Gunslinger Girl: Il Teatrino - A worthy sequel to the original series
Animation - 8/10
The animation for the series is very well done. Action scenes are smooth, fluid, and look very realistic. Scene and mood shots are also handled very well, and work to enhance the experience. You will definitely get the feeling of Italy. The characters are also handled very well, and their faces convey emotion really well. Even the grunts are given non-generic faces with realistic emotions, which really helps to ground the series, which helps considering that a major plot point of the series is that all the girls are futuristic cyborgs.
All of this stems for the show's exceptional eye for details, which is carried over from the manga. Things like streets, cars and merchandise are all based on real-life objects/locations and look like the real thing, but the most detailed objects in the series are the weapons. Every gun is based of a real-world gun, and the details of these weapons, such as how they handles, how it fires, down to its recoil power is accounted for, making the gun fights very nice to watch.
The show's big problem with animation however is the lighting. For the most part this manifests itself in several scenes being on the dark side. Not so much that you can't watch it, just make sure that whatever you're viewing the show on is properly calibrated or that you can quickly up the brightness, else it may become annoyingly dark at times, especially during the last two episodes. The other lighting problem is during outdoor daytime scenes. Some scenes early on never felt like they were really outside to me, instead like they were on some of those "outdoor" sets they have on cheap sitcoms, but this may have been just me.
Sound - 8/10
OP/ED - 9/10
When I first started watching the show, the opening song, "Tatta Hitotsu no Omoi" (たった1つの想い?) by Kokia, at first annoyed me, partly because I so enjoyed the first season's opening, "The Light Before We Land" by The Delgados, and was hoping for something similar, but as time went on I grew to love the song, and I believe it is a great fit for the show, especially given the lyrics about protecting their one and only, and how they want to live up to that person's expectations despite their faults, it really describes the girls and their thought processes.
The ending song, "doll", preformed by Lia and Aoi Tada; written and composed by Jun Maeda, is very nice instrumentally, and a good companion piece to the opening, although the song's lyrics kinda have me befuddled. They are kinda stereotypical "I was empty before you" stuff, I think, which makes sense given the girls' backgrounds, although I get the feeling something is lost in the translation.
Background - 8/10
The background music is, for the most part, standard fair. There are some pieces that might stick with you for a bit, but the real stand out is the recurring "Main Theme" by Ootani Kou. The song is ably named, as it's used repeatedly through the series, one of the few, and used beautifully during the climatic fight between Triela and Pinocchio. I recommend getting the OST, if only for this song, although the rest of the album is quite enjoyable as well.
Voice Acting - 7/10
The vocal performances are standard stuff, if a little lacking in emotional variance. The characters' voice don't often change that much, usually only having two options: happy or serious. As such, most of the emotion is conveyed more through visuals rather than vocals, but given the tone of the series, it's not really the actors' fault but the story itself.
Story - 7/10
The story picks up from the last series, with the Social Welfare Agency still fighting the terrorist organization Padania Republic Faction, who want an independent Northern Italy. Special Operations, Section 2 is called in to deal with more threats, etc etc. The political motivations are again pretty much glazed over, with more focus on the characters, who they are and what defines them. We do learn more about various characters' past, usually by moving between present day and flash backs, with bits and pieces shown and how they are all connected, but none of it ever really seems to stick.
The two characters who are focused on the most, Triela and Pinocchio, do manage to keep this system afloat, as their "Similar yet Different" upbringings, where in they seem to go through similar trials and tribulation, seem to give an underlying "Nature vs Nurture" tone to these parts. The series suggests that the two are nigh identical, and the only significant difference being what side of the law they learned from, although exactly what kind of message they're trying to push here is lost to me, if there is indeed a message at all.
Character - 7/10
The problem with the characters is that while they are all given different backgrounds and stories, they for the most part behave similarly and never really change. There are some differences and nuances, but these usually only come about when they are interacting with one or more of the girls. I suppose this is the trapping of action shows, where most of the time the characters' sole goals are to shoot the opposing force and survive, but given how much time is given to character background and interaction, you'd think they would be able to overcome this. The first series was much better at handling this, and I'm guessing they were hoping this would carry over.
The Triela/Pinocchio dynamic again keeps things interesting when they might otherwise be boring, but again not seeing exactly what their point to the dynamic is doesn't get it very far.
There is also some development with the Franco & Franca pair, which is welcomed after knowing nothing about them in the first series, and near the end it looks like they might actually be having some character growth, but this isn't expanded on to much, and given
how they fared at the end of the series, what with driving of a cliff into a river after being shot up,
I wonder if it will continue.
Value - 8/10
The stunning visuals and beautiful sound are worth the watch, and alone give this series long term value and repeat viewing potential. The story's stiffness and emotional single-mindedness at times may make some episodes fall by the side in repeat viewings, but overall the series is still very well done.
Enjoyment - 8/10
A very stunning & realistic looking series, and if you're into action series, this is definitely one worth watching. The series isn't quite as good as the first, but fans of it will enjoy this series as well.
