○ Preface

Raison d’être

Gunslinger Girl is a peculiar and profound anime.  In the aftermath of my first viewing some seven years ago I had an impression.  I wasn't happy or sad or entertained or confused; I was simply numb, overwhelmed by the impact, dazed for a few days afterward.  It wasn't that I was gripped by exalted emotion, and I couldn't even tell people why, just that something had settled into me: "There is meaning here."

To my surprise, I found that this experience was not shared.  Quite the opposite.  Gunslinger Girl was considered a mediocre work by the community on the whole, a poor second to better action and better tragedies.  While there were some occasional nods to it as "atmospheric" with "interesting relationships" I found no satisfying analysis, the greater essence having been missed in all of them.  Nobody seemed to realize why the series was the way it was or the depth that it contained.

This project, then, represents my intensive effort to bring Gunslinger Girl's subtleties and core ethos to light.  I had the chance to analyze a relatively unknown work of surpassing quality, free of the burdensome knowledge that others had already trodden this path.  In the process I have learned a great deal myself, and that has only heightened my enthusiasm to share it.  Few people are ever so graced with such an opportunity, and it is my honor to now guide others.

Expectations

In order to get the most out of Gunslinger Girl, a proper mindset must be established.  Neither its title nor its marketing offer a proper view, giving the impression that it is an action series steeped in a moral quandary.  This is, quite simply, inaccurate.  It is an existential psychological drama with a message, one that rests firmly on the realism of its characters.

Because of this, the series is more contemplative than narrative.  The unusual setting and events are tools to pry open and accentuate these people and their condition; what transpires is only important insofar as what it means to them and how it deepens our understanding.  Dramatics are not its intent, and as a result very little "happens" when viewed from the outside.  To find the real action one must look inward.

However, this brings us to the next point, and that is that the characters are not transparent.  Our vision is limited to their exteriors, with only a rare direct thought or self-explanation offered, and these should not be mistaken as privileged insight either.  They are merely another observation along with their actions and words to others.

This is a point of differentiation from many series, and I suspect one of the reasons it is so often overlooked.  Much of the time our expectation is that fiction will promptly and directly elicit emotion; we have come to anticipate our sympathies being forcibly evoked by media.  When they are not the product is considered deficient.  To this end, reactions are exaggerated and circumstances contrived in a way that cannot be misconstrued; the characters are acting for the viewer's benefit.

By comparison, the people of Gunslinger Girl exist in a strange sense for themselves.  The onus is on us to understand them.  From their behavior we must intuit their thoughts and feelings, and from those why they think and feel the way they do.  We are given hints, but they are subtle, for like everything they are only in their own measure.

This is not pretentious obscurity for its own sake.  Gunslinger Girl requires a precision that cannot be conveyed solely by expression.  It is easy to identify happiness or sadness at a glance; it is impossible to discern from only a face constrained benevolent sorrow tinged with acceptance.  The only way to reach such an interpretation is to occupy that person, to see the world as she does and the feelings that flow through her as consequence.  This is the payoff: to experience the poignancy firsthand and to know that it is authentic, for in that instant it is one's own as well.

For this reason, it has been my experience that Gunslinger Girl grows with reflection rather than conquering by immediate impact.  The longer one spends, the more appreciation is heightened.  I will do my best to ease this transition by elucidating the meaning of their actions, and hence the first steps to empathy, but in the end it requires a degree of personal investment that cannot be supplied from without.  I hope to convince you that it is worth it.

Henrietta Always

Beyond its psychological scaffolding and apparently episodic nature, the series does contain a plot.  It centers on Henrietta, a character whom on first viewing may strike many as uninteresting.  She does not have the same flair as some of the others girls, nor does her personality stand out as particularly deep.  Her presence every episode would seem ancillary as the events swirl around and past her, as though she were merely an observer while other more engrossing characters perform.

In spite of this, I will say with knowledge of the whole that she is indispensable, and it is through her that Gunslinger Girl reaches its apex.  This is Henrietta's story embedded in the matrix of the stories of others.  This is not to relegate them to unimportant supporting personalities, for they are part of this tale as well, but to recognize that she is the main theme and they the critical and complex accompaniment.

Paean

I have an abiding love for Gunslinger Girl.  I appreciate the series for merely existing and am deeply affected by what it stands for.  It has given me uncounted hours of thought and reflection, opened my eyes to new ideas, inspired me to refine my craft, and ultimately has made me a better person.  One can hardly ask more of art.  Why I feel this way I will decline to explain until the end, as a summary of its message without context would rob it of its potency.

Which brings me to a final point, and that is that words cannot adequately convey what this series points to.  I know such a statement appears grandiose, but I stand by it as true.  What Gunslinger Girl reaches for and what it accomplishes I will do my best to convey, but there comes a point where it surpasses me.  The best I may do is to step aside with the intent that somehow the same reaches out to the reader as well.

With this, it is my hope that this tribute written in the best way I know how will serve to enlighten where it can, in the truest sense of the word, for the essence is light.

Episode 1→