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Despite the title, Gunslinger Girl is far from an action title. On the contrary, it is actually a drama that focuses on character relationships. While it does contain action, it is far from the main focus as there are only a handful of action scenes throughout the 13 episode series.

The show focuses on the Social Welfare Agency which, on the surface, is an Italian government sponsored charity organization. However, this is a front for the real purpose of the agency, a sort of anti-terror/anti-crime organization. A branch of this organization that directly handles these problems employs not only well trained gunmen, but also cyborgs that ... happen to also be young children. The reason for this is simple, the mechanical modifications would be difficult for an adult to bear, but a younger human is able to adapt to these changes much more easily. Along with training they are paired up with a handler (the team is called a fratello, or sibling), and undergo a brainwashing process called conditioning. Conditioning is a process that allows the cyborgs to be more efficient and loyal in battle, but also shortens the life of the cyborgs.

As was said, the show is a drama, not an action title. The majority of the season is spent introducing and developing the relationships between the handler and cyborgs in each fratello. Some handlers are stricter with their cyborgs, while others are more coddling and there are those in between. The show explores the moral, psychological and social consequences of not only the fact that young girls are being used to fight terrorism, but also the entire concept of conditioning.

This is almost to the show’s weakness, though. The show is indefinitely slow paced to a fault and there isn’t any sort of overlying plot. The show spends the first nine episodes giving us character introductions and developing the concept, but the final four episodes are spent with two separate incidents. While this is treated as the ending to the show, it lacks any sort of proper climax. That being said, the show does a decent job with the characters and development. The show as a whole manages to tug at the heartstrings, though it never manages to really pull at them.

The animation is good, working best in the few action scenes given, though the action is usually one sided almost never inspiring much danger towards the protagonists. The music is wonderful, using a variety of orchestral pieces to slightly upbeat jazz for a few dire scenes. The soundtrack is beautiful and is the key in helping the atmosphere of the show.

In the end, Gunslinger Girl is definitely not for everyone. The show is slow, and fails to have build tension when needed. However, it is above average and should be watched by a viewer who is in the mood for a short drama.

Before I do anything I feel that I need to address something. Yes. The first two or so episodes have a naked Holo in them. However, the artists did not add any “girly parts” to these scenes so Holo has the body of a Barbie doll. Also, these scenes are done so tastefully that it isn’t exactly fanservice. Now that that’s out of the way…

Say hello to Kraft Lawrence, our witty protagonist in medieval times. Lawrence is a traveling merchant who sells a variety of things, and he’s quite skilled in his…er…craft. Upon reaching the village Pasroe, he finds hidden in his carriage Holo. Holo ... introduces herself as the wise wolf deity who looks after the village to ensure that their wheat harvest is successful each year. Yet as time went on, the village began to resent her, and now Holo asks Lawrence to travel with him until she reaches her original home. Eventually, after poor Lawrence getting quite the scare once he sees Holo’s true form, Lawrence agrees and the two set off from the village.

The characters are all well written and they work well together, however Holo steals the show with her wondrous charm and ability to play off Lawrence’s character. She is a god, and in every way superior to Lawrence or at least that is what her personality would lead you to believe. Kind yet haughty Holo isn’t afraid to boast about her higher status or how wonderful her tail is and….

Yes, her actual tail you pervert.

Of course she doesn’t call herself the “wise wolf” for nothing and numerous times she is able to help out Lawrence in the economic half of the show.

Oh yes, economy plays a big part in Spice and Wolf, as most of the premise is based on Lawrence and how he can either outwit or find a way out of financial struggles. Don’t let the premise of economics scare you away just yet. While a good amount of the show is based on economy, it does a good job of attempting to explain the jargon and the how and why of it so even a simpleton should be able to get the gist of the plot if they pay attention. However, they do need to pay attention, as this is also the huge bump in the road that could alienate many viewers.

To call Spice and Wolf’s visuals impressive would be an understatement. The color palette is rich, and the environments are an absolute joy to look at. The music is no slouch either, as period instruments are to say the least charming. The soundtrack is vaguely Celtic and fits the slow portions well, but is able to speed up well when the situation calls for it. As for the dub all of it is good, but once again Holo (or in this case her voice actress Brina Palencia) outshines everyone else.

What could be said for the first season can more or less be said for the second season, although a dub is not available just yet (it has been licensed though). However, if the first season could be surmised as 70% economics, 30% romance then the second season could be surmised as 60% romance, 40% economics. It's still as good as the first season, though.

Is Spice and Wolf for everyone? Of course not, as the show is very slow moving and even if that doesn’t turn the viewer off the economic jargon might. However, to those who do venture into this anime they will find rich characters, wonderful art and music, and clever story plots.

The critically acclaimed movie, Children of Man, had the idea of the end of the human race due to the inability of humans being able to reproduce. Avenger, released a few years before that, had a similar plotline, but has little to no enjoyment that can be garnered from it.

