Review of No Guns Life Season 2
No Gun's Life Season 1 was a forgettable romp through what was basically a detective noir story about a man with a revolver for a head and no memory of his past. The season did little to explore anything aside the rift between Extended's and the rest of the world, and introduce characters and concepts that, for the most part, fell flat. What it did excel at was giving us a story similar to stuff like Dick Tracy, where our stoic, straight-faced hero stops the bad guys and saves the day. Season two doesn't tread too far off the beaten path, although it does workhard to keep from going too deep into shounen territory in order to maintain its own personality. While the action does seem to follow the Law of Escalation (as famously applied in Power Rangers, for all you 90's kids) in terms of how much damage two revolver-headed persons can cause, it does not hesitate to keep to its roots. This is a detective noir, after all, and the author is clearly aware of that fact as each frame is translated to the screen.
Juzo's backstory is front and center for much of the season, though other characters are given spots where their own histories are touched upon and provided focus. Where most other series stumble, though, is where NGL finds a good balance. Key points of each characters history are given focus, rather than examining every passing moment of how they got to where they are. Perhaps one of the best moments where this is presented is during Mary's backstory, where we are given brief glimpses into her and her brother's history throughout the episode where it's relevant, and then left to fill in the gaps with what we know.
The soundtrack just works. Starting from Sawano Hiroyuki collaborating with Man with a Mission's Jean-Ken Johnny opening, reaching through to This is Japan's New World (both of which are absolute bangers), the soundtrack seems to want to do all the heavy lifting. Thankfully, the characters feel as real as you would expect for people living in a cyberpunk noir, and their relationships feel authentic. The animation is fairly well-done as well, though there are scenes where the use of the Unreal Engine are obvious. Thankfully, it's not so distracting that you'll be pulled out of the more immediate story.
If I had to call season two out on one flaw, it would be that it suffers from some pacing whiplash once the final trio of episodes roll around. What should be an emphasis on Juzo rising to his role as the hero and Tetsuro finding his own path can at times feel slow and plodding, while at other times rushing through some scenes and action just to get to the more desirable parts. Also, there is a pervert that is given focus for an entire episode that adds nothing to the larger plot at play, but maybe he'll return..?
Either way, I highly recommend No Guns Life.