The thing is, the first season was a fairly accurate adaptation of the manga's early shorter stories most of the time. I think the shading and more drab color of season 1 is more in line with the orginal manga then brighter and smoother looking of season 2, if we compare with the colored artwork seen on the volume covers for instance.
Also the manga is very depressing and it keeps treating each mission with gravitas. I never thought that the focus was girls with guns. "Girls and guns" is a mean to convey some military grade tactics and the methods of highly trained agents. That's how I viewed it. The 1st season is like that so I am astonished by the tone of the 2nd season
Oh man, I still remember this show! Watched anime first season then finished with manga, had no idea there was a second season before jumping into manga. Iirc the whole "why little girls" thing was pretty much the same vague explanation that was used for Little Sisters in Bioshock. I remember both of them feeling incredibly arbitrary but in general I'm willing to accept vague worldbuilding explanations if it's obvious the author really just wants specific vibes and aesthetic lol
vague? It was pretty openly stated the kids were chosen in the first few chapters because : a. the brainwashing works easier on children's brain b. the Gov agency hunted unwanted orphans cause no-one will be looking for them (since the kids aren't going to last more than a few years after bionic enhancements even if they survive their gunfights) c. nobody expects kids as assassins - just like in real life it wasn't for vibes and aesthetics, the author wants to point that the government agency here is just as bad as the terrorists. A point that was driven home by the last few chapters of the Manga ending.
The bittersweet tone of the first was why it's still one of my favourite animé. Thanks for explaining why I ended up dropping S2, and never got into the manga.
Outstanding video. I was ready to roll my eyes and close the screen for the first minute or so of the video, but you wrote a compelling writeup. I'm going to check out Gunslinger Girl once I'm done with my current series. Great video, thanks for uploading. Have a happy Thanksgiving next week, Crusader.
Years ago, when I first heard of Gunslinger Girl, I was hesitant to watch it because I wasn't sure I wanted to see a show about young girls being used & abused by being turned into sociopathic assassins. Kind of dark. In the end, curiosity won out & I watched season 1. And...I absolutely LOVED it! Then, I followed it up with season 2. I literally don't remember anything about season 2 except for my strong dislike of the drastically different visual presentation & being annoyed that the character implied to have died in season 1 is perfectly fine without explanation. Now I want to watch it again (at least season 1, anyway). A hauntingly beautiful show.
On an unrelated note, I miss the 2000s and 2010s eras of anime when the anime have good plot, themes, and most of all, awesome action sequences. If you compare the anime of current years with those, you will find how smooth and good the action sequences. Nowadays, it doesn't matter how good the manga is, if your animation studio lacks funding or dedicated staff, the anime will be generic at best or downright horrible & unwatchable at worst. My favorite anime of the 2000s are Black Cat and Gun x Sword. If you haven't watched them, I highly recommend checking them out. Claymore is also an underrated gem but the anime is too different from the manga for me to enjoy. The action sequences are god-tier and didn't need massive budget to look THAT GOOD. Honest, the action sequences of those anime captivated me far more than the high-budget ones in today's famous series, such as Demon Slayer, FATE series, Jujutsu Kaisen, and some others.
This manga is one of the few who dared to imply government agencies aren't good. Heck, there's one member of the Fratello (Claes's handler) that wanted to talk to the press about the agency. The next panel about him is how he died in a hit & run "accident" just before his meeting. Good manga, definitely something worth reading
Gunslinger girl was one of the first animes I'd watched and I really enjoyed every bit of it when I later found out it had a second season I was excited to give it a watch but was soon let down by how different it was or how different it seemed to me. I've never really seen or heard anyone else talk about this anime so its cool to see people still remember it.
Such a beautiful show. It really is a work of art, and the ending to the first season is incredibly memorable to me. Definitely my personal top 10 anime for sure
Noir is the best Girls With Guns Anime, in fact it's the best Anime ever made period. And it's an Anime Original so no Manga comparison discourse to deal with.
Noir is kino. I made a video on it last year are randomly stumbling upon that show and it was such a treat. I will watch the other ones in the "trilogy" at some point.
I've been subbed to you for a while and that makes this video feel all the stranger as I just actually rewatched both the Gunslinger Girl seasons and started the manga. It had been maybe 15 years since I watched the anime the first time
Great analysis, I remember watching the 1st season and being absolutely moved by the level of storytelling and detail hinted in it, like an incredible movie condensing down a great work further explained in a book but subtly implied and left open to interpretation. But it was quite surprising that he didn't like the direction, changed it and was in charge of what it became. I was pretty devastated after the poetic 1st season ended and I found the 2nd season, I desperately wanted to know more about the subtilties of character development the next season would offer but was quite disappointed with my older brother who came across it as well. I understand he didn't want things changed but I thought their adaptation was beautiful and I agree with the video.
