#anime #tv #watched-2026 #review
§ The fuck? ^
The premise is really, really, really dumb; it's clearly a flimsy excuse to have gun-toting high school girls plus slice-of-life chill.
At first I thought it was a send-up of nationalism. Child soldiers who extrajudicially assassinate bad guys for the state? But actually I think we're just supposed to accept that part. The bad guy is trying to expose them... and also doing terrorism.
§ MAKE IT GAYER ^
The fanbase seems to be bifurcated on the question of whether it's queerbait and how overt the subtext is. I don't have a strong opinion either way, but the lack of explicit romance feels like such a missed opportunity. The emotional core of the series is hollowed out by the refusal to make it gayer. The conclusion feels so needlessly empty.
There is an explicitly gay black character who isn't a stereotype, which was refreshing.
§ 3DPD ^
There's a lot of CGI in here that just looks really ugly to me. It blends in with the traditional style better than some series I've seen, though.
§ Hackers wear masks 24/7? ^
Why not just turn off the webcam?
§ Girl Vash ^
The best part of the series is Chisato, a bubbly gun-toting pacifist. She shoots some kind of paintball bullets instead of real ones. (And is somehow still on the secret police payroll in spite of this?)
It's very dumb, but in a fun and wholesome way. She reminded me a lot of Vash the Stampede from Trigun. Like Vash, she has a superhuman ability to dodge bullets. Her story arc is pretty much the same, too, but with a weird abusive quasi-adoptive quasi-parent playing the role of Knives.
§ Verdict ^
It starts out bad, gets better, then fades back into meh. If you're looking for silly John Wick/Equilibrium-style action you'll probably enjoy it, but if you're looking for characters and drama you'll be disappointed.
3/5 (rounded up because the music slaps)