Gunslinger Girl: Il Teatrino

Gunslinger Girl: Il Teatrino was made by Artland in 2008, adapting chapters from manga volumes 3-6. In this season of the series, the SWA come into conflict with a pair of bombers working for the Five Republics Faction and a skilled assassin within the organization named Pinocchio. The latter comes to be a problem for cyborg Triela, who loses to Pinocchio in an encounter and wishes to avenge said loss. There were also two additional OVA episodes made for the series adapting side-stories from the manga’s sixth volume that explore elements of the pasts of the Croce brothers, Jean and Jose, who serve as cyborg ... handlers for the SWA for Rico and Henrietta respectively.

Before I offer my thoughts on plot and characters with Il Teatrino, I should address the controversial element of the series in regards of its visual presentation. Unlike Madhouse, Artland isn’t so memorable with high production quality for many of their titles and this shows with Il Teatrino. Details for characters and scenery are simplified and animation isn’t as smooth to see in action for combat scenes compared to the first series. I certainly recall this being a turn-off for many fans 14 years ago when the series originally premiered in Japan with the jarring difference in production quality, and I can’t really argue with the animation quality for Il Teatrino taking a big hit.

If you can look past the subpar visual presentation, Il Teatrino offers up perhaps the best developments within Gunslinger Girl as it features ongoing plot development with the SWA’s conflict with members of the Five Republics Faction. This series crosses into political thriller territory as it thoroughly explores the motives and actions of both the SWA and the Five Republics with the justifications members of both factions have. This not only shows that characters within both factions have their redeemable qualities to justify their actions, but also shows the societal ramifications that the actions of both organizations can have with government corruption and the damage that terrorist acts can have on major buildings and the populace.

Besides the political thriller, Il Teatrino also takes the time to explore the pasts of a number of characters throughout the series and explore how these developments shaped their views of Italian society and terrorism. For the SWA, there is a good deal of focus on exploring the pasts of the handlers in this season and how this effects their outlooks on the work they are doing, this getting unique focus with how one handler’s work effects a romantic relationship he has outside of it. The exploration of the origins of Triela and Pinocchio in this season also provide some interesting parallels with both their tragic pasts, how both each view their work, and the relationships each have with their parental figure within the organizations each represent in the show’s main conflict.

Putting aside its subpar presentation, Gunslinger Girl: Il Teatrino is still a strong continuation of Gunslinger Girl that offers some ongoing plot developments that push the series into political thriller territory and offers more exploration of the back stories and beliefs of a number of characters within both factions.

This review includes the OVA

So i finished Gunslinger Girl S2. and they made quite a few changes to both the animation and music. The changes itself are both good and bad. I liked the fact that this one focused more on the story and world building however i didn't like how the epic music of S1 was practically non existent here. I preferred the animation in S2 than S1 but this is really a minor preference. Now it has the same issues as S1. Despite changing directors. the series about robotic cyborg girls that are assassin/hitman are still somehow boring. The issue with S2 is ... that they waste too much time on characters that no one really gives a shit about. as such I enjoyed the beginning episodes and the later episodes but the stuff in the middle was somewhat of a wreck. The story is really mostly about the cyborgs vs the terrorist. Pinnochio was a decent villian and i liked his backstory. Though not when they kept showing it again and again. None of the other villians were charismatic and such the fact they basically wasted 3 episodes on them is a real waste. The series should've stuck with its strong suit which is the relationship between the Girls and there handlers. Henrietta especially expression and emotion is outstanding but she's barely in this season. Overall i think it was slow just like the first. There are new issues but there are also improvements in the first season. And though episode 13 was baller it just not enough for me to say this series is a must watch

6/10.

In Short...
If you really liked Madhouse's interpretation of Gunslinger Girl and are expecting more of that, you're not going to like S2. But if you've read the manga and can look past the low production quality, then you'll probably have more respect and patience for this show. But overall, there are so many things that get in the way of making a decent show, and that goes beyond just the animation and audio budget. In my opinion, the show didn't make good use of the limited time it had.

Lack of Focus
A lot all of characters have conflicts that I felt didn't receive adequate time to ... develop. The biggest conflict was suppose to be between Triela and a character named Pinocchio, but they had to compete with other characters and the overall plot for screen time. In the end, their final interaction didn't hit as hard to me, because I didn't really get to see Triela or Pinocchio grow over time -- it happens mainly in the background.

Less Attention on the Girls & their Handlers
The most interesting part of Gunslinger Girl for me was the gun-slinging girls, the effects "conditioning" has on them, and their relationship with their handlers. In S2, they felt more robotic and watered-down. Rico is the best example of this point. In S2, all she does is kill for the most part and she even seems to enjoy it. Compare her to S1, EP 3's Rico, who had to kill a boy she befriended briefly. Her feelings were far more complex in that one episode than they are in the entirety of S2.

When it comes to the handlers, they're a lot more gentle on the girls. In S1, they could get frustrated, angry, etc. When handlers like Marco felt guilty after scolding their girls and apologized to them in their unique ways, those moments felt really satisfying.

Conclusion
I'm not an anime critic, I'm usually easily entertained. I've also never written a review before on MAL, but my experience with S2 pushed me to do this. There's so much that I liked about the first season of this anime and there's so much that I want to say. The character design, music, and animation was beautiful. The tone of the show was dark and gritty, but it could be peaceful and wholesome when it needed to be. On top of that, it had such iconic and memorable moments.

S1, EP 11, when Henrietta chased after that purse snatcher, it was more than just some random action scene. It was a showcase of her love and devotion to Jose. She would've chased that man to the ends of the earth just to get that camera back, that's how much Jose means to her. In my opinion, nothing comes close to moments like that in S2, regardless of budget.