Gunslinger Girl: An Anime Review

They have been given a second chance at life… But at what cost?

Gunslinger Girl, directed by Morio Asaka with a compelling and heart-warming soundtrack by Toshihiko Sahashi, is one anime that is much more than meets the eye.  Initially, the anime connoisseur may think, “Is this some kind of pedophilic  version of Ghost in the Shell and Steel Angel Kurumi combined?  Well, actually… almost.  Gunslinger Girl explores the same kind of identity crisis/cyborg Pinocchio dilemma as a lot of anime these days.  What sets Gunslinger Girl apart from the others is its concentration on the idea of parenthood and free will.  At once alarming and sweet, Gunslinger Girl is a very self-conscious show that asks the viewer as well as itself:  Isn’t there something wrong here?

Set in Italy (another Pinocchio connection) of presumably our present, a secret governmental organization by the name of the Social Welfare Agency, ostensibly a charitable institution sponsored by the Italian government. While the Agency professes to aid the rehabilitation of the physically injured, it is actually a military organization specializing in counter-intelligence and counter-terrorism.  This organization operates on near dead or terminally ill female children, “conditions” (brainwashes) them, and then uses them as assassins.  Before they can enter the real and deadly world of fighting the ubiquitous bad guy, they are paired with adult male agents who give them new names and train them in gun-toting and hand-to-hand combat.  This pair is called fratello, Italian for “siblings.”

As the series commences, the eager viewer is given snippets of the previous and current lives of the (mostly) prepubescent assassins one by one.  Often incredibly disturbing, their pasts are hinted at rather than explicitly explained.  Except for Rico, the youngest of the assassins, whose conditioning is the most effective.  (The younger, the better after all.)  Rico, an invalid since birth, was confined to a hospital bed, her parents often bickering over her hospital bills… Until one day Rico is given a brand new, agile body that gives her the freedom of movement and exploration.  Freedom, of course, within the compounds of the agency and the missions during which she is accompanied by Jean, her “handler” and the other half of the fratello.  ”It’s best not to think of them as human,” he often says.

Henrietta, the series’ protagonist, is seemingly the most fragile member of the group–often shooting askew when jealous or distracted.  Her feelings for Jose (her handler) are of admiration and love.  Cautiously, Jose returns these feelings, calling her “[his] Henrietta.”  Before her dystopian rescue, Henrietta was found near-death and “assaulted” in her family’s home, surrounded by their corpses.

A major part of the young cyborgs’ training is learning to actually behave like… little girls.  Something Henrietta wants more than anything.

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AL9DQXrwmF4]