by Troy Gardner

Created on: July 23, 2009

Gunslinger Girl is an anime series that is, at its heart, disturbing. Taking the concept of Girls and Guns to its extreme, its plot is concerned with the girls of the Italian Social Welfare Agency. Ostensibly an agency to help those in need, it is in truth a front for a quasi-military anti-terrorist operation. The twist that is supposed to hook the viewer is that the girls are actually cyborgs trained as assassins to kill those darned annoying terrorists.

To be truthful, there is nothing all that disturbing on the surface of this show. Taken at face value, it's a show about guns, girls and fighting terrorists. It's fairly slow moving, as it focuses more on developing the characters then on advancing the plot. What is disturbing is the underlying layers that are revealed about these child assassins.

As we grow to know these children, we realize that yes, they ARE children. The dawning horror as you realize the abuse Rico is taking, the depths of obsession Henrietta displays, the awareness of what she's become of Triela. It's not disturbing until you realize the depths of characterization that have been written into these adolescent girls who have been transformed into monsters. It is sometimes hard to watch, as I keep picturing my niece in the same situation. That is where the true disturbance lies. We all know girl children. Most of the ones we know are not cold blooded killers detached from any bit of humanity. When you take the people you know and try to picture them in the same situations, the tragedy of their lives shines through.

With its slow pacing and without a strong focus on the action, Gunslinger Girls will not appeal to everyone. However, I love this show. It has very strong characterization, both of the girls and of their handlers. The music is perfect for evoking the haunting beauty of Italy. The animation is colorful and fluid. All in all, this has been and is one of my favorite shows. I recommend it to anyone looking for anime that goes deeper then the surface, for a show that requires some thought to pull the most out of it. This is not a show that you just sit back and let it flow over you, it forces you to think about it, about the girls and what is being done to them. Now, if only I could convince my friends to watch it.

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