- Mangaka : Karasuma, Tasuku
- Publisher : VIZ Media
- Genre : Action, Sci-fi, Seinen
- Published : September 2019
No Guns Life Introduction
In the tumultuous peace following a long war, humans and those who have technologically modified bodies, called Extended, try to live harmoniously. However, crime and prejudice make that difficult for everyone. Juuzou Inui is an Extended with a gun for a head who resolves conflicts between humans and Extended. When he is tasked with protecting a human boy from shady characters, he’ll find there’s a lot more to this ‘peace’ than meets the eye.
Contains Spoilers
Discussion Time
So, we’re in a world that has lived through many years of war and their solution was to turn human soldiers into living weapons through technological modifications or outright combining weapons with their living tissue. Once the war had finally ended, these not-quite-humans had to try to regain a normal life working, eating, and living amongst non-augmented humans. Beruhren Corp. is the conglomerate responsible for these modifications and enjoyed immense wealth and influence even in the coming peace.
Juuzou Inui is feared by humans and Extended both because of his entire head being replaced with a large gun. He works as a detective/mediator of sorts to deal with problems between humans and Extended. A super modified Extended comes to his office one day with an unconscious boy in tow begging to be kept safe. After Inui fends off the Safety Bureau who comes snooping around, he finds out Beruhren Corp. is looking for the boy and the Safety Bureau is in on it too.
Seeing how mutilated the boy is, Inui agrees to keep him safe, especially with his personal distrust of the conglomerate. Things get even weirder when a nun approaches Inui asking for the safe return of the child but showing no fear of Inui. When Inui calls her out, she reveals herself to be a Beruhren agent sent to take the boy back dead or alive. The Extended from earlier comes back to fight off the agent but he and Inui are almost killed and she runs off with the child.
The Extended, feeling that he can trust Inui, reveals himself to actually be the kidnapped boy, remotely controlling the Extended body with a technology called Harmony created by Beruhren. With his tendons and vocal cords cut, he was made to live out his days as a guinea pig for the controversial technology but still managed to escape. Inui manages to surprise and subdue the would-be assassin on her way back to Beruhern and he takes the kid back to a special underground doctor who agrees to help.
Unsure what to do with a kid who’s got nowhere to go, Inui ponders his next move until the kid, Tetsuro, finally wakes up. They talk for a while and Tetsuro wants Inui to help him rescue other kids being used by Beruhren but Inui just wants to keep off the radar. Tetsuro hijacks Inui’s body using Harmony and goes off only to end up right where Beruhern wants him. Two child agents fight him as Tetsuro pleads with them to be free instead of the company’s tools but his words fall on deaf ears. In the end, Inui’s body takes too much damage and Tetsuro is at his limit after using Harmony. The only thing the two can do is have Tetsuro fire Inui’s head-gun, something he normally would never allow. With the greatest power in the city out for their heads, the two unlikely companions will have to come up with some plan to stay alive.
1. You Love a Good Fight-the-Power Story
The corruption of power is a story all too well-known and so relatable that it draws many fans. We so want a hero to rise up and right the wrongs of society and No Guns Life draws on that while also using a unique narrative to keep things interesting. The fact that the enemy isn’t outright an evil entity everyone fears makes the fighting even more complex and difficult but is nonetheless something horrible that must be stopped.
1. It Can Be a Little Hard to Tell What’s Going On
There’s a lot of general darkness and heavy shading to help set the bleak and dire tone of the manga. However, this combined with the crazy designs of some of the more robotic-looking characters can make it hard to see things clearly all the time. The fight scenes, especially with the huge onomatopoeias over the pictures, are sometimes hard to follow as well.
Final Thoughts
Even with a gun for a head, Inui is a surprisingly expressive guy with some pretty human reactions that make him a more dynamic character. It’s obvious he’s been jaded by the war but his almost meekness towards his doctor-friend Mary’s threats or getting a kiss on the cheek adds a splash of color to his character. We know that Beruhern certainly has no qualms about experimenting on children, but we’re sure there are new horrors to learn in the next volume!
Author: May
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