When I started watching the first episode of this I was surprised to find that the style had changed quite a lot since the first series, while the characters were all recognisable they had become far more cutesy, with larger more brightly coloured eyes. I suspect it was also made on a lower budget as several action scenes involved a series of stills rather than the complicated animation they would have required.
At first I thought the differences were so great that I wouldn't be able to enjoy it but it wasn't long before I accepted them and got in to the story. This series had a stronger story arc then the first which concentrated more on showing us the girls' characters. We also learn more about Franca and Franco, the two bombers we first met in series one as well as Pinocchio, a new character who is a young boy that was raised by Christiano one of the terrorist leaders. Pinocchio also becomes the personal Nemesis of Triela when he beats her in hand to hand combat.
The character based episodes don't totally disappear, there is a nice one following Claes where she starts to remember her handler and another where we learn how Triela came to the Social Welfare Agency, something that was only hinted at in the first series.
If you were a fan of the original series I'd recommend watching this, the changes take a little getting used to but it is worth persevering as it is a pretty good follow up. If you haven't yet seen the original series I would recommend seeing that first as it introduces the viewer to the characters and explains the workings of the Social Welfare Agency. I for one am looking forward to the DVD box set being released.
At first I thought the differences were so great that I wouldn't be able to enjoy it but it wasn't long before I accepted them and got in to the story. This series had a stronger story arc then the first which concentrated more on showing us the girls' characters. We also learn more about Franca and Franco, the two bombers we first met in series one as well as Pinocchio, a new character who is a young boy that was raised by Christiano one of the terrorist leaders. Pinocchio also becomes the personal Nemesis of Triela when he beats her in hand to hand combat.
The character based episodes don't totally disappear, there is a nice one following Claes where she starts to remember her handler and another where we learn how Triela came to the Social Welfare Agency, something that was only hinted at in the first series.
If you were a fan of the original series I'd recommend watching this, the changes take a little getting used to but it is worth persevering as it is a pretty good follow up. If you haven't yet seen the original series I would recommend seeing that first as it introduces the viewer to the characters and explains the workings of the Social Welfare Agency. I for one am looking forward to the DVD box set being released.