An American Writer's Thoughts on Japanese Animation

Slice of Death – Gunslinger Girl Spoiler Review

Gunslinger girl is a unique show. The pitch is this: in the ambiguous near future, the government of Italy Social Welfare Agency is a front that picks up little girls who are unwanted and/or damaged beyond conventional recall and gives them (brief, probably) new lives as unassuming cyborg assassins, trained and conditioned to fight alongside their handlers and kill as the government demands in bands known as Fratello.

But while that sounds like a high action, high drama, probably angsty sort of affair what we get instead is a slow-burn methodical character study of these damaged girls and the men who care for them, only occasionally punctuated by bouts of violence. It has more in common with Haibane Renmei than it does with your average action show. Then again, if you know how I regard Haibane Renmei, maybe that’s not a bad thing.

Read More…Read More…