I knew of Gunsmith Cats from seeing it on shelves at a premium price at my local comic shop as well as in Forbidden Planet in London. However, I had read the series in the pages of Manga Mania once its Akira run had finished. I never watched it at the time but recently had a chance to catch the entire 3-part OAV run, so with a couple of hours free, I watched it and had a blast!
The opening credits are stunning and remind me of the late 70s/ early 80s cop show credits with lots of pop art, triangles and rectangles floating across the screen slowly to jazzy music... très cool.
The show feels like a loving homage to police procedurals from the early 80s and captures the vibe of that genre very well.
There are three episodes, all covering the main story of a gun running gang and their shadowy superiors. In the first episode, Neutral Zone, the Gunsmith Cats are roped into helping the ATF (Bureau for Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms) break up a gun running racket. Rally and her friends, bomb expert Minnie May Hopkins and lawyer Becky Farrah, are caught up in a grander scheme that they know little about. This is a great introductory episode and the shootout is well choreographed, capturing the tone of the genre very well with scuzzy warehouses, badly dressed hired goons and lots of dramatic gunplay; it reminded me tonally of the best pulp crime fiction like The French Connection, with the fun staged set-pieces of Beverly Hills Cop and the amazing kinetic gunplay of John Woo and Hong Kong action films.
The second episode, Swing High, sees an ex-KGB agent now assassin trying to collect the bounty placed on the Gunsmith Cats' heads. A riveting car chase follows as Rally tries to rescue May in a car chase reminiscent of The French Connection or Bullitt. It ends on a high as the assassin is seemingly killed but tis not to be.
The third, and final episode, High Speed Edge, sees the return of the assassin as she tries to finish off Rally and May. The conspiracy of the gun runners goes right to the top and it's an exciting finale with lots of explosions and huh stakes.
Throughout the series, the dynamic between Rally, May and Becky is great. It's like an all-female Lethal Weapon or Die Hard without a lot of the problematic casual misogyny that exists in many films from the era- don't get me wrong, some exists but it's not too egregious. The dynamic and rapport between these strong leads is palpable without sinking to the lowest common fan-service denominator. Sure, there is a break-in at night and the women are in their nightwear and a top is torn during a warehouse gunfight but it's not gratuitous in that there is no nudity and Rally takes it all in her stride.
Also, in episode 2 there is the threat of sexualised violence as a group of bad guys say, "Maybe we'll have a little fun before we kill you." However, considering the time it was created, it has not aged too badly at all as this was a common trope which been slowly phased out over time.
I know that there are a few more problematic elements in the graphic novels but the animated series does not seem to contain any of these from creator Kenichi Sonoda original manga. I vaguely remember the manga from Manga Mania and can't remember anything too troubling but I may be wrong, it has been 25 years or so!
Anyway, the level of detail and love shown towards Americana accoutrments, guns and cars is brilliant and, if that's your thing, it's very well represented here.
Overall, Gunsmith Cats is a brilliant anime and well deserving your time.