Damn I loved this series, and yes I COMPLETELY agree. Il Teatrino sucked and destroyed the vibe. I did enjoy the gunplay, especially Triela and her Shotgun work, but as you said that wasn't what made the story compelling. Even 14-16ish year old me was mature enough to see that. It was all the stuff between the fights that made it work. The uncomfortable looks from the handlers. The attempt to balance raising them as weapons and giving them some semblance of normalcy, and the confusing duality that the girls experience as a result of that. That was what made GSG so amazing to me. Incidentally Triela is 100% the reason why I have a shotgun setup with a bayonet. It ain't a Winchester 1897 with that iconic short sword of a bayonet, but it's my modern interpretation.
The reason the anime's first season differed so much from the manga makes perfect sense when you look at a timeline. The anime aired 17 months after the manga's first chapter was published. That means the anime entered production right before or right after the manga's first chapter was published. The anime producers had one volume of a manga to work on that was published during production and likely a concept sketch from the author on the larger plan of the manga so they took many artistic liberties. Yu Aida was an author who just started his first serialized manga so it makes sense he wasn't involved much in the anime and left it to seasoned anime staff. What Madhouse produced was very different than Yu Aida's vision. The first season of the anime focused on sentimentality and leaned into that tragic aspect of the story when the author wasn't focused on tragedy or sentimentality. Yu Aida did use that as an initial hook, but he had a much larger vision for that story that I personally he achieved by the end of the manga. It makes sense that many people liked the first season because people gravitate towards sentimentality. The problem with sentimentality is that it can't keep a story going. It's great for a movie, but it doesn't work for manga that would end up taking a decade to complete. The larger commentary of Gunslinger Girl makes more sense if you look at the world back in 2002. The 9/11 Terrorist Attacks shocked the world and everything changed overnight. Fear overtook the major countries at the time and they all took extreme and drastic action that they would come to regret later. The United States started two wars and even Japan sent its Self Defense Force to Iraq in a non-combat capacity. The story of Gunslinger Girl takes place after the Government of Italy took a drastic action they would definitely regret later to deal with the terrorism threats that had a legitimate chance of breaking the state. This is a story of a different era and I find it is the best one to capture the feeling of that era. I could say much more because Gunslinger Girls is one of my favorite manga but that would be too much for a UA-cam comment.
I did not expect to like this series, but it's strangly grounded for the premise. I was actually okay with the second season, despite it's rough edges.
Same here. I actually liked S2 more- because it was an actual story. S1was ok. But I think smaller vignettes are better when they are all loosely connected to an over arching plot line. Even a small one is better than nearly none at all. At least for me. I didn't like the art/animation change or the many changes to Rico and the others. But I really liked Triella(sp?) a bit more in S2. Though the animation issues tried my patience, at times.
@@windeen i basically had the same take. Fortunately I'd fallen off the series for about a year before i got to the next season, so the quality shift didn't hit me as hard.
I remember reading the manga and thought that it's dark tone fit well with the story, aside from all the action I started to question myself what kind of sick agency would use girls as tools to take down terrorists, I still have the manga till this day
I really only heard about this series thanks to the Girls' Frontline collab, and I can see why they chose Gunslinger Girl since they both share a lot of similarities both premise and thematic wise with how girls are turned into weapons and have to come to terms with how much humanity they're willing to sacrifice or retain.
I remember learning about this anime on the anime wiki page in the early 2010s. It was like the random wiki page of the day that had it show up multiple times as the random wiki page of the day.
First season has that special "uncanny feeling" like Haibane Renmei and the likes, where it's "realistic" enough to pull you into the world, but you yearn for uncovering more of what the "world" is hiding from you. Realistic but creepy/intriguing enough to feel wanderlust
I always found it very strange that S2 turned out like that considering the manga never leaves that dark tone. I would hope that season 2 is just a fluke and it wasnt him deliberately changing it to that. also while gunslinger girl treads a dangerous line i think its ending message of "the guy who fell in weird love with his underage partner is shot in the head and dies" so id like to hope aida had some degree of consciousness about what he was cooking up
I've always been more interested in the word build and lore than in the story of the girls themselves, all the various factions are clearly inspired by real existing groups, and if you're Italian it's impossible not to catch the references.
So speaking of the professional, it seems like this is La Femme Nikita the original TV show in season one and then La Femme Nikita the CW remake in season two
I never did finish the first season of gunslinger girl, but I always remembered it bec of its style. Now I’m debating to just watch season one and be done with it, I don’t want anything to do with season 2 tbh. But also, I always had my suspicions, but now that I know the creator is a peedo, I feel less inclined to pick it up again.
Sometimes i feel that the author was a big gun otaku, and wanted to make a manga based on his interest, but obviously had to have something of substance so its placement in the product made sense.
Saint Seiya also had a better version in the anime than the manga, at least in the first thirs, but the difference is that the author took influence from the anime to improve his art and storytelling🧐
I vividly remember saying "WHAT THE FUCK" when I tried to watch s2. I really love s1, and its sad what happened to it. I don't think I'll ever try and finish, it just looks and feels wrong lol.
