"Pumpkin Scissors" is a Japanese anime series that aired October 2006 and had finished airing its first run around March 2007. It has the feel of "Fullmetal Alchemist" but without the alchemy. The setting looks to take place in some town that resembles a town in Germany, Czech Republic, France, or Belgium. It says that it’s reminiscent of the Interwar Period which was between World War I and World War II. Everything looks to be mid-twentieth century as everything seems to look pretty primitive. There is no internet let alone any broadband or wireless communications. Everything looks to be old fashioned in the setting and environment of Pumpkin Scissors. The series runs up to twenty-four episodes.
The series starts out as there was a long war between two factions called the "Royal Empire" and the "Republic of Frost." Then there was a ceasefire in place and the story speeds up three years later. Nothing has really changed as the Royal Empire still suffers from starvation and plagues. They are attacked by bandits made up from former soldiers. There are two main protagonists with one male and one female.
The male protagonist is named Corporal Randel Oland who has a few facial scars as a result of his time in combat. He was wondering why the ceasefire didn’t end much earlier. He joins a group called the Pumpkin Scissors to aid the war relief effort and fight against the bandits that plague the Royal Empire. It is revealed that he is a special forces soldier that served in a group called the "Gespenster Jager" which are "Ghost Hunters" in German. Randel does display the ability to take out tanks while on foot making him an elite soldier. He seems to know how to handle the tanks’ advanced weapons such as acid rounds.
That alone should reveal that Randel does have some sort of interesting past. He is very effective as he can take on takes withut any regard for his life. It is established that he is part of the secret 901 unit which is the anti-tank-trooper unit. The enemies look to be reminiscent of the Nazis of Germany during World War II.
The female protagonist is Alice L. Malvin who is a second lieutenant. She leads the Pumpkin Scissors and is in charge of overseeing all of the war relief efforts. Alice is very inexperienced as she graduated from the military academy of the Empire moments before both groups had called for a ceasefire. A good deal of Pumpkin Scissors can possibly focus on Alice becoming a more effective leader. It is also revealed that Alice is a princess and part of the thirteen noble families of the Royal Empire.
But there are other interesting characters present in Pumpkin Scissors.
There is a middle age man named Captain Hunks who is the commanding officer that administers the Pumpkin Scissors. He’s the calm and collected officer that balances out the group especially due to Alice’s impulsive nature and personality.
There are Warrant Officers Martis and Oreld that accompany Alice wherever she goes. They act as the voice of reason trying to make sure that Alice doesn’t get very impulsive and reckless into doing something that she would regret into the future. In a sense, the three of them together look to act as possible comic relief.
There is a young girl named Lili Stecchin who is very hyperactive and holds the rank of sergeant major. She is basically the aid of Captain Hunks. She’s mainly excited about Randel joining because she outranks him by many levels. Lili is aided by a dog named Mercury who used to be a corporal but got demoted to courier private first place because he bit an officer due to being hungry. It looks to be a running gag with Mercury jumping up and biting people’s hair.
Interestingly, the ranks used are adopted from the ranking system by the Japanese army.
As the Pumpkin Scissors, they are charged with overseeing the war relief effort while investigating and stamping out possible corruption in the country. But that’s easier said than done as there is corruption from all sides. Though they take the duty seriously, there are many that think the effort is mere propaganda while others deem it a waste of time.
Their enemies range from bandits made of former soldiers to corrupt nobles and officers. These enemies are well armed as they use tanks; which seems to be a very important part of the series. This is where Randel’s skills come in handy as he is the only person in the Pumpkin Scissors who can easily take out tanks. It’s because of this ability that Randel is very invaluable to the group.
But there are various morals and lessons to be learned. The series teaches for "commoners" to become very active if they are being oppressed by "nobles." It also teaches that there is corruption everywhere. The series also teaches us to focus on how we live instead of how we are born. For anybody that is going into political science, they should watch Pumpkin scissors.
The term of Pumpkin Scissors comes from how there are many layers around corrupt individuals like a pumpkin and that the group must act like a pair of scissors. As a pair of figurative scissors, they must cut through all of those layers and stamp out corruption.
For anybody that is into military themed anime and movies, Pumpkin Scissors is definitely a series to watch. There looks to be a dubbed version of the anime. However, a series like that should be difficult to find. It’s also unknown if and when it will actually be released on North American TV networks.