Girls' Frontline (aka Doll's Frontline in Japanese) is a 2022 anime based on the Chinese mobile phone game of the same name with animation done by Asahi Production with a total of 12 episodes being aired. In Japan, it's available via Tokyo MX, BS11 and AT-X while it's streamed online in most streaming websites, including ABEMA, Hulu Japan and Amazon Prime Japan. Funimation is responsible for streaming and promoting it in English/Portuguese/Spanish-speaking countries. The show is also available in Southeast Asia through Muse Asia.
In the year 2045, World War III broke out. This resulted with limited resources allocated to the surviving populace. Dolls were manufactured to relieve labor problems globally thanks to advances in technology. While Dolls have uses in the civilian environment, they were later used by military and Private Military Contractors alike as Tactical Dolls in various capacities.
Griffin and Kryuger, a Russian PMC company led by Berezovich Kryuger, was hired to investigate why Sangvis Ferri Manufacturing suddenly waged war against the rest of the world in a post-2062 era. At the same time, the AR T-Doll team (consisting of M16, M4, ST AR-15 and M4 SOPMOD II) was deployed to the Carpathian Mountains area under Persica's directions...
Little do they know that it was just the beginning.
The website is here
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This anime provides examples of:
- Abandoned Area: Promotional images of the anime showed the AR team walking across a deserted field where a carnival once stood, passing by skeletal remains. That area gets revisited officially in "WAKE UP".
- Ghost Town: "THE SEED" showed abandoned towns around the Carpathian mountains.
- Adapted Out: The anime extricates a couple of cameos, like P90 and M200 in "THE KINDLING".
- All There in the Manual: The official Japanese website has a Keyword webpage to help explain the terminology used in the anime (and to an extent, the game).
- All Your Base Are Belong to Us: The Sangvis launch an attack on the Griffin base being headed by Gentiane in "SILENCE 01". While the attack fails in the end, the damage is severe enough to prevent anyone to go on missions until repairs are complete. This also leaves Gentiane in a state of worry as they now know the base's location and can attack again at any time. Which they do in "THE KINDLING 01", this time forcing the humans to join in on the frontlines.
- The Anime of the Game: A rather roundabout example, since it's largely adapting the manga (Girls' Frontline: The Song of Dolls), itself an adaptation of the game's main story.
- Artistic License – Gun Safety: ST AR-15 prods M4 SOPMODII's cheek with the barrel of her rifle at the end of "SILENCE 02".
- Badass Crew: The Anti-Rain (AR) team, consisting of various AR-15 models.
- Big Damn Heroes: In "THE SEED", the G43, Scorpion and PPSh-41 T-Dolls were recruited in time by ST AR-15 and SOP II to help turn the tide against the Vespid and Jaeger T-Dolls.
- Bloodless Carnage. Since most characters are robots, they can be shot, dismembered, blown apart, or otherwise mangled without showing a drop of blood.
- Downer Ending: AR-15 is lost forever (or so it seems) and the Sangvis forces have suffered no real losses in return.
- Elites Are More Glamorous: Griffin and Kryuger's AR team is considered as such, which is why they were initially tasked to infiltrate the Carpathian Mountains for a data retrieval op.
- Hold the Line: M4 tells the AR team in "THE SEED" to fend off the Ripper and Jaeger T-Dolls while she's downloading the necessary Sangvis-related intel for Persica.
- In "THE KINDLING", the Griffin Commanders end up doing this as a Sangvis attack their hidden base.
- Market-Based Title: The anime's known and marketed as Dolls' Frontline in Japanese.
- Mythology Gag:
- The episode titles are taken from the in-game chapters they're covering. Episode 2 is titled "THE SEED" after the game's first chapter, for example.
- WA2000 quotes her in-game skill activation line verbatim just before sniping Hunter.
- Pragmatic Adaptation: Like the manga, the anime adapts the game's Featureless Protagonist by making them into a distinct character in Gentiane.
- Robot War: Like the game, the T-Dolls are used to fight on behalf of national militaries and PMCs. Things became worse when Sangvis began to engage the rest of the world in another war.
- Shoot the Bullet: Hunter deflects WA2000's sniper fire with her own shot in "SILENCE 02".
- The Stinger: The end of "SILENCE 02" has Gentiane assigned to command a T-Doll team known as 404.
- We Need a Distraction: In "THE SEED", the AR team engaged Agent in the church compound from within close quartersnote , giving SOPMOD time to use her assault rifle's underbarrel grenade to fire a grenade to take her out.
- Wham Episode:
- In "WAKE UP", M4A1 has been cut off from the rest of AR team and is forced to trek out by herself to hide from Sangvis T-Dolls.
- In "THE KINDLING01", the AR team encounters Destroyer.
- "THE KINDLING02" showed AR-15 escaping from Griffin containment after having a Sangvis program installed in her programming.
- Winter Warfare: The AR team faces off against Sangvis T-Dolls in the Carpathian Mountains in "THE SEED".
- 20 Minutes into the Future: The anime starts in 2062, like the game.
- Zerg Rush: This is what SF mooks amount to do: walking towards Griffin T-Dolls while shooting them. Justified, as they have very limited processing power, so following orders blindly is all they can do.