I always liked season 1 though I never watched 2, due to the stylistically changes. I must admit there's always something sus about an adult man who only writes about young girls paired up with older men lol
I strongly disagree with this. And I actually have to defend Season 2 here. Season 2's first few episodes were rough true, very rough, extremely rough even. It leaves a bad impression. But after you adjust to the artstyle change and you wait for the quality to increase I actually do feel like it fits alright with season 1. And I will say although the manga author was involved he couldn't really influence how much production quality that the studio put into it. He likely only influenced the designs and the more action focus. Season 2 didn't have as much down time to focus on more emotional issues. Although I'd argue they did fit some of that with the kaleidoscope and also Triela being very down on herself around the end. I choose to view season 2 not as a departure but as a more fast paced moment in their story. (Albeit it should have had the action quality for this path) Much like how character relationships tend to take a backseat whenever a Shounen goes into an action-heavy arc. Going back to the mangaka and the manga, every mangaka would love to have the best possible quality and character writing for their anime adaptation. He did not cause these things to be worse than season 1 and the artstyle of the manga is good and can still serve a serious story. The issue here was the studio was clearly just not up to par with the original studio. He wasn't like "You didn't make my anime close enough to my manga, I'm taking it to this other studio!". Anime adaptions are more complicated than that. If it was on the table to get the same studio to adapt season 2 then I'm certain he would have taken it and they would have had no problem using an artstyle closer to his own. If it was the same studio and with his same level of involvement then I'm certain it would have retained season 1's quality, so it wasn't his fault really. And lastly, manga is a very different medium from anime, the pacing is far faster in most manga, anime studios not only effect the quality of animation and visuals but also the writing and how to portray scenes and the music. A studio that had an atrocious lack of art quality in the first few episodes was of course not going to write the story or make the music as well as the previous studio that did everything with exceptional quality. It was not the mangaka's fault and nor is there anything wrong with the manga to make season 2 turn out worse than season 1. And I of course don't think the anime is ruined, season 2 did eventually pull itself together and delivered a good experience even if it started out rough. And of course. As an anime channel you should be used to the fanservice eroge goon stuff by now. Nothing odd about that. Its how anime always has been. No reason for it to effect how you see Gunslinger Girl except for virtue signaling. The only thought a fan should have after hearing about the eroge VN is "What??! I'm shocked!.... Where can I buy it though?".
As a fan of both the anime series and the manga series I dislike season 1 because it doesn't follow the manga series . Any anime series job is to adapt and elevate the source material not drastically change it on the whims of the studio . While I love mad house they done some shit jobs at adapting the source material for multiple series . Granted season 2 has issues but I'd take those over changing the entire story . Without the manga series we wouldn't have the anime series
the reason why manga readers feels superior to anime watchers is that they have the power to spoil the whole story to a person who doesnt read the manga.. but when the anime doesnt follow the source materials they get mad and and always say the manga is better.. sick and tired of their bullshit..
>calls an eroge a hentai game >the author ruined the story (it just changed studios?) >90% recap >No Sources,No research >Doesn't realize why a monthly manga would have gaps between anime seasons >Average anituber
Seems you missed a few things in your viewing, though might just be whichever dub/sub you used. They do explain why the augmentations are only done on kids. It's basically becomethe standard explanation now for any fiction involving augmentation, it's that adults don't take to it and their bodies reject the augmentations. As for why use little girls, and by extension why not boys, it actually does sort of make sense and they allude to it in some of their conversations. Primarily seeing an adult with a child is naturally disarming. I mean what are the chances that father daughter duo over there are about to hand your ass to you? Basically 0 outside of this series, and you're probably just going to brush them off as passers by. A lone fighting age male like any of the actual adults in this show hanging around your hideout? Damn, I think he's a fed bro! On the other hand little boys while not typically seen as a threat still draw negative attention. For example a wary drug smuggler might be more suspicious of a boy as they're more likely to be up to mischief like pick pocketing which could expose their operation. Whether or not that's true of course doesn't matter, society views little girls as more innocent.
I thought I'd be able to watch season 2 since I liked the manga so much, at least the material would be alright, but the production is just so shit and unwatchable I tapped out in half an episode; thanks shakey cam. Does it get any better past the first episode?
This seems extremely lame to me. I don't know; it just sounds stupid. I enjoy anime that can plausibly be somewhat realistic. A little girl who has 10% of the bone density and muscle strength of a grown man is going to dive into a gunfight with an automatic rifle? She wouldn't have the strength to keep the recoil under control to have any kind of accuracy.
I came here expecting a manga comparison, and i was dissapointed. "s2 is not really s2" No S1 was not really S1 because Madhouse didn't do their job, it doesn't matter if it was good or if people like it the point is that they failed the project by not doing their job properly. If Madhouse wanted to tell their story they should have never adapted the manga instead made an original anime, and then we would have gotten the s2 everyone wanted.
