Gunslinger Girl: Volume I

Gunslinger Girl is a manga by Yu Aida. It first premiered on May 21, 2002 in the monthly shonen manga magazine Dengeki Daioh. The chapters were also published in 15 tankobon volumes by ASCII Media Works. Set in modern Italy, the series focuses on young cybernetic girls and their adult male handlers who use them as assassins under the directions of a government organization.

The manga series is licensed for an English language release in North America by Seven Seas Entertainment. A thirteen-episode anime adaptation produced by Madhouse aired in Japan on Animax and Fuji Television from October 8, 2003, to February 19, 2004. A sequel titled Gunslinger Girl -Il Teatrino- and created by Artland premiered in Japan on Tokyo MX TV on January 7, 2008. It spanned thirteen episodes, concluding on March 31, 2008. Two additional episodes were released on DVD in Japan on October 24, 2008. The sequel is licensed for release by Funimation Entertainment.

A secretive government agency called the Social Welfare Public Service Institution puts on the charitable face of helping out the public but it has a hidden agenda. A shadowy killing arm of the government, SWPSI gathers together little orphan Angelicas, wipes their slates clean, and turns them into terminators. Lethal in their new mechanical bodies and trained with precision assassination techniques, the diminutive slayers kill without remorse as their humanity has been taken from them…

Gunslinger Girl Volume 1 follows the 3-D action and adventures of a young girl named Henrietta who kills at the behest of the agency that has taken her in. The first production includes a bonus DVD with episodes 1-5 of the animation and a very large-sized 32-page artbook which contains some beautiful artwork inside.