No Guns Life

No Guns Life
Cover of No Guns Life volume 1 by Shueisha
ノー・ガンズ・ライフ (Nō Ganzu Raifu)
Genre	Action, Sci-Fi
Manga
Written by	Tasuku Karasuma
Published by	Shueisha
English publisher	NA: Viz Media
Magazine	Ultra Jump
Demographic	Seinen
Original run	August 2014 – present
Volumes	9
Anime television series
Directed by	Naoyuki Itō
Written by	Yukie Sugawara
Music by	Kenji Kawai
Studio	Madhouse
Licensed by	Funimation
Original network	TBS, AT-X, SUN, KBS, BS11
Original run	October 10, 2019 – present
Episodes	24

No Guns Life (ノー・ガンズ・ライフ, Nō Ganzu Raifu) is a Japanese manga series by Tasuku Karasuma and has been published in Shueisha's seinen manga magazine Ultra Jump since August 2014. An anime television series adaptation by Madhouse aired from October 10 to December 26, 2019. The first season was a split-cour anime, with the second half scheduled for April 2020.

Plot

In the near future, many humans have become cyborgs called "Extended". However, with a great war having recently ended, many Extended, who are former soldiers, begin to resort to crime to survive. Juzo Inui is a "Resolver," an Extended mercenary who specializes in solving problems caused by other Extended. However, Juzo's life is turned upside down when a renegade Extended breaks into office, pleading for him to protect a young boy named Tetsurō Arahabaki.

Characters

Juzo Inui (乾十三, Inui Juzo)

Voiced by: Junichi Suwabe (Japanese); Chris Ryan (English)

An amnesiac private detective who works as a "Resolver," taking on cases relating to Extended and priding himself on always seeing a case to completion. His distinguishing feature is that his head is a giant functioning revolver, the trademark trait of the Gun Slave Unit model of Over-Extended used in the war. However, he is unable to fire it himself and requires someone else to do so, only granting the privilege to people he trusts out of a desire to not become a "tool." His head gun is immensely powerful, firing a large beam that can easily destroy even the strongest Extended. His personal motto is "wipe your own ass," a belief that one should deal with their own problems without relying on others. He expresses distaste for children and humidity, out of fear his head will rust, and has no memory of his life before becoming an Extended. Juzo is a habitual chain smoker, preferring the Tanegashima brand for their taste. His cigarettes are actually a specially-formulated medication for Extended which dulls the pain from nerve damage stemming from Extensions. Juzo's body, being an older Over-Extended model from the war, is equipped with a number of hidden features and is far stronger than it appears, though Juzo is unable or unwilling to use most of these features consciously. His primary weapon is a revolver-like device embedded in his right hand that allows him to throw a powerful punch he names "Funke Faust" (German for "Spark Fist").

Mary Steinberg (メアリー・シュタインベルグ)

Voiced by: Manami Numakura (Japanese); Kylie Stewart (English)

An associate of Juzo's, a young woman who performs back-alley maintenance on Extended in the mafia-controlled Kyusei Pit immigrant district, one of the few places in the city not under Berühren Corp control. She provides Juzo with medicated cigarettes after he loses access to his favorite brand. She became a mechanic in hopes of reuniting with her mechanic brother Victor who went missing during the war.

Tetsurō Arahabaki (荒吐鉄朗, Arahabaki Tetsurō)

Voiced by: Daiki Yamashita (Japanese); Caleb Yen (English)

The son of Berühren Corp CEO Soichiro Arahabaki. He has been experimented on and possesses a device known as "Harmony" implanted in his throat, which allows him to control Extended bodies from a distance. The tendons in his arms and legs as well as his vocal cords have been severed, making him incapable of moving or speaking on his own. Mary later provides him with wearable Extensions that allow him to walk and use his arms again and he uses Harmony with a discarded Extended head to speak.

Olivier Vandeberme (オリビエ・ファンデベルメ)

Voiced by: Yōko Hikasa

The director of EMS, a branch of the Reconstruction Agency tasked with enforcing Extended law and regulating Over-Extended. She has granted Juzo some leniency and autonomy despite the Over-Extended laws in exchange for him performing the occasional under-the-table job for her. She wears distinctive blue lipstick.

Kronen von Wolf (クローネン・フォン・ウルフ)

Voiced by: Yūya Uchida

An EMS section chief and staunch believer in EMS' duty towards enforcing Extended regulations. He distrusts all Extended, especially Over-Extended like Juzo, believing them to be no more than unstable machines. His weapons of choice are thrown needles, which he embeds in pressure points to disable Extensions.

