Gunslinger Girl: Il Teatrino

Having being the first reviewer to actually finish the series, I'd like to say that, despite the obvious reduction in artwork due to changing production studios. They do try their best in trying to stay faithful to the manga. In which they do quite well in my opinion all the way to the final episode. Story - (Great) Basically the main story arc this time around is having the girls try to crack down on a radical terrorist organization. The story is simple enough to cause enough action, drama, and straight up melancholy sadness. Yu Aida does such a good job on the story that theres a high chance of having the viewer actually feeling sorry for some of the bad guys. Art - (Fair) The art is the obvious difference between the first season and second season. It's almost feels as if a different team was hired to do the art production, and you're 100% right. In all honesty its not the production companies fault that the quality is different. But its painfully obvious that they don't have that 1,000,000Yen per episode backing them. The Art, for the most part does its job not wonderfully, but pretty well. They still manage to hand paint a few landscape pictures of Italy and all its landmarks, they still draw the girls as cute as hell, its all just a little less detailed and polished as before. And you won't see any more brands (other than the guns and a Vespa) floating around. You can also tell money is a big factor in the first few episodes when you can see certain cost cutting techniques like "shaking" a still photo, or slow motion punches. But if you endure to the end you'll manage to see the most exciting episode in the GSG series. Sound - Fair Sound is another thing that is a mixed bag. All the action and other sound effects fit this show perfectly fine, but the SAME music plays over and over and over again. Once in a while a new song will appear but they go back to the same 3 songs throughout the whole series. But thankfully its not too intrusive, but its noticeable. That was my only issue with the sound. Everything else was just fine. Characters - (Very Good) Now the characters are just as lovable as before, but it does seem like they emit a little more emotion this time around. I can buy that since they are older and (for the most part) learn things. They do look a little different but that just takes getting used to. We do learn a little more of each of the girls and even get introduced to a new character. I was spoiled with falling in love with the dubbed version of the first season, so I never got a chance to pay attention to the seiyu's from there. But they seem to make the voices fit fine. Moe, tsundere, playful, and smart they all fit just fine in my opinion. Enjoyment - (Good) Overall its just like working at a big call center in America, everything is fine and smooth for the first year, and then you find out that they have to take massive cuts or send your job to India. It's the same job but, just with less money and quality. If you can keep an open mind, you can see they do their best to follow Yu Aida's dream. I sure hope they make Volume 6 (of the manga) into an OVA.

This second season has gotten quite a bit of hate for it's artwork, and it is unnecessary. I watch a series for the story, honestly the story could be told with stick figures for me, but if the plot was compelling, and the characters believable, then I am sold. On that note, I found the story was more powerful, if less subtle, in this second season, and the same could be said for the characters. This season seemed to focus a bit more on Triela (which I didn't mind, as she was my favourite character) and her personality. What sold me the most about this series was the amount of depth they went into with Pinocchio. They spend a lot of time developing his character and his past, not to build him up as a villain, but as a person. This is what sets this show apart from the rest. Its a good part of what made great series like Monster and LotGH great, the attention to detail. Having even side characters feel like people, not just props to decorate the background or monsters to be slain. I recommend this series for anyone who enjoys thoughtful storylines with a bit of action.

