Gunsmith Cats is a manga and anime work by Kenichi Sonoda. The story centers around two young women, 19-year old Irene "Rally" Vincent and her partner, 18-year old "Minnie" May Hopkins.

Rally and May operate the Gunsmith Cats gunshop in Chicago, Illinois. Rally also works as a bounty hunter, assisted by May, which is the impetus behind many of the stories. Rally characterizes bounty hunting as her "hobby" though it is in fact her main source of income.

Rally is an expert combat shooter and marksman with just about every firearm in existence, as well as a expert driver. May is an explosives expert, knowing the inner workings of and many uses of all manner of explosive devices.

Characters

Irene "Rally" Vincent

A gunshop owner by trade, she dabbles in bounty hunting to pay the bills. She founded Gunsmith Cat, her own entrepreneurial venture, and recruited Minnie May to help her run the store. Upon making May a partner, the shop became known as "Gunsmith Cats". A taciturn girl when it comes to men, she feels most natural among the cold steel of firearms. While all her ID states that she is 21 (necessary to sell firearms), her actual age is 19 (18 in the original Japanese version). Her weapon of choice is the CZ-75 original model, a gun made in the former nation of Czechoslovakia.

"Minnie" May Hopkins

A "Bomb Specialist", as she refers to herself, she learned the trade from her boyfriend, Ken Takizawa. While only being 18 (17 in the original Japanese version; her age was raised for international translation because she performs explicit sexual acts), she is considerably more mature than the average 18-year old girl. During her youth, she worked at a brothel in Chinatown before leaving and joining up with Rally to run the gun shop. She typically uses a self-modified grenade called a "May Special", an impact only grenade, no shrapnel, however, she is not averse to using high explosive grenades when necessary.

Bean Bandit

A tough as nails driver for hire known for his steel-padded Kevlar-lined wardrobe, he is typically seen with a leather jacket, blue jeans and a bandana. Overall, he is a better driver than Rally and he prefers American muscle cars of the 1970s; his personal favorite being a modified Ford Boss 302.

Becky Farrah

"Becky the nose" is Rally's main source of information on all the goings on in the Chicago underworld. While her fees are high, most if not all of her information is legitimate. When she is not chasing after Rally for her payment, the two share a friendship that crosses business lines.

Ken Takizawa

An explosives expert by trade, he learned his craft through a combination of his connections to the Chicago underworld and on the set of Hollywood movies. In addition to being Minnie May's on-again off-again boyfriend, he taught her everything he knows.

Misty Brown

Roy Coleman

A detective of the Chicago Police, he is Rally's main contact with the force. Acting as more of an older brother at times, he watches out for Rally when she's in trouble. While considerably older than Rally, he still enjoys spending time with her, as it gives him a sense of belonging to the younger generation, and a contact of his own in the same generation.

Riding Bean

Riding Bean was a short OAV that was released some time before Gunsmith Cats, and in many ways is like a prototype of the series. Bean Bandit is the protagonist, and has a partner named Rally Vincent, though she does not particularly resemble the protagonist of Gunsmith Cats. They end up getting involved in a kidnapping involving a businessman's daughter.