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SUMMARY

Rally Vincent and May Hopkins are the owners of Gunsmith Cats, a small gun shop in Chicago.  They are also part time bounty hunters.  Their latest job is to bring drug dealer Jonathan Washington back for trial. 

It seems like a pretty easy job, until Bill Collins of the ATF appears.  As it turns out, Washington isn't a drug dealer, but a gun smuggler.  Bill tells the two ladies that he needs their help in finding out who Washington's supplier is.  At first reluctant to help, circumstances forces them to reconsider.

Now, they are caught in a war between the ATF and the gun runners.  It's good that Rally and May can protect themselves.  Not only is there a leak in the ATF, but a crazed Russian killer named Radinov is after the Gunsmith Cats!

DVD VISION TEST

VIDEO: The quality is excellent.  There are no pixels or errors noted.  The colors are solid, and the motion, fluid.

AUDIO: A vast improvement of the original English 2.0.  The new remastered 5.1 sound is quite aggressive, utilizing the entire sound stage.  You can now hear the traffic in the background, as well as the subtle click of Rally's gun.  The distinctive jazz score finally gets the treatment it deserves.

Compared to the 5.1, the Japanese 2.0 flat out sucks.  It's quieter, with almost no directionality.

For the audio commentary, the voices project from the front speakers, while the English dub plays in the background.

EDITS: The Japanese ending credits have been replaced with English credits.  

EXTRAS: There is a "Making Of" video, clean open animation, commentary with Director Matt Greenfield and Voice actress Tiffany Grant, who played Becky.  Oh, and lets not forget about the trailers.

WIDESCREEN REVIEW

STORY: Ken'Ichi Sonoda is well know for his love of Chicago, fast women, and guns. Gunsmith Cats has all three. Coming off as a retro 70's detective series, it has action, hot babes, and plenty of general mayhem. It is not a grand, dramatic piece.  Atsuji Kanako manages to capture the spirit of the series, while lightning up the tone.

ACTING:  Don't hate me for saying this, but I found the Japanese cast to be a little flat.  They don't have much vocal range, and their voices are too similar to be distinctive.  I found their reading very un inspired.  Perhaps it's because I can't imagine chicks from Chicago speaking Japanese. 

The English dub on the other hand is wonderful!  I totally loved Amanda Winn's calm and cool demeanor for the tomboy Rally.  I think that Kimberly Yates as Mini May is an absolute stitch.  She gives that right amount of playfulness and oddball sexuality for our physically stunted 17 year old.  Tiffany Grant does a fine job as Becky Farrah.  She gives the character a personality, more so than her Japanese counterpart. 

FAN SERVICE: Surprisingly little in the nudity department.  While we do see Rally and May in their undies a lot, that's all your gonna get.  There are several references to the manga, of course.

CONCLUSION:

Ever since the "Bubblegum Crisis" OVA, I have been a huge fan of Ken'Ichi Sonoda's work.  From his character designs in Gall Force, to his action orientated manga Exxaxxion, I can't get enough of his awesome style.  So what if he recycles character designs more often than I recycle cans. You can't ignore his talent for giving us kick ass heroes, chicks with guns, and interesting/off the wall stories.

I count "Gunsmith Cats" among my personal favorites.  I fell in love with the manga (buying every single volume of the Japanese release), and I was quite excited when I learned that ADV had released the OVA series.  I had some concerns, mostly about whether or not it would suck like "Riding Bean". 

Fortunately, it wasn't bad at all.  True, it's not as dark as the manga, but that's okay.  For its 90 minute run time, I had a lot of fun.  The action was plentiful, I got to see Rally shoot bad guys in her undies, and I got to drool over her Shelby GT Cobra.  The only thing I missed was Rally didn't use her signature move; shooting off the thumb of a bad guy.

Good thing about this anime is that you don't need to have read the manga to enjoy the series.  The references to the manga are so sly, only real fans will get the jokes.  There isn't really a need to delve into the background of the characters, because right from the beginning, we learn everything about them.  Rally is the gun nut, May is the bomb nut, Becky is the snitch, and Bill is the government worm. That's all you need to know.  Well, except that May used to be a hooker who took medicine to keep her looking like a 12 year old.

The action is quite good, but not as over the top as "Riding Bean".  Don't worry, there are plenty of gunfights, car chases, and explosions that will keep you action fans pleased.  For those of you who were hoping to see Mini May "perform"...not going to happen.

The making of video is interesting.  Narrated by Amanda Winn, we learn about Sonoda's inspiration for the characters, and their gear.  We get to follow the animators around Chicago.  We also get to see the Japanese voice actresses. That would be great, if only I had liked their acting.

I have to say that while the detail the animators put into GSC is top notch, I just didn't feel like we were in Chicago.  I will admit, I don't live there and have only been once or twice.  The problems when an animated film is based somewhere other than your home country, they don't quite get the vibe a certain area has.  Just like when I watch "Kim Possible" fight Dr. Draken in Tokyo, I really don't feel like I am in the Japan that I know.  This is merely an observation, not me criticizing the work of the animators or the writers.

In my review of the original release, I complained about spending more money to buy the new "Anime Essentials" version.  I also said that ADV not be sending me a copy.  Well, they did.  I can now say that this "Anime Essentials" version is not that much different from the previous one.  The English 5.1 is the highlight of this DVD, with it's improved sound surpassing the rather bland 2.0 mix of the original.  While the audio commentary was interesting, it was only on the first episode.  That kind of sucked.  Those of you who own the original may have a hard time deciding to get this new version.

While not as gritty as the manga, GSC-Bulletproof is still an entertaining anime that will appeal to anyone who likes a good, fast paced action comedy.  As the original release is no longer in print, go and get the new "Anime Essentials" release.  That way, all you new folks can enjoy this great series.  For those who own the original release, you have some thinking to do. 

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