Ask John: Why Isn’t There a Live Action Gunslinger Girl?

Question:
Why hasn’t there been a live action adaptation of Gunslinger Girl since it seems the most realistic to begin with?

Answer:
Upon first impression, one might think that the absence of a live action adaptation of Gunslinger Girl is due to hesitation over depicting real teen girls as vicious killers, or associating children with guns. But that theory probably has very little actual influence. The 2000 Battle Royale live action feature film included realistic scenes of teens using guns to commit murder. The film was very successful. The 2003 sequel was even more gunplay heavy. A less well known but even more convincing example is director Takeshi Miike’s 1996 film Fudoh: The New Generation, which included a scene involving preadolescent children assassinating gangsters. Furthermore, the new cult hit Japanese live action film Machine Girl revels in depicting a teenage girl as a ruthless, violent killer.

Evidence suggests that the absence of a live action Gunslinger Girl film isn’t due to fears over making a film about teenage girls using guns. I think that the reason why Gunslinger Girl hasn’t been adapted into live action is because it’s not an especially strong candidate for adaptation, despite a potentially easy transition into live action.

The Gunslinger Girl manga, anime, and video game franchise are only appealing to a very small niche audience because the franchise relies upon its concept and superficial appeal in place of compelling literary and narrative content. The Gunslinger Girl franchise depicts virtually no character development and minimal character psychology. The story, its characters, and the relationships between characters develop incrementally because of the script, not because of natural, organic development. The manga attracts its audience with its art design and the mere presence of sympathetic “imouto” characters. The first anime TV series earned respect from viewers for its atmosphere and lush visual design, but the story does little to make any sort of statement about the morality of dehumanizing teen girls or government sanctioned assassination. The second TV series is likely to be among 2008’s worst anime productions.

The audience for a live action Gunslinger Girl movie is small. The source material offers an intriguing concept, but has very little substantial depth to work with. So even if a screenwriter was to compensate for the superficiality of the source material by pumping increased impactful character interaction and some specific socio-political opinion into the original concept, the audience interested in watching a film about teen girls carrying out political assassinations is too small to justify the cost of producing a live action film.