Review of No Guns Life Season 2

No Guns Life is a Madhouse anime from 2019. It was pretty unimpressive. The first series was like a bog-standard "edgy" 90s comic. To the point where it could have almost been written and drawn by Rob Liefeld. Except that the artists have a somewhat passable sense of human proportions. This time around, we're looking at the sequel from mid 2020. Is it better than the first series? Maybe. Story: We open with an unexpected attack from the terrorist organisation Spitsbergen. Why they named their terrorist group after a scenic area of Norway that means "Pointed Mountains" I don't know. In any case, they're after thedata Juuzou acquired at the end of the last series. And, to get it, they capture Chris & Tetsurou. Things become more complicated when Mary's brother surfaces as part of the group.

This has a lot of the same issues as the first series. It still makes no sense that Juuzou can't pull his own trigger. The writer did know that humans can reach the backs of our necks, right? And I will reiterate that it's not an authorisation thing because we have and do see the trigger pulled by teenagers. The series continues to suffer from severe pacing issues with it throwing plot points at you hard and fast. Like they think all of us have uncontrollable ADHD and won't be able to sit still while they extrapolate on anything or flesh out their plot points. And I can say, as someone with ADHD, we can actually pay attention to plots and appreciate slow, atmospheric moments.

I will give this series credit in one regard over the first, the ending is notably better. This one actually has a major confrontation against a foe who's been built up for a while. I also do like some of the flashbacks and the insights they give us on the characters. They also do help flesh out the world a little bit.

Characters:

The main characters are slightly improved over the clichés of the first series. Juuzou, Mary and Tetsurou all graduate from bland archetypes to bland archetypes with slight variations. We also get to see a small amount of humanity from Pepper and Seven, though the Berühren organisation is still cartoonishly evil. And has a stupid name.

Art:

The "extreme" 90s aesthetic is back for the cyborgs with the bizarre visual characteristics for the human looking characters that just look out of place. The series does still have some smooth animation and decent action sequences though.

Sound:

The acting is still the strongest element of the series. Numakura Manami, Suwabe Junichi, Yamashita Daiki, Minase Inori and Sanpei Yuuko are all strong actors. The music is still okay, not anything special.

Ho-yay:

Still none to be found.

Areas of Improvement:

1. The 90s aesthetic for character designs isn't good. They weren't good in the 90s and they certainly don't hold up thirty years later.

2. Your evil corporation needs some redeeming qualities. Yes, it's a common cyberpunk trope for there to be a powerful corporation with shady practices and dark designs at the top. But it's not common for them to be basically the ruthless terrorist organisation COBRA. With all the subtlety and nuance thereof.

3. Take your time. A story works best when it has slow moments to build atmosphere and when the threads that are introduced get developed. This series has a problem with just throwing a shit tonne of sub-plots at you, barely developing any of them and just rushing through developments. It doesn't do a good job of building intrigue or investment.

Final Thoughts:

To its credit, No Guns Life 2 is a slight improvement over the first. There are some major characters who have gone a step above being archetypes and the ending is actually somewhat satisfying. That being said, it still shares a lot of the same problem as your standard Image comic and I don't really recommend it. Unless you're someone who thinks that the 90s had the best writing and visual aesthetics for comics. My rating is going to be a 5/10.