This series makes you feel all sorts of confused. On the one hand, the "Social Welfare Agency" is a counterterrorist governmental organization. On the other hand, they brainwash young girls and turn them into assassin cyborgs. On yet another hand, those same girls would've died without the SWA's interference. You'll have mixed feelings reading this series, especially with some of the "bad guys." There are, for the most part, no clearly defined black-and-white good and bad characters.

This book also has a different setup than a lot of other books. There is no central, overarching plot that the book is focused on (apart from the general themes of terrorism, the SWA, and the girls themselves). This doesn't make it any less of an interesting read though. To me, this setup made the book feel more like real life (life doesn't always have a clear central quest/journey). The real story is with the girls though--what happened to them before the SWA, what they're currently going through, their mentalities, their lives in general.

Overall, it's a very interesting series: The characters are deep and complicated and it is really well-written and well-drawn (The art is beautiful! Gorgeous drawings of Italian architecture and landscapes). I keep reading this series again and again, and I can never wait for new volumes to come out. This is one my favorites. I'd definitely recommend it (though not to children or to the faint of heart--it's quite gritty and violent, and has some complicated and mature themes).