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ADV have released Gunsmith Cats on DVD,
so VHS is going to be harder to find, but should still be available.
Being a bit of a fan of the original manga, I was looking forward
to seeing just how faithful the anime adaptation would be. I have
to say that I wasn't disappointed.
Every detail is incredibly realistic, with the guns, cars and grenades
looking and sounding exactly as they should. (Many of the sound effects
were taken from their real life counterparts, including the engine
noise for Rally's Shelby Cobra GT 500!).
The intro deserves a special mention here. It's a cracking seventies
style intro, Featuring pop art style scenes and the girls silhouettes
as cats (Sexy or what? ). The music is typical seventies cop show
music ( how else would you describe it, apart from jazz?) Nice.
The plot: A cop in the ATF (Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms bureau)
gives the cats an ultimatum: Help us with the case or be arrested
for illegal possession of firearms (Rally ) and explosive substances
(May ). Rally ends up trying to catch an illegal firearms trafficker
in the act, leading to violence and mayhem in the form of good stunts
and big guns.
The animation is smooth and crisp, with Sonodas’ original character
designs adapting very well to the screen, retaining the same ‘feel’
and style as the original manga.
The DVD edition contains nothing that wasn't available on VHS, which
is disappointing. There's the same making of documentary that was
available on the first tape, and the opening animation without the
text overlay (its instrumental, so this feature is pointless). There's
also the original trailers, which, again, is the opening credits.
All in, there's really nothing new here, except the convenience of
having all three tapes on a space saving VHS...
8/10 - Solid action, fans of the manga will lap it up.
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Another
of Keichi Sonoda's creations, Riding Bean, is available now from MVM.
Feturing more hi-octane action and a blonde Rally Vincent(!)