Series Information

ANN Encyclopedia | AniDB | AnimeNfo
Episode Total: 13
Producers: Marvelous Entertainment, MADHOUSE
Genres: Adventure, Drama, Science Fiction
GUNSLINGER GIRL
[Review: 95/100]

There was one prevalent thought that slapped me in the face after I finished watching this last week: “What the hell took me so long?”. I honestly couldn’t answer that question. Gunslinger Girl is an absolutely amazing series that chronicles the lives of five adolescent girls, who possess cybernetic implants, and their handlers. With the first season consisting of 13 episodes it’s an easy must-watch with topnotch production values, superbly written characters, and an intriguing plot.

Gunslinger Girl aired back in 2003 and even today the animation is some of the best I’ve seen. The character designs are great and I particularly love those of the girls as they’re all shaped differently and possess their own unique physical traits. The music is absolutely stunning. I had wondered who came up with such beautiful compositions and to my surprise it was none other than Sahashi Toshihiko, the very same man who did the brilliant score for Simoun. I can listen to this soundtrack anytime of the day and I’d instantly disconnect myself from whatever I’m doing and be submersed into the sweet sounds.

The main attraction of Gunslinger Girl, though, are the characters and their individual stories. I can’t begin to describe all of them so I’ll only focus on the main character, Henrietta. Henrietta is the most adorable girl I’ve seen in so long. She makes me want to hug her so tight that I’ll never let go. ^__^ Her devotion to Guise, her handler, is just so sweet that I can’t help but want the two of them to be together for as long as time would allow. Their relationship, I think, is the best out of all of the other pairs. This is simply because I think that Henrietta loves Guise unconditionally and even though she doesn’t know if it is because of her conditioning or not, she doesn’t care. She protects him even beyond the norm that the other girls do. There was one particular scene in which they were dining and she thought that a waiter was going to do something to Guise with a knife and she took down the guy in an instant. Awesome. Guise, in my eyes, is the best handler. I think it’s pretty clear that he cares a lot for Henrietta by all of the things he does for her such as carrying her out for dinner, sightseeing, buying her various things, and overall just spending a ton of time with her. I think their interaction is one of the best I’ve seen in anime/manga or any other media period.

Gunslinger Girl, in a nut shell, is a wonderfully crafted masterpiece that shouldn’t missed. The characters are engaging and the dialogue and scripting is excellent. I’d recommend watching this as soon as possible (it took me roughly a day to go through it all). Why? Well, I’ve already said enough about why you should in the above paragraphs. The other reason would be that the second season will be starting next month!