Hugh Cunningham (ヒュー・カニンガム)

Voiced by: Yōji Ueda

Chief of security at Berühren Corp and an enforcer tasked with retrieving Tetsurō. He operates under the fanatical belief that people are replaceable cogs in a machine that exists only to serve Berühren Corp.

Karen (カレン)

Voiced by: Reina Ueda

A high level Berühren Corp operative who held Tetsurō captive. She is the older sister of Pepper.

Christina Matsuzaki (クリスティーナ松崎)

Voiced by: Masashi Ebara

Juzo's overbearing and doting landlord.

Scarlett Gosling (スカーレット・ゴズリング)

Voiced by: Marika Kouno

A neighbor of Juzo and daughter of a mechanic who services Juzo's Extended hardware. She has a notable stutter and seems to have a crush on Juzo.

Mega Armed Tokisada (メガアームド西条時間)

Voiced by: Kenyu Horiuchi

The first person to undergo full-body Extension during the war, Tokisada is a popular celebrity considered a hero by the public. Tokisada's Extensions, which include a large number of built-in weapons (hence the nickname "Mega Armed"), served as test prototypes for equipment later installed in other full-body models like Juzo, including the same Funke Faust hand weapon.

Pepper (コショウ)

Voiced by: Inori Minase

A Berühren Corp agent and Seven's handler. Pepper's right forearm is an Extension known as a Hands Unit, which resembles a large mechanical hand with a revolver cylinder replacing the forearm. This Extension allows Pepper to unlock a Gun Slave Unit's full function. She also possesses a Harmony unit, though unlike Tetsurō's, Pepper's is a removable collar-like accessory rather than a permanent implant. She is the younger sister of Karen.

Seven (セブン)

Voiced by: Yūko Sanpei

A Gun Slave Unit partnered with Pepper and working for Berühren Corp. Seven has a personality much like a young boy. Befitting his personality, he is often seen eating lollipops.

Colt (コルト)

Voiced by: Makoto Furukawa

A young immigrant man who has illegal extensions so that he can work at construction sites to support his family. He agreed to work for Spitzbergen to make enough money to pay for surgery on his mother who suffered nerve damage through a defective Berühren extension.

Media

Manga

The manga series has been published in Shueisha's seinen manga magazine Ultra Jump since August 2014. It has since been collected in nine tankōbon volumes. The manga is licensed in North America by Viz Media.

Anime

An anime television series adaptation was announced in the April issue of Shueisha's Ultra Jump magazine on March 18, 2019. The series is animated by Madhouse, produced by Egg Firm and directed by Naoyuki Itō, with Yukie Sugawara handling series composition, and Masanori Shino designing the characters. Kenji Kawai is composing the series' music. Its 3DCG backgrounds were created by Cyclone Graphics, the studio that also produced the series' ending animation, using Unreal Engine 4. It aired from October 10 to December 26, 2019 on TBS, AT-X, SUN, KBS, and BS11. The second half of the series will premiere in April 2020, with Part 2 containing episodes 13 through 24. Kenichi Asai performed the series' opening theme song "Motor City," while DATS!! performed the series' ending theme song "Game Over." The series will run for 24 episodes. Funimation has licensed the series for a simuldub.

