English Dub Review: No Guns Life “Hero”

OVERVIEW (SPOILERS)

Juzo is informed about Hayden Gondry’s past, specifically how he was the first Extended and went berserk, killing sixteen people who worked with him. Since escaping, he’s killed three more. Interest groups are eager to either blame the extension procedure on his actions or prove that they have no link. Olivier, however, wants Juzo to bring Gondry in so he can finally face trial for what he’s done. While investigating, Juzo runs into Kronen, who has is own motives but isn’t thrilled about working with an Extended like him. They follow a lead found at the recent crime scene that suggests that Gondry’s recent victims are more people he worked with, specifically a group of First Generation Extendeds known as Tindalos. Out of the people in a photo they found, there are only two people left. Gondry himself an someone named Tokisada Mega Armed.

Tokisada is actually at a bit of a press conference, has become a bit of a celebrity since the war ended and advocating heavily for Extended rights. But at an event, a Gondry decoy distracts Juzo and Kronen to lure Tokisada away, disguising himself as a little girl in order to corner him.

OUR TAKE
The current arc continues with many glimpses at the sides each of the involved characters in regard to the law. Olivier looks like she’s solely beholden to the law, wanting Gondry to receive a proper trial that he avoided before. Kronen is nearby her on the scale in that he’s also upholding the rules, even with a clear discriminatory bias towards Extendeds, even expecting to stop criminals without their help. Then we have Gondry, who is totally on the other end and killing people for unknown motives. And right smack dab in the middle is Juzo, who may not really care about the law (at least the parts that don’t immediately affect him) but still has standards and morals that he feels a compulsion to follow. While there are still some things we clearly don’t know about the matters we’re dealing with here, we’re getting a clearer sense of where each character stands, which in turn sheds light on their morals and principles.

We’re also learning quite a bit about the history behind the Extended program and Juzo’s relation to it. Gondry was the first Extended to be a part of the war but went berserk for some reason. Despite not knowing why he killed so many people or why he’s killing people now, we DO know how that would be a bad look for the procedure and why that would be covered up. Beruhren obviously has major stake in its use, hence why they wouldn’t want a potential poster boy screwing that up AND why people like Tokisada (who look like they have a far better public relations team) have been so key in normalizing it for both regular citizens and those who still have to live with the procedure long after the war has passed. And yet we shouldn’t spare the idea of making people into living weapons the critical eye that it is due, especially with the corrupt manner Beruhren and the EMS have attempted to justify it. It looks like we still have a long way to go in this arc, but each step we take is another level deeper to understand these characters and the world they live in. And with only a quarter of the season down, it’s safe to say that we’re in for a really fun AND thought-provoking ride as we learn more about everything we can. I really wish we didn’t have to go on break soon!