Gunsmith Cats

A sequel series, titled Gunsmith Cats Burst (stylized in all caps), was serialized in Monthly Afternoon from July 2004 to September 2008.

• Portal — yes

• Type — manga • Title — Gunsmith Cats Burst • Author — Kenichi Sonoda • Publisher — Kodansha • Publisher En — Dark Horse Comics • Imprint — Afternoon KC • Magazine — Monthly Afternoon • First — July 24, 2004 • Last — September 25, 2008 • Volumes — 5

• Type — ova • Director — * Takeshi Mori • Kazuya Murata (unit director) • Writer — Atsuji Kaneko • Music — Peter Erskine • Studio — OLM Team Koitabashi • First — November 1, 1995 • Last — September 1, 1996 • Episodes — 3

• Type — manga • Author — Kenichi Sonoda • Publisher — Kodansha • Imprint — Afternoon KC • Magazine — Monthly Afternoon • First — December 25, 1990 • Last — April 25, 1997 • Volumes — 8

• Genre — * Adventure • Crime • Girls with guns

Irene "Rally" Vincent operates the titular "Gunsmith Cats" gun shop but also works as a bounty hunter, which is the impetus behind many of the stories. She is assisted in both activities by her roommate, and former partner in crime and explosive expert "Minnie" May Hopkins. Rally is an expert combat shooter and marksman with an array of weapons, as well as a brilliant driver. May is an explosives expert, knowing the inner workings of and many uses of all manner of explosive devices. Teenage ex-burglar and lock-picker Misty Brown later joins the team and there is also Becky Farrah, a top, if expensive, source of information on underworld activity. Bounty hunting has of course led Rally to make many enemies, most notably Gray, the leader of gangsters whose use of armaments, including bombs, has likened them to terrorists; and Goldie Musou, a leading figure in the Mafia who uses drugs to manipulate people to the point that they can be brainwashed into killing their nearest and dearest. Bean Bandit, a man who specializes in delivering illegal goods, often features as an alternate ally or enemy—depending on the behavior of his clients, most of whom are being hunted by Rally.

After leaving anime production company Artmic to work as a comic artist, Kenichi Sonoda presented some of his story concepts and illustrations to Kodansha. These did not impress the editors but an illustration of two girls caught the attention of one of them, who suggested Sonoda develop a concept for it. Sonoda stated in an interview that the drawing was the genesis for the series. At the time Sonoda did not have any plans for the illustration but decided to expand his Riding Bean concept into a developed story. Due to licensing issues, Sonoda was originally unable to use the Riding Bean concept or character around the time he was creating Gunsmith Cats. However, during the run of the series the rights were returned to him and he added Bean Bandit into the series. Although Sonoda was a fan of the Japanese police drama series Taiyō ni Hoero!, he decided the show did not fit his preferred Western style. The story is influenced by American gun-action movies such as The French Connection and The Blues Brothers. Sonoda chose the Shelby GT500 as Rally's car after realising that the cars in driving movies from the 70s were often Ford Mustangs. He researched the various models and selected the GT500 because it was the most powerful rather than any attraction to the car itself. When drawing guns, Sonoda would use a combination of magazines and his own replicas. Character names were taken from American TV shows such as Bewitched and The Fugitive. The character of Minnie-May was the result of a compromise between Sonoda and the publisher.

Written and illustrated by Kenichi Sonoda, Gunsmith Cats was serialized in Kodansha's seinen manga magazine Monthly Afternoon from December 25, 1990, to April 25, 1997. Kodansha collected its 75 chapters in eight tankōbon volumes, released from December 16, 1991, to July 23, 1997. The series was adapted for publication in English by Studio Proteus and published by Dark Horse. Chapters were initially released as individual issues on a monthly basis from May 1, 1995, until August 15, 2001. Their release completely removed a scene where Minnie May performs oral sex on a man and another had blood stains on a bed removed, this censorship was done with the approval of Kenichi Sonoda. The individual chapters were then collected into nine trade paperback volumes between October 1, 1996, and February 13, 2002. The series began serialization in the British magazine Manga Mania from September 1996. A four-volume omnibus edition of the series, Gunsmith Cats Revised Edition was published in Japan between July 22, 2005, and October 21, 2005. The fourth volume includes the manga and "making of" materials of Riding Bean and Sonoda's early sketches and notes. This edition was then published in English by Dark Horse between March 14, 2007, and December 19, 2007. The English edition used the original Japanese format of reading from right to left for the first time in its English publication. It was sold shrink-wrapped and with an 18+ Mature warning on the cover. A sequel series, titled Gunsmith Cats Burst, was serialized in Monthly Afternoon from July 24, 2004, to September 25, 2008. Kodansha collected its chapters in five tankōbon volumes, released in Japan between June 23, 2005, and November 21, 2008. The English edition was published by Dark Horse between May 2, 2007, and April 14, 2010.

A three-part original video animation anime adaptation was created. This adaptation is an original story for the characters but includes several references to the manga storyline. The anime adaptation was directed by Takeshi Mori. Although Mori was interested in cars, he had no knowledge of guns and had made an effort to research them for the production. He made sure the story was interesting to prevent the anime from focusing only on the guns and cars. The music for the anime was composed by former Weather Report drummer, Peter Erskine. During production of the anime adaptation, members of the staff made several trips to Chicago to scout locations, including visits to a Gun Shop and a Police Academy. During these trips the staff were able to handle and fire real guns for research, something not possible in Japan with its gun laws. A Shelby Cobra GT-500 was recorded in Hollywood for sound effects purposes, and almost all of the other sound effects were recorded using Foley. A anime comic that compiled the first two episodes of the series was published as one volume on August 23, 1996.

The OVA was licensed by ADV Films who released the first episode in North America on February 20, 1996. There was a choice of either subtitled or dubbed VHS, as well as a bilingual Laserdisc. A special edition was also released of the subtitled version, along with a 40-minute making of documentary. ADV then chose the series for their first release in the United Kingdom. The first volume was released on June 3, 1996, as subtitled or dubbed VHS and also included the documentary. The anime adaptation was broadcast on the Encore Action Channel in September 2000. A DVD release of all 3 episodes and the making of special was released in North America on March 27, 2001, before being rereleased as part of ADV's "Essential" range with a lower price on April 13, 2004. On December 3, 2017, AnimEigo announced that they acquired the license for Gunsmith Cats, and that they would host a Kickstarter campaign to produce a Blu-ray edition for the series. The Blu-ray shipped in 2019, with AnimEigo announcing that "the Gunsmith Cats Explosive Edition Kickstarter was our most successful yet."