I think you have to look at the two seasons from 2 directions. Plot and production. Artland was clearly working on a smaller budget, and this really impacts parts of Il Teatrino. The designs are simpler (and cuter), though the noses are smaller and they clearly don't have the available talent time or money to sakuga the bits that need it (and the early episodes are the weakest, which is unusual). Plot-wise though, it manages to hit most of Aida's beats from Volume 3-to early 6. This is tricky, because this arc is about Triela, who is the big outlier among the girls (Henrietta is the "Face", but Triela has a character arc). This arc takes up some bits from episode 4 season 1 (her solo arc) and sets up Volume 10 of the Manga (which is a major payoff point). Triela, at some level knows that all is not well with the agency or her job, she is just set on making the most of the hand she has been dealt (which is why losing to an "ordinary" human hurts) her pose post first Pinocchio fight is clearly a shout-out to another character she is likely drawn from. I think you misread Rico slightly, Rico is the violence of innocence personified. She has virtually no socialization or life pre-Jean (she doesn't have much to forget), so she is effectively an attack dog, or Frankenstein's Monster. Triela understands how morally dubious things are (Claes sorta does), Rico is all about the novelty of new experiences "Jean wants me to hit someone, new experience!" Rico is so happy to be doing SOMETHING, and so innocent about life that she can be both cloyingly cute and frighteningly merciless at the same time (like say her night at the opera). The best description I could come up for the premise (which definitely lifts a LOT from Besson, both "Leon" and "La Femme Nikita") is that it's a bit like Bioshock, but here the "little sisters" ARE the "Big Daddies". The shotgun bit actually HAS a very good explanation. Triela is "top loading" from the bandolier on the stock (and there are clearly multiple types of shells in it). Something similar happens near the end of Manga Volume 9. Madhouse did a very good adaption of Aida's "Set up" chapters. But, They were clearly trying to wrap things up in one season. AND, while their extra material isn't BAD, the climatic fight doesn't do much for the story. It also comes off like a "Desert Rose" story, which isn't a terribly good look, since the assault on the safe house Franco and company skip out on had some shots likely lifted from another "Desert Rose" story (all the way back to the manga). The second season is telling an entire arc, but one that clearly has a "chapter 3". It is nowhere near as well made, but it hits the important beats, and hints at further developments (except for Henrietta, whose bits are in season 1). The first season is a limited story told very well, the second season is a better story, with a lot less care and budget behind it. Oh, and yes the Manga is definitely better. If for no other reason than Movie Claes reports on is "A River Runs Through it", specifically showing the scene where the brother's run the rapids in a "borrowed" boat.
Thanks for the video, now I understand why some people like this show. Personally, I'm not likely to ever watch it anyway. Girls and guns - it is ok for me, but this girls look like they're 11 years old (they're not even teenagers, but literally little children) and that's just too much dumb concept for me. No matter how hard Madhouse tries to make this a serious story, I still get the feeling that it's just a sublimation of some sick fantasies of the author.
The thing is, the first season was a fairly accurate adaptation of the manga's early shorter stories most of the time. I think the shading and more drab color of season 1 is more in line with the orginal manga then brighter and smoother looking of season 2, if we compare with the colored artwork seen on the volume covers for instance.
Also the manga is very depressing and it keeps treating each mission with gravitas.
I never thought that the focus was girls with guns.
"Girls and guns" is a mean to convey some military grade tactics and the methods of highly trained agents.
That's how I viewed it. The 1st season is like that so I am astonished by the tone of the 2nd season
I feel like I'm one of the only people to seriously love this show. I'm glad to see it getting the recognition it deserves.
I think both are pretty great as for the Anime Season 1 is the best besides the Ovas
Oh man, I still remember this show! Watched anime first season then finished with manga, had no idea there was a second season before jumping into manga. Iirc the whole "why little girls" thing was pretty much the same vague explanation that was used for Little Sisters in Bioshock. I remember both of them feeling incredibly arbitrary but in general I'm willing to accept vague worldbuilding explanations if it's obvious the author really just wants specific vibes and aesthetic lol
vague? It was pretty openly stated the kids were chosen in the first few chapters because :
a. the brainwashing works easier on children's brain
b. the Gov agency hunted unwanted orphans cause no-one will be looking for them (since the kids aren't going to last more than a few years after bionic enhancements even if they survive their gunfights)
c. nobody expects kids as assassins - just like in real life
it wasn't for vibes and aesthetics, the author wants to point that the government agency here is just as bad as the terrorists.
A point that was driven home by the last few chapters of the Manga ending.
The bittersweet tone of the first was why it's still one of my favourite animé.
Thanks for explaining why I ended up dropping S2, and never got into the manga.
Outstanding video. I was ready to roll my eyes and close the screen for the first minute or so of the video, but you wrote a compelling writeup. I'm going to check out Gunslinger Girl once I'm done with my current series. Great video, thanks for uploading.
Have a happy Thanksgiving next week, Crusader.
Years ago, when I first heard of Gunslinger Girl, I was hesitant to watch it because I wasn't sure I wanted to see a show about young girls being used & abused by being turned into sociopathic assassins. Kind of dark. In the end, curiosity won out & I watched season 1. And...I absolutely LOVED it! Then, I followed it up with season 2. I literally don't remember anything about season 2 except for my strong dislike of the drastically different visual presentation & being annoyed that the character implied to have died in season 1 is perfectly fine without explanation.
Now I want to watch it again (at least season 1, anyway). A hauntingly beautiful show.
My man out here speaking the truth like usual. Triggering manga weebs, and degenerates with bad taste alike.