Some of you may remember my review of the first Gunslinger Girl anime by Madhouse. The final verdict ended up as a /10 for its excellent character elements, well constructed story and well done action. This week we're going to look at the second anime, Il Teatrino. Unlike the first series, this one was handled by Artland, a studio best known for doing support work in projects such as Darker than Black, School Rumble, Star Ocean EX and others. The only thing I've seen where they took the lead was the atrocious to the point of being almost unwatchable, Ichiban Ushiro no Dai Mao. Of course, that isn't enough to judge their work as a whole. A lot of prolific studios will work on projects both good and bad. The only way to know is to take a look. This series has a different view of story than the first. The first one was, mostly, stand alone episodes about the girls going on missions. This one has a proper story. The focus is primarily on the girls facing a small cell from a large terrorist group. The missions that the girls embark on are all connected to this small cell and three particularly skilled operatives. There are a few consequences to the change. The first is that they can build up tension a lot more effectively than the first series allowed. Another is that they have proper antagonists in this rather than just random terrorists. This enables them to explore the moral ambiguity more effectively since you acually learn what the terrorists are after and their motivations. This isn't to say that there aren't still problems. Flashbacks get over-used in Il Teatrino. That isn't to say that they aren't effective. Most of them are very good for developing the characters. The problem is that they appear in virtually every episode and take up long segments. Which is really distracting and detracts from the main storyline a bit. The characters continue to be very well done, in fact, this season is an improvement in that regard since the antagonists get fleshed out as characters as well. The girls still have plenty of complexity, good interactions and the back stories get more fleshed out for some of them. Claes continues to be the most adorable killing machine ever. The girls having implied or stated crushes on their handlers continues to be the worst aspect. It's understandable since they are pretty young and these are the only men they spend a lot of time with, but it still gets grating and you'd think a familial bond would be more likely to develop. Although that is arguably the case for some of them. The crush element still takes up far too much focus. The art continues to be very well done, although not as strong in this series. The character designs are pretty much identical, and the same attention to detail went into rendering the various objects used and in the background. The problem lies in the flashbacks. Apparently, they didn't trust the viewers to figure out which moments were flashbacks without some indication, so they made them really grainy and gray. They also use a very strange effect during the final action sequence. An effect which doesn't contribute anything except to make the whole affair confusing to follow and kind of hard to look at. That aside, the action sequences are really good. The voice acting is still really good, with the same exception. There are still a lot of Italian names that the actors consistently mispronounce. I'm not sure if they just didn't bother with pronunciation guides or they decided that the correct pronunciations were too hard. Hearing Mizuno Risa sing Scarborough Fair is still amazing. One thing that is noticeable is that the actors changed between series. On the positive side, the acting team is roughly as good. The music is a bit better in this series. It was effective and well done in the first one, but this one has several moments that stand out musically while the first didn't. The yuri factor is a 3/10. This series has a few more scenes that read as homo-erotic than the first, but it still doesn't have many. My final rating for Gunslinger Girl Il Teatrino is a 9/10. It's a worthy successor to the first, and roughly equal in quality. There are some factors that don't work as well, but there are others that are improved upon. I would certainly give this one a watch if you're a fan of the first. Next week, I'll be looking at Sekirei.

After watching the first season, I was excited, but now I'm rather sorry to see the second season. Story 1/10 - the worst Isn't it some fan-made sequel season? Art 1/10 - I've never seen anything so bad. Art is worse than in Berserk. The first season looked much better. All the characters in this season look like they were 19 years old. Why didn't they do the same as in the previous season? Sound - Baaad OP- Some pictures ... ED- Titles with highlights -_-. But the song is decent -_- The main soundtrack has no atmosphere. In the first season we had a great soundtrack, but this ... Character 1/10 Every character looks so awful. When I saw the first season and started this one ... it was a shock. The characters that looked between 30-45 years old now looked like 19-23 years old. They don't look like the first season. They do not behave like in the first season. Where did my beloved characters leave? Enjoyment 2/10 If you really want to follow this sequel, you'll go through hell. 1/10 One of the worst sequels I've ever seen.

