Title:  Gunslinger Girl vol 2 - Life, Happiness & The Gun UK distributor: MVM BBFC Certificate: TBA Suggested Retail Price (SRP): £19.99 Episodes: 6 - 9 (of 13) Audio Options: English 5.1, Japanese 2.0 Subtitles: English Reviewer:  Tom (Webmaster)

The old saying 'never judge a book by it's cover' summed up the first volume of Gunslinger Girl perfectly.  What appeared to be a violent show which presented child killers as entertainment was in fact an intricate character study and gripping drama.  The show deliberately made the violence realistic in order to show the audience that children killing people is not to be glamorised. 
 

Volume 2 continues the mature approach of the series, although the opening episode is unfortunately the weakest yet, a dull plod of standard spy/infiltration stuff that put everything that was great about volume 1 aside.  Thankfully this does not continue and the subsequent episodes continue the strengths of the first volume, particularly the animation which reaches its peak in a episode set in the Uffizi gallery in Florence.  The details of the gallery and the surroundings are excellent and all the following episodes live up to it by providing equally stunning backdrops. 

Beautiful

The main strength of the series - character study - also continues in this volume with several scenes devoted to each character.  Unlike other series though, Gunslinger Girl focuses on each character equally and does not focus on background characters once before writing them out, but instead continuing their stories through the experiences of other characters.  The third episode on the disc is an excellent example of this as it tells the story of a stubborn girl Angelica, but in turn teaches the viewer new aspects of the other characters as well. 
 

Not so beautiful
 

  If you found the violence in volume 1 abhorrent though, then you may feel the same when you watch volume 2.  The scenes of the pre-pubescent girls killing people are still very disturbing to watch but, this time, more dialogue is devoted to their casual killing as well.  One scene shows a psychological test on Henrietta in which her performance as an assassin is being questioned.  During the discussion Henrietta exclaims 'I only killed four people this month but last month I killed ten!'.  Disturbing. 
 

Equally disturbing is the loss of the memories of the girls which is illustrated when one of them is unable to recall a fairy tale, despite the story being read to them many times in the past.  This loss of innocence by such young characters coupled with their assassination skills makes for truly disturbing viewing. 

As before though, the mature drama of Gunslinger Girl proves that the violence is not their to entertain but is a vital part of the plot, and it is the plot which continues to be the main intrigue as it takes an unsuspected direction in volume 2.  Where as with many anime series the opening volumes sets the tone and introduces the characters and the next volume introduces a bigger plot which will last for the rest of the series, Gunslinger Girl does not do this.  Although a terrorism plot is introduced which is likely to continue to the end, it does not become the sole focus of the plot but instead the background.   The main focus is still on the girls and their 'brothers/handlers' (see volume 1 review) and this is shown through the history of the characters, the government department which they work for as well as current events.  By sticking to studying the characters it continues to be the unique drama it is and has not drifted into a clichéd plot as similar anime often do. 

Gunslinger Girl remains one of the best releases of 2006 so far by being one of the most mature anime releases (other then sci-fi) and will no doubt continue to be when volume 3 is released. 

Extras

Textless versions of the excellent opening and ending sequences are included, both of which feature haunting yet beautiful music.  A featurette containing the English cast is included, as well as small artwork video which shows the development of an artwork piece for the series.  It is a shame a commentary was not included though, as it would have been intriguing to hear what the director and voice actors thoughts of the portrayal of violence and drama of the series were.

Ratings

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