There have been countless anime narratives that feature cute, dangerous girls and femme fatales, and one that has most recently caught the attention of the community is known asLycoris Recoil, a thirteen-episode anime thriller and rollercoaster with bullets whizzing past constantly as the characters navigatetheir lives as professional assassins.
Given the premise surrounding young girls who are trained as assassins in the dark underbelly of society, at first glance,Lycoris Recoilseems reminiscent ofGunslinger Girl,an older title from the early 2000s that presented similar elements. So, is there more to this similarity than meets the eye? CouldLycoris Recoilbe inspired byGunslinger Girl? Let’s find out.
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Plot
Lycoris Recoilis an original anime set in some version of Japan where the number of terrorist acts has been significantly lowered due to the influence of Direct Attack (DA), a syndicate that raises orphaned girls to be skilled assassins under the “Lycoris” program. After an act of insubordination in a fragile hostage situation, the talented Lycoris, Takina Inoue, is transferred from the DA HQ to a café in disguise known as “LycoReco”.
Takina is assigned a new partner who is different from what she imagined, as she is known as a prodigious Lycoris; however,the infamous Chisato Nishikigicould not seem any less interested in her duties. Chisato takes Takina on various odd jobs and assignments under the guise of “helping people”, and what makes this particular partner especially strange for Takina is the fact that Chisato carries out her jobs without killing anybody. While Takina is desperate to work hard and earn her place back at DA HQ; Chisato is eager to teach her new partner that there are different ways to successfully complete an assignment.
Gunslinger Girlis set in the heart of Italy, where the Social Welfare Agency rescues young girls from hospital beds and gives them anew chance at life through cybernetic enhancement. The girls are brainwashed, stripped of their former personalities and lives and trained to be assassins that are used as attack dogs for the Italian government.
Despite being built into literal killing machines, they are still little girls at heart, and they grapple with various difficult emotions as they seek to be acknowledged by the people they love, even if they are only to be seen as tools to be used for the sake of keeping social order.
Government Dogs
One of the major similarities between the narratives ofLycoris RecoilandGunslinger Girlis the presentation of secret divisions within the government that are tasked with the location and adoption of little girls from various kinds of disadvantaged situations. The underlying idea behind the use of little girls for such tasks is the fact that they are generally considered to be the least threatening type of person, and on a narrative level, it presents a grim contrast between the darkness of murder as an occupation and the innocence of young girls.
The Lycorises (“Lycorii”?) inLycoris Recoilare analogous to thecyborg assassins of the Social Welfare AgencyinGunslinger Girl;however, there is the marked difference between the two in that the Lycoris agents aren’t necessarily cyborgs, nor are they specifically taken from hospitals; however, Chisato does have a mechanical heart, which would effectively make her a cyborg. The DA is a much bigger agency than the secret branch of theGunslinger GirlSocial Welfare Agency, and therefore, there are far more Lycoris agents than there are, for lack of a better term, cyborg gunslingers.
However, what both agencies have in common is their wanton treatment of these child operatives, and the lack of genuine care received by them. For their respective agencies, the only thing that matters is results, and therefore, the psychological welfare of the agents is not a concern. This is evident inLycoris Recoilin the circumstances surroundingTakina’s expulsion from DA HQ. Her insubordination made her unable to carry out orders, and a tool that cannot do what it is assigned to do is considered to be useless.
In both series, the positions of the agents as secret dogs of the government comes to bea major internal conflictin some way, and the desperation to carry out even the most ruthless, brutal orders to be acknowledged is something common to the characters in both series. This grappling with a lack of affection in their upbringing, as well as developing their own sense of self is prevalent in bothLycoris RecoilandGunslinger Girl; however, the latter is far more enmeshed within the importance of that element to the narrative.
Guns of an Arsenal
Overall,Lycoris RecoilandGunslinger Girltake similar themes and take them in directions that are parallels for sure, but run in different directions, especially when it comes to the contrast inLycoris Recoil’s lighter general atmosphere toGunslinger Girl’s more emotional, broody and subdued atmosphere. There are definitely dark elements in both series, as they are both largely based around the grimy underbelly of their respective societies, and both series are definitely character driven despiteLycoris Recoilfocusing its gaze primarily on the main duo of Chisato and Takina.
Gunslinger Girltakes a slightly broader approach, with several characters of significance; several perspectives within the basic context of young girls trained to kill and feel nothing. It is evident that Gunslinger Girl is much more dramatic and gritty in its approach to the more subdued moments in the series, whileLycoris Recoilis almost bright and cheery in its general atmosphere. This is also helped along by the vast difference in the art of both series –Gunslinger Girlhas a much more classic approach to the art, and has much less vibrancy to its colours and character designs thanLycoris Recoil; which hasan almost-KyoAni feelto the visuals.
Another interesting similarity is the presence of partners or “handlers” in the lives of the young assassins in either narrative, and in both anime, the understanding of the significance of the relationship between the assassin and their partner grows as the series progresses. BothLycoris RecoilandGunslinger Girlhave a focus on the relationships formed between the assassins, and there is an emphasis on the humanity of the supposed killing machines.Gunslinger Girl presents this focus on a number of main characters, and how their identities as asssassins comes to be a major internal conflict for characters like Henrietta; whileLycoris Recoilis largely focused on Chisato and Takina. While there are some marked similarities between the series, it remains difficult to say for sure whetherLycoris Recoilwas directly inspired byGunslinger Girl, or if theyjust happen to share several similarities.
