Rally Vincent knows her weapons well, while her partner Minne May Hopkins loves to play with
explosives. The pair run a gun-shop illegally and one day Bill Collins of the ATF, blackmails Rally
and Minnie May into working for the ATF. Little do they know, that they are getting involved in a
mission larger than they could imagine.
(Source: Anime News Network)
#####This review is spoiler free. --- I’m just gonna be upfront here: if you like pulp crime _Gunsmith Cats_ is for you. _Gunsmiths Cats_ is guns, cars, girls and explosions. If that sounds awesome (it is), then watch it. If I doesn’t, well, I don’t know what to tell ya… _Gunsmith Cats_ is pure pulp. At no moment does it take itself seriously, try to lay out a complex web, or delve deeply into the character’s complexities. Everything is perfectly written to exude this pulp feeling. The first bad guy we meet is called _Jonathan Washington._ The chief of police is called _George Black._ Yes, they sound dumb as hell. Yes, it’s awesome anyway. The short little series is set in Chicago. Or, at least, what Chicago looks like to Japanese people – a fantastic establishing shot shows an ad of a business man and two kids that reads “I AM AN AMERICAN.” Chicagoan’s might disagree, but I think it nails the look of Chicago, if one that is sometimes slightly ridiculous. The iconic train lines of The Loop, the drawbridges, the grey skyscrapers. Perfect. ~~~img500(https://i.imgur.com/YI2Ro4M.png) ####_Like it or not, this is how America looks to the rest of us._~~~ Our two main characters: Rally Vincent, the gun-wielding, mustang-driving badass, and Minnie May, the klutzy explosives expert who’s signature is a grenade with a lipstick kiss on it. The rest of our line up hits all the marks for a perfect crime set up, inducing the dodgy cop, Bill Collins, who blackmails our heroines into helping him with a bust. ~~~img500(https://c.tenor.com/l8r2B3c_YXoAAAAd/gunsmith-cats-90s-anime.gif) ####_"There's nothing to eat!"_~~~ After that, you’re in for 90 minutes of crime, shooting and driving. There’s nothing more you could ask for. It’s so often spectacularly cliche, the plots twists and turns are so familiar it’s funny. And that’s exactly what this show is trying to be. This is what pulp is. It’s genius. And on top of that, it looks and sounds fantastic. The animation is slick. Lots of attention has been paid to make the guns and cars look good. And Rally _always_ follows correct gun safety. The work done on driving animation was remarkable. It’s hard to get driving looking as smooth as it does without CGI and yet it’s got a cracking car chase. The sound design was awesome. Apparently they even recorded audio of an actual Shelby Cobra GT-500 (Rally’s car). I believe it, the car sounded like music to my ears. ~~~img500(https://64.media.tumblr.com/8a16864f8672339e64fb7227bf73e0b8/d0157affd127258d-7b/s540x810/15998ffb6508627412f6027ea0b0e17b84635cf5.gifv) ####_Even the number plate is awesome._~~~ Negatives? I can't think of any. My only complaint is that there isn’t more. _Gunsmith Cats_ is so much fun. I discovered this ages ago but put off watching this for a long time – don't be like me! It's 90 minutes! Just watch it!