I saw the first episode of Pumpkin Scissors when it premiered in fall 2006 and found it marginally interesting but not enough to continue to the second episode. Recently I got around to watching the Volume 1 DVD that I had bought during RightStuf’s Xmas sale and I now feel the same way about the second disc: I’m kind of interested in the story but not enough to buy the next volume to find out.
As commander of her unit, Alice has a certain amount of honor and duty as a soldier, such as willing to challenge a tank by herself, that gives her a passion and masculine qualities that one wouldn’t expect from the daughter of a noble family. Her family, however, wants her to stop playing soldier now that the war is over and not dress like a commoner. She begins to feel bad for her privilege based on her war relief work and in one town where her unit is to be help build a tunnel, she starts to fast and collapses while working in a mine - an instance where her stubbornness becomes a fault.
The stories so far have been one-offs where the unit goes to a town on a mission and although there has been slight ground laid for larger plots, like Orland having flashes of his war past and hints of military secrets, I’m not terribly compelled to watch disc two right now. I may request it through Netflix down the line since I like some of the characters and the action elements.
Finally, some comments about the graphical elements of this series so far. The standard animation looks crisp and smooth but the CG work on the tanks is definitely noticable and distracting, something that I’ve also experienced with other Gonzo action series like Burst Angel.
Not all the CG is bad as you can see with the above, where the water coming from a town fountain has digital mist and individual streams and meshes well with the hand-drawn water on the man’s face.
The CG river near the unit’s headquarters has a similar look and is recognizable as such but it isn’t as jostling to the eye as the tanks are.
P.S. Here’s an interlaced screencap where Alice is between motions. Enjoy!
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Pumpkin Scissors got much better as it went along. I too didn’t find the first few episodes all that engaging, but it gets more interesting as you learn more about Alice, her family, and her reasons for being in the army.