Anime Hajime Review: No Guns Life

Original Run: October 11, 2019 - December 27, 2019
Number of Episodes: 12
Genre: Action, Science Fiction
Based on the Series Created By: Tasuku Karasuma

***Warning, the following may contain spoilers for No Guns Life. Reader discretion is advised.***

Series Synopsis

During the last great war, cybernetic enchantments advanced astronomically, and a handful of soldiers became devastating weapons. Then the war ended, and the company responsible for this technology, the Beruhren Corporation, released their tech to the public. Now, those with robotic parts are called the Extended.

Given the dangers Extended criminals pose, it takes a special kind of enforcer to keep the peace, and his name is Juuzou Inui (voiced by Junichi Suwabe).

Working the hard streets, Juuzou prides himself with a dedication to his clients, ensuring that any job he takes will be seen through to the end. However, there are forces behind the scenes that are threatening to stir up chaos and corruption, and Juuzou will soon find himself in the middle of it all.

Series Positives

There is only one way I can describe No Guns Life. Although it was actively fun, it was ultimately unremarkable. Usually, I’d say this was one of those series that I would forget about sooner rather than later; give it about a week and it should be like I had never watched the show. However, I don’t think that is going to happen.

Don’t get me wrong; the details and events that occurred in this story, I am forgetting them as I am writing this sentence. Nothing to those aspects stuck out, and No Guns Life was a fairly typical crime show with decent enough action.

But unlike anything else in this genre or any genre for that matter, I can say with one-hundred-percent certainty that I have never come across a character with a gun for a head. Yeah, that’s probably something I’m going to remember from here on out.

Disregarding this (which isn’t easy, mind you), much of what allowed No Guns Life to be as fun as it ended up being had to do with Juuzou Inui. I don’t want to use the word “badassery” to describe Juuzou since it would be rewarding something undoubtedly stupid, more on that in a bit, he was cool to watch in a fight.

Juuzou certainly wasn’t invincible; he could take and often took quite a few hits that would put him out of commission for a while. Nevertheless, whenever he was throwing down, he would keep going until the deed was done. Minus the gun that fired what appeared to be a laser beam straight from the Sun, Juuzou’s greatest strength was his tenacity. If he were on the job, no matter what hit him, he would keep getting back up, often to the chagrin to whoever he was facing.

That last bit was particularly amusing whenever Juuzou was up against someone with an overly inflated ego, and this was always likely to be the case.

I have to give No Guns Life credit. This was no comedy, but the show knew better than to take itself seriously. There was no hesitation to go silly; I mean, I didn’t think a gun could look dumbfounded, but I have been proven wrong by a series before.

If you’re looking for a bit of mindless entertainment, then I think No Guns Life can satisfy you to at least that degree.

Series Negatives

The main character had a giant gun for a head. And it was dumb, like, it was just so goddamn dumb looking. By the way, this was the gimmick of No Guns Life.

This series isn’t going to fade into the ether that is my memory because how do you forget the anime with the main character who was a walking, talking revolver.

On the one hand, it was a good thing No Guns Life didn’t take itself too seriously because it would have failed spectacularly. I mean, how do you not look at Juuzou and not start laughing. On the other hand, I couldn’t take any aspect of this show seriously. There were villains and death and hardships, sure. But to expand on what I said, although this may not have been a comedy, with a protagonist such as this, maybe it should have been.

No Guns Life, even with its decent action, wasn’t the most fascinating watch. There were enough details to remember that made following the narrative more trouble than it was worth. Most of the other characters hardly left an impression, with Juuzo’s wanna-be sidekick, Tetsurou Arahabaki (voiced by Daiki Yamashita) being more of an unforced burden.

Now, from what I can tell, it appears a second season is on its way. I can’t say I expected that. I didn’t think this story needed a follow-up, but I’m willing to see what happens nonetheless.

Final Thoughts

This was a much shorter review than what I usually put out, and I’m not surprised by that. There was nothing to this show that was worth talking about, so why would I force myself to do otherwise?

However, this series, even if it was very heavy-handed, still did find a way to be memorable. Granted, this wasn’t due to its story or (most) of its characters, but mission accomplished, I suppose.

There is no real harm in checking this one out.

No Guns Life has earned an unenthusiastic recommendation.

But these are just my thoughts. What are yours? Have you seen this series? How would you advise No Guns No Life? Leave a comment down below because I would love to hear what you have to say.

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For Anime Hajime, I’m LofZOdyssey, and I’ll see you next time.