Pumpkin Scissors

Pumpkin Scissors (パンプキン・シザーズ) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Ryotaro Iwanaga. The series follows Second Lieutenant Alice L. Malvin, the leader of the Pumpkin Scissors, as she and her platoon go on missions to provide war relief to the public after the Royal Empire signed an armistice against the Republic of Frost.

The series started in Kodansha's manga magazine Magazine Great in 2002 and moved to Monthly Shōnen Magazine in 2006. Its chapters have been collected in 24 volumes. In North America, the manga was published for English release by Del Rey, publishing five volumes before ceasing operations in 2010. It was later licensed by Kodansha USA for a digital release.

A 24-episode television series adaptation, produced by Gonzo and AIC, was broadcast from October 2006 to March 2007. It was first licensed in North America by ADV Films, and later transferred to Funimation.

Plot

Set in a region strongly resembling Western Europe, where technology is at best mid-1930s (tanks exist, but semi-automatic rifles have just been developed, the main transport vehicle is still the train or the car, planes are seldom used, wireless communication does not exist, etc.) in which a catastrophic war has just ended similar to that of the Great War (which in this universe lasts for 11 years) that occurred in the early parts of the 20th century, the Royal Empire (which is culturally similar to the

Characters

Arisu Rei Maruvin (アリス・L・マルヴィン)

Second-in-command and platoon leader of State Section III, aka Pumpkin Scissors. An inexperienced soldier of noble origin who graduated in the academy just before the ceasefire (the ceasefire was announced literally in the middle of the graduation ceremony for the class of officers she was in at military academy); Alice's hot-tempered and reckless demeanor tends to sometimes put her and her subordinates in danger. She has a strong sense of duty and justice and tries to live up to her family's military traditions, contrary to her father and sisters' belief that she must assume a more feminine behavior. While she is the current heir to her family, she will likely lose this position once her younger brother comes of age.

Contrary to her subordinates who always engage in combat with firearms, Alice's weapon of choice is a short-sword with her family crest engraved on it, but in some occasions she shows her true skills in battle when brandishing her special weapon, a long double-bladed cavalry sword called Mahne. Another curious trait of hers is that sometimes she feels chills on her neck when something very good or very bad is about to happen. Alice is engaged to another noble, Lionel Taylor, who apparently supports her ideals.

Randeru Ōrando (ランデル・オーランド)

A retired soldier who joined Pumpkin Scissors to aid in their war relief effort. He was a former member of the 901st Anti-Tank Troopers (901-ATT), which basically consisted of foot soldiers trained to take down enemy tanks by themselves. This unit, known also as the "Gespenster Jäger" (German for "Ghost Hunter") was part of the Invisible 9, a secret and illegal unit created by the Empire for the war. They are specially trained to ignore pain and fear in order to engage tanks and armored vehicles at point blank range. While the division was secret, all tank crews were warned to be wary of soldiers carrying a blue lantern.

Despite his impressive stature (probably over seven feet), and a body riddled with scars, Randel's nature most of the time is kindhearted and ingenuous. But when he is in trouble he turns on his blue-steel lantern marked "901-ATT", and he becomes a fearless and vicious combatant. He is capable of defeating even heavily armored foes with his 13 mm anti-tank pistol, known as the "Door Knocker" (highly reminiscent of a Thompson/Center Contender pistol), and is later shown to use another weapon, which is a giant pair of shears—flashbacks showed it to be used to rip apart the metal plating armor of tanks to get to the pilot crews.

Due to his reckless style of combat brought on from his conditioning/training to ignore pain and fear, Randel is frequently hospitalized during the series. These hospital stays lead to a running gag about the size of the corporal's penis, and the inability of the hospital nurse to find a urine container that will not break.

Hankusu (ハンクス)

The commanding officer and administrator of Pumpkin Scissors. He issues mission orders and provides a calm, steadying presence, which balances Lieutenant Malvin's impetuous nature. His personality is relaxed and informal.

Orerudo (オレルド)

Childhood friend of Martis, Oreldo is a handsome young soldier who fancies himself a ladies' man, yet seems to be something of a player. He is very clever, resourceful and an expert at picking locks. His background has yet to be fully explained, but he seemed to be a street urchin before joining the military.

