An episode about Marco’s past, developing his character a little more. We get a bit of Angelica, Triela, and Priscilla, too.
Brief Summary
Flashback of Marco getting an eye injury that leads him to being kicked out of the force. Patricia is around and worries about him as he searches for a new job. They seem to be an item.
In present day, political leaders continue to spin the truth as they resist efforts by the Movement to rebel against them. Meanwhile the Gunslinger Girls are training as usual, but Marco is upset at how Angelica’s skills have waned since her hospitalization.
Flashbacks of Princess Triela’s encounter with Pinocchio. Rumors are spreading among the regular soldiers about how she, a cyborg, lost to a “normal human.” Hillshire gives her a new gun and tries to cheer her up. He gives her Pinocchio’s pendant, too.
Angelica notices Priscilla’s broken arm but doesn’t remember that she did it.
Flashback again to young Marco and Patricia; the former landed his job at the Social Welfare Agency. The latter is happy for him but apparently will miss him. We come back to an intermediate flashback between then and the present, where Patricia meets a reporter named Leo.
They talk about her past and travel a bit and meet a foreign girl; she says she likes Italy. Leo keeps getting Patricia to wonder about what Marco really does in his job. She buys into it and investigates with him.
Leo gets a phone call from an officer (at the request of Jean), that leads him into a trap. Marco is there and identifies Leo as a Padanian terrorist, but not before he takes Patricia hostage. Luckily Marco had Angelica hidden to take out Leo. Marco apologizes to Patricia for the way things have turned out with his career and their former relationship.
Back to present where Angelica rides back home with Priscilla. The latter recalls scenes of when she first started taking care of Angelica at the Agency with Marco. The book about the prince of pasta is significantly sentimental to her.
Thoughts
Aha, so apparently everyone in this show speaks Italian. It’s just conveniently “dubbed” in Japanese for the audience. That’s fine because I got to hear Noto Mamiko as Patricia. Hooray Kotomi-chan. :3
Eyes are a little big
The artwork is just a little flat. Psgels agrees that the budget is just short (or maybe the studio isn’t too great). I know I’ve said before that the art doesn’t take away from the storytelling, and people shouldn’t judge this series based on this artwork or how it compares to season one: that’s still true. The character development and storytelling and the music (definitely the music) are still great to me. I’m enjoying my bits of Triela and seeing all the other girls grow more. But if you consider the art all by itself .. yeah .. it’s a little inconsistent. Oh well.
Well because this was a flashback ep, there’s not a lot of new development in the present. But perhaps Priscilla’s resolve is strengthened a little more to make sure Angelica gets well and becomes a dominant member in the Agency again. Triela, too, will hopefully get over her defeat — but that will probably only happen with a rematch with Pinocchio, which I see happening since she has his pendant. I’m interested in why some refer to her as Princess Triela; that’s really cute. :3
Who is the green-eyed girl that Patricia and Leo meet? Will she be around later?
I think I need to review season one as to how that pasta book came about; I’ve forgotten a lot of what happened back then. Or I could just read the manga, hm.
~Crisu
Triela~
“Who is the green-eyed girl that Patricia and Leo meet? Will she be around later?”
I’m pretty sure she’s not in this part of the manga, but it looks like a cameo from a major character in the arc after Pinocchio.
Watching her limp away, I say it’s probably her. Nice cameo.
The pasta book should have had a happy ending as far I know.
I’m actually surprised Angelica has already forgotten she hurt Priscilla’s arm. It makes you wonder if the drugs had any adverse effects on her long-term memory.
I’m pretty sure the drugs and conditioning DO have an effect – that’s the crux of Marco’s struggle with caring for Angelica.
I think it’s safe to say that by her eyes, blank expression, and the way she’s limping… we’re going to see more of her later.
The fact that it’s implied that she’s not from Italy, (foreign) means a whole lot to probable cause of who she might be.
I really didn’t imagine Marco having anything but dark hair, so the first time I saw him in this second season made me double-take.
The girls’ eyes are drowning me.
I personally can’t stand the new artwork of season 2. Particularly on the adults eyes..i.e. Jose. For god’s sake, they look like teenagers…
The artwork is bad, but the writing hasn’t been all that disappointing. The blonde limper looks like a cameo, which means the writers have recaptured some of the subtle plot detail that made season 1 so great (like Henrietta’s subtle memory lapses in Sicily…)
But what was the scene with Jean and Rico towards the end — Rico was ready with a sniper rifle. Were they going to shoot the terrorist? Did they actually shoot instead of Angelica?
I like both series but i would definetly have prefered the old artwork, there were sertain subtleties that made this anime an art less of a show. The details on the characters’s faces are now near non existent, as you may notice now the girls just seem to smile a kill. back in season one there was more emotion in their faces, more like “why the hell am i doing this?” kinda subconcious thinking.