Ask John: What Are the Best Girls With Guns Anime?

Question:
What are some of the best “girls with guns” series?

Answer:
Anime is rife with girls with guns and girls with guns anime, but the two are not necessarily the same. For me to discuss girls with guns anime I’m going to first make a distinction between gun-toting female characters and anime which revolve around the concept of girls and guns. Older anime like Urusei Yatsura had Benten and her bazooka; Dragon Ball had machine gun sporting Lunch, and even the recent Gurren Lagann co-starred teen girl sniper Yoko. But simply including a female character with an affinity for firearms doesn’t give a show a girls with guns identity. A true girls with guns anime must be one for which the female with a fetish for firearms characterizes the principal theme of the show. Furthermore, in deference to the literary implication of guns, a characteristic girls with guns anime has to be an action show. Finally, in order to be an exceptional girls with guns anime, the title has to foremost feature plentiful and exciting shooting action. The surrounding attributes also have to be commendable, although they’re of lesser importance in this particular perspective. With these prerequisites in place, shows like FLCL, Soul Eater, Ghost in the Shell, and Cowboy Bebop don’t count because they’re shows that include girls with guns; they’re not girls with guns shows. Shows like Miami Guns, Dream Hunter Rem, and Venus Versus Virus likewise don’t count, despite prominently featuring girls, guns, and action, because the characteristic theme of these shows isn’t girls with guns action. Miami Guns is predominantly a comedy. Dream Hunter Rem & Venus Versus Virus are supernatural thrillers that star girls who carry and use guns. Finally, undeniable girls with guns anime like Madlax, El Cazador, and Bakuretsu Tenshi don’t qualify because despite the prominence of their girls and gun play, the shows just aren’t very good.

1985’s Dirty Pair TV series may be considered anime’s first true girls with guns anime because it was the first anime to forefront and fetishize the concept of action revolving around girls shooting things. Dirty Pair remains one of anime’s finest girls with guns shows because it deftly combines plenty of action with a degree of character and intelligence rarely seen in any anime. Dirty Pair isn’t an intellectually provocative show, but it relies upon the intelligence of the viewer much more than typical of action anime. The show is fun, sexy, and smart. It features scantily clad girls with big guns yet never feels condescending nor exploitive.

The 1991 Burn Up! OVA is far from brilliant, but unlike all of the Burn Up anime that followed, the original feels fun and goofy without feeling dumb, sleazy, or exploitive. The original Burn Up! OVA is good natured fun from the tail end of anime’s golden age.

On its merits as an action anime, the 1995 Gunsmith Cats OVA series only rates mediocre. While it’s not bad, the anime series never develops any tension nor achieves any heightened excitement. However, strictly as a girls with guns entry, it deserves recognition for the sheer prominence of girls, guns, and gun action throughout. What it lacks in quality, it makes up for in sheer quantity.

Yasuomi Umetsu’s 1998 Kite and Mezzo Forte OVAs both highlight shootout scenes that are simply amazing. Kite has its memorable and imitated bathroom shootout. Mezzo Forte has its stunning bowling alley shootout. The abundant gun play of Kite is characterized by a ruthless and bloody pragmatism that’s both shocking and resonantly satisfying. Mezzo Forte takes an opposite route, opting for acrobatic, elaborate shootouts that resemble a ballet of violence. Both Kite & Mezzo Forte strike a more adult chord than typical girls with guns anime because of the fatalistic and impactful brutality of their violence, and the graphic sexuality present in both titles.

2001’s Noir television series is frequently criticized for its pretentious attitude and slow burn narrative development. But those are also characteristics that make the show so unique and respected. Noir introduced gun play action never seen before in anime and rarely seen since, even in director Koichi Mashimo’s follow-up girls with guns shows Madlax, El Cazador, and Phantom. The focus on the ethical weight of killing, the show’s fantastic action choreography, the frequent shootouts, and the show’s ubiquitous atmosphere and cinematic style haven’t been replicated since.

I’ve long thought that the 2003 Gunslinger Girl anime series suffered from inadequate character development despite its exhaustive efforts to be a character-centric series. The characters don’t learn from their experiences and don’t evolve. The series’ story doesn’t come close to fulfilling its promise and potential. Despite its weaknesses, the show is gorgeous looking, fluidly animated, and provides ample scenes of breathtaking gun action. I’m hesitant to recommend Gunslinger Girl for its dramatic weight, but as a show to satisfy viewers looking for anime girls shooting stuff up real good, it’s tough to beat.

The 2004 Grenadier ~Hohoemi no Senshi~ TV series is likewise sensational and silly fun that’s sexy without being sleazy. The show highlights plenty of the sort of fantastical action and marksmanship that can only be done in anime, and feels absolutely natural in anime. Grenadier satisfies by featuring plenty of shooting action while also delivering engaging characters and an enjoyable story.

Since I’ve deigned to nominate Gunslinger Girl, 2006’s Black Lagoon deserves similar mention. Black Lagoon is a story that pulls its punches much too often. When the show casts aside its restraints and fully indulges in grim, relentless, exploitive action and violence it’s outstanding grindhouse entertainment. But despite her bad attitude and affection for her twin Berettas, Levy, and the whole show, don’t cut loose and really indulge in over-the-top action often enough. However, any show revolving around a hardboiled leading lady that loves to shoot first and not bother with questions at all is a rarity in anime.

Last year’s Strike Witches TV anime is as much bishoujo sci-fi as girls with guns, but its numerous shooting scenes and its stellar action scene animation qualify it for recognition as one of anime’s outstanding girls with guns shows. Strike Witches takes a decidedly lighter approach to its theme than many other girls with guns anime. Unlike many shows that concentrate on their gal gun play, Strike Witches merges its shooting scenes into the tapestry of the whole narrative. However, the shooting scenes and the prominence of guns in the show are frequent and impressive enough to demand recognition.

No anime in the past eight years has come closer to resurrecting the tone and style of Noir than this year’s Canaan. In fact, in light of Type-Moon’s involvement in the 428 game that spawned the anime, Canaan resembles nothing so much as a hyrbid of Noir and Kara no Kyoukai. Canaan features the stylized realism and delicately intense action of Kara no Kyoukai along with the moral ambiguity and intrigue of Noir. The gun play throughout the show is fast, grim, bloody, and spectacularly stylized for maximum kinetic impact. Canaan excels by being foremost an exceptional, intelligent, and provocative action anime that treats viewers with an extra serving of frequent thrilling gunplay.