"GITS" and "Gunslinger"

"Ghost in the Shell: Innocence" -- last year's movie that kicked off a slew of anime movies that made it over to the states. I grabbed the DVD at BlockBuster, and I guess it was worth it, but I'm not entirely enthralled with it.

It's touted as a great example of the combination of 2D and 3D animation, but frankly, 10 years ago that would of been the case, but now, it's kind of "meh" in that department. A bit overblown and overly gothic in many ways. The plot, well, it was okay, but nothing special. Dialog was a total quote-fest -- practically every scene they had to quote something or another to make their point. There were some neat touches which mainly revolved around the use of Basset Hounds as the sole remaining dogs on the planet, but otherwise, well -- "meh". Could've been worse, could've been a lot better.

After that, I finally made myself crack open disc 1 of "Gunslinger Girl". Way back last year when I was first trying to find out what I was missing in the recently-released universe of anime, I commented on my impressions of the fansubs of the series:

This one is just, how I can put it... evil. It's engineered to be so manipulatively heart-wrenching and tragic that you form a depression-inducing sympathy with these poor kids, and a terrible guilt complex when you're awed by the "cool" action sequences when they skillfully, and frighteningly, kick terrorist ass.

I've since made the distinction between this "evil" and "Elfin Lied" "evil" -- GSG is very artfully done in the way it takes my heart and crushes it into a fine pulp. I still choke up when the OP starts. It's a very serious and well-executed series. But it's oh-so-very evil.

My prediction back then that I wouldn't rewatch until the DVDs were released came true -- not that I didn't try on occasion, but I could never get past that OP when I did. Now that I have the DVD and I'm forcing myself, I have to admit that I can get through it a bit easier now, but it's still pretty darned harsh. Putting little girls through this kind of shit, then "glorifying" it; that's quite a bit to take on. But, still, it's something you can't help but watch, because it's pretty darn well done.

Anyway, I'll keep buying the rest of this, and will probably complain a couple of more times about just how much this is fucking with my psyche. Luckily, I think I'll get over it... Heh.