English Dub Season Review: No Guns Life Season One

(SPOILERS)

Cyberpunk as a genre continues to be a key form of cautionary tales and insightful philosophical studies about human nature, including how it remains despite how much closer we become consumed by technology. From Blade Runner with its blurred lines of free will to Ghost in the Shell’s pontification self-identification, stories such as this have given many a viewer and reader reason to contemplate how much changes and how much is staying the same as our world becomes increasingly dominated by technology. Such is also the case with No Guns Life, which may not be as nuanced or creative as those aforementioned examples, but uses its premise with enough enthusiasm and sincerity that it ends up an entertaining time regardless.

Juzo Inui is a detective for hire in a world recovering from a great and damaging war, which saw a large portion of the population taking on complex prosthetics and become what are known as Extendeds. These people are looked down on and feared by those around them, often going into lives of crime. Juzo, being a rare breed of Extended known as a Gun Slave, seeks to resolve these conflicts on a smaller scale, which is made difficult when he has a gun for a head that immediately freaks people out. That is, until he meets Tetsuro, a young boy who has a device called Harmony implanted in him, which allows him to control other Extendeds, but is on the run from the top corporation, Beruhren and seeks protection from them by Juzo. As the two buddy up and face numerous threats together, Juzo learns to open up his metal heart while Tetsuro comes into his own, even while the two of them uncover things about each other and themselves that they would rather they never have found.

No Guns Life makes fairly good use of its premise and world building to expand on its theme of discrimination and manipulation, even if it is a bit heavy handed sometimes. The way Extendeds are treated is understandable to an extent from those who perpetuate it, but you still end up feeling more sympathy for those who dealing with it, especially since most get these changes for medical reasons or against their will. This is further layered by two major groups in the series, Beruhren, who uses the Extendeds as tools for their corporate machinations, and Spitzbergen, an anti-Extended terrorist group that plays on fears regarding the growing prevalence of people needing Extended tech to survive. And then we learn more about what Juzo went through in the Gun Slave unit and things get even murkier.

Despite its long delays in its broadcast and subsequent English dub, No Guns Life is a solid addition to both the vast library of Cyberpunk anime and its Neo Noir elements. The principal characters are help to flesh out the world with their respective journeys, though the comedy is more often miss than hit. But overall, what does hit hits hard and will make those watching itching for a second season or at least better translation of the manga.