Meh is indeed my overwhelming reaction to the new season of Gunslinger Girl.

It’s not terrible, certainly, but I expected much better than mediocre from both Gunslinger Girl and from Artland. The art style is noticeably similar to Mushishi (which Artland also animated), particularly the shading style and the way they favor simple, clean lines for the characters. Now, that I don’t necessarily have a problem with, since the GSG manga also uses this style… but WTF happened to the budget for this project??

I know Artland is capable of much, much better, because the consistency and attention to detail in Mushishi was fantastic (episode 20 “Sea of Brushes”, for example). The animation in this first episode of Gunslinger Girl -Il Teatrino- was just terrible, though. Where to start? Read the rest of this entry »

As a huge fan of the original Gunslinger Girl anime, as well as the ongoing manga, I’m definitely very excited about seeing how this new season will turn out. The change of studio and cast obviously means the second season will be different from the first, but for the most part I remain pretty optimistic about it. Let me take a moment to examine a few of the different factors involved. Read the rest of this entry »