Review - Heat Guy J: Super Android
Reviewed by Richard Brownell on 6.19.2006.
Score: 8/10
In the future, we'll all be getting around in flying cars, have our own personal robot assistant, nobody will have to work, and there will be no crime. None of those are true of the future seen in Heat Guy J. Instead, much of the world now inhabits city-nations, such as the one our story takes place in, Judoh. There don't seem to be any flying cards, and androids are illegal to have in the city. That is, andoids aren't allowed except for the secret one built by the government, J, otherwise known as Heat Guy J.
And we are certainly not without crime. The story opens with the Don of the Leonelli family being put to rest at his funeral. His rather crazed 19 year old son, Claire Leonelli is set to become the next Don, a position referred to as "Vampire." At the funeral, he tries to throw a live grenade at the casket because his "dad liked fireworks."
His unpredictability (insanity) worries the families that have sworn allegance and protection to the Leonelli family. The previous Don was apparently a good leader, but Claire seems likely to bring underground crime crashing in on itself. Claire's fuse is short, and the distrust shown by one family leads to a war.
But the Leonelli disputes are only a part of Heat Guy J. The real meat of the story surrounds the Special Forces Unit of the City Safety Management Agency. The unit is made up of Daisuke (Dice), Kyoko, and J. Kyoko is the administrator of the unit, having to ration out ammunition, assign Dice and J to investigations, and spend much of the show harassing Dice for reports. Dice is the field man of the crew. As their job is not to catch criminals, but prevent future crimes, Dice knows a lot of insiders on the streets like traders and insiders. But things tend to get violent in his investigations, which is why J is around.
J is a superpowerful android, and he assists Dice and much of the time protects Dice from situations he shouldn't be involved in. Androids in Heat Guy J are much more powerful than humans and each have their own unique characteristics to keep things interesting. J appears to be a large man, but he's quite strong and has the ability to fly around (in a stylish trench coat no less). If there was any doubt as to whether he is human or not, the steam exhausts that let loose during more vigorous action should give him away.
But regular criminals vs. superpowerful android? That just wouldn't be fair. Though J is the only android allowed into Judoh, others are smuggled in. And while an enemy android can be a dangerous adversary, it might be even worse to fight genetically enhanced humans. Ironically, when these dangerous criminals are sentenced to 100 years or more, the same advancements in genetics is also applied to change their heads into the heads of wild animals.
Dice chose not to be genetically enhanced for his dangerous line of work. He believes in himself, which is something I as a viewer did not. The Special Forces Unit does not have much money or resources, which is an odd issue to have in the show. But because of this, Dice's only weapon at his disposal is a pistol with three normal bullets and one "red" bullet (explosive round). This bizarre rationing doesn't make much sense though. The Special Forces Unit can afford to repair J every episode or so, but a few bullets is apparently out of the question.
The pacing of Heat Guy J is a bit slow at first. Claire Leonelli makes his entrance in the first episode, but if he is the main bad guy of the show, we don't really see why yet. His motivation is that he is crazy. These first four episodes are very episodic, mainly just showing the day to day life of the Special Forces Unit. It's a subtle introduction to a solid show.
The animation of Heat Guy J is certainly one of the high points of the show. While some of the CG in the show stands out a bit, most of the action is fast-paced and well executed. Dice is sort of a boyish Spike from Cowboy Bebop, but the rest of the characters have their own style. J, in particular, is pretty sweet looking. While dressed in his trench coat, only his eyes reveal his inner computing. Underneath that trenchcoat is a complex, steam exhaust-blowing robotic body. He chooses his trenchcoat look because how a man presents himself is very important.
The first four episodes of Heat Guy J get the show off to a good start. The Special Forces Unit doesn't have a driving force yet other than getting through the day to day trials and tribulations of underground crime. But Claire Leonelli is clearly the recurring bad guy to watch, and with illegal immigrants, enemy robots, and escaped criminals, there is plenty of action to be had in Heat Guy J.
Special Features
· Anamorphic Widescreen
· Interactive Animated Menu
· English Audio Dolby Digital 2.0
· Japanese Audio Dolby Digital 2.0
· English Subtitles