Teatrino means a little (puppet) theater, also as in treating life(death) as a game/play, same point made by the play in an episode of this season, and yeah the girls are like puppets(cyborgs) in a play(story) in-world and in a meta sense. The studio art/animation extreme downgrade across all aspects is rough: (Frequent powerpoint slide nonanimation aside) They changed the entire art style and character model designs of every character not only for the worse but causing severe noncontinuity confusion of figuring out who is who along with the immersion breaking of effectively having new actors swapped in for every role. The cinematography is completely gone, replaced by the same 1 trick repeated over and over again (a pretentiously narrowed screen-blocking followed by a gradual pull back unblocking to full screen) in what seems like a deliberate joke (From what I've heard of the manga author's complaints about S1 having a high-effort pensively character-driven story adaptation rather than a 1:1 copy of the brainless manga like he insisted for S2, I'd almost assume this studio got pissed at the mangaka's destructive insistences and phoned the entire production in with a brainless 1:1 adaptation out of malicious compliance to exactly what the mangaka wanted. Why spend effort coming up with improvements the mangaka will complain about when you can just copy and paste instead?). Don't get me wrong, the art, story, characters, etc. of S1 were middling at best, but they were far better than this: S1 removed the pedofanservice, S2 brought it back with multiple undressing scenes, multiple tasteless pedoromance subplots of the adults being groomers instead of brother/father figures, multiple backstories of pedotrafficking, and even a swimsuit ep in the OVA. S2 tactlessly walked back S1's ending implying the death of [insert black haired girl here] to make use of her in pointless filler nothings and midway through introduced another superfluous [insert black haired girl here] who had been appropriately left out of S1 rather than simply having any of the [insert black haired girl here] noncharacters fill the role of the dead girl the mangaka doesn't have the balls to kill off because despite how central death is to the show and how constantly the limited shelf-life and expendability of the cyborgs as tools to be used up is exposition dumped and even shown as central subplots that entire characters practically exist to demonstrate, despite all that the pedo-mangaka didn't have the balls to kill a single one of these noncharacter girls in this bloated cast. The characters are lacking any real characterization/nuance from S1, they all just oscillate wildly between regular crying or happy/playful kids and mindless killers. The plot, despite being far more focused on than S1, didn't go anywhere really just doing more of the same pointless filler of shooting/catching pointless terrorists as S1. There was a metric ton of filler, the show was boring and slow even at 1.5x speed because cost-saving slowed time overall. There's a ton of rehashing scenes that have already been covered to further waste your time. The characters barely get any characterization beyond 1 or 2 pointless backstories that were already better alluded to in S1. The show never takes these characters and does anything with them moving forward. An entire episode is 1 of the girls doing filler as a bodyguard of the daughter of the S1 guy who helped her. What do they do with this setup with so many possibilities? Nothing. Nothing happens, they intercut rehashings of her backstory while nothing happens, the end. It took all the way until the OVA for them to mention that the Padania they started bringing up in S2 is (pointlessly) just another name for the (Five) Republican Faction. How bad can you be at storytelling? Why would you do this? (I only learned that the blond and brown haired main handlers, Jose and Jean, are inexplicably brothers in the OVA, did I miss them pointing that out earlier?) They could've actually taken this series in a meaningful direction, instead this entire season and the OVA are pretty much just filler that doesn't progress the series anywhere beyond the character/setting introduction S1 provided. 1/10 (where 5/10 is average)

