These Hands are Rated E for Everyone
For the uninitiated, Guilty Gears was a video game from the late 1900s, ‘98 to be exact.
In the 22nd Century, humans exhausted resources and found another source: MAGIC. Did that make everything better? NOPE! Using this source, they birthed a new powerful biological weapon, GEARS. What follows next is a holy war of GEARS vs. Humans.
Now the Guilty Gear Strive branch of the Guilty Gear series is the seventh main installment and twenty-fifth release in the Guilty Gear game series, created to be a beginner-friendly “complete reconstruction” of the franchise. If you are exhausted from reading, imagine having to write it.
This brings us to the anime Guilty Gear Strive: Dual Rulers, based on the Strive franchise. The story takes place after the events of the initial Guilty Gear -Strive- game, with Ky Kiske, hero of the war, and Dizzy (the equivalent of the Borg Queen turned good) having an official wedding, which breaks the ultimate taboo: a union between a human and GEAR. Despite the societal complications of the union, the ceremony is met with blessings. when a mysterious girl (aka the trauma-induced villain) who despises Gears suddenly appears to teach the world a lesson.
The anime introduces old favorites from the franchise, such as Sol Badguy, Baiken, Johnny, Leo Whitefang, Jack-O’, and Colin Vernon. Then, the anime does what the game did best: high-impact slobber-knocker action. Starting out as a fan and former game player, I initially found it difficult to grasp the story. Starting out, it is a goofy hodge-podge of images and talking that makes it feel more like a music video from the 90s. Still, after a time, it settles into the story (about 9 minutes in, give ot take). It becomes an engaging effort to tell the story of our avenging hero Sin Kiske, the child of Ky Kiske and Dizzy, and these dark, new ultra, powerful villains.
Spoiler-free initial take, a lot of hands get thrown, a beatdown is coming to town, and Sin plans on Fed-Ex-ing all five fingers to the face of the people who harmed his land and his parents.
GUILTY GEAR STRIVE: DUAL RULERS Streaming on Crunchyroll
Saturday, April 5 @ 7:00 AM PT