Gunsmith Cats

Based on a popular manga by Kenichi Sonoda, this three-part original animation video follows the adventures of two outrageous heroines: crack shot and part-time bounty hunter Rally Vincent and her blond sidekick, Minnie May Hopkins, who specializes in explosives. They operate a gun shop on an otherwise quiet Chicago side street and share a suburban house that resembles an arsenal. Bill Collins, an officer with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, draws the duo against their will into an investigation of a gunrunning ring. The operation begins with a simple stakeout but grows darker and more violent as Rally, Minnie May, and Bill take on Major Radinov, a former KGB agent turned freelance assassin, who insists on being paid in heroin. Radinov murders government agents, informants, and the chief of the Chicago ATF with steely indifference. She leads Rally and Minnie May in a high-speed car chase that gives new meaning to the term road rage, then plays a deadly game of cat and mouse in an old Beaux Arts building. Handsomely designed and skillfully executed, Gunsmith Cats is slick, fast-paced, and extremely violent. Director Takeshi Mori builds suspense and tension so effectively, he imbues the shootouts and stabbings with an impact many gorier anime series lack. Not rated; suitable for ages 16 and up for occasional profanity and explicit violence. --Charles Solomon