hi all this is my first review so be gentle with me Let me just start by saying that this is one of the few sequels that manage to outshine the original although not many will agree with me. The reason is because there is the existence of clear thinking and planing involved with this anime that I did not find in the previous. majority of the viewers will commonly complain about the difference in artwork however you should watch this anime as a standalone from the original much like how similar Death Note and Code Geass is but you dont watch them as the same thing neither do you watch gunslinger girls and gunslinger girls II as the same thing. They do have the same cast however the original is more of a get to know our character kind of anime where as the second is less of get to know the characters and more of we're gonna throw them into a situation and see what happens kind of thing. The artwork will downgrade if your watching the first one then coming to watch the second however there will be more details later on. Let it be known that you do not need to watch gunslinger girls to understand what's happening although knowing the background is helpful. First let me explain my rating system as it will be very different from the rating system that are often employed by others. it is out of a total of 100 points and plot and story is worth 50, character is worth 30, sound is worth 10 and art is also worth 10. The reason that plot and character are worth so much is because it is the defining difference between good stories and bad ones. anime, mangas, books, movies can only be successful if they have a successful story. The reason art and sound is worth so little is because it is possible to make a successful story without it and people have and they are often published as written books. story: 45/50 The story is very good given that there are some parts were just mostly flashbacks they weren't completely worthless unlike some flashbacks found in other animes. The story revolves around the theme of revenge. As common a theme to center a plot around, this anime was successful in pulling off making a great anime centered around this theme. The story is the biggest factor that kept me watching as many times during my grind through the original, I find myself wanting to drop it since almost each episode is a story arc with minimal connection to the previous episode however Gunslinger Girls II is different as there is only 1 main story arc and will keep you watching waiting to find out what's next. I cannot really give much more without spoiling the anime so i'll just leave it at that. A good thing to do is watch the entire thing from start to finish without taking a break as it will be alot better that way. character: 30/30 This is where this anime really shines. Every important character is given a chance to show their true nature and some of them even had their history and background showed. Unlike many anime of this length with such a huge cast, the creates really thought through who was important and who wasn't and decided to focus on the important characters instead of trying to focus on everyone. Though both approach works, i personally like the approach where the "main" characters are highly focused where the "supporting" characters are more or less ignored. However it is hard to feel this way about the characters without first seeing the original gunslinger girls. Sound: 7/10 I really cant say much here. I'm not a music person. All I can say is if I like it or not and this time i'd say it feels right but not memorable. Art: 6/10 This is actually an area that I am most knowledgeable with as I have produced animations in 2D and 3D before. The artwork is a real let down as the first episode has alot of still frames. Judging from looks, the producers started making the anime from somewhere farther back than from the first episode and probably ended on the first episode. I say this because when your nearing the ending of a project the work (at least in my experience) starts falling short of the mark. In doing this the over all feel of the artwork is greatly affected. However as you continue watching the anime, the artwork greatly improves and the fights are animated rather than still frames. My rule of thumb is if your watching and your not feeling like that your looking at a photograph then the animation passed. However on closer inspection there are many times where you truly are just looking at a still image being slid across the screen. This is where good sound engineering is able to make up for it. For the sake of comparison though, Gunslinger Girls II is much lower quality than the original Gunslinger Girls so if you watch anime because of the artwork then this is definitely not for you. over all: 45/50 30/30 7/10 +6/10 -------- 88/100 roughly 9/10 Overall I enjoyed Gunslinger Girls II better than the original Gunslinger Girls. You do not need to watch the original to understand what's happening here however it is very helpful to know the characters as there isn't a giant introduction to the characters in this anime. Hopefully my review made sense as this is my first. Thank you for reading.

