Customer Reviews

Gunslinger Girl: Il Teatrino [Blu-ray]

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I've now watched this series repeatedly on both a higher-quality 1080p/120Hz LCD HDTV, and a lower-quality 1080i CRT HDTV.

As before, I think that the majority of this show was created in 1024 x 576 semi-HD resolution, or 576p, and upscaled to 1080i/60 for Blu-Ray by the Japanese production companies. Funimation was responsible for the encode, but not the upscale. Note that most of Funimation's other native HD Blu-Ray animes are encoded at 1080p/24, this show is an exception. 1080i was more appropriate to ensure the ending credits scrolled smoothly.

This Blu-Ray collection contains both the 13 episode Il Teatrino TV series, as well as the 2 Il Teatrino OVA episodes at the end, making it a great buy. I recommend the Blu-Ray version over the DVD version for this series, it is both cheaper and has better audio and video quality.

There are video quality issues which apply only to the first OVA episode and first TV episode. The first OVA episode is 576p but slightly blurrier than the other episodes. On my 1080p LCD HDTV the difference is nearly unnoticeable but on my lower-quality HDTV the blurriness stands out, making this the worst looking episode. The first TV episode is either upscaled 480p SD, or horribly upscaled 576p which blurred out the image tremendously. This was then followed by artificial sharpening leading to "edge enhancement" artifacts which some have complained about. Only this episode has the edge enhancement. On my 1080p LCD HDTV this episode looks the worst by far, but on my lower-quality HDTV this processing trick works and makes this episode look as good as the rest.

The only disappointment with this release is that some of the Extras are missing on the Blu-Ray version, which supposedly exist on the DVD version. Most notably, the second creditless introduction is missing. This is very sad because it's the only Extra that has worth. The Japanese Blu-Rays probably have it, though.

Now for a brief review of the show itself. Please note these are only my personal opinions.

Directing: 4 out of 5 stars. I think this show has no real single director. Several people including the creator of the original manga worked together as the "director" for this show. The result is that there are some aspects of the directing that I do not like, such as the annoying flashes to white, or the slow letterboxing effect for flashbacks. But overall the show is well-paced, well-focused, keeps your attention, and is not corny, which indicate an overall good job in this area.

Drawings: 5 out of 5 stars. Terrific drawing style. It's not the same style as the manga but neither was the first Gunslinger Girl anime series. The drawings in Il Teatrino look far better than the drawings in the first anime series, which scare me.

Animation: 3 out of 5 stars. It's not as cheap or poorly-animated as many have said. The first episode has some pretty cheap animation but it gets better after that. Compared to the original series, the budget is lower and the frames are skimpier, but the quality of what frames and movement there are, seems better than the original series.

Music: 5 out of 5 stars. Much better than the music from the original series, which was actually silent most of the time. Ko Otani did the music for this show, Funimation mistranslated his name so I did not realize until I had finished watching the whole series. I would not have expected his style of music to fit with this type of show, but it fits perfectly.

This blu-ray set is actually better than it seems, as it also includes the 2 ovas. I bought this set and the ovas separately on dvd, and I wasted money and feel like an idiot.

Gunslinger Girl: II Teatrino is a terrific anime and it looks great on Blu-ray. I would recommend it. It may not be quite as good as the original series (the studio took a budget cut, there's a new director, and the animation is nowhere near as crisp and amazing as in the first season) but it is still worth watching and has some compelling characters and awesome action. The emotional development in the narrative is not as strong either and the psychological depth is not up to the par set by the first season; instead the second series focuses on the action more or less with the terrorist plot taking place. All in all, more superficial and action oriented with less cutting edge visuals as compared to the first season, but as I stated above still worth a look if you are a fan of the series and a worthy blu-ray entry in your collection. Certainly a four-star anime...
EDIT: Let me be clear in that this anime is not yet available in Region-1 (US) as a Blu-ray but I have seen the imported Blu-ray and it looks stellar. I have no reason to believe that Funi will not do a quality job on the Region 1 version. When the US version is available I will view it and update this review...

2 STARS for a worth buy - just because the continuation of the original series.
I'll be fast about my review. I felt I own this review to the fans of GSL.

Il Teatrino begins strange fot the eyes of those like me that just watched Gunslinger Girl original series (or season 1, if you prefer).
The draw is different: you WILL notice the change of traces in the first seconds of Il Teatrino. It changes too much! This is my concern #1. NOT THAT I think the drawing sucks - it's beautiful indeed, but the traces CHANGED some characters, like Triela and Henrietta - the most of changed of the girls.
Personality: I grant that ONLY CLAES have absolutely the SAME personality of the original series. The Henrietta don't have all that tenderness anymore (wait). I don't remember wich is the episode, but one of the 3 firsts. Henrietta ALMOST gives me the feeling of feeling sexually attracted by Giuse. So... where's that tenderness? Angelica is a waaaaay different person. Claes is the same personality: PERFECTLY AMAZING! Rico: changed a bit - it's more feminine the character BUT looks like the same personality.
Voices: NONE is the same as far I know. All voices seemed to be changed.

*PLOT* (and finally the PLOT!)
MASSIVE! I'd low the number of episodes to 8. There's too much stuff unnecessary.
BUT the plot itself is amazing!
SPOILER about WHAT is the plot:
The plot tells basically the story of FRANCA, that blonde girl that calls to police to tell about kidnaped girl (Claes as decoy) in the mountains. Tells the story of her revenge.
The plot also tells the story of a cold-blooded assassin Pinocchio that helps Franca in the first plot.
And the MAIN plot is, like everybody will imagine because the series cover, is about TRIELA. Everything in this anime concerning Triela is Amazing. The 2 stars of my rate goes to TRIELA and CLAES.
Do you see practically a normal girl all the time - that you know it's a Cyborg. It's a show of her part - but the VOICES and the drawing that changes of the original series to this one, makes the anime lose some bright IF you watch this anime JUST AFTER the Gunslinger Girl original series.