Many such cases
On an unrelated note, I miss the 2000s and 2010s eras of anime when the anime have good plot, themes, and most of all, awesome action sequences. If you compare the anime of current years with those, you will find how smooth and good the action sequences. Nowadays, it doesn't matter how good the manga is, if your animation studio lacks funding or dedicated staff, the anime will be generic at best or downright horrible & unwatchable at worst. My favorite anime of the 2000s are Black Cat and Gun x Sword. If you haven't watched them, I highly recommend checking them out. Claymore is also an underrated gem but the anime is too different from the manga for me to enjoy. The action sequences are god-tier and didn't need massive budget to look THAT GOOD. Honest, the action sequences of those anime captivated me far more than the high-budget ones in today's famous series, such as Demon Slayer, FATE series, Jujutsu Kaisen, and some others.
This manga is one of the few who dared to imply government agencies aren't good.
Heck, there's one member of the Fratello (Claes's handler) that wanted to talk to the press about the agency.
The next panel about him is how he died in a hit & run "accident" just before his meeting.
Good manga, definitely something worth reading
I didn't know there was a Season 2 of the anime... Still MadHouse did a superior version of this story, very tragic and beautiful 💜
Gunslinger girl was one of the first animes I'd watched and I really enjoyed every bit of it when I later found out it had a second season I was excited to give it a watch but was soon let down by how different it was or how different it seemed to me. I've never really seen or heard anyone else talk about this anime so its cool to see people still remember it.
i was cheering loud af when pinocchio threw that girl out the window. gave it a 0/10 when pinocchio died😭
I loved the show it was an experience for sure. it introduced me to the Delgados who've been one of my favourite bands of all time 🙏
i’m not even a big fan of anime anymore, but I genuinely look forward to these uploads. Helps me trim the fat of what’s worth checking out.
Such a beautiful show. It really is a work of art, and the ending to the first season is incredibly memorable to me. Definitely my personal top 10 anime for sure
the OP is
the Delgatos - light before we land
The entire album (Hate) is great.
I'm gonna start following your videos now, been intrigued by you tackling not-so-known shows 🔥
Thank you for the kino man.
Noir is the best Girls With Guns Anime, in fact it's the best Anime ever made period. And it's an Anime Original so no Manga comparison discourse to deal with.
Noir is kino. I made a video on it last year are randomly stumbling upon that show and it was such a treat. I will watch the other ones in the "trilogy" at some point.
I found Noir to be boring
Honestly every anime from that director I did not enjoy since he has reoccurring problems
thanks for making this video, this is my most favorite series and i hope more people can get into it
Are you doing a video on Jormungand next to keep with the child soldier theme?
I need to rewatch that
@@CulturedCrusader Nah, it's not that good.
This video gave me a newfound appreciation for gunslinger girl. I might just give it a rewatch.
You have my interest crusader.
I've been subbed to you for a while and that makes this video feel all the stranger as I just actually rewatched both the Gunslinger Girl seasons and started the manga. It had been maybe 15 years since I watched the anime the first time
Great analysis, I remember watching the 1st season and being absolutely moved by the level of storytelling and detail hinted in it, like an incredible movie condensing down a great work further explained in a book but subtly implied and left open to interpretation. But it was quite surprising that he didn't like the direction, changed it and was in charge of what it became. I was pretty devastated after the poetic 1st season ended and I found the 2nd season, I desperately wanted to know more about the subtilties of character development the next season would offer but was quite disappointed with my older brother who came across it as well. I understand he didn't want things changed but I thought their adaptation was beautiful and I agree with the video.
I really liked the first season years ago, but I couldn't get into the second season. Maybe one day I'll try again?
Don't
Be yourself, you will never know if its good or bad without watching it
Damn I loved this series, and yes I COMPLETELY agree. Il Teatrino sucked and destroyed the vibe. I did enjoy the gunplay, especially Triela and her Shotgun work, but as you said that wasn't what made the story compelling. Even 14-16ish year old me was mature enough to see that. It was all the stuff between the fights that made it work. The uncomfortable looks from the handlers. The attempt to balance raising them as weapons and giving them some semblance of normalcy, and the confusing duality that the girls experience as a result of that. That was what made GSG so amazing to me.
Incidentally Triela is 100% the reason why I have a shotgun setup with a bayonet. It ain't a Winchester 1897 with that iconic short sword of a bayonet, but it's my modern interpretation.
3:32 Griffithhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!
Straight up my favorite (finished) manga. Never forget the Kingdom of Pasta.
The reason the anime's first season differed so much from the manga makes perfect sense when you look at a timeline. The anime aired 17 months after the manga's first chapter was published. That means the anime entered production right before or right after the manga's first chapter was published. The anime producers had one volume of a manga to work on that was published during production and likely a concept sketch from the author on the larger plan of the manga so they took many artistic liberties. Yu Aida was an author who just started his first serialized manga so it makes sense he wasn't involved much in the anime and left it to seasoned anime staff. What Madhouse produced was very different than Yu Aida's vision. The first season of the anime focused on sentimentality and leaned into that tragic aspect of the story when the author wasn't focused on tragedy or sentimentality. Yu Aida did use that as an initial hook, but he had a much larger vision for that story that I personally he achieved by the end of the manga. It makes sense that many people liked the first season because people gravitate towards sentimentality. The problem with sentimentality is that it can't keep a story going. It's great for a movie, but it doesn't work for manga that would end up taking a decade to complete.