OK so when I played episode 1 of Il Teatrino, my eyes widened in disbelief in the obvious downgrade in art, I thought I was reliving the “Saiyuki Debacle” all over again: the change in character designs, the animation was sub-par and the voice acting and the character portrayals were way different. If it weren't for the names of the characters and the continuation of the storyline, one would never guess the the two series were related....and that's probably what saved this series. The fact that visual differences between the part1 and part 2 of this series were so stark that you had no choice but to break from any attachments you had from the first installment of Gunslinger Girl, and take in this second part for what it is. ~Art The art is really NOT THAT bad, right? Yes it IS a downgrade from the first season but I've tried looking at it for it's own merit [it was hard, considering I watch anime in marathon-like fashion and watched both parts back 2 back]. It was obvious with this second piece, no one had actually been to Italy, there was no great attention given to background scenery, of the cityscapes or the coastlines. No cobblestones, no marble surfaces, no fancy artwork reproductions or detailed sculptures. But there were some great backdrops like the vineyard scenes which was pretty nice to look at [....but that's not uniquely Italian, it could be France or California or more than likely from some textbook or postcard]. Actually most of the scenery could have been acquired from postcards, and such – at one point I'm pretty sure they put the Coliseum in the background [I think the riot scene] just random stereotypical Italian landmarks you can get from any picture from the web and reproduce. The animation wasn't too fabulous either, lots of the little usual shortcuts taken here and there: frozen image with sliding cell [this time they kinda shook the image around and played with the focus a little bit], A few unnecessary slo-mo shots and/or close ups which some might be fooled to think it for dramatic purposes....but it's really to economize on the animation [so they don't have to draw more frames or more than one character during a fight scene.] All of that being said, it's still in the middle as far as art style and animation goes, I've seen better and I've seen far worse. ~Sounds Here's it's were it's kind tricky for me, because I don't know if it's the voice cast's fault or the scripting or the direction they were given, but this time around the “girls” were a little too glib. Henrietta, Triela, Rico and all the rest. I think the first part of Gunslinger Girl got their personalities right, they should be FAR more somber and conflicted than they appear in the 2nd season [even though apparently some time has passed since then]. The 1st part really captured their essences and explored their true depths and complexities and it really showed in the entire work as a result. For example, Henrietta was far more timid and unsteady in the first one than she is portrayed in the second one or Rico who is undoubtedly the most “child-like” of all the assassins had a very clueless way about her [the kind of clueless you get from being sequestered for too long or from being on drugs or brainwashed] but by the time of the the second part...she just appears dumb, in the typical “anime airhead” style....does anyone else pick up on that? What I'm saying is the voice actors did well, but they ran through it like any other regular anime, but I'm sure if given a chance to act on CSI or one of those James Bond or Bourne Identity type of movies...they would have read the scripts quite differently [and that's how they should have read the scripts here for THIS anime]. The music for this series was on the generic side, perhaps even lackluster. I'm vaguely familiar with the first song used in the OP, so more than likely they've played it on the anime radios a few times, but really neither this song nor the ED theme song did much for me...and what was the point of using Scarborough Fair? IMHO, that was just to include it for the sake of boosting the value of the soundtrack and making it seem as meaningful and viable as the first one. ~Story The story was the strongest asset for Il Teatrino, considering that it's a continuation from the original Gunslinger Girl, but again you have to be the sort that's into political intrigue and warring factions otherwise it might just bore you. For me it wasn't boring at all, it still had a lot of the intelligence that the first part had...and again it reminded me of Ghost in the Shell in that way. It wasn't a particularly fast-paced story and just as with the first part it was basically 50/50; 50% action and 50% exposition. I think what can really help a person get into the story a little better would be to watch the OVAs before beginning the second part, because it was kind of rough for me to figure out what key political positions some people played, or what understand the various factions. For me, when someone says “right-wing” or “far-left” I kind of revert to American politics and try to use that as the political template, most of the time it works but sometimes I'm not sure if that's how they meant it. ~Characters A lot of the issues I mentioned with the characters, I've already stated in the [Sounds] section. I think that they kinda rounded off the main characters and chucked them to the side to focus on Franco, Flanca/Katerina and Pinocchio....which is nice but I would have liked to see that level of depth applied to all the characters, know what I mean? Like Katerina and Pinocchio behaved like REAL people with all their complexities and flawed glory, you kinda didn't get that vibe from , say, Rico [I mention Rico because from just part two, you might think she's an airhead, but if you watched the first part or the OVAs then you see that she very much struggles, like all the girls, having to adjust to being a child assassin or being regarded as just a machine accessory]. And Henrietta who's personal struggles seem to have evaporated and all she deals with now is this relentless crush on Josue...which could easily be translated into a shoujo-type storyline. Despite how the overall tone of my review might appear, I actually DID like the character designs, tho! I like the fact that they didn't try to mimic the character designs of the first Gunslinger Girl, they just worked a whole other look. Which was good. They looked very similar to the characters from Fate/Stay Night, Saber, Rin and Triela are very similar in appearance [naturally, look beyond the height and strip away the coloring. Very similar character design...probably done by the same person] ~Verdict It's still definitely worth watching and owning.

story: continuation of section 2 fighting the five republics. art: more cutesy from the first season. are all drwan up diffenrtly. sound: different from the first season. different feel. wonderful opening character: new antagonist. enjoyment: it take you along with the feel of section 2 getting good grasp against the fight with the five republics which was different from the first season. overall: was completely different from what was to be expected from the thought of a second season but was good still nonetheless. noting to be disappointed about at all.

(First off, each season of Gunslinger Girl is only 13 episodes long. I don't know why it says 9001 here...) This show, including its first season, had the opportunity to do many things really well. It could have been a heartbreaking/warming story of the humanity of its "cyborg" characters and their relationships with their handlers. It could have been about the humanity shared on both sides by terrorists, assassins, and government agents. It could have been simply a badass show about assassinations and bodyguarding. Best of all, it had the potential to do all of the above blended into something spectacular. Unfortunately, it falls short of achieving anything remarkable by not quite ever developing its characters or story due to how much it tries to do in such a short episode count. The one thing I really appreciate about Gunslinger Girl is that it never fails to make you feel a little sick to your stomach whenever you see one of the girls holding a firearm.

