David Roggenkamp Recently I stumbled across "Gunsmith Cats" thinking it was one series, but it turns out it was another. The OVA (original video animation) that I viewed plays out much like a movie and takes place across three episodes. The three episodes center around two women - Rally and May; a business owner next door and an ATF (think SWAT/FBI/CIA) member as they start out business as usual in one investigation, but get tangled up into a political scheme with ties in so many directions it is hard to tell who is on whose side anymore.First thing I will say about this series is the play on realism. The amount of detail - taking place in America (not Japan), actual settings from Chicago, gun ownership, details of guns, as well as realism of what could possibly happen if this situation was real - are all phenomenal. Mind you, this is just the tip of the iceberg - the show has a number of elements which all focus on realism; despite this show being an anime - props must really be given to the developers of this show for putting in so much effort - especially to an "OVA" of all things.Few things I must give props to are the characters individual personalities as they play out. There is nothing really over the top here - if they were actual people they would certainly seem real - that is if they were goofy. There are admitted some serious personalities, but they are not something you would expect in a drama. Instead this is more like an adventure/mystery that is thrown together in an anime. Havinig said that, this anime focuses on gun theft as well as a few murders; a gunsmith shop, and an ATF member that will suspend their business without a license. That is, he -IS- willing to give them a license if they cooperate. It just so happens they are bounty hunters and want to solve this case. Little do they know they are getting stuck in a few capers after the fact.Character designs look similar to that of "Slayers"; considering they were made around the same era, it would make sense; but I have a strange suspicion that it is in fact made by the same art studio or the same manga artist. Character designs are full of life, animation and emotion; they are very fluid, as are many of the art designs used for active objects and background objects. Unlike many anime which use the same character model with a looping frame for a mouth; this one uses full animation with character models moving while they speak. Regardless, design in this series is about as realistic as an anime without computer graphics can get. Of note should be the gun designs as well as the "Shelby 500" (Mustang) which are pretty accurate.Character voice acting is over the top in some cases; Japanese hardly ever sound like this - but their anime counterparts (here), have distinctive personalities in pitch and voice type. Much of the speaking and word style used in this series seems to be of the simple variety; my ears, which know sporadic Japanese, picked up on a few words and otherwise understood some of the tone inflection - not bad considering most anime sound like gibberish and otherwise need subtitles to make any sense.The plot, music and sound effects are also good; as is the pacing of the series. The opening seems to be a bit redundant, but I will cut them props for creating a fantastic opening sequence that really jives with the show and otherwise represents what the series is about. It is also great that they managed to do so without any singing; it is instead instrumental Jazz throughout.I recommend this series for anime fans that want something with a goofy angle, serious tone, and otherwise fun outlook on a crime caper with some action thrown in for good measure.

dbf1979 A good example of the Japanese, Absorbing American TV of the 70's and 80's and beaming it back at Americans, With that definite Japanese twist.If you enjoy action car shows like "Knight Rider"?, Then the corny loose plot, Weak Supporting cast and excessive explosions shouldn't bother you much.However, I feel It should have been edited as one movie length story, Rather than 3 separate episodes, As the episodes aren't really that strong on their own? This is great 'Beer and Curry' light entertainment, Some nice Eye candy for a lazy afternoon and the fact that the show's creator, Does actually try to draw detail is a plus too.

DarthBill Three part anime adaptation of the manga developed by Kenichi Sonoda in response to the cancellation of his "Riding Bean" series (which also had a one shot anime feature of its own).Rally Vincent (originally a character in "Riding Bean") is a bounty hunter and gun store owner who, along with her short statured bomb loving partner Minnie May Hopkins, hunt down criminals for the right price. Then an ATF agent by name of Bill Collins shows up and he has dirty information on them that he uses to blackmail them into helping him uncover a gun ring which connects to both his boss and a crooked politician and eventually involves a giant hulking Russian assassin the size of a basketball player.Kind of like a bizarre mix of "Lethal Weapon", "Blues Brothers", "Die Hard", and other big explosion action features. It's bright and it's funny and it'll kill time on a slow night.

ataru moroboshi For the original audience, it was probably a look into America-- though not neccesarilly accurate with everything. Excellent animation-- especially the driving scenes and gun battles. Clever all the way around.Looking at it with the Clinton years and the BATF, it becomes rather ironic: The heroine is a gun store owner while the villains were the head of the ATF and an anti-gun politician. If made in America, it would be labelled "right-wing propaganda."