The larger commentary of Gunslinger Girl makes more sense if you look at the world back in 2002. The 9/11 Terrorist Attacks shocked the world and everything changed overnight. Fear overtook the major countries at the time and they all took extreme and drastic action that they would come to regret later. The United States started two wars and even Japan sent its Self Defense Force to Iraq in a non-combat capacity. The story of Gunslinger Girl takes place after the Government of Italy took a drastic action they would definitely regret later to deal with the terrorism threats that had a legitimate chance of breaking the state. This is a story of a different era and I find it is the best one to capture the feeling of that era. I could say much more because Gunslinger Girls is one of my favorite manga but that would be too much for a UA-cam comment.
I did not expect to like this series, but it's strangly grounded for the premise. I was actually okay with the second season, despite it's rough edges.
Same here. I actually liked S2 more- because it was an actual story. S1was ok. But I think smaller vignettes are better when they are all loosely connected to an over arching plot line.
Even a small one is better than nearly none at all.
At least for me.
I didn't like the art/animation change or the many changes to Rico and the others. But I really liked Triella(sp?) a bit more in S2.
Though the animation issues tried my patience, at times.
@@windeen i basically had the same take. Fortunately I'd fallen off the series for about a year before i got to the next season, so the quality shift didn't hit me as hard.
I remember reading the manga and thought that it's dark tone fit well with the story, aside from all the action I started to question myself what kind of sick agency would use girls as tools to take down terrorists, I still have the manga till this day
I watched this while making a marinade for chicken thanks man.
It's what I'm here for
i was so excited when season 2 came out, and I shut it down 10 min in from how shallow it become
I’ve had this in my MAL account for so long I’ll need to check it out. Thanks for the video. 🎥
Really love watching your video breakdowns
Damn, not sponsored! I guess I won't watch this one then
UNNNH, Time Machine Blues still!!! This is why youre the F*cking goat, CC
So you got filtered?
jk great video
Real though. I did get filtered :(
I remember when this anime came out and i finally was able to watch it. Dont remember much but still remember how bleak and empty it made me feel.
I really only heard about this series thanks to the Girls' Frontline collab, and I can see why they chose Gunslinger Girl since they both share a lot of similarities both premise and thematic wise with how girls are turned into weapons and have to come to terms with how much humanity they're willing to sacrifice or retain.
Algorithm bump. Love your stuff bro. Absolutely killing it with these videos
I remember learning about this anime on the anime wiki page in the early 2010s. It was like the random wiki page of the day that had it show up multiple times as the random wiki page of the day.
First season has that special "uncanny feeling" like Haibane Renmei and the likes, where it's "realistic" enough to pull you into the world, but you yearn for uncovering more of what the "world" is hiding from you. Realistic but creepy/intriguing enough to feel wanderlust
I never watched the anime, but I really loved the manga. I will say the final arc has some flaws, but man it really got heavy and emotional at times.
I always found it very strange that S2 turned out like that considering the manga never leaves that dark tone. I would hope that season 2 is just a fluke and it wasnt him deliberately changing it to that.
also while gunslinger girl treads a dangerous line i think its ending message of "the guy who fell in weird love with his underage partner is shot in the head and dies" so id like to hope aida had some degree of consciousness about what he was cooking up
Just wanted to say I love ur unqiue editing style
My mind after reading the title: Hajime Isayama, Gege Akutami, Aka Akasaka.
Too timely
12:42 That "camerawork" took me out for a solid minute LMAO
i didnt know there was a season 2 and im glad i didnt. it looks like crap. thanks for taking this one for the team.
This was the show, along with Cardcaptor Sakura, that showed me just how great Morio Asaka is as a director. Just excellent
Yet another perfect review :D
I've always been more interested in the word build and lore than in the story of the girls themselves, all the various factions are clearly inspired by real existing groups, and if you're Italian it's impossible not to catch the references.
I was reading Smother Me and i was thinking of Gunslinger girls, nice timing
0:30 do you know the implication of the tiple parenthesis thing?
Throw Promsied Nederland season 2 as well under this category
Did the manga author ruin that or just the studio? I can't imagine the author would want them to skip so much stuff.
@ apparently the author wanted to change things for season 2
No other details I could dig up but it was a highly divisive topic
So speaking of the professional, it seems like this is La Femme Nikita the original TV show in season one and then La Femme Nikita the CW remake in season two
I never did finish the first season of gunslinger girl, but I always remembered it bec of its style. Now I’m debating to just watch season one and be done with it, I don’t want anything to do with season 2 tbh. But also, I always had my suspicions, but now that I know the creator is a peedo, I feel less inclined to pick it up again.
P90 go pew! pew! BANG! BANG!
Gun_sounds.mp3
Must be because I never opened up the manga. But yes, my totally-not-hot take is that I prefer Season 1 for all the reasons mentioned.
I genuinely love the second season, even more than the first and the Manga... Which likely makes me the oddball here ^^...