I guess I might as well start off by saying that this review won't be liked by a good number of fans who loved the first season of Gunslinger Girl and hated the vast number of changes that Il Teatrino made to the original. Having seen and loved season one myself, I will concede that it was a better adaptation in every department. However, to leave it at that does the series a great injustice. The biggest flaw Il Teatrino struggles with throughout all 13 episodes, to the point where some action scenes are really hampered, is quite poor animation. I'm hardly an expert when it comes to anime, and I can't speak to Artland's other productions, but it really gets in the way of the storytelling. Now personally, I judge an anime's artistic value as more than pure animation, and this provides a good example. See, the show still remains remarkably faithful to Yu Aida's manga, and a great many scenes are artistically painted, and even some of the additions they made in the form of motifs and symbols are quite beautiful. Of course the poor animation wounds all this. But don't let that stop you from trying Il Teatrino unless the only thing you care about is seamless production. Sound-wise, Il Teatrino is a bit of a mixed bag. Another popular complaint is that they changed every voice actor in the original dub for the sequel (at least in the original Japanese dub, so you're in luck if you like the English dub), and while that's a shame, none of the original cast stuck out that much. I do have a few minor complaints about their new casting (I'm looking at you, Rico), but overall they're quite competent. The characteristic classical soundtrack in the original is amiss, but it's been replaced with largely satisfying piano interludes that are actually tied into the character relationships pretty uniquely. The only downside is that one theme in particular gets quite stale, so take of it what you will. Kokia's "Tatta Hitotsu no Omoi" does a great job in the OP as well. Where Il Teatrino really makes up for all it's admitted shortcomings is in both character development and storytelling. Gone is the rather immature storytelling in the original where villains were new every episode and never stood a chance. Il Teatrino does an exceptional job of painting a much clearer, intelligent plot line throughout. The original series gained strength with each major character background it wove into the plot; the sequel only really has one more such origin to tell with Triela, but boy is it a doozie. Just like the first Gunslinger Girl, don't get too involved if you're faint of heart, but the reward is immense if you aren't. Unfortunately, this is also where many fans of just the first anime will protest. For while it did so tastefully, the first season rearranged the events in the manga liberally to provide an emotional ending. Without spoiling anything, fans who only watched the anime were basically mislead to think a certain main character died. So her unapologetic return understandably raises some eyebrows. Now, in my opinion, Il Teatrino is really doing the only thing it can; for a series so faithful to the manga, it can't just retcon at will. Narrow-minded fans looking for a pure sequel to the first Gunslinger Girl and nothing else won't take easily to Il Teatrino. New fans, as well as fans of the manga and those willing to accept a different interpretation, should take to the emotional literature, heartwarming relationships and philosophical desperation much better. In other words, Il Teatrino isn't for everyone. And while the original may never be equaled, Yu Aida has here a story worth telling by any means necessary. Above all, this is a series about humanity; I, for one, forgive it for showing a few humanistic flaws.

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.

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.

Another case of an anime that feels like it ended too early. The weakest aspect is definitely the unfinished overarching plot, as well as the art and the animation. There is a lot missing. Things that "should" have been explored, considering the premise and setup, but weren't. This is because the show ends at volume 5, while the manga is 15 volumes long. The animation quality takes a nosedive sometimes, especially early on in season 2, like during car chase scenes. Season 2 also commits the sin of overusing flashbacks. My guess is that the studio ran out of resources and/or time during production, so they cut a lot of corners in the visual department and ultimately didn't finish the story. The anime's strength is in the writing and character dynamics. You empathise with the characters, or at least want to know where the plot takes them. Season 2 doesn't rush through character arcs as quickly as season 1, but still dedicates entire episodes to secondary characters or specific character developments. Season 2 also introduces a major villain, but tries very hard to make you not want to see the villain lose, similar to how season 1 focused on making everyone morally dubious or pitiful in some way. Even if the anime sadly doesn't show you the full story, it definitely makes you want to know how it ends. If the goal was to make you want to read the manga, then it is a success I guess. Overall, Gunslinger Girl season 2 is just more of the same. I rank both seasons with an overall 7, because they're definitely above average, just lacking in visual quality and story progression.

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.