I'm not sorry for buy Il Teatrino, I'm just a little disappointed about HOW this series is not as good as the other (original series).
If many people says "the continuation will never be so good as the first one", this is EXACTLY what I meant in Gunslinger Girl: Il Teatrino.

When I watched the first season of Gunslinger Girls a few years back, I was really drawn to the story of these cybernetic enhanced little girls who are used as assassins in a fictional Italy. The series had a somberness and humanity to it that I hadn't seen much in anime. Although the plots usually revolved around a mission, the series strength was that it would explore relationships of young girls to themselves, the world, and the men they were partnered with. Finding encouragement, nurturing, and direction in a difficult world were the common themes. Unusual stuff, Gunslinger Girl.

When I saw the initial art designs for season 2 I pretty much avoided it outright. The show had abandoned it's gothic realism in favor of a less expensive, more colorful and cartoony look. More jarring sitting thru the first episode, which recaps the essential info of season 1, with some really uninspired art and animation, and the music had descended into a pretty generic synth heavy score. However, as the action concluded, the story shifted to the girl's dormitory and Henrietta's discovery of a present her handler Jose has bought for her. All of a sudden, all the strengths of the show were back. I can't help feeling that the first episode was a test for the animators to see if they could pull off an episode with a smaller budget and a shorter schedule. That's how I look at, and in that way, it's forgiveable, because Il Teatrino delivers the goods when it comes to narrative and emotion.

***minor spoilers***

The main story arc revolves around the FRF assassin boy Pinocchio, his relationship with Franco and Flanca (the bomb makers from season 1), his encounter with Triela, and the bombing of an important civil project in southern Italy. The show once again makes no clear stand about the morality of any of it's characters, but does steep us in their backstories, and they're quite good. Rather than center on Jose and Henrietta, whose relationship is fairly well established in 1, it is Triela and Hillshire who are the focus of Il Teatrino. Her origin backstory ('Flowers of Goodwill, ep 10) is very powerful, and Hillshire is no longer this stern man in a grey suit of season 1, but a an ex-cop, learning to be more compassionate to the coming of age angst of his "sister". Other standout episodes include 'A Day in the Life of Claes' (ep 8), which uses the song 'Scarborough Fair' as a wonderful subtext for her feelings of loss, 'Caterina and the Circle of Revenge' is amazing drama, as Flanca recalls her motivations for becoming a terrorist, and facing some angry victims, and 'Clever Snake, Simple Pigeon' where the girls must assassinate a target at a showing of the opera 'Tosca'.. which is the spiritual center of this season, the opera's meaning and it's associations with the social politics of Italy...

Where season 1 was a slower, more deliberate pace, season 2 goes for action and high emotion, and in this reviewers opinion, succeeds on all counts. I was interested in all the characters, and couldn't wait to see what happened next.

Like others are saying, if you liked season 1, give it a chance. It's a different flavor, but it's still Gunslinger Girl. And it's still a great dramatic niche-anime.

There's plenty of reviews for this, so I'll keep it brief.
After watching the original, I was expecting the same quality to persist to the continuation, but I was a bit disappointed. From the very first episode, the show felt really cheesy. Having said that, the longer I watched, the more the show started to grow on me, and I soon started to look past the bad acting and the second-rate animation and focus more on the story.
In conclusion, the show is good, but could have been so much better.

Excellent continuity in the plot. More emotion and a happier ending. As usual, the action sequences are unbelieveable. I hope for another season.

I have to admit, I didn't think I would end up liking Gunslinger Girl, but it was great. After watching the 1st season (loved it), I wanted to watch the 2nd, but I started having doubts about the 2nd season, thinking it might be not so great (most anime end up like that). But seeing how my sister has Netflix, I took advantage of that and voila, the 2nd season was there to my advantage! Watched it and loved it just as much as I loved the first. It doesn't continue from the first season (it comes back with a new story with new cases---every now and then, it refers back to the some parts from the 1st season, but nothing confusing), but it does bring back ALL the characters from the first season (literally, even side characters) along with a few new ones, the main new character is a young man name Pinocchio (the first and only boy assassin in Gunslinger! Weapon of choice...knives ^__^). In the second season, just as the cover shows, Triela is the cyborg mostly focused on this time since she runs head to head with the new assassin Pinocchio and vows to get him back (he kicked her @#&$% when they first met), whereas if you remember in the first season, it focuses a lot on Henrietta. If you've watched the first season and felt that not ALL the characters' stories were explained, the second season goes into more details, mainly on the handlers and how they got sucked into training little girls to kill. Anyway, I think this anime is worth watching and owning! **If you did not watch the first season, you should not get confused if you decide to plunge into the 2nd season first. But if you want to get to know the main characters, watch the 1st season before watching the 2nd**

Do the ends justify the means? Apparently, in this animation, the Italian government believes so as they secretly programming young adolescent girls to become killers. The series never glorifies what is being done to these girls, it just tries to explore the many consequences and paradox between innocence and bullets.

I especially like this season because it more closely explores the relationship between Triela and Hillshire, my favorite characters in the series. The storyline is well thought out, the drama and action scenes are good, and the character development is so well done that it could bring you to tears for the situation these girls have to go through.
This animated series went on for two seasons and I wish they continue to do more, although it doesn't seem likely. As of this writing, the original manga is only now coming to a conclusion and it looks like it's going to be a tragic one. Although it's sad and has no comedy relief I think this is one of the best dramatic animated series I've ever seen.

Very good blu-ray dvd, more made for the action this time around. It is worth buying, a must if you like the first season.