Māchisu (マーチス)

Graduated as one of the top students of the academy, the slight, bespectacled Martis provides the voice of reason and caution when out in the field. It is also hinted from one of the episodes that he knows very good defensive-based martial arts.

Riri Sutekkin (リリ・ステッキン)

She is the longest serving member of the "Pumpkin Scissors" unit. Little is known about her past except that she was a part of the military band in her previous post. She serves as Captain Hunks' aide and is also responsible for taking care of Mercury. She is elated to no end that with the recruitment of Randel into their unit, she finally outranks someone (other than the messenger-dog, Mercury) and has "an underling!" It is also noted in the anime filler episode that she loves children and wants to be a good mother one day.

Mākyurī-gō (マーキュリー号)

Often referred to as "Merc" (マーくん). The platoon's messenger-dog, who has a bad habit of biting peoples' heads. He was demoted from Corporal to Courier Private First Class for biting an officer in Episode 1. He is very fast, reliable and sensitive to the emotions of his team. Their reaction to a particularly unpleasant officer (Major Connery) lead to the previously mentioned incident. He resembles a Labrador Retriever.

While Merc is normally seen as a friendly dog with the members of State Section III, when events warrant it, he shows himself to be what the commoners referred to as a "military hound," and can even disarm opponents.

Webunā (ウェブナー)

The officer in charge of the technology development unit of the Imperial Army Intelligence Center Office.

Reonīru Teirā (レオニール・テイラー)

The noble fiancé of Alice. A tall and smooth talking gentleman who is well aware of the corruption and madness that is running through the nobles, as well as Alice's love for the military. He has been known to give State Section III tips on matters, though he seems to have more sinister purposes up his sleeve.

Konerī (コネリー)

The commanding officer for State Section I of the Imperial Army Intelligence Center Office. Compared to Captain Hunks, his personality is cold-hearted. However, along with Captain Hunks, he also seems to know about the secrets kept within the army. He often complains to Captain Hunks about State Section III interfering with his operations, but usually backs down eventually.

Vorumarufu (ヴォルマルフ)

The first minor antagonist of the series. He was a leader of the 903rd Chemical Tactics Troop (903-CTT), also known as "Krankheit Jäger" (German for "Disease Hunter"), which specialized in chemical warfare and part of the Invisible 9. Oland killed him with his "Door Knocker". As a bandit, he called himself "Grauwolfe" (German for "Grey Wolf") after his unit's code name. It is actually revealed in the manga that the main reason he turned rogue was because, after his captain was killed, he found out that their unit (at the end of the war, thus no longer needed), was considered to be composed of war criminals by the military, since in international treaties already forbade the use of chemical weapons before the war, thus taking all the blame of the military with them.

Hansu (ハンス)

A member of the 908th High-Temperature Troop (908-HTT), also known as "Alt Schmied Jäger" (German for "Old Smith Hunter" or "One-eyed Cremator", part of the Invisible 9. He is indebted to the secret organization "Silver Wheel". He and his unit members were given a flame thrower and a protective suit. The suit however did not protect against the flames, a fact the Kauplan Institute covered up by filling the suits with a fluid impregnated with analgesics, which kept the men from feeling the harm they did to their body and also prevent the skin to take damage from being in an enclosed environment for weeks, months or even years. After the ceasefire, Hans's fellow soldiers, ignorant of their life-threatening burns, took off their suits and perished. Hans was lost in thought and thus delayed in removing his own. His dying team members told him to keep that suit on, because if he too removed it he would die just like them. Hans spent the years since the ceasefire inside it.

type	tv series
director	Katsuhito Akiyama
writer	Atsuhiro Tomioka
music	Kow Otani
studio	Gonzo AIC
licensee	Crunchyroll
network	TVS, tvk, MTV, KBS, SUN, Tokyo MX, CTC
first	October 2, 2006
last	March 19, 2007
episodes	24
episode list	List of Pumpkin Scissors episodes

Plot

Characters

Media

Manga

Anime

Reception

See also

Further reading

External links

References