Can't decide - any good?

[desert_skunk]

Hi Miaka-chan, Personaly I wouldn't call Gunslinger Girl your average girls with guns series like Burst Angel, Noir, Madlax etc, It does have splashes of action but I found it to be also an emotional drama about this group of very young girls who along with their older male trainers( don't worry it isn't as bad as it sounds) are learning to deal with well becoming cold blooded killers, and the admiration they have for their trainers. In some terms Gunslinger Girl is very reminiscent of Leon 'the Professinal' with Jean Reno and Gary Oldman. While I enjoy watching action packed G with G shows like Noir, Madlax etc I found the drama in Gunslinger Girl more rewarding than it's action momments.

PS. I need to learn how to type faster as Manji beat me too your reply

 

[harkins]

for a very long time it was the gun-fetishists anime of choice.

I really fancy seeing Gunslinger Girls as I've heard only good things about it. But what do you mean by the gun-fetishists comment? Do you mean in terms of technical accuracy of firearms or just 'girls with guns'?

 

[Miaka-chan]

Thanks for the input ^__^
One more thing about Gunslinger Girl: what is the approx. age of the girls and ditto for the trainers? plus is the premise aimed solely at a male audience, or is there enough of an interesting storyline to please a female viewer?

 

[Laughing Manji]

for a very long time it was the gun-fetishists anime of choice.

I really fancy seeing Gunslinger Girls as I've heard only good things about it. But what do you mean by the gun-fetishists comment? Do you mean in terms of technical accuracy of firearms or just 'girls with guns'?

The technical accuracy and attention to detail. While I am unfamiliar with the handguns, I can certainly recognise many of the larger firearms, Rico's Dragunov, Triela with the Franchi SPAS fixation (and a bayonet, on a shotgun hides under bed) and Henrietta's P90.

Its possible that Black Lagoon might have taken the crown now, though it goes for high action over gritty realism.

PS. I need to learn how to type faster as Manji beat me too your reply

I take meeting minutes for people with borderline tourettes syndrome. You can never beat my 1337 typing skills.

Oh yeah Miaka-chan - I just remembered the title of that pseudo-kenshin title: Shura no Toki

 

[Miaka-chan]

Oh yeah Miaka-chan - I just remembered the title of that pseudo-kenshin title: Shura no Toki

I kept seeing that everywhere I looked! I even saw a preview and every time though noooooooooooo! Too ugly, nothing appealing, but if I get really desperate for some samurai action, I may have no choice :?

 

[Laughing Manji]

Thanks for the input ^__^
One more thing about Gunslinger Girl: what is the approx. age of the girls and ditto for the trainers? plus is the premise aimed solely at a male audience, or is there enough of an interesting storyline to please a female viewer?

Yes the stories are good. Its actually the strength of the show. You feel sympathy for the girls, and a certain amount of horror about what they have been turned into, but its the handlers that you as a viewer identify with. They all bond to the girls in different ways, often unintentionally, and some of them despite their best efforts to maintain an emotional distance. All of them are human, but the task demanded of them is monstrous.

At its heart Gunslinger Girls is a Moe anime. The girls have had a rough life typically, so that even turning them into combat machines in itself is a kind of mercy. The girls are around 12-14 years old. The handlers are adults, the outwardly youngest, including Jose & Ferro might be late 20s, but most are older, some considerably so.

Also, I personally felt a bit nostalgic about the depictions of Italy.

Oh yeah Miaka-chan - I just remembered the title of that pseudo-kenshin title: Shura no Toki

I kept seeing that everywhere I looked! I even saw a preview and every time though noooooooooooo! Too ugly, nothing appealing, but if I get really desperate for some samurai action, I may have no choice :?

And the worst thing is, its not even Samurai stuff - its Meiji era-ish historical anime I guess, but the main protagonist fights without weapons. I also get the impression that it is based on a much longer manga, so you run into that 'incomplete/rushed ending anime' I suspect.

A friend of mine enjoyed it though, but I got personally turned off by the unimpressive animation in the first episode.

Scratching my head over other titles .... well theres Samurai Gun which is actually quite pants. There is also Wrath of the Ninja which is meant to be quite good actually, but there is a cut & an uncut version, watch what you buy.

We will soon be able to look forward to Afro Samurai, for a given value of 'look forward'. There is also Bushi Lord - GAINAX making an original movie, due out whenever (its been very quiet lately).

You are likely to find a lot more ninja stuff. Kage Kara Mamoru (fansub) was dumb fun. Twas Ok, but I expected to enjoy it more, but I was spoiled by the sublime 2x2=Shinobuden/Ninja Nonsense. Himawari (ninja girls-only school) (fansub) looked kind of interesting too, certainly it was very well animated but never truly grabbed me.

Lastly theres a samurai character in Cheeky Angel and Sakura Wars. Its about the most tenuous connections I can think of. Whereas Sakura Wars is kind of wierd, Cheeky Angel is sublime.

