Sunday 7 September 2008

Gunslinger Girl - Il Teatrino - Episode 8

It's been age since we last got a new episode of Gunslinger Girl - Il Teatrino to chew through, which has left me having forgotten much of what happened in episode seven. Thankfully it doesn't matter all that much on this occasion, as episode eight doesn't really deal with the main plot arc of the series at all.

Instead, the focus of this episode is firmly upon Claes, and more specifically her state of mind and how she copes with the sense of 'limbo' in which she is left by her inability to take part in any missions. I could argue that it's a slightly disjointed and confusing episode, but in a sense I get the feeling that's actually the entire point, with Claes on one hand reasonably happy with her simple life of playing the piano and tending to a garden, but on another, more fundemental level she's distraught with her relative confinement and haunted by memories that she doesn't have anything approaching a firm grip on.


Now I come to think of it, my explanation of this episode was actually more enjoyable to write than the episode itself was to watch - While Gunslinger Girl has always set to balance any action off against its deeper insights into the girls themselves, this particular episode plodded along without really telling us anything new. You could say that puts it in keeping with the rest of Il Teatrino, which has continually failed to live up to the dizzy heights scaled by its predecessor. A tough example to live up to, I grant you, but this series isn't even coming close to doing that overall.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hmm, this episode was actually the first from il teatrino that left me a little disappointed. Claes' story in the manga is one of the most beautiful and they changed it completely into a slice of life story that didn't explain anything of her (really touching) background at all. Well, perhaps they will show it later in the series?

On a side note, am I the only person who felt that this episode's animation was a little off?

Hanners said...

Il Teatrino's animation has been pretty patchy throughout to my mind, but this was probably one of the worst examples.

It is a shame that this episode took something that could have been quite profound, and left it as a lifeless lump of filler.

Anonymous said...

A contrasting opinion - this episode features what I like most about GG - the emotional situation of the girls, their plight of having to live out their lives within the span of a few years and within institution walls. The political scheming & assasination attempts etc are interesting but I could as easily do without them.

Although from Sasa's entry, I'm missing a lot from not knowing the manga. Off to the store -