No, Artland worked on some of the most iconic anime of all time, including the original Macross series, Bubblegum Crisis and Megazone
That's stuff they worked on with other studios. In terms of solo productions, they haven't done much.
@@CulturedCrusader Doesn't make their contribution any less relevant, there many anime that are co-productions
14:41 You had my curiosity. But _now,_ you have my attention
Even though I found season 1 a little boring I definitely liked it better than season 2. Finished the manga a few years ago😊😢
s2 ost stood out primarily because it contained all of 2 songs
Sometimes i feel that the author was a big gun otaku, and wanted to make a manga based on his interest, but obviously had to have something of substance so its placement in the product made sense.
Saint Seiya also had a better version in the anime than the manga, at least in the first thirs, but the difference is that the author took influence from the anime to improve his art and storytelling🧐
Also that itallian comment was uncalled for :(
I vividly remember saying "WHAT THE FUCK" when I tried to watch s2. I really love s1, and its sad what happened to it. I don't think I'll ever try and finish, it just looks and feels wrong lol.
I always liked season 1 though I never watched 2, due to the stylistically changes. I must admit there's always something sus about an adult man who only writes about young girls paired up with older men lol
Pretty sure they explain why they use girls instead of boys lol did you even do research?
Im a man of sin when it comes to selling out as well
Well if you think that he ruined his own manga check out oshi no ko and tell me of how they handled it.
I'll probably wait until the anime ends
I strongly disagree with this. And I actually have to defend Season 2 here.
Season 2's first few episodes were rough true, very rough, extremely rough even. It leaves a bad impression.
But after you adjust to the artstyle change and you wait for the quality to increase I actually do feel like it fits alright with season 1. And I will say although the manga author was involved he couldn't really influence how much production quality that the studio put into it. He likely only influenced the designs and the more action focus.
Season 2 didn't have as much down time to focus on more emotional issues. Although I'd argue they did fit some of that with the kaleidoscope and also Triela being very down on herself around the end. I choose to view season 2 not as a departure but as a more fast paced moment in their story. (Albeit it should have had the action quality for this path)
Much like how character relationships tend to take a backseat whenever a Shounen goes into an action-heavy arc.
Going back to the mangaka and the manga, every mangaka would love to have the best possible quality and character writing for their anime adaptation.
He did not cause these things to be worse than season 1 and the artstyle of the manga is good and can still serve a serious story.
The issue here was the studio was clearly just not up to par with the original studio. He wasn't like "You didn't make my anime close enough to my manga, I'm taking it to this other studio!".
Anime adaptions are more complicated than that. If it was on the table to get the same studio to adapt season 2 then I'm certain he would have taken it and they would have had no problem using an artstyle closer to his own.
If it was the same studio and with his same level of involvement then I'm certain it would have retained season 1's quality, so it wasn't his fault really.
And lastly, manga is a very different medium from anime, the pacing is far faster in most manga, anime studios not only effect the quality of animation and visuals but also the writing and how to portray scenes and the music.
A studio that had an atrocious lack of art quality in the first few episodes was of course not going to write the story or make the music as well as the previous studio that did everything with exceptional quality.
It was not the mangaka's fault and nor is there anything wrong with the manga to make season 2 turn out worse than season 1.
And I of course don't think the anime is ruined, season 2 did eventually pull itself together and delivered a good experience even if it started out rough.
And of course. As an anime channel you should be used to the fanservice eroge goon stuff by now.
Nothing odd about that. Its how anime always has been. No reason for it to effect how you see Gunslinger Girl except for virtue signaling.
The only thought a fan should have after hearing about the eroge VN is "What??! I'm shocked!.... Where can I buy it though?".
As a fan of both the anime series and the manga series I dislike season 1 because it doesn't follow the manga series . Any anime series job is to adapt and elevate the source material not drastically change it on the whims of the studio . While I love mad house they done some shit jobs at adapting the source material for multiple series . Granted season 2 has issues but I'd take those over changing the entire story . Without the manga series we wouldn't have the anime series
The manga is peak though.
I’m pretty sure the fans can’t really decide on what mood for a manga they don’t write for.
authors may have written the story, but that doesn't mean they can't lose the plot.
the reason why manga readers feels superior to anime watchers is that they have the power to spoil the whole story to a person who doesnt read the manga.. but when the anime doesnt follow the source materials they get mad and and always say the manga is better.. sick and tired of their bullshit..
>calls an eroge a hentai game
>the author ruined the story (it just changed studios?)
>90% recap
>No Sources,No research
>Doesn't realize why a monthly manga would have gaps between anime seasons
>Average anituber
Bro I swear I’ve heard your voice before? Did u use to work for another channel or something?
Nope
ItAliOn - Cultured Crusador
Anime being better than the manga also applies to Kare Kano and yu yu hakusho.
Seems you missed a few things in your viewing, though might just be whichever dub/sub you used. They do explain why the augmentations are only done on kids. It's basically becomethe standard explanation now for any fiction involving augmentation, it's that adults don't take to it and their bodies reject the augmentations.
