Forum - View topicNo Guns Life (TV).
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Stark700
 Posts: 11762 Location: Earth |
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No Guns Life (TV) No Guns Life (TV2) Genres: Action, Sci-Fi, Seinen Plot Summary: Ex-soldier Juuzou Inui has one question—who turned him into a cyborg and erased his memories? After the war, cyborg soldiers known as the Extended were discharged. Juzo Inui is one of them, a man whose body was transformed, his head replaced with a giant gun! With no memory of his previous life—or who replaced his head and why—Inui now scratches out a living in the dark streets of the city as a Resolver, taking on cases involving the Extended. When a fellow Extended showed up in Inui's office—on the run from the Security Bureau with a kidnapped child in tow and asking for help—Inui should have just thrown the guy out. But Inui's loyalty to a brother Extended makes him take the job. Keeping the child safe won't be easy, since everyone seems to want to grab him, from street punks to the megacorporation Berühren, who have sent out a special agent that knows exactly how to deal with the Extended... |
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Harleyquin
Posts: 2834 |
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#1
Putting aside the biggest conceit of the protagonist having an oversized revolver where his human head should be, the series is a hard-boiled detective yarn filled with conspiracy, action and plenty of ladies who wear skimpy clothing. The world setting is decent enough; there's been a huge war recently and at the end of it humans are now enhancing themselves with bionic upgrades, much like the man and machine interface borne from the Industrial Revolution and seen in other sci-fi works like Ghost in the Shell. It's only a starting episode, so not much to really go on. Inui has the most interesting surname (乾, which also means to dry) and is still human since he bleeds when he's shot. He hates humidity (since it'll make him rust and that's a horrible way to die for him) so smokes all the time (does he have human lungs?). No idea how he eats, drinks or sees with that head of his, but his past as an experimental bioweapon should hopefully be expanded on before the adaptation finishes. |
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ACｘS
 Posts: 877 |
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1:
Yeah, my reaction too. Not sure what to think about a guy with a gun for a head; it even feels like a parody or something. Gunhead would a befitting moniker. No Guns Life is uh, quite something. A cyberpunk action series mixed with noir and old-school detective mystery. You have your synonymous tough bad cop (I don't like his flustering over women; it messes his street cred), and a huge corporation that screams "IM THE BAD GUY, LOOK HERE!". If it takes on the format of standalone topical episodes on cases of Extension over society (which seems likely), then it's taking the GITS: SAC route. I like it, albeit a little ambivalent. Madhouse is my all-time favorite production studio, and I'm always up to see any title they produce. |
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DuskyPredator
 Posts: 15457 Location: Brisbane, Australia |
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A guy with a gun head feels so on the nose that it could be a character on Inferno Cop.
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Harleyquin
Posts: 2834 |
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#2
Inui Juuzou has a really tough decision to make now that he knows the true identity of his employer from the first episode. Although the job was to secure his safety, the client's background means it was never going to be a one-off since the cause of his initial abduction and possession of an Extended frame hasn't gone away. He did ask about removing the Harmony extension, but Mary's diagnosis puts paid to that thought. Even if he wanted to walk away as Mary expected, there was no way the Berulren Corporation were going to let him off the hook. The encounter with Cunningham and his goons really rams that point home. In between the main story, there's more explanation on the technology powering the augmented humans. Inui doesn't seem to bothered about intricate details unless it's case-related, so his reaction is perfectly expected. For a person with a military background and an unusual appearance like his, he's really bad with ladies who show too much skin. He's also got a problem now that his favourite brand of cigarettes/neural suppressants have been confiscated by the Corporation. Unless he gets help from an organisation with the power to take on Berulren and the regular police on, it'll only be a matter of time before he gets crushed when the organisation puts everything into finding Tetsurou and tying up loose ends. |
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DuskyPredator
Posts: 15457 Location: Brisbane, Australia |
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This show is actually really cool. Second episode sold me more on Inui being a really cool character. And also introduced Mary, who I think that I like even more as an awesome personality, someone who is tough but also kind of obviously cares, I hope she sticks around. To think of a recent character she reminds me of, Nico from DMC5 comes to mind, doing tech, although she smokes.