After finished first season I went to second season straight ahead. Carried lots of hope and expectations from how good first season was. And I was a bit turned down by this season. Story: 8/10 Actually, this season's story is pretty good since it's developed from the first season. Changed some point of view and deepened the story details from first season. It can make a perfect season but that's not what creator seems to present it to us. Production/Directing: 6/10 From the first season, the director did a very nice job on directing. Great presenting, scene picturing and give us the perfect mood he want to present from the story. Technique he used to present was very good and can makes watchers really enjoy the series. BUT in this season, it's totally different. Director try to put everything into watchers head to make them excited but he puts too much. That's makes watchers get bored, this arc still not continue, why begin new arc? And then he leave the second arc unfinished like that and present another arc. And what's the most important is how he present the story. His presenting technique was dull, no tactic at all. He try to make a mystery and try to hint it to watchers but he hinted too much. And he did this with the whole story. But in the good side, the story seems to be able to understand easily. Softcore watchers can enjoy it as well. So it'll be 6 for producing. Art: 7/10 Everything is better in second season about graphics. Especially, Drawings. All characters drawings is very good. But animation and character's action is too unnatural and feels wrong. In some action scenes, It's really annoying me about how they move around so careless in enemy territory or how they hold their gun. Sometimes when they needs accurate shot, they hold the gun using only one hand, in the same time those who only shoot suppressing shots hold the gun and aim nicely but only hit trees and rocks. But overall graphics seems good to me so 7 is a proper score. Sound: 10/10 Now quit depressing and gets some praise. Every musics and original soundtrack in this season is PERFECT. Actually, I start watching this series because of ending song of second season that composed by legendary song composer and story writer, Maeda Jun, sang by legendary singer, Lia. After listened to it first time, only understand 60-70% of lyrics(I didn't looked at Eng lyrics) but I loved this song already. One of my favorite anime song ever. Original Soundtrack is SUPERB. Every songs filled with feelings from composer. Especially, I like "Main Theme" the most. I like how it's develops mood from zero to highest, step by step. 10 is not too much for sound of this season. Character: 8/10 Yeah, character design and planning is perfect. Everything was planned by the story writer which all ruined by the director of the second season. The things that most important of a character in a story is his/her personality which based on his/her past and experience. Personality is not easily changed. Personality will slowly changed from character's environment that makes them change or a very important incident that changed his/her way of thinking. Enough technical matter, let's continue. The director made the personality of second season's character changed too often without reason. He just did it because it'll fit to the story he want to present. That's why I give it 7 but the original character was perfect so I lifted the score to 8. Enjoyment: 8/10 Enjoyment is really a personal opinion. For me I enjoyed it's story so much. I feel moved by this series story. And I enjoy every music in this second season. But yeah, back to blame the director. I feels a bit down because of how the director present the story. Makes it less enjoyable. So 8 must be a proper score. Overall: 8/10 This series is enjoyable. You can watch it and enjoy this series. If you're not expect much about directing that is. For me, I wrote short film story before and I made lots of short films so I knows lots of technical things that needs to be done in making a film. When I saw someone did it wrong, it's definitely makes me feels annoyed by natural. But I really enjoy this anime so I'll give it 8. English is not my first language so there may be some grammatically mistakes, sorry for that. Writing this helps improving my English. xD Hope you enjoy my review. If there is any opinion that conflict with yours, I beg your pardon. It's my first review after all. - FTaira -