As for why use little girls, and by extension why not boys, it actually does sort of make sense and they allude to it in some of their conversations. Primarily seeing an adult with a child is naturally disarming. I mean what are the chances that father daughter duo over there are about to hand your ass to you? Basically 0 outside of this series, and you're probably just going to brush them off as passers by. A lone fighting age male like any of the actual adults in this show hanging around your hideout? Damn, I think he's a fed bro! On the other hand little boys while not typically seen as a threat still draw negative attention. For example a wary drug smuggler might be more suspicious of a boy as they're more likely to be up to mischief like pick pocketing which could expose their operation. Whether or not that's true of course doesn't matter, society views little girls as more innocent.
Gunslinger Girl S2 was mediocrity from the Action to the Character designs
I thought I'd be able to watch season 2 since I liked the manga so much, at least the material would be alright, but the production is just so shit and unwatchable I tapped out in half an episode; thanks shakey cam. Does it get any better past the first episode?
Artland Made Hirman Reborn
There is no Season 2, just like how there is no Tsukihime anime.
Man I disliked that series. Could not get into it at all. And this was when I'd watch an entire season just to see if it would get better. *sigh*.
Then watch it again, this time without your head up your ass. You'd be surprised how much of a difference that makes.
good taste
I'll just watch John Wick.
Let’s go!
the blond girl looks like piko from boku no pico with a gun
SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP
who tf pronounces italian as eye-talian?
Literally everyone?
This seems extremely lame to me. I don't know; it just sounds stupid. I enjoy anime that can plausibly be somewhat realistic. A little girl who has 10% of the bone density and muscle strength of a grown man is going to dive into a gunfight with an automatic rifle? She wouldn't have the strength to keep the recoil under control to have any kind of accuracy.
Then you weren't paying attention. They were cyberneticly enhanced, dude. It literally said this. Try actually listening.
Youjo Senki manga was also worse than the anime.
I came here expecting a manga comparison, and i was dissapointed.
"s2 is not really s2"
No S1 was not really S1 because Madhouse didn't do their job, it doesn't matter if it was good or if people like it the point is that they failed the project by not doing their job properly.
If Madhouse wanted to tell their story they should have never adapted the manga instead made an original anime, and then we would have gotten the s2 everyone wanted.
Filtered
It's over
I think you have to look at the two seasons from 2 directions. Plot and production.
Artland was clearly working on a smaller budget, and this really impacts parts of Il Teatrino. The designs are simpler (and cuter), though the noses are smaller and they clearly don't have the available talent time or money to sakuga the bits that need it (and the early episodes are the weakest, which is unusual). Plot-wise though, it manages to hit most of Aida's beats from Volume 3-to early 6. This is tricky, because this arc is about Triela, who is the big outlier among the girls (Henrietta is the "Face", but Triela has a character arc). This arc takes up some bits from episode 4 season 1 (her solo arc) and sets up Volume 10 of the Manga (which is a major payoff point). Triela, at some level knows that all is not well with the agency or her job, she is just set on making the most of the hand she has been dealt (which is why losing to an "ordinary" human hurts) her pose post first Pinocchio fight is clearly a shout-out to another character she is likely drawn from.
I think you misread Rico slightly, Rico is the violence of innocence personified. She has virtually no socialization or life pre-Jean (she doesn't have much to forget), so she is effectively an attack dog, or Frankenstein's Monster. Triela understands how morally dubious things are (Claes sorta does), Rico is all about the novelty of new experiences "Jean wants me to hit someone, new experience!" Rico is so happy to be doing SOMETHING, and so innocent about life that she can be both cloyingly cute and frighteningly merciless at the same time (like say her night at the opera).
The best description I could come up for the premise (which definitely lifts a LOT from Besson, both "Leon" and "La Femme Nikita") is that it's a bit like Bioshock, but here the "little sisters" ARE the "Big Daddies".
The shotgun bit actually HAS a very good explanation. Triela is "top loading" from the bandolier on the stock (and there are clearly multiple types of shells in it). Something similar happens near the end of Manga Volume 9.
Madhouse did a very good adaption of Aida's "Set up" chapters. But, They were clearly trying to wrap things up in one season. AND, while their extra material isn't BAD, the climatic fight doesn't do much for the story. It also comes off like a "Desert Rose" story, which isn't a terribly good look, since the assault on the safe house Franco and company skip out on had some shots likely lifted from another "Desert Rose" story (all the way back to the manga). The second season is telling an entire arc, but one that clearly has a "chapter 3". It is nowhere near as well made, but it hits the important beats, and hints at further developments (except for Henrietta, whose bits are in season 1).
The first season is a limited story told very well, the second season is a better story, with a lot less care and budget behind it.
Oh, and yes the Manga is definitely better. If for no other reason than Movie Claes reports on is "A River Runs Through it", specifically showing the scene where the brother's run the rapids in a "borrowed" boat.
Thanks for the video, now I understand why some people like this show. Personally, I'm not likely to ever watch it anyway. Girls and guns - it is ok for me, but this girls look like they're 11 years old (they're not even teenagers, but literally little children) and that's just too much dumb concept for me. No matter how hard Madhouse tries to make this a serious story, I still get the feeling that it's just a sublimation of some sick fantasies of the author.
Neat