Gunslinger Girl

[SkyeFire]

Okay, no, I'm not seriously suggesting it as a Step, though it might work as a Stagger. But either way, it would be awfully... cathartic... to see Doug play cleanup to the GG universe.
GG is... unusual. It's as if someone took the classical anime trope "cute little girls who are actually cyborg assassins" and ripped out every bit of lollicon and damnear every iota of cuteness, and ended up taking a seriously 'realistic' look at how such a story might *really* play out... and it isn't pretty. In one scene, three adorable young girls sit around a table having tea, calmly discussing their brainwashing and whether it needs to be adjusted, while one keeps spooning loads of sugar into her tea because her sense of taste is deteriorating. Each girl is partnered with a "big brother," a handler whose job it is to manage his cyborg assassin, and is the target of her carefully installed fixation. The handlers run the gamut from kill-him-now abusers to guys who wander through the series with haunted expressions, obviously wondering how the hell they became party to this monstrosity, and yet unable to abandon their charges (Marco and Angela are particularly heartwrenching). And the support staff span the same spectrum, with some characters who manage to be very memorable on very little screen time.
Having Doug, or someone similar, drop in post-series and stumble over the truth of the Social Welfare Agency, when the first-gen girls are approaching the end of their shortened lifetimes, would... well, I'm a sucker for poetic justice and happy endings. Probably why I like fanfic. Of course, there's a good chance Doug couldn't *do* anything with this situation, given it's such a tangle, and the opportunities for him to make things *worse* by overreacting... ouch.
And yet... I can't stop *wanting* it, wanting *something,* for these poor girls. GG got dismissed by a lot of people when it came out, but for me, it was a real yanker on the heartstrings. I guess I just can't let it go.

[Sweno]

Very much with the agreeing.
The problem (as I see it) with a Walk or Stager in GG is that the SWA is relatively good at keeping things under wraps.
And if Doug is able to find out what is happening there is little he can do to improve the situation for those already in the program. It is shown in a few cases, and implied in the rest, that the girls were [suicidal/lost all will to live/in REALY bad shape] before being brought into the program. So removing the brainwashing won't improve the situation, removing the girls from the situation won't help because of the brainwashing (and possible need for maintenance).
Towards the end of series I definitely got a bit frustrated/depressed at the situation presented, but the saving grace (Vs NGE) is that the girls are able to enjoy the life they have, and don't wallow in the grief.
So the situation sucks, but I don't really see a way to solve it without pulling a deuce ex machina mecha-to-flesh deal for the girls. And even that wouldn't work fully because everything they have trained for, and only thing they know how to do (aka kill people), requires said mecha.
so in closing: grr, arrg, wimper.-Terry
------
"in comes a man in cameo with a american flag, because american flags float around in the wilderness." - Mike Keon
Please Remember: People are stupid... Programers are people.
-Terry
-----
"so listen up boy, or pornography starring your mother will be the second worst thing to happen to you today"
TF2: Spy

[Sirrocco]

I dunno. I could see him doing some good...
(Note that I have not seen this one)
Whole bunches of problems, here.
- The girls are in the process of breaking down
-- "I'm alive" can only fix flesh, but there's bound to be a song or two that can pull deep repairs on mechanical parts, too.
- The girls are chock-full of gear that breaks down
-- Doug's an engineer, and a good one. He has access to much better technology, a fair number of specs, and a secondary talent that subliminally enchants things to make them better when he's working on them. He's got to have at least some skill in basic first aid/anatomy, and he's got healing songs to use in patching peoiple up when he's done with them. He could make them better.
- The girls are under the thumb of a powerful, ruthless organization
-- No comment.
- The girls have serious emotional issues that have pretty much been broken into them, some of them focusing on some awful people.
-- Well, it's bad, but it's not like he couldn't try to help. I actually see this as potentially the most difficult aspect. When the tortured Innocent tries to kill you, that's bad.
- The girls are trained and mindwarped assassins
-- Again, nontrivial, but could conceivably be dealt with.
- The girls are probably suicidal
-- give them something to live for
Essentailly, I can't see this being easy, but it's not hopeless either. It's just dark.
As for having him catch on to the situation, well, pick one of the girls and:
a) have him run into her and see that *something* is wrong.
b) have him there when she attacks someone, and see that something is very wrong
c) have him see her interacting with her handler and decide that the way he's treating her is just not acceptable.
Sirrocco

[itsune9tl]

---

a) have him run into her and see that *something* is wrong.
b) have him there when she attacks someone, and see that something is very wrong
c) have him see her interacting with her handler and decide that the way he's treating her is just not acceptable.

