Burst Angel

 is a Japanese anime television series directed by Koichi Ohata, from a screenplay by Fumihiko Shimo. It was produced by the Gonzo animation studio.
"Burst Angel" takes place in the near future, after a rise in criminal activity forced the Japanese government to allow citizens to possess firearms and establish the Recently Armed Police of Tokyo (RAPT). The series follows a band of four mercenaries, named Jo, Meg, Sei, and Amy.
The series aired on TV Asahi from April 6, 2004 to September 14, 2004, totaling 24 episodes. An original video animation, "Burst Angel Infinity", was released on March 23, 2007. The music for both the series and OVA was composed by Masara Nishida. The opening theme for the anime series is "Loosey" by THE STRiPES while the ending theme is "Under the Sky" by cloudica; English dub voice actress Caitlin Glass also sang an English version of the ending theme.
Plot.
In the near future, due to an unusual rise in criminal activity, it has become legal to possess firearms in Japan so lawful citizens can protect themselves. At the same time, the government established the Recently Armed Police of Tokyo, whose methods are exterminating criminals rather than arresting them.
The story opens with Kyohei Tachibana, a male college student at a culinary arts school with dreams of someday becoming a pastry chef, motorcycling down an inner city street and becoming caught up in a shoot-out between a mysterious silver-haired woman and a psycho gangster. Kyohei escapes unharmed and ends up working as a cook for Jo, Meg, Amy, and Sei in an effort to gather up enough money to travel to France. The girls, ranging in ages of eleven to nineteen, turn out to be pseudo-mercenary agents for a larger international group known as Bailan.
"Burst Angel" focuses on the group as they investigate a series of mutated human monsters with glowing brains that cause various amounts of mayhem in Tokyo.
Media.
Anime.
The complete collection of DVDs from Funimation have been released as of January 2, 2009. This DVD set includes episodes 1–24 and the OVA. The complete collection was later released on Blu-ray on September 29, 2009. The entire series, except the OVA, is also available on PlayStation Network's Video store.
Manga.
A prequel to the "Burst Angel TV" series was created as a manga series titled "Angel's Adolescence", it was written and illustrated by Minoru Murao. It was serialization in Media Works' "shōnen manga" magazine "Dengeki Comic Gao!" in 2004 and then released as three bound volumes in Japan by Media Works in 2005. The manga is a canonical prequel, and has differences from the anime, depicting the romantic relationship of Jo and Meg.
In 2008 Tokyopop licensed the manga for release in English, and the first volume was released on September 9, 2008.
OVA.
"Burst Angel Infinity" was released in Japan on March 23, 2007. Unlike "Angel's Adolescence", the OVA deals is a side story revolving around Jo and Meg visiting Sam and her old gang in New York explaining the aftermath of episode 14 of the TV series. The OVA also includes a short preview titled by Ugetsu Hakua showing the characters five years in the future, including Jo, Sei and Maria alive. The OVA was released by FUNimation on November 13, 2007.