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Gunslinger Girl: Il Teatrino [Blu-ray] | ![Gunslinger Girl: Il Teatrino [Blu-ray]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51Zlt-AjhCL._SL500_.jpg) | Director: Mike McFarland
Actors: Luci Christian, Caitlin Glass, Laura Bailey
Studio: Funimation Prod
Category: DVD
List Price: $49.98
Buy New: $26.97
as of 7/30/2010 11:26 CDT details
You Save: $23.01 (46%)
New (18) Used (4) from $26.97
Seller: deep_discount_dvd_cd
Rating:  reviews
Sales Rank: 9501
Format: Widescreen, Color, Box set
Languages: English (Unknown), English (Subtitled), Japanese (Original Language), English (Original Language), English (Dubbed)
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Media: Blu-ray
Region: 1
Discs: 2
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
Running Time: 320 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 6.7 x 5.4 x 0.6
MPN: FMABRFN08198
UPC: 704400081989
EAN: 0704400081989
ASIN: B0030ZOYJU
Theatrical Release Date: 2010
Release Date: March 16, 2010
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
Studio: Funimation Prod Inc Release Date: 03/16/2010 Run time: 320 minutes
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| Customer Reviews:
excellent gun-girl anime... January 19, 2010
G Bequer
12 out of 16 found this review helpful
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...
Colorful action tragedy July 14, 2010
Robert W. Scott (Luray, VA USA)
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.
 Review of the Blu-Ray video quality June 10, 2010
Porcupine
With the coming of HD, it seems that each Japanese anime studio is adapting at its own rate. It looks to me like this show was originally created in 1024 x 576 resolution, which is semi-HD resolution. Funimation representatives have spoken the truth, they did not upscale this show. The show was likely upscaled by the Japanese production companies to the standard 1920 x 1080 resolution. I feel that the upscale was done decently, but let me reiterate that this show is indeed native HD to some extent.
I have seen some websites with "screenshots" of this show featuring heavy edge enhancement, an undesirable artifact, and accompanying criticism. I have also seen websites with "screenshots" featuring no edge enhancement. I don't see edge enhancement on my equipment. I think the "screenshots" with the edge enhancement were not taken properly.
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.
The first OVA episode seems to have slightly worse video quality so it may be ordinary upscaled SD. The second OVA episode seems to be back to the 1024 x 576 resolution of the TV series.
I think the frame rate of the encoding is 1080i/60 which is perfect. I see no animation issues with the opening or ending credits, as sometimes occurs with anime.
The only disappointment with this release is that some of the Extras are missing on the Blu-Ray version, which I hear exist on the DVD version. Most notably, the second creditless introduction is missing. This is very sad because it's also the only Extra that has worth. I wonder if the Japanese Blu-Rays have it?
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.
Great Product! June 3, 2010
Aftan Forrest (Canada)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Love the bluray format. The anime was a little unguided and should have focused more on the Triela character but I suppose that it is more important to follow the manga.
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