English Dub Review: No Guns Life “EMS”

OVERVIEW (SPOILERS)

Juzo and company have managed to get a breather from all the commotion lately, but it can’t last for long. Firing off his gun in the last episode was a violation of arrangements set by the EMS, an agency that handles monitoring Over-Extendeds like Juzo, so he’s probably going to hunted and possibly scrapped. Tetsuro naturally feels responsible and opts to leave, but Juzo won’t have it. But he’s also not eager to get cozy with people, so he goes out for a smoke. While out, he saves Scarlet (a girl who fancies him) and goes to see her father, Andy, for a routine inspection of his parts. Andy notes that he’s fired his gun, though that doesn’t mean that he’s allowed himself to trust someone.

In the middle of this, the head of the EMS, Olivier, drops in to arrest Juzo for his alleged crimes. Soon all of the main cast are involved and get taken too. Little do they know that this is actually a secret mission that Olivier is tasking Juzo with. Apparently they have an arrangement where whenever he screws up, EMS covers the incident up but with the condition that he’ll do one of their missions. This time, a prison transport leaving Wunder Bender (basically Azkaban for Extendeds) was ambushed and executed, while the seven prisoners got out. On top of that, the EMS have to provide Beruran with more prisoners, which might be connected. Luckily, five of the seven have been captured.

One of the remaining two, Hug Bear, escapes and is set free from his restraints thanks to some terribly placed shots. Though before he can kill more than a couple wayward guards, another EMS agent named Cronen arrives to save the day. But that still leaves one prisoner, Hayden Gondrey, who is the first rogue extended.

OUR TAKE
We begin a new arc, this time getting into the forces that have been put in place to put Extendeds like Juzo in line. The EMS’ role in the world seems pretty natural and logical when there are so many people wandering around the city with FREAKING LASER BEAMS ATTACHED TO THEIR…well, everywhere. But yeah, I can already see why people like Juzo aren’t exactly well liked in normal society, so it makes sense that there would be a force for them to answer to as they both adjust to regular life or stay out of crime. These guys have high tech experimental and really deadly, so being regulated might sound frustrating but likely serves a major purpose.

Though that’s not to say they’re all stuff shirt bureaucrats who care nothing for the common man. To show this, we meet Olivier, who is apparently running the whole thing and seems to think rather highly of Juzo (though that seems to be just about everyone, know that I think of it). Kind of a shame, then, that he doesn’t have to worry about consequences for the damage he caused last episode, but I guess no harm no foul. Still, while I am interested in seeing more of Olivier as we continue through this arc, I really can’t help but notice that she’s very clearly there for more fanservice. Which is not something this show exactly needs more of, but I’m not complaining JUUUUUUUST yet. Plus we have Cronen to be the guy who is focused on the law over the heart. What we do know about Olivier is that she seems mostly on the up and up and notices the clear conflict of interest in Beruhren’s control of both the prisons and the collars that control them, but she can’t do anything about it for now.

More and more I am finding myself fascinated with each new glimpse and some previously unseen side of this world, which certainly includes the enemies that we see coming out of the woodwork and the people who are willing to defend those who can’t. We’ve had heroes on the other side of the law pursued by the enforcers of influential businesses, now we flip things the other way with Juzo on the side of the law (at least for now) up against the first Renegade Extended ever. Perhaps next week, we’ll learn more about what can turn and Extended bad, as well as how Juzo might be at risk himself?