The episodes of the anime series Gunslinger Girl are based on the Gunslinger Girl manga series written and illustrated by Yu Aida. There are a total of twenty-eight episodes split over two seasons/series. Set in modern-day Italy, the series revolves around the Social Welfare Agency, a government-funded organisation which is supposed to provide advanced medical care to those in need. This, however, is a cover for a far different agenda: the patients, adolescent girls who have survived traumatic events, are brainwashed into forgetting their past, turned into cyborgs, trained in the use of weapons and used as assassins to battle enemies of the State. Each girl is assigned to an adult whose job is to provide the girl with training and act as a mentor and authority figure. The relationship between the cyborg-girls and their "handlers" forms the basis of much of the plot and varies from the affectionate to the indifferent with varying degrees of results.
The first series' episodes were directed by Morio Asaka, animated by Madhouse Studios, and produced by Bandai Visual, Marvelous Entertainment, MediaWorks, and Madhouse Studios. It adapts the first two manga volumes of the series over thirteen episodes which aired in Japan from October 9, 2003 to February 19, 2004 on Bandai Channel and Fuji Television.[1][2][3] Set in contemporary Italy, the series tells about young girls who are turned into cyborgs, trained as assassins by adult male "handlers" and their missions against terrorists and gangsters on behalf of a secretive government agency. A sequel called Gunslinger Girl -Il Teatrino-, directed by Hiroshi Ishiodori and animated by Artland, aired in Japan on Tokyo MX TV from January 8, 2008 to April 1, 2008.[4] It adapts the third, fourth and fifth volumes of the manga over fifteen episodes, with thirteen episodes airing on television and the final two released directly to DVD.[4][5]
- ^ "Gunslinger Girl" (in Japanese). Bandai Channel. Archived from the original on January 11, 2009. Retrieved February 22, 2023.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
JA Ep 1was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cite error: The named reference
JA Ep 13was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ a b "Gunslinger Girl -Il Teatrino" (in Japanese). Marvelous Entertainment. Archived from the original on December 29, 2007. Retrieved February 22, 2023.
- ^ "Gunslinger Girl -Il Teatrino- OVA" (in Japanese). Marvelous Entertainment. Archived from the original on March 30, 2010. Retrieved February 22, 2023.