---

As a possible plot twist, we have the SWA deciding;
1) Doug is getting too nosy,
2) to have the girls take him out of the picture
This could lead to a running gunfight in a toystore.

[HoagieOfDoom]

To me, it doesn't even seem like a GG step would be even a stagger. More like a one-shot. A "rest-step", so to speak, with no overarching plots, big shoot-outs and whatnot. Rather, a random meeting between Doug and one of the girls. Of course, it could develop into a larger plot, but I just see as something short. More of a GG introspection fic and a true part of the Walk.*********
There's no need to hear, I can shout you.

[Jinx999]

What we really need is a Gunslinger Girl - Borribles crossover. :-)
Gunslinger Girl is interesting because there isn't an easy solution. In many cases, the girls are happier as brainwashed assassins than they were before.

[Bob Schroeck]

God, this show sounds awful -- not in the sense of badly made, but in sense of frustrating and upsetting. I'm not sure I actually want to see it...

-- Bob
---------
It's spelt "Frodo Baggins" but it's pronounced "Throat-wobbler Mangrove."

[Sweno]

Yes the show does have a dark undercurrent, and there are moments where it that comes to the surface. But for the most part it's about little girls shooting bad guys. And it manages to be (well not exactly upbeat) but uplifting in the end.
It's what NGE could have been if they got a proper ending on it.
Cathartic, in a good way.-Terry
------
"in comes a man in cameo with a american flag, because american flags float around in the wilderness." - Mike Keon
Please Remember: People are stupid... Programers are people.
-Terry
-----
"so listen up boy, or pornography starring your mother will be the second worst thing to happen to you today"
TF2: Spy

[Jinx999]

I personally think it's one of the best Anime I've ever seen. The ending left me in tears, though. It's very rare for anything to get that kind of emotional response out of me.
I'd say the show is creepy and disturbing psychologically and leaves you really wondering what is right or wrong in their world, but I think it is much less messed up than EVA, which left with a strong urge to kill all the characters.
If I was going to make a fan page for any series, it would be this one.

[Bob Schroeck]

Okay, I'm tempted. Anyone have a URL handy for torrents of the first few eps? (Of course, I could probably scan Animesuki when I get home, but I'm nothing if not lazy.)

-- Bob
---------
It's spelt "Frodo Baggins" but it's pronounced "Throat-wobbler Mangrove."

[Jinx999]

It's now coming out on DVD. Torrents may be difficult to find.

[Bob Schroeck]

Oh, okay. I'd rather get the DVDs anyway, just out of consideration to the creators.

-- Bob
---------
It's spelt "Frodo Baggins" but it's pronounced "Throat-wobbler Mangrove."

[Jinx999]

I liked the Torrents so much that I'm buying the DVDs.

[CattyNebulart]

Well it's been a while, and I know I'm still interested in seeing a gunslingers girls step or stagger. It is one of the best anime I have ever seen, depressing in some ways though, but also upbeat.
Sure the girls are messed up, and it's tragic, but at least they have a second chance and are happy.
you wouldn't need to be morally bankrupt to create or work for the organization, you won't be hailed as Maria Theresa, but you might not be as reviled as Bush&Chaney.
E: "Did they... did they just endorse the combination of the JSDF and US Army by showing them as two lesbian lolicons moving in together and holding hands and talking about how 'intimate' they were?"
B: "Have you forgotten so soon? They're phasing out Don't Ask, Don't Tell."