 

[Miaka-chan]

@Laughing Manji: again thanks ^__^
Might leave Gunslinger Girl for a while, as it sounds like something that might annoy me if the girls are that young. I'm put off shows that depict young girls in unnecessary situations (like Elfen Lied) and I know it's purely because I have 2 daughters and can't get around the thinking that needs them to be so young.

Thanks again for the recommends (the latter 2 I've seen; Tenshi na Konamaiki and Sakura Wars TV & OVAs, Movies and musicals :lol: ). The others I'll look into.
My main search at the moment is for anime on DVD, as I watch a good 3-4 hours every night and it has to be on DVD so I can sit and relax in my armchair, watching it on TV and I haven't been able to figure out how to use the Divx feature on my DVD player so I can watch fansubs that way

 

[Tasker]

Kiddy Grade is the only one of these series that i've actually seen, but I loved it, ( Took me a while to remember to watch it though. lol, I had the first 2 disks for ages but never got around to watching them, then when I did a couple of weeks ago, I ended up going out and buying the last 6 disks, watching them one after the other. )

As I've said in other threads though, I tend to be able to watch anything that isn't too sentimental or have a really, really sad ending, so whilst 'I' loved it, I can understand why others might not.

The series starts off 'episodic', so other than the odd scene here and there, the first third of the series consists of unrelated stand alones, which, although not uncommon in anime, is something that can put people off.

As others have stated too, the ending, - the whole 'Atlas' story line, is pretty weak, and the last episode 'does' feel a little rushed. And if 'I' had any problem with the series, this would be it. :?

I should also point out, that there is a very slight helping of Fan Service too, so if that offends you then... :roll:

Also, personally, I think the series had a lot more potential in it than the creators delivered, and it maybe could have done with a second series to bring that out. But if what i've read on here is true, that's now being sorted out.

 

[Miaka-chan]

Kiddy Grade - I should also point out, that there is a very slight helping of Fan Service too, so if that offends you then... :roll:

There's very little in anime that offends me. Infact the only thing I can think of is using young girls as a part of an unnecessarily violent storyline!

Thanks for the info though. I most will most likely get it eventually ^__^

 

[Laughing Manji]

@Laughing Manji: again thanks ^__^
Might leave Gunslinger Girl for a while, as it sounds like something that might annoy me if the girls are that young. I'm put off shows that depict young girls in unnecessary situations (like Elfen Lied) and I know it's purely because I have 2 daughters and can't get around the thinking that needs them to be so young.

I don't think it is fair to compare the two. In Gunslinger Girl, the reasons are fairly well explained - the technology isn't perfect and it works best on the young. Also, the girls aren't monsters, they are conditioned to obey orders, the conditioning being more technical that hypnotic, but independently of that they act like girls, are outwardly shy or boisterous, hang out with each other in their free time and such.

At the end of the day, Gunslinger Girl wanted to be a moe anime. They needed girl characters in there to make the anime work, it was the entire point. However they did put effort in there into making it believable. Part of the believability is that the technology behind the girls is so terribly unreliable, its not so much 6 million dollar man as 10 billion dollar money pit.

The action when its depicted well is excellent, but its only a minor part of the show. THe opening sequence is possibly even one of the biggest (its certainly the most memorable). The vast majority of the show, is about exploring the relationships between the girls and their handlers.

My main search at the moment is for anime on DVD, as I watch a good 3-4 hours every night and it has to be on DVD so I can sit and relax in my armchair, watching it on TV and I haven't been able to figure out how to use the Divx feature on my DVD player so I can watch fansubs that way

Nods. And then just as soon as you figure out that DivX/Xvid features, the fansubbers start bringing out h264 releases, using WMV codecs, and using MPEG4 extensions and other stuff incompatible with your player. Even though I have practically an ideal MPEG4 player, it is still impractical for comfort-play. Burning onto DVD RW for player playback is impractical for a lot of times, USB 2.0 connectivity is a much better option (bring your external HDD) but the closest I have seen to an optimal solution is streamed solutions from your PC to an ethernet capable player over your home network.

Its not up there with the convenience of DVD playback for even the most technically-minded, money-no-object people. To get true AVI playback in your living room you need media-centre PC type technology, and they are expensive, likely to be non-silent and possible have higher maintenance and worse shelf life than a regular DVD player.

 

[Miaka-chan]

Nods. And then just as soon as you figure out that DivX/Xvid features, the fansubbers start bringing out h264 releases, using WMV codecs, and using MPEG4 extensions and other stuff incompatible with your player.

They're incompatible with my PC as well! I check the format before downloading anything these days, as I've downloaded tons of stuff and not been able to watch it!

***

I might be tempted by Gunslinger Girl at some point, but I have enough ideas of what to watch to keep me going for a while ^__^