I am also quite liking the transhuman elements, a hallmark of cyborg stuff that I like. |
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ACｘS
Posts: 877 |
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2:
Yeah, basically. The show is taking the metaphors up a notch. Tanegashima cigarettes working as a depressant (or anti-depressant?) for the Extended? Sounds like drugs for PTSD sufferers, or even some subtle reference to an opioid crisis.The story is much deeper than it looks, it seems. I can see that this show harks back to dramas of the yesteryears, a time when noir detective stories on vice activities set in post-war bleak city. It's nostaglic in a Dick Tracy kind of way. |
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ACｘS
Posts: 877 |
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3:
"I can still see everything even with the bag on!" "I don't even know where your eyes are." "How does he drink his coffee and smoke his cigarettes?" Running gag of No Guns Life: that gun for his head. |
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Harleyquin
Posts: 2834 |
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#4
Tetsurou's desperation to play hero gets him the comeuppance he deserved. Not only does he fail to save both of the children, his actions cost Juuzou his hideout and attract unwanted attention from the EMS (lady at the end most likely represents them). Juuzou saves the day when he is released from Harmony's domination, but the lawyer Cunningham achieves his aim unless something changes drastically in the pair's favour. That said, the gun replacing Juuzou's head is no laughing matter. No wonder the war units worked in pairs; the sheer firepower of the weapon marks Juuzou out and it's no wonder he's so reluctant to work with others he doesn't trust. There are only so many people around with guns on their head, so perhaps it's no wonder the lady at the end didn't have an issue identifying Juuzou immediately from the footage. |
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ACｘS
Posts: 877 |
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4:
*watching Juuzo and Tetsuro fighting it out* Are they basically Logan and Laura? |
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Harleyquin
Posts: 2834 |
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#5
Although Juuzou was evicted from the Pit, his new digs could be said to be an improvement over his old office. The ensemble cast just got bigger as Juuzou's "barber", the barber's daughter with a crush on him, the EMS bureau chief and the EMS section chief with a grudge against the Extended all make their bows. The EMS bureau chief knows Juuzou from way back, so he can't really say no to her if he doesn't want to lose his permit and end up in a prison designed for ex-warriors like him. Her interaction with him is a curious one, I sense she's quite fond of him but recognises how dangerous he is and how useful he can be when the "deal" they've agreed takes effect. As an introductory episode to a "hunt the prisoner" story arc, it's not a bad start what with the "Hug Bear" showing off what Extended prisoners are capable of once the shackles restricting their functions are removed. Section Chief Kronen caught this prisoner unawares, but the bureau chief is wary of the 7th escaped prisoner and absolutely insists Juuzou take up the case in exchange for his freedom. Going down the road, if the EMS do find out what Tetsurou is capable of, what reaction will that bring out of them considering the youth's very existence is a death knell to Beruhlen's public reputation? |
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ACｘS
Posts: 877 |
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5:
I like where this is going. It starts out as a neo-noir steampunk detective, but now it's going more into action. It's familiar, isn't it: the authorities making a deal with a criminal to catch an even bigger criminal, and using his freedom as a bargaining chip. It's the stuff of crime dramas. |
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Harleyquin
Posts: 2834 |
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#6
Viewers know Juuzou is a surviving member of one of the Gun Slave Units which did so well during the War, but it's in this episode that one learns just how dirty the War must have been that Juuzou's predecessor had to be locked up for life for the safety of the public and for the vested interests of those who did well out of the war's outcome. I had thought Gondry was the Director's ex-flame, turns out he was her father. She's doing the exact thing her father told her not to when in a position of authority, but she's got no choice since she obviously doesn't want her father killed to ensure his silence. Still, she's got the weirdest way of releasing stress and pent-up frustration I've ever seen. Kronen shares the same beliefs as the anti-Extended guerrilla group, but at least he's working on the side of the law enforcers. Juuzou clearly went easy on him in the mansion, but his intervention at the rally itself inadvertently helped expose the assassin as a fraud at the cost of a potential sprained ankle. Cliffhanger ending, but the real assassin has had the element of surprise all this time. The celebrity under attack shouldn't fall so easily now that the assassin's identity has been exposed, but I wouldn't be surprised if there's a further twist down the line. Personally, I'm guessing Gondry was clandestinely modified again by Beruhlen to take on his current form, he should have been the same humanoid Extended that Tokisada and the rest of his former unit ended up. |
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ACｘS
Posts: 877 |
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6:
An anti-hero with a dark past, who's now confronting a familiar face with a similar history? This is a very common theme done to death... and yet, it's always exciting to watch something like this. It's a familiar narrative: our hero confronting a ghost of his fallen comrade, serving as an allegory for him facing his past. |
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Harleyquin
Posts: 2834 |
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#7
Good job Juuzou and Kronen. Appeared in the nick of time to save the important VIP before the assassin could finish his job. However, this arc has not yet finished as the twist in the tale halfway through reveals Beruhlren is again involved from the shadows. The director's suspension probably isn't a surprise since the escaped prisoner was always a sensitive political matter, but for Mega-armed to adopt the decision he makes at the end shows how badly vested interests are striving against the public trial of the unfortunate Gondry. Incidentally, viewers get a brief glimpse of the nun's partner from the OP, but I find his voice a bad fit because of the way Juuzou is portrayed. No matter how this pans out, if Tetsurou's device is outed because of his actions it's going to create more trouble for Juuzou, no matter how vital those cigarettes are. Perhaps the Director will have to step in to help Juuzou out since she'll end up owing him the favour, especially if her father is kept alive despite everything conspiring against him. |
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