Gunslinger Girl is a show that follows a group of cybernetically enhanced assassin girls who are coincidentally young girls. The show has many deep themes and topics it discusses but compared to the first season it is a deep downgrade.
The second season changed focus to a more grounded view of the girls and their enemies and tried to explore a more personal experience. It also changes the art style which can cause some confusion for the viewer with new character designs, some changing hair and eye color. A big change has been made to the characters, most have been dumbed down and some to a 'moe' role. While some have been changed entirely.
The first episode of the season starts rather nicely with an exciting chase scene with some not-so-exciting animation depicting a riot.
The second and third episodes are the worst of the season, they introduce us to an unlikable boy assassin character called "Pinocchio". This character will be the nemesis of the whole season and is your stereotypical angsty and edgy teen. He crosses paths with our main characters in the following episode and for some reason, our 'cybernetically enhanced assassin' that we've watched kill numerous people and criminals cannot fight off an unarmed angsty teen and a middle-aged man while aiming a shotgun at them. With an embarrassing flashback of this supposed 'serial killer,' he takes pity on our hero.
Also revealed in the second episode is that Angelica from the previous season did not die and has made a great recovery. Angelica takes center stage in the following episode and replaces our dysfunctional but deadly assassin with essentially a sick child who needs to remember to take her medicine.
While watching it seems to me at least, that more thought has been given to the worldbuilding. Sadly this just comes off as laughable sometimes with plots and stories that are sometimes rather barebones or just don't go anywhere.
If you were hoping for deep dilemmas of terrorism and government action you might be a bit disappointed. There is an attempt mid-season to get back on a more serious footing with the cast of terrorists that take on ever-increasing screentime. Sadly a combination of sound design and the 'moefied' character designs makes all serious scenes fall flat on their face at best or are tone-deaf at worst. Sometimes taking the side of the terrorists and try to make the audience feel pity for them with cheesy flashbacks.
There aren't many good qualities in this installation but the eighth episode would probably be my favorite as it takes a step back from the tone-deaf storyline today in the life of Claes, a smarter and quieter one of the girls.
This 'cutesy' feel of the new season removes the seriousness and the intrigue that initially drew people to this show. A government assassination could be depicted in a carefree way, removing the heavy and serious themes from the show.
Compared to the prequel it is worse in almost every aspect; sound design, character design, tone shift, and focus. Being 'passable' shouldn't be a goal for animation and story writing. Overall I don't recommend it, it doesn't even feel like the same show.