Gunslinger Girl

 Revisiting this one of the many early 2000s manga series that I used to follow quite fanatically in my Highschool days and as expected it is still a very good read. Gunslinger Girl is one of those early 2000s Japanese manga that exudes a particular sense of optimism as it try convey the value of Japanese being a member of Global Community who are willing to actively contribute and very well aware of subject matters pertaining about the world affairs outside its own nation, in particular a Euro-centric one. Kami no Shizuku, Chrno Crusade and Aria series are some of the few prominent works that possess this particular trait and as for Gunslinger Girl's it will try to display this aspect through its take on Modern Italy.

 A modern fiction that takes on a secret government organization of Italy that turned Crippled young teenage girls into deadly combat cyborg fighting against Terrorist Organization, Gunslinger Girl is a Japanese modern take on Italian Tragedy, a popular subgenre that found prominence in Italian Opera where it has most of the main protagonist of the play dies off in the final act. While I am not particularly an avid fan of this genre, as a general manga reading fan I would say the intertwining tales of Classic Italian Vendetta and unrequited love of young maidens who lived as a killing tool certainly a good yet gripping read experience. As I grew older I also come to appreciate the story of North and South Italy conflict that results in Terrorism act which is used as the main them in Gunslinger Girl.

Early 2000s was a renaissance era for Japanese manga genre which was a fresh breath of air and a contributing reason why millenials like me had positive image toward Japan which unfortunately is not the same anymore. I would say the 2008 Financial Crisis is a major contributing factor that these sort of particularly exotic manga series ceased to exist as the whole industry begin to shift solely for profit instead of pursuit for fine arts. Perhaps at some point I will talk about another Manga series that had similar vibe with Gunslinger Girl.