No Guns Life: Volume 4 manga review

No Guns Life Graphic Novel Volume 4 cover image

When the “Great War” ended, cyborg soldiers known as the “Extended” were discharged.  Their bodies were transformed via “physical function extension,” also known as “Extended surgery.”  Juzo Inui is an Extended – a “Gun Slave Unit” (GSU) – his body transformed and his head replaced with a giant gun.  He has no memory of his previous life or knowledge of who specifically replaced his head or why.  Inui now scratches out a living on the dark streets of the city as a “Resolver,” one who resolves issues or takes on cases involving the Extended.

As No Guns Life, Vol. 4 (Chapters 19 to 24) opens, Juzo finds himself confronted by Pepper, an agent of Berühren megacorporation, and her GSU, “Seven,” whose head looks just like Juzo's.  Pepper isn't in Juzo's office on business; she wants to make him her personal property.

Next, Juzo has a new client, Danny Yo.  He is the caretaker for a girl, Rosa McMahon, whose parents were recently killed in a car accident.  Rosa claims that she is being haunted by the “ghost” of an Extended!  Is there such a thing?  Or is this case related to the death of Rosa's father, George McMahon, who was an important man in the world of the Extended?  Mary, an Extension engineer, joins Juzo on this case, but later, Mary's past comes back to haunt her and Juzo.

THE LOWDOWN:  The No Guns Life manga has is finally living up to the striking cover illustrations that grace the covers of this graphic novel series.  I thought Vol. 1 seemed tame compared to what its cover, with its spectacular view of Juzo Inui's gun-shaped mug and head, seemed to promise.

No Guns Life Graphic Novel Volume 4, like Vols. 2 and 3, finds the narrative offering shocking violence and imaginative dramatic hooks.  When it comes to Vol. 4, the cover image is tame compared to the explosive violence and shocking reveals and plot twists that fill the volume.  In Vol. 3, the narrative grew more complex, and creator Tasuku Karausuma continued to advance the plot, enriching it with attractive new characters.

The translation by Joe Yamazaki and the English adaptation by Stan! capture this continued growth of this series.  No Guns Life is more than just violence and cool-looking characters, although Evan Waldinger's lettering emphasizes the coolness.  Vol. 4 proves that this series is serious, and I still believe the best of No Guns Life is yet to come, although it is quite good now.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of VIZ Signature science fiction-action titles will want to try No Guns Life.

A
9 out of 10