No.	Title	Directed by	Original air date
'
1	"Renegade Extended" Transliteration: "Bōsō kakuchōsha" (Japanese: 暴走拡張者)	Masaki Matsumura	October 10, 2019 (2019-10-10)
Juzo Inui returns to his office to find a renegade Extended hiding within. He is on the run from the Security Bureau who accuses him of kidnapping a boy, Tetsuro Arahabaki, from the Berühren Corporation orphanage. The renegade asks Juzo for help to protect Tetsuro and Juzo reluctantly takes on the job. Juzo takes the boy to a safe place, however he is met by a nun who reveals herself to be Karen, an Extended agent working for Berühren Corp to recover Tetsuro. The renegade appears and tries to help, but both he and Juzo are shot and Karen retrieves the boy. The dying renegade reveals that he is Tetsuro remote controlling an empty Extended body with Harmony, an experimental and illegal Berühren remote control device implanted in his body. Angered by how Berühren abused and experimented on Tetsuro, Juzo attacks the train carrying him back to Berühren HQ.
2	"Extended Remote-Control Device" Transliteration: "Kakuchōtai enkaku sōsa sōchi" (Japanese: 拡張体遠隔操作装置)	Nobuaki Nakanishi	October 17, 2019 (2019-10-17)
Juzo destroys the train carrying Karen and the Berühren guards and rescues Tetsuro, but the incident is blamed on the Spitzebergen terrorist group. A news report claims that Tetsuro is the eldest son of Berühren Corp CEO Soichiro Arahabaki, though Juzo finds the story hard to believe. He takes Tetsuro to Mary Steinberg, and underground extension mechanic. Mary agrees to give Tetsuro some basic extensions to repair the damage to his body, but can't do much until he regains consciousness. Juzo is lured into a trap by the Berühren representative Cunningham when he tries to find his favorite brand of cigarettes, Tanegashima. The cigarettes are chemically altered to ease nerve strain and reduce wear in the nervous system of Extendeds. Cunningham admits that Testuro is Soichiro's son and attempts to coerce Juzo into giving up Tetsuro. However, with Mary's help, Juzo is able to defeat the Berühren squad, forcing Cunningham to flee. As Mary helps Juzo back to her shop, she reveals that Tetsuro has regained consciousness.
3	"Puppet" Transliteration: "Ayatsuri ningyō" (Japanese: 操り人形)	Ken Obata	October 24, 2019 (2019-10-24)
Mary fits arm and leg extensions to Tetsuro which increases his mobility, but he is still too weak to walk. The Harmony inside Tetsuro prevents her from restoring his voice, so he speaks remotely through an extended head piece. Huang from the local Kyusei Group arrives and offers Juzo a job to track down someone who is attacking children, removing their extensions, hanging the parts in public areas and leaving the children comatose. Juzo tell Huang to take care of his own turf, but believes that Berühren is behind the attacks in an effort to lure out Tetsuro. Tetsuro then asks Juzo to help track down the culprit and protect the children, but when Juzo refuses, Tetsuro uses Harmony to take control of Juzo and leaves to search for the attacker himself. He comes across two girls being chased by a Kyusei Group enforcer and saves them. He learns the girls, Anne and Ende, were sent by Berühren to catch Tetsuro but they see Juzo as a threat. Ende transforms into a spider-like Extended and attacks him, firing poisoned bullets, however she loses control of her prosthesis and collapses. Anne takes Ende back to Cunningham, requesting medical care for her, but Cunningham decides to have the two 'gears' retired for failing in their mission. Tetsuro suddenly intervenes, saving the girls once again.
4	"Trigger" Transliteration: "Hikigane" (Japanese: 引き金)	Hideki Tonokatsu	October 31, 2019 (2019-10-31)
Tetsuro is inexperienced in operating Juzo's body and is overpowered by Cunningham's bodyguards. Cunningham realizes that Tetsuro is controlling Juzo so he orders Anne and Ende to seize Tetsuro's body and kill Juzo. However, the girls hesitate when they realize Tetsuro’s situation and a frustrated Cunningham shoots Ende with drugged bullets before he leaves. The drugs make Ende go berserk and lose control of her extensions, mortally wounding Anne and forcing Tetsuro's mind out of Juzo's body. As Anne dies, she pleads with Tetsuro to save Ende. He attempts to use Harmony to take control of Ende, but his sub-brain shorts out due to over use. Juzo regains control of his body and reveals that he was conscious while Tetsuro was controlling him. Juzo orders Tetsuro to use his head mounted gun to stop Ende and the ensuing blast destroys her extensions and causes a beam of light to shoot up into in the sky. Later, Juzo and Tetsuro are forced to leave the Kyusei Pit which is no longer safe for them while Mary repairs Ende's extensions and works on a solution to reawaken Ende and the comatose children. Juzo chastises Tetsuro for forcefully taking control of his body, making him no better than Berühren, and forbids him from ever using Harmony on him again. Meanwhile, a woman watches footage of the beam of light caused by Juzo's gun and wonders if Juzo realizes the implications of his actions.
5	"EMS" Transliteration: "Kakuchō-sha taisaku-kyoku" (Japanese: 拡張者対策局)	Satoshi Matsubara	November 7, 2019 (2019-11-07)
