[Categories: Anime Reviews]
Gunslinger Girl episodes 10-13: The Silence of the Stars
How often does a series with this degree of depth and sophistication come along? Allowances for the open ending aside, the final episodes of Gunslinger Girl are among the finest to grace the UK’s DVD shelves this year. As you might have guessed from the series so far, it’s not a cheery affair either…
The first half of the disc concerns itself with the fatal shooting of one of the fratellos: Elsa and Lauro were found dead in a park with the ensuing investigation drawing attention from Section 1 and those in authority. The second half focuses on a rescue mission in which the cyborgs of Section 2 run up against a group of armed terrorists who are planning an abduction of a government official’s daughter.
The first half really highlights the limitations and potentially tragic side-effects of the Social Welfare agency’s methods - while the chilling truth of Elsa’s and Lauro’s deaths begins to surface the repurcussions are felt throughout the organisation. There’s an emerging backstory of politics and the like which was not apparent earlier on but it helps build up to the show’s finale.
The ending itself could have been much less impressive since the anime is essentially an unfinished story but it still gives a feeling that things have reached a turning point yet we are not going to see the results. The manga is ongoing and anyone who has read it can probably assure me that it continues to impress but as far as the screen version is concerned our journey with Section 2 ends here. That said, the sheer emotional impact is still considerable: the closing scene’s poignancy has to be seen (and heard!) to be believed and the central themes and ideas are conveyed with clarity and restraint without descending into melodrama.
Of course, there are still some moments of exhilerating action, such as the nail-biting raid on the terrorist hideout; by the end though it is clear that Gunslinger Girl has heart as well as guts and the characterisation is, and always has been from the start, the core of the story. In that respect it is a spectacular success: I don’t have the space here to outline every character and how they interact but it is this aspect that was the most rewarding thing about watching this series - regardless of the training and mechanical enhancements the girls are still living, breathing human beings.
No doubt this is why the final episode ends with dialogue and reflection instead of gunplay and violence: behind the politics and polished action is a cast of characters who attain the viewer’s sympathy through simply trying to live the lives that circumstances have given them. By the end a number of conclusions and conflicting feelings surrounding this and the other moral issues were running through my mind and continue to do so; this confirms for me at least what an outstanding piece of drama this show is.
Posted on October 12th, 2006 @ 12:29 pm
I very much agree that the heart that Gunslinger Girl has is what sets it apart. It’s incredible that way. That closing scene, it just does so much for me as a parting, a goodbye. This is one of my favorite shows. Normally, I don’t care if people watch something I like, but this is one of them where I’m sad it doesn’t have more fans.