[US DVD] Gunslinger Girl: Il Teatrino Complete Collection

[Chris Beveridge]

Review by Chris Beveridge

Mania Grade: B-
* Audio Rating: B+
* Video Rating: B+
* Packaging Rating: B+
* Menus Rating: B
* Extras Rating: C+
* Age Rating: 17 and Up
* Region: 1 - North America
* Released By: FUNimation Entertainment, Ltd.
* MSRP: 59.98
* Running time: 320
* Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 Anamorphic Widescreen
* Disc Resolution: 480i/p
* Disc Encoding: MPEG-2
* Series: Gunslinger Girl

In Summary:
When I saw the first season, I was enamored of its conflicting coldness and warmth. It played the assassin game very well; ruthless, quick and brutal. It also made you care about these young girls and that they had gone through, before they became cyborgs and after. With Il Teatrino, it lacks that warmth in a significant way. The story doesn't work to connect you, the girls are spread out more so there's less time with them individually that matters and the stories themselves simply aren't all that interesting. Perhaps Aida's “total involvement” changed the tone of the show in a way that made it less appealing, less of what the previous season was. It almost feels like something of a slightly hollow shell of what it was. The trappings are there, but something isn't inside.

[Damius]

Thanks for the review I was waiting for this... Well, with what you said it didn't seem I will love this series. Too bad.

[KomoriKiri]

Claes was always my favorite character from this series, but I don't think I ever got far enough into this season to see the focus on her. Might have to Netflix this at some point to see those episodes.

KomoriKiri (né Wraith)
"I feel full of emotion, but none of it will come out. Oddly enough, I can only cry in my sleep." -- Claes ("Gunslinger Girl")

[Sensuifu]

I actually thought it was pretty decent. It didn't have the grittiness of the original series, but I thought it managed to do a good job focusing on certain aspects (that all the girls share in some way) of what it means to be/work for that kind of organization. The show does shy away from the individual relationships between assassin and trainer, but on a broader scope, I think what emotions we see from Triela is representative of what most of the other girls will most likely experience themselves.

Action-wise it's tame compared to the original, but as far as the story goes, I think it had a deeper plot than the character introductions of the first series. I guess you can say the original series was more character driven while this sequel is more about the meaning of being an assassin and the job it entails, and how it personally affects certain characters (as portrayed through Triela's experiences- one of the reasons why we see very little of the other girls, other than when they're out on duty).

[Serial Experiments Nobue]

Originally Posted by Chris Beveridge

It almost feels like something of a slightly hollow shell of what it was. The trappings are there, but something isn't inside.

This statement makes me not feel so bad for skipping out on this one. I think that the original series is a brilliant work and it's one of my favorite shows; if Il Teatrino is just a shadow of its predecessor, I'm content to stick with the original.

[bored@lazy]

I thought it was a decent follow up, it just lacked the class the first series had. Plus I wasn't a huge fan of the character designs.
Overall though I don't regret purchasing it one bit.

[Thomas Alan]

Well, Il Teatrino is nowhere near as brilliant as the first series. Still, I liked it. My favorite of the girls was Triela and she got a meaty role. Plus I really liked the terrorist non-couple. Didn't like the change to some of the character designs though (Rico).

The only time they even approached the brilliance of the character establishing episodes "Ragazzo (Boy)", "Bambola (Doll)", and "Promessa (Promise)" was with the episode "One Day for Claes" but, overall, it's a perfectly good show. Just not an all-time great one.

[pianocello]

This was my no 2 anime of last year and for me, it blows the 1st season out of the water. The thing that worked for me was how I found myself rooting for the villains.

[Thomas Alan]

Villains? Do you mean Pinocchio, Franca, and Franco? I don't think they were meant to be even considered villains.

[mashimaro]

Originally Posted by Thomas Alan

Villains? Do you mean Pinocchio, Franca, and Franco? I don't think they were meant to be even considered villains.

I agree that while season two did not quite measure up to the bar set by season one, it was still a pretty solid offering. The already high level of moral ambiguity definitely goes up. Pinocchio, Franca and Franco are not your stock villains, and I found myself contemplating which side was more in the wrong, as the agency's hands aren't that clean either.

The animation grew on me after a few episodes, but it was sometimes a little jarring to see scenes from the first season redone with the new style.