Tetsuro is concerned that the discharge of Juzo's head gun will attract the attention of the EMS, the police agency responsible for monitoring ex-military Over-Extendeds. Tetsuro tries to leave, but Juzo insists that he should stay for his own protection. Juzo, Tetsuro, and Mary are invited to eat crab with Juzo's landlord, Chris, however Juzo declines as he avoids getting emotionally close to anybody. Juzo goes to have his parts serviced by his neighbor Scarlet's father, but they are confronted by Olivier, the head of the EMS. Olivier takes Juzo, Tetsuro, Mary, Chris, Scarlet, and Scarlet's father into custody to protect them from Berühren. In return, she asks Juzo to apprehend two of several prisoners who escaped EMS custody during transit. Olivier admits that EMS is forced to transfer Extended prisoners to Berühren because they are the only licensed manufacturers of corsets, devices which suppress an Extended's sub-brain. Their motorcade is suddenly ambushed by Hug Bear, one of the escaped prisoners, but he is swiftly stopped by EMS' Section Chief, Kronen. Kronen mistrusts Juzo, but Olivier warns that they need his help to capture the last prisoner, Hayden Gondry, who is the first recorded renegade Extended.
6	"Hero" Transliteration: "Eiyū" (Japanese: 英雄)	Yoshihisa Matsumoto	November 14, 2019 (2019-11-14)
With Juzo's friends held in EMS custody, Olivier assigns him the task of capturing Hayden Gondry. Hayden was one of the first military Extended used in the war and is infamous for going berserk and slaughtering his own men and an inspection team, including Olivier's father, in an event called the Nightmare of Norse Scott. The records of his past activities have been lost, and the government sealed him away in prison without trial to bury the entire incident. However, Hayden has recently escaped and murdered three people. Olivier wants Juzo to bring Hayden back alive so that he can be tried for his crimes. Later, Juzo examines the home of one of Hayden's victims and has a brief skirmish with Kronen before realizing that Hayden is targeting his former colleagues who were members Tindalos, the first generation of Extended. Juzo deduces that Hayden's next target is Tokisada Mega Armed, the first Extended and a powerful businessman. Kronen takes Juzo in his vintage Corvette Stingray to an event attended by Mega Armed and they foil an assassination attempt. They discover the assassin is a decoy and not Hayden, but as Mega Armed makes his escape, he is ambushed by Hayden himself, who was cloaked to appear as a young girl.
7	"Overheating" Transliteration: "Kanetsu" (Japanese: 過熱)	Unknown	November 21, 2019 (2019-11-21)
Olivier is suspended due to her failure obey the order to eliminate Hayden and a possible conflict of interest because Hayden murdered her father. Meanwhile, Tetsuro uses Harmony to take control of an EMS guard while Juzo and Kronen save Mega Armed from an attack by Hayden. Kronen suggests that Olivier's superiors want Hayden dead so they can cover up his crimes. He is forced to follow orders and abandon the case, however Juzo decides to keep his word to Olivier and capture Hayden alive. Hayden attacks Mega Armed again but Juzo and Kronen collaborate to apprehend him. However, Mega Armed tries to eliminate all three of them to prevent news of Norse Scott being released. Elsewhere, a girl named Pepper is frustrated that her plan to assassinate Mega Armed by taking control of Hayden with Harmony has failed. Back at EMS, Tetsuro uses Harmony to take control of a guard so he can deliver medicinal cigarettes to Juzo, and then helps Olivier escape her guards. With Hayden defeated, Mega Armed turns on Juzo and Kronen, stating that the details of the Norse Scott event must never be made public or it would ruin the reputation of extension technology. After knocking out Kronen, Mega Armed attacks Juzo.
8	"Will" Transliteration: "Ishi" (Japanese: 遺志)	Unknown	November 28, 2019 (2019-11-28)
Mega Armed reveals to Juzo that the five members of Tindalos volunteered themselves to advance extension technology, but the experiment ended in failure when Hayden went berserk, leaving Mega Armed who is now hailed as a hero. Mega Armed quickly defeats the weakened Juzo, however, this triggers Juzo's memories of the war and he undergoes Cephalic reconstruction changing into his true battle form. The revived Juzo quickly overwhelms Mega Armed who retreats and heads back to eliminate Hayden. Olivier and the EMS officer controlled by Tetsuro arrive in time to hear Mega Armed admit that he engineered the slaughter at Norse Scott by using Hayden to eliminate the inspection team and prevent its secrets from being revealed. Her suspicions confirmed, Olivier revives Juzo with smoke from his cigarettes brought by Tetsuro and he finally defeats Mega Armed. EMS forces arrive, but Olivier creates a distraction allowing Juzo and Tetsuro to escape. As she and Mega Armed are being transported, Olivier sends a recording of Mega Armed's confession to the authorities, but Mega Armed reveals that it is pointless because he is protected by Berühren. Suddenly Mega Armed is assassinated by a blast from Seven, a Gun Slave unit like Juzo, and his trigger companion Pepper.