Taking place on the planet Mars, humanity is at the end of its rope. Because Earth is no longer inhabitable, humans fled to the Moon and Mars. Resources are scarce and domed cities enlist delegate gladiators to fight in tournaments to decide who gets what, with the loser’s assets transferred to the winner. Furthermore, a decade ... has passed without a single child being born. In order to compensate for this, the Martians created dolls, androids that resemble children. Our protagonist is Layla Ashley, who can best be described by this. If Sasuke Uchiha and Squall Leonhart had a man child, who was born prematurely and dropped on her head, that child would be Layla Ashley. She has no personality and little dialogue other than silence followed by “Volk…” or “Try and kill me”. Layla travels mars to eventually face Volk for, you guessed it, revenge. Volk is the gladiator delegate and the person who shot down the ship from the moon that carried Layla and numerous other people in order to keep them from taking up any more of Mars’ low resources. Joining Layla is Speedy, a “Jack-of-all-trades” doll breeder who travels with Layla out of curiosity; and Nei a human child who poses as a doll to avoid being taken and researched. Why the human society has lost the ability to reproduce and why Nei is an exception to this is never explained. This isn’t the only thing wrong with Avenger’s story, as plot holes pop up numerous times throughout.

As said before, Layla is not a good protagonist. She not only possesses no likable characteristics besides the ability to fight, she also performs several nonsensical actions. Take one scene where Layla beats up a man who has been using dolls as punching bags. That’s all fine and dandy, especially when this particular scene could almost be summed up as self defense, but for no reason she turns her weapon to the man’s girlfriend and an old lady, only stopping her assault moments before actually striking them. This is made even more ironic, as Layla herself beat up dolls for no reason in the very first episode. Inexplicable scenes such as this are present throughout the anime, but Layla seems to perform most of them. It’s not just Layla, but the cast overall seems to lack any personality or realism, with the exception of Speedy.

Avenger suffers not only from laughably bad writing, but a very noticeable lack of animation. Scenes seem to be drawn out through long drawn out silences in a desperate attempt to build drama. It should not have to be mentioned that these scenes fail completely in the attempt.

Well, if the story and characters are mediocre at best, then perhaps the fight scenes are good, right? Wrong. Here, the clarity of Avenger’s budget is pronounced. Speed lines are and random cuts are prevalent throughout the show. There are only a select few fights that are fairly enjoyable. As for the music, it’s the best part of the show. While the OST overall is fairly forgettable a number of songs, including the score and especially the opening are actually pretty catchy.

Combining one-dimensional characters, confusing writing, and numerous lines of dialogue that read “…” Avenger makes for a boring anime. Do yourself a favor and look up the opening on youtube, as it’s the only enjoyable part.

Real men wear tights.

Writer, Drosselmeyer has died while he was in the middle of writing his latest novel. As a result, the characters and story are in a suspended state, unable to continue. The story in question is of a prince and how he defeated a great raven and pierced his own heart into numerous shards. Wanting to give the story a proper tragic end, Drosselmeyer comes into contact with a young duckling, appropriately named Duck, to put the gears of the story back into motion. Duck, who has seen watching the same prince from his story dance a sad dance, wants nothing more than ... to make the prince Mytho happy again. Drosselmeyer gives the Duck a magic pendant which allows her to not only become human, but when the time is right to become Princess Tutu. In human form, Duck attends the same ballet school as Mytho and develops a faint friendship with him. As Tutu, she is able to gather Mytho’s heart shards, which have become part of different people and alter their feelings. The first part of the series is fairly formulaic, episodes usually boil down to Duck finds a heart shard, becomes Princess Tutu, dances and returns the heart shard to Mytho, rinse and repeat. This part of the series is lighthearted, and will turn off most reluctant watchers. However, near the end of the first act, the story begins to depart from this pattern and travel into a comparatively darker story. During this depart, new dangers arise, and characters go through drastic changes.

Our protagonist, Duck, is your typical full of energy, klutzy girl who has difficulty going through basic ballet routines. However, once she becomes Princess Tutu, she has all the grace in the world and her eccentric nature disappears. Mytho has all the personality as someone without a heart has, for better or worse. As the series continues, and Mytho gains more of his heart his character develops. Rue, Mytho’s girlfriend, is surprisingly likable. While the usual convention would be to play the love rival as temperamental and/or spoiled, Rue is easy to feel sorry for. Duck doesn’t hold Rue’s current status as Mytho’s girlfriend against her, and quickly tries to befriend her. While Rue is a little hesitant at this, the two do get closer as the first act progresses. Fakir, a friend of Mytho, is fairly antagonistic in the first half, and both he and Rue are against the return of Mytho’s heart for reasons that are made clear. Supporting characters such as the almost pedophilic Mr. Cat, and Duck’s friend Pike and Lillie help to keep light comedy coming even when the show becomes more serious. Of course one of the more important characters, Drosselmeyer, looms over the other. His goal, as stated earlier, is to give his story a tragic end, and he will pop in time to time to try to nudge it back into the direction that he sees fit. All of these characters develop very well throughout the series and have their dramatic turns where friends may jump to a foe and vice versa.

The show looks great, and the animation is crisp and entertaining to watch. Unlike other “magical girl” show, Tutu eschews magical battles on a grand scale to ballet dances with hint of magic here and there. While there is a sword fight here and there, they are few and far in between. The dances are well done and are a joy to watch. Music-wise the series also stands out as classical pieces are used during more important scenes in the show. Nutcracker, Sugar Plum, and many more classical pieces help to set the tone in the show. They all do so well, that it’s easy to forgive the rest of the soundtrack which is fairly decent at best. The dub voices do well to emulate their characters and they all are memorable. Luci Christian makes Duck’s exuberant nature cute when it could have been grating.

The problem, as previously stated, is the how slow the series begins. While characters are played out well, there’s very little in terms of things actually happening.

At the end of the day, Tutu is a wonderful tale. The characters are deep, the dancing is new and enjoyable, and once the show picks up it rarely slows down. If you plan to watch it, be persistent. To the male audience, if you bear through the girly nature of the show, it is still entertaining.