English Dub Review: No Guns Life “Reverberation”

OVERVIEW (SPOILERS)

Cunningham reports on Tokisada’s death to the heads of the Beruhren, though that still leaves dealing with Juzo. Speaking of which, life seems to be going back to normal for him and his friends, though a new patient for Mary shows up. His name is Colt and he’s involved in some shady stuff, but more curiously, his parts seem to have been made by Mary’s long lost brother, the one who inspired her to become a mechanic, and who might be Juzo’s next case.

OUR TAKE

This looks to be a bit of a breather episode after how things escalated in the past few weeks. The antagonists get to pat themselves on the back for their successful cover-up while also getting ready for their next big steps, and the protagonists get to lick their wounds and give the limelight to those who have gone underdeveloped until now. Mary has mainly served as a snarky little brat who would throw a good quip here and there while also taking care of Juzo’s mechanical aspects. Through this, we actually got more of a glimpse into the seemingly mundane minutia of living with Extended tech in one’s body. Where Tetsuro acts as a link to the Beruhren matters, Mary provided the link towards what Extendeds have to live with, while Juzo was a mix between the two.

Though the main interesting detail we learn about Mary is a bit more of her backstory, which I’m guessing will be the focus for the remaining episodes in this half of the season. If I had to guess, we’ll be seeing her take the center stage looking for her brother with Tetsuro as the sidekick. Said brother is probably going to turn to be the antagonist, which will lead to watching Juzo kick his butt be all the more satisfying, even if it might shake Mary up a bit before the status quo is achieved again. A shame when these sorts of plots become so predictable over time, but that tends to happen when you watch enough anime like this.

Anywho, more interesting details are also revealed about the Berurhen group in the first few minutes, part of them is a glimpse into their inner workings. Seems that their leaders all communicate to their minions through a giant statue with glowing heads, so points for originality there at least. Though more importantly than their villainous style is the possibility that, in addition to creating Extended tech that helped win the Great War (which apparently lasted fifty years) they may have also caused it. That honestly seems pretty likely based on how shows like these love their massive conspiracies, but it could surprise me by turning out to be totally separate. These will all be interesting things to ponder over as No Guns Life goes on break for the New Year and then comes back before its BIGGER break from January until April. Looking at what we’ve seen so far, I’d say it’ll be well worth the wait.