Gunslinger Girl: Il Teatrino

The original Gunslinger Girl anime by Madhouse was somewhat revolutionary back when it came out. The most critical consensus turned out to be a perfect 10/10 for the series due to its excellent cast of characters, a fantastic story that was constructed with a lot of love, and some of the best action you could ask for.

The second anime, Il Teatrino, is very different from its predecessor, mainly because it was handled by Artland, who wasn’t known for making the best stuff. Most of what they did before Gunslinger Girl: Il Teatrino was support work in projects such as School Rumble and Star Ocean EX.

The one time they took the lead was with Ichiban Ushiro no Dai Mao, which was one of the worst projects I’ve personally seen in a long time. Though that doesn’t mean they aren’t good at their craft, Gunslinger Girl: Il Teatrino certainly is the anime that proves that they can bring the heat when required. 

The story follows a trio of girls who are operators for an organization known as the Social Welfare Agency, aka the SWA. The SWA is an organization hell-bent on keeping the peace around the world. However, once their rival organization, known as the Five Republics, which are also somewhat of a radical terrorist group, starts to become more of a threat, the girls must infiltrate and get to the bottom of their plans. 

I will say that this series differs a lot without spoiling much, even in its story content. The original anime’s story was primarily stand-alone episodes about the Gunslinger Girls going on various missions, whereas this one has a continuity going for it.

The villains here are a terrorist cell working within the shadows, and the tasks that they embark on during their journeys have that same cell involved one way or another. The existence of continuity means that the studio could build more tension in the series and create proper antagonists instead of just random characters they run into.  

Having proper antagonists and a structured continuity enables the writers to bring a sense of moral ambiguity to the series. The girls aren't just fighting mindless bad guys. These bad guys have motivations and dreams of their own. Their agendas aren't as simple as just being a bad guy. 

Flashbacks are a bit overused in this series, and they make the story feel a bit more bogged down. The characters are explored very deeply through many different ways, such as episodes that focus mainly on one of them and through the flashbacks, present-day scenes, and a ton of beautifully written interactions between them. The flashbacks bring a lot of depth to the characters and help develop them more. 

Now, I have a bit of a gripe with this series. The fact that the animation and the artwork aren’t even on par with the original, let alone as good as the competition back in 2008, is a bit confusing. Don't get me wrong, the action animation is quite pleasant to the eyes and is probably the best part of the series, in all honesty. It is so well done.

The action flows fluidly as well as smoothly without any issues with designs. You can easily indicate what is happening on screen and who it is happening to. The characters stand out as well, albeit they are almost identical to the character designs in the original series. At the same time, the artwork is excellent in the present-day scenes and decent enough during the flashback sequences. 

However, the issues begin when we come to the topic of the flashbacks. For some reason, the studio thought that the viewers would be a bit too daft to realize which scenes are flashbacks and which are set in the present time. So instead of creating a variation in the design of the characters, they just added a grainy and filmy filter to the entirety of the sequences.

These sequences take up a lot of screen time throughout the whole thing, mind you. This was a massive issue for me personally, as it wasn't just unpleasant to the eyes; it was also unnecessary. It took away a lot of the ambiguity that the series was trying to show, as it didn't follow the themes that the series was trying to put forward for the viewers. 

I can still say that the artwork was quite decent in the present day, though, and the animation was fluid enough as well. However, the final fight sequence was bogged down a bit by a weird effect throughout the whole thing. It made watching the sequence a bit hard because you couldn’t tell what was going on on the screen. 

This was a bit annoying, mainly because the fight sequences are the meat of the series, and it took away from that whole fluid and smooth aspect that we all came to love throughout the entire series. 

The soundtrack, on the other hand, is delightful. Like the original series, this one also features a soundtrack that you can vibe out to. This soundtrack was so much more enthusiastic than the original, yet also featured some somber and mellow tunes that you could play during relaxing moments.

Every single sequence in the series has themes attached to it, and the soundtrack delivers those themes to greater heights. It brought a lot of depth to the characters and the events we witnessed unfold on screen. It was indeed one of the best aspects of this series in general. 

Gunslinger Girl: Il Teatrino is by far a much more ambitious sequel ever. It has a much better vision, with a larger story and characters with rich storylines. There are issues, especially during the flashback sequences and their overuse, not to mention the horrendous art design choices in some sequences. However, these issues do not detract from the experience.  

It can be known as one of the most entertaining animes of 2008. It has everything going for it! From the fantastic action set pieces, unforgettable characters with rich backstories, astounding antagonists, and a narrative that you will love to explore. It was a massive leap in ambition and brought in many changes that I couldn’t have imagined, yet I loved every single bit of it. 

Gunslinger Girls’ Review (Season One)

https://pinnedupink.com/blogs/flashbacks/gunslinger-girl

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