Gunhead

A guilty pleasure of mine is crime noir. They are over-the-top and dramatic. Now, while I think they should primarily be in black and white, I’ll give this anime a pass. No Gun’s Life absolutely nails the dramatic crime noir style by being dark, gritty, and having way too many internal monologues. While noirs are usually old-school crime-solving, this had a very different style. In a future where cybernetics are the norm, there is still the gruesome underground lurking about in the city. While I was expecting a general low-key styled noir, I was not expecting there to be thought-provoking disscussion.

In a world with cybernetics, there are people who support its use, those who vehemently oppose it, and those who do not know what to do. It really brings up the topic of what it means to really be human, especially when one of our protagonists has a revolver for a head. What does it mean to be a tool of the establishment? Do we have as much of a choice as we believe? Either way, this anime was filled with characters to love, characters to hate, and those to be conflicted about. My attention was grabbed the entire time.

Cutest Couple of the Future

In the webcomic set in the future, there is an amazing one known as Always Human by walkingnorth. It’s a beautiful romance between two very different girls with different goals for life. Every moment between them is beautiful; every moment is believable. One thing I enjoyed was that not every moment of their lives was not wrapped up in one another. They have struggles and friendships outside of their relationship. Not every moment is filled with fluff, even though the fluff was the cutest thing ever. And when the couple fought, it was over meaningful stuff, and their arguments were reasonable. They weren’t too nasty to one another, which made them even more adorable. I definitely would recommend reading this again and again.