Short review: (minor spoilers for both Season 1 and 2) Stand on its own, this season might have fared better. Alas, it has to be the sequel/semi-reboot of 2003's seminal Gunslinger Girl Season 1. Unfortunately dragged down by its desperate attempt to appeal to a wider "anime" audience, Gunslinger Girl: Il Teatrino falls significantly short as a sequel. Baseline quality: 8/10. Weighed down by blatant Moe elements. Pros: +more colorful and more advanced shading technology +solid characterization in certain episodes +Overall faithfulness to the source material which revels in understatement +Pinocchio's arc and Frank/Franco's arc +Certain adaptation choices showcase the studio's talent, especially adding Scarborough Fair as the theme to that Claes episode. Cons: -tonally off, especially in EP1 and in interactions between cyborg girls and handlers. -downplays the gloomy side of girls' life and humanity which was the core success factor in S1. -Falls prey to the trendy 2000s stylistic choices which are not only dated but also subpar to S1. -Not nearly as empathetic as the original season. This season could be a textbook case for why the subtlest changes in art direction can ruin a show. I am not even kidding here. If you are a huge fan of S1, I won't blame you for wanting to drop S2 after watching S2E1. EP1, which serves as a semi-reboot/reintroduction to the story and characters, feels like a betrayal to everything S1 stands for. The cyborg girls now fight in an oddly cheerful and weightless fashion, in stark contrast to Season 1's hardboiled realism. The girls and their handlers (now for some reason look younger and cuter) now constantly make Sailor-Moonish googly eyes at each other. There is no mention at all about the shortened lifespan of cyborg girls, and Angelica, coming off the masterful ending sequence of S1, now is oddly back in action (yes I know S2 might be more faithful to the original manga in certain ways, including the fate of Angelica, but it ruined the most iconic sequence in S1). Laughable shaky cam sequences and shots lingering on cutesy stuff, as if silently shouting "THIS IS A ROMCOM with cyborg girls killing people for some reason". Judging by EP1 alone, I would give it a "facepalm/10". These issues were partially alleviated in later episodes, as EP2-3, EP5-6 showed us what this show can be when it is trying to reconcile with the tone of S1 in steadier hands. But the overtly corny and cutesy tone never entirely went away. While Season 1 mostly maintains a surgeon-like professional indifference/sense of distance and allows the audience to emote/resonate with the characters using their own imagination, S2 spoon-feeds anime tropes to the audience (e.g. making Triela explicitly a tsundere, making the handlers younger to make the potential romance a bit "more acceptable"). Not to mention the OP with random cel-shaded photos of real-life Italy. S2's OP song is not bad on its own, but again it gives the impression of a typical high-school rom-com which causes tonal-narrative dissonance for the show. It's as if the producers of the show said "Season 1 is way too mature, dark and poignant for mainstream audiences, let's make S2 a dream come true for otakus". By the lack of a Season 3 some 13 years later (now in 2021), this desperate marketing strategy probably did not work too well. And we are left with a sequel struggling with an acute case of identity crisis. To be fair, not all the blames should go to the studio that made Season 2. The original manga's phase covered in this season (Vol. 3-5 and half of Vol. 6) is often times not as compelling as that of S1. Season 1's ending, one of the most powerful and melancholic endings in any artform--where Angelica slowly fades away listening to Marco retelling her favorite fairy tale, while other girls sang Ode to Joy under the meteor rain, is partially to blame here as well. As powerful as Madhouse's adaptation (bringing forward Angelica's death/reconciliation with Marco and make it concurrent with the Ode to Joy sequence) is, it makes telling more Angelica-centered story in later seasons redundant. Season 1 mastered the art of understatement and subtlety, turning the manga's brutal story (which is best served cold) into a calm humanizing story that powerfully protests against political-ideology-driven atrocities. That is a testament to Madhouse Studio's almost unmatched adaptation prowess. I further realized that after reading the original manga. In a way, S2 resembles the manga's style and pacing more than S1, but that exposed shortcomings of the manga rather than improving upon them. For example, S1's Henrietta is closer to a "killer doll" than her appearance in S2 (and that in the manga). I am arguing this is a deliberate artistic choice instead of "poor animation/art". As the story progresses, the audience gradually figures out the meaning behind the song "The Light Before We Land" along with why the OP sequence heavily features Henrietta (including her doll-like cry/smile/leap). As one finishes S1, one would be inclined to reflect on their own limited time in this life, as well as how they treat their family/loved ones. Because if these hardened and stern handlers working for a most cruel bureaucracy can treasure and reconcile with their meteor-like cyborg girls, why cannot we do the same with people around us? These themes might not be so fleshed out in the manga or S2, especially since S2 downplayed the inevitable and ever-heavier final fate of the girls. After finishing S2 and 2 OVAs, I did not feel like I have gained new insights into the characters. The final scene (Jose and Jean went to swim with bikini-wearing Henrietta and Rico) just feels weird. Despite all that, S2, for the most part, solidly and faithfully delivered the manga's story.