Anime Review: Heat Guy J!

I haven't done one of these in a long time, mainly since I haven't had the time to watch a new series, start to finish. I came across this series by winning a cosplay contest, a couple DVDs of it were the prize. It was sometime around 2010...I watched a couple episodes back then, but never really got into it, however a couple weeks back I was sick and stayed home from work....with nothing better to do I popped in the DVDs again, and gave it a go. It must have been my mindset back then that kept me from getting into it, because this time around...I couldn't get enough. So! Let's start the Review!

Heat Guy J is an anime licensed by Geneon first, and then Funimation, that came out in 2002. It sought to seamlessly blend CGI with traditional animation in the same way and time period as Disney's Treasure Planet....with similar success. You can still tell what's CG and what's animation, but it still looks like it belongs together and the animation is rather clear and crisp. It's visually appealing and that's just the tip of the iceberg!

The plot centers around City Safety Management: Special Division agent Daisuke Aurora (Dice/Dais for short), and his android partner J. Dice is an upbeat rather optimistic young man in his early 20's. He's tough, doesn't complain too much, all things considered (his backstory is pretty sad, but he doesn't sweat it) and he's a very likable guy!

His partner, an Android simply known as J, is also pretty likable. He's known as the "Heat Guy" by most of the criminal underground, due to the large quantity of steam he releases to cool down after intense physical exertion. J takes on a fatherly sort of role for the orphaned Daisuke, who's only real family is his older brother Shun, the head of the City Safety Management office. J often advises Dice on how a "Real Man" should act, which can lead to either really deep, or comical commentary. Despite having no real feelings, J's AI can learn to act on it's own by observing the actions of the people he surrounds himself with. As the show progresses, Dice's lazy attitude and lax interpretation of the law start to rub off on him and he becomes pretty human.

The third and final member of the City Safety Management's Special Division is Kyoko Milchan. She's a stern and sensible young lady who's in charge of the budget and essentially being Dice's keeper. She started out pretty annoying to me, but as the show goes on, her quirks and charm start to grow on you in an undeniably cute way! She show's that she's a decent tactician too, rescuing Dice from his rival's clutches while he's under some pretty serious drugs.

The last solo character I'm going to talk about is Dice's main rival/enemy, Clair Leonelli. He's the only son of former mob boss Lorenzo Leonelli, a character who's funeral kicks off the series with a bang! Clair is semi-psychotic due to years of both physical and mental abuse from his father. He's a pyro-maniac but also an excellent strategist and leader to his men. I won't go into a lot of details but Clair easily became my favorite character from the moment I saw him to the moment he was last on screen.

The show is full of other interesting characters, that all have an interesting way of weaving into the story. One off characters you think will only matter to the episodic plots manage to work their ways back in multiple times making you rather glad you saw them too! A favorite of mine would be Kia Freeborn a guitar playing wanderer who was seeking revenge against his deadbeat father. Seems like a simple one-shot story you know Dice meets him and convinces him otherwise, story's done right? I thought so too, but he still manages to become an integral character in the final act of the story! The same goes for Clair's three goons, Giovanni, Ian and Mitchell. I won't say how, but those three really manage to surprise you, and make you love them!

This show has so many good things going for it, that it pains me to think that so few people know about it! It's a true gem. It manages to have that laid back episodic feel of Cowboy Bebop with a good Buddy Cop feel mixed in. The story easily wraps itself up in 26 episodes, yet it leaves you wanting more! I was satisfied with the end but demanded more epilogue, a downside I suppose, to having so many characters whose stories worked their way in and wound together. Another kudos to this show is its catchy opening, FAKE by Try Force. It had me singing along within the first few episodes and it really sets the feel for this show. If you aren't completely sold on this series, just watch the embeded link below, then check it out streaming dubbed or subbed on HULU!



I'll be back next week with new cosplay, cross-stitch patterns, and everything else I'm usually known for...I'll also be talking about my trip to see Fall Out Boy in concert!