turns out to be a decoy that the terrorists have used as a
diversion for their real plans. Rico and Triela are sent in
as back up for Henrietta
when the trail leads to the National Museum.
This
episode sees Henriette being spoiled yet again by her "handler"
Jose, who buys her expensive perfume and tells her she can
have anything she wants when her mission is completed. I also
loved the ironic ending with two individuals who have been
caught up in the whole terrorist scenario passing Henriette
in the street and saying: "It's girls like her we are
out to protect." Little do they know that she's more
than capable of looking after herself.
Protezione (Protection): Rico and Jean are assigned
to protect Filippo Adani, Mr Bigliazzi's bookmaker. Bigliazzi
want's Adani to return his stolen ledger, which implicates
him in terrorist activities. Adani befriends Rico and Jean,
little knowing that is them that will save his life.
This
episode has a beautiful opening and closing sequence which
shows the skyline of Florence, Italy. There are also several
scenes inside the Uffizi museum that showcase some incredible
works of art.
Il Principe del Regno Della Pasta (The Prince of the Kingdom
of Pasta) starts with a flash back to when Marco, Angelina's
"handler", started work at the agency. This was
in a time before the project was fully developed. We get to
see Angelina's back story too. Her parent's tried to kill
her by running her over with the car. This was an insurance
scam that backfired - the family's business was going through
hard times and they took out a hefty insurance policy that
would pay up if Angelina died.
When
Marco was first assigned to her, he used to tell her an ongoing
fairy story that he had made up especially for her, but as
the years went by and the cybernetic implants were surgically
inserted into Angelina she started to forget things, including
Marco's stories.
You
can't help but feel for both Angelina and Marco in this episode.
He really only started to make up the story to stop her being
frightened when having injections and other necessary surgery
at the Agency. This keeps her happy and she wants to hear
more, which in turn keeps Marco happy. But as her memory starts
to become erased, Marco realises that they no longer share
the one thing that made them so close.
In Lycoris Radiata Herb (Be Struck Off Herb) we are
introduced to Elsa and her "handler" Lauro. Elsa
is an outsider and doesn't want to socialise with the rest
of the girls in the Agency. Lauro is not much better when
it comes to knowing how to behave in social situations. When
Henriette and Elsa are sent out on a mission together, Elsa
sees how kind Jose is. She realises Lauro may not be the ideal
"handler" she believed him to be.
This
episode also showcases the differences between the "handlers"
and how they all think they know the best way to handle their
girls. There doesn't seem to be any handbook they can follow,
and all progress as they feel suitable. This usually means
that each "handler's" weaknesses/strengthens are
projected on to their girls.
Extras
include: Building Rico (a similar extra to volume one's
Building Henriette) this is slightly pointless as it
doesn't actually show you how to draw; Meet the Real Gunslinger
Girls, a collection of audio interviews with the actresses
that play the girls, set to clips of the show; textless opening
and closing titles; and some trailers.
Sadly
this series was short lived - there is only one more release
in the collection. It's a shame, because this is one of the
most touching animes to be produced in recent years.
 
Darren
Rea
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