Japan’s got a history of anthropomorphizing stuff.  Some call it moéfication.  What this means is that they’re pretty damn good at turning inanimate objects into….cute girls.  They’ve done it again.  This is “Upotte!!”, an anime about cute gun girls doing cute things.

Upotte!! is the story of 4 girls who go through life together and share many experiences and joys as they go through the throes of adolescence.   The 4 girls are students at Seishou Academy where they hope to become awesome assault rifles.  So yeah, totally like the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.

This is Funko-chan.  She’s the main character of the series, and like your typical anime heroine, she’s cute, charming, and she wears a thong.  No, I’m not kidding you.

Sig-chan is a girl who excels in schoolwork, but is kind of a ditz.  You can’t be totally perfect, now can you?

Ichiroku-chan is your typical American.  She speaks in Kansai-ben, is loud, energetic, and works in bursts.  That’s due to her three-round burst feature.

L-chan doesn’t solve murders or have a freaky addiction to sweet food.  This girl is quiet, unassuming, and she’s got a big chest that Ichiroku loves to fondle.

I’ve seen the first episode and I have to say that I’m pleasantly surprised with what I’ve seen so far.  It doesn’t try too hard to do anything off the wall, it presents itself quite well.  Studio XEBEC has been known to do some wonky things here and there with their titles but things are looking quite solid.  So while the premise may be a little lacking for some, I do recommend giving this anime a once-over.  Especially if you’re a gun otaku.  The gun knowledge is there in spades.

And there’s a gallery if you wanna go through the first episode.

-Francis

All images are copyright their respective owners.   Subs courtesy of HorribleSubs.