Gunsmith Cats

Well, I was looking forward to seeing this seeing as I enjoyed the Manga comic strips very much so, but after seeing the Anime version I was deeply disappointed. There is a total lack of realism for one. The seemingly massive explosions that are set off many a time only seem to slightly knock the wind out of people who are standing a few metres away. I was upset that they only managed to do each part for half an hour. If the plot had been deeper and longer, I'm sure that maybe it would have been more enjoyable, but unfortunately it seemed very unfulfilling when it ended. Still, I guess it had its moments....the animation wasn't awful, and the backgrounds were very well drawn.

For the original audience, it was probably a look into America-- though not neccesarilly accurate with everything. Excellent animation-- especially the driving scenes and gun battles. Clever all the way around.

Looking at it with the Clinton years and the BATF, it becomes rather ironic: The heroine is a gun store owner while the villains were the head of the ATF and an anti-gun politician. If made in America, it would be labelled "right-wing propaganda."

Gunsmith Cats the OAV is based on Sonoda Kenichi's manga series, but is even better. Rally Vincent has a penchant for guns; her partner Minnie May Hopkins takes a liking to bombs. Rally runs a gun store and is approached by the ATF to cooperate with them on a sting. After being blackmailed into it because of a lack of a gun license, Rally and May get involved in a government conspiracy and pursued by a Russian assassin (who is, in my opinion, one of the greatest anime characters ever). The animation is not the greatest but well done, the voice actors are excellent (featuring Araki Kae in her only good role), the plot is engaging (though the ending wasn't stellar), the characters are very believable, and the music compliments the series perfectly. If you like action series or good anime, this is a must.

I checked the DVD out of our library thinking it was for my 8 year old daughter. We watched the trailers (which she liked!) and I quickly realized it wasn't for kids. Since it was laying around, I peeked at one of the 25 minute episodes and got hooked. Interested how each episode gets one sexy "sneak peek" of one of the girls. I loved the art work. I just wish they had been more careful on picking the English voices for them. They didn't match the sexy but macho cute looks and actually sounded kind of tacky.

This short OVA is one of my new favorite animations which has a James Bond-y feel to it. It follows the story of Irene "Rally" Vincent and her partner, "Minnie" May Hopkins, a former prostitute, who run a gun shop named Gunsmith Cats in Chicago. They are also bounty hunters with Rally as an expert shooter and excellent shooter while Minnie is a giddy weapons expert. It is implied that Rally is lesbian due to the fact that Minnie lives with her and is occasionally intimate with her. In any case, she is a badass fighter in this series which has great storylines and characters, with even the dubbing of this series being great, as is the song and animation opening each episode. I wish the series had been longer because there's so much more that could have been done, especially with the themes of political and bureaucratic corruption. Due to all of this, I give this series its current rating.