9	"Reverberation" Transliteration: "Zankyō" (Japanese: 残響)	Unknown	December 5, 2019 (2019-12-05)
Cunningham reports to the Berühren Board of Directors, Wurzel, and reveals that Hayden's escape was engineered to cover up Mega Armed's murder of a former Tindalos member, and that Mega Armed's assassination tied up all loose ends. However, Wurzel berates Cunningham for his indiscreet actions and gives him one more mission to redeem himself. Cunningham orders Pepper and Seven to lay low, but Pepper has developed an interest in Juzo. Mary announces that she is moving her clinic to Juzo's building, and then treats one of her patients, Colt. He pays her with a top quality extension and promises that his next job will allow him to pay back the rest of his debt and provide surgery for his mother. Tetsuro suspects that Colt involved in illegal activities, but after Tetsuro uses Harmony to disable him, Colt asks Tetsuro to join him. After Colt leaves, Mary realizes the quality extension from Colt was built by her missing brother Victor. Meanwhile, the Security Bureau asks Juzo to apprehend Saryshagan, a member of the Spitzbergen terrorist group. Their ID photo reveals that Colt is involved with Saryshagan.
10	"Phantom Limb" Transliteration: "Genshi" (Japanese: 幻肢)	Unknown	December 12, 2019 (2019-12-12)
Colt leaves his comatose mother and two young sisters, to carry out his well-paying job. Meanwhile, Juzo apprehends Saryshagan, who tells him about Spitzbergen's plot to use Colt to cause an explosion at Mega Armed's public memorial. Following the explosion, Tetsuro and Mary see Colt. Tetsuro uses Harmony to take control of a security guard and they follow Colt to a nearby railway station. Colt reveals that his job is to detonate a bomb on a train being used to evacuate Berühren executives in case of an emergency. The remote detonator is destroyed, but Colt manages to set the bomb's timer before he is captured. The guards reveal that they knew about Spitzbergen's plot and switched the executives with innocent civilians, planning frame Spitzbergen for the deaths of innocents. Tetsuro helps Colt dispose of the bomb, but Colt is shot and badly wounded in the process. Colt tells Mary he stole the part made by Victor from a black market shop, then dies from his wounds as they reach his home. As Saryshagan is taken into Security Bureau custody, he taunts Juzo by telling him that he met Victor who is eager to see Juzo again. When Juzo returns to his office he finds Pepper waiting and she asks him to help grant her wish.
11	"Owner" Transliteration: "Shoyūsha" (Japanese: 所有者)	Unknown	December 19, 2019 (2019-12-19)
Pepper surprisingly tells Juzo that she's fallen in love with him and wants to become his new owner. Juzo notes that Pepper has a Hands extension, which allows her to control Gun Slave units. Pepper then orders Seven to attack him, which results in Juzo losing his left arm. Tetsuro then arrives and uses Harmony to seize control of Seven, but his sub-brain shorts out. Realizing Tetsuro's identity, Pepper and Seven decide to retreat. Kronen tells Juzo that EMS does not intend to pursue Pepper and Seven, and warns him that Berühren has quietly retracted Tetsuro's status as a missing person. Tetsuro later tells Juzo that over-use of Harmony can result in "Resonance", where he suffers the same injuries as the Extended which he is controlling. He despairs over his inability to save people even with his Harmony ability. Later, a client hires Juzo to protect a girl who is apparently being haunted by the ghost of an Extended. Mary tags along with Juzo as their client takes them to the McMahon mansion.
12	"Ghost" Transliteration: "Bōrei" (Japanese: 亡霊)	Unknown	December 26, 2019 (2019-12-26)
Client Danny Yoe takes Juzo and Mary to meet Rosa McMahon. She lost her parents and a leg in a car crash, apparently caused by an Extended. Rosa believes the house is haunted, but Danny is certain a thief is behind the sightings. Rosa is scared of Juzo and distrustful of Mary due to her fear of Extendeds. Juzo discovers the ghost it actually a pair of autonomous robotic hands. He returns and confronts Danny, revealing evidence that Danny is behind the mystery and thet he is after something belonging to Rosa's father George. However, Danny leaves with Rosa who mistrusts Juzo, but she becomes suspicious of Danny who admits that the locket from her father contains valuable data proving the danger of Berühren's Extendeds. He had arranged the car crash to obtain it, but the Extended hands saved Rosa's life. Danny prepares to shoot Rosa but one of the Extended hands sacrifices itself to protect her. Juzo catches them and saves Rosa, then loudly claims the data as his payment so Rosa will no longer be a target. Back at the office, Rosa's attitude to Extendeds softens and Juzo theorizes the Extended hands were hired by Rosa's father to protect her. He then discovers the surviving Extended hand had followed him.

External links

• Anime official website Template:Ja icon
• No Guns Life (manga) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia
• ノー・ガンズ・ライフ - ウルトラジャンプ公式サイト
• TVアニメ「ノー・ガンズ・ライフ」公式 on Twitter