Review of Gunsmith Cats

Gunsmith Cats is a cool as hell cop comedy with a heaping dose of drama, and is delightfully 90s right down to its very bones. Needless to say, this makes for a pretty excellent time. Beginning with the story, it's set up in such a way so as to evoke an unmistakably American flavor, and this is a repeating theme throughout the show's 3 episode run. It manages to blend plot progression with comedy and action in a seamlessly Americanized style, which not only makes for an engaging story but is also simply a feat of writing and directing onits own. Of course, it does feel a little predictable, but with this kind of story that's not really that big of a deal as long as it reaches that obvious ending with some style.

This leads me into the art, which is easily the best part of Gunsmith Cats. The background of 90s Chicago is electric and visually compelling, while the character designs are immaculate and stylized, but then there are of course the guns. All the guns. Gunsmith Cats features a firearm of some sort in damn near every scene, and as such the guns which feature in the anime are minutely accurate down to the very last detail, and it's easy to tell that the people behind this anime have a deep respect and admiration for the firearm as a tool of self defense, but also as a technological work of art in its own right. The guns in this anime could probably serve as schematics for a stage prop in a pinch. In terms of sound, that's very hit-or-miss in this case.

The music and sounds of life are finely tooled and very impressive, while the English dub, which I watched because they're based out of Chicago, is very lackluster, taking me out of immersion with every weird slip-up. But, where it lacked in the voice acting department, it makes up for it in regards to the characters which navigate that story.

The motivations of Irene, May, and agent William are all so entertaining and ultimately human that one can ask for little else at the end of the day. Overall, Gunsmith Cats is a great anime, tackling issues of gun control, corruption, and fraud all while maintaining an atmosphere of rugged individualism, which pays off every time. This is a definite recommend, and I'd even wager to say that it's better than most of the cop shows running today, period.