Heat Guy J

If you ever gain the slightest bit of interest to watch this show, WATCH IT. I was skeptical at first, due to the subpar-looking character designs, wonky name, and typical sounding synopsis. However, it only took about 10 minutes of the first episode to completely hook me on the series. The show completely blew all my expectations out of the water.

The art is great. You might be skeptical at first, but the style flows very nicely in the show. The character designs are from the same person behind Escaflowne. There are some very well-animated scenes throughout the show, and ... never do you see signs of lazy animation throughout. There is also some well integrated CG, that remains exclusive to more complex buildings and vehicles.

The sound was good. Nothing spectacular, but certainly not bad. Some of the songs may seem tacky at first, but the show reuses them in all of the right situations, to tie feelings into newer scenes, and you'll like the soundtrack more by the end of the show than you did in the beginning.

The story is fantastic. It starts out relatively small, as explained in the synopsis, but continually grows to be greater than you'd expect.

The characters are what make this series shine, however. Daisuke Aurora has easily weaseled his way into my top 5 protagonists. He creates fantastic relationships with many unlikely characters throughout the show. Deep themes of friendship and seeing the good in people are present throughout the entire series, right down to the epic conclusion, and those themes are what will leave a lasting impact on you after completing this series.

I highly recommend this to anyone with a slight interest. The show reminds me a bit of Gungrave and Cowboy Bebop, as it involves a large, rather corrupt city, with some amazing protagonists. Give the show a chance, and I guarantee you'll be hooked with the first episode. If not, well, this probably wasn't your cup of tea to begin with.

Heat Guy J is one of the most excellent series I've had the pleasure of viewing and exceeded my expectations based on the reviews I've seen. It's basically in the detective/action genre that's set in the future, in a unique environment where cities are divided and dependent on a race of people that provide the technology for air and water, and there are also people living outside of this city in the underground and in the forests avoiding the people in the main city. The main character is a detective of sorts who's partner is a robot "J" that assists him in his quests. ...

The episodes are rarely repetitive and we watch as the main character collects friends throughout the series that offer him assistance in his many endeavors. There is also some nice plot twisting and well integrated CGI that didn't become bothersome. All this is highly impressive, especially for an anime you can find in the bargain bin at your local con. Highly recommended.

Heat Guy J is an anime created by director Akane Kazuki. It was one of Satelight Studio's early productions. This will be their second anime I look at. The first being Sousei no Aquarion, an entirely bland offering. Will this one be any better? Let's take a look and find out.

Story:

In the future, mankind is living largely confined to large cities not because of man eating giants but because their electric and water purification grids only function in certain areas and there's only a small group that still understands how the technology works. In the city of Judoh, Daisuke Aurora works for the city's special ... services division to prevent crimes along with his android partner, J. Most episodes deal with Daisuke and J solving cases. There is an underlying story arc about Daisuke looking for his father's murderer, but I can't go into too much detail about that without spoiling part of the series. Especially since most of the stuff that actually comes from that happens near the end.

Let's start by looking at what the story does badly. The first thing is the pacing. They keep going back to the underlying plot but they don't really go anywhere with it besides reminding you it exists until the last three episodes. At which point everything just gets thrown at you and there's a rushed, hastily resolved climax. The episodes and cases also vary in quality quite a bit, some are pretty good but on the opposite end you have the stuff with the Siberbians, a group of people who are painfully stupid to watch. They don't believe in technology, except for the stuff they actually use because going without entirely would just be so darn inconvenient. They also believe strongly in the ideal that every adult should be fully independent, except that they have a society with laws, enforcement of said laws by members of the village who work together and a leader. They also subscribe to other ill-conceived, irrational and inane religious/philosophical ideas. There are only two episodes with these clods and they are terrible. You also get some clunky exposition dialogue and forced events that happen solely because the plot needed them to.

So, what does the series do well? Quit a bit, actually. A lot of the concepts at play are kind of interesting and fairly unique. Most of the cases are decent enough with some good moments and tension. There's a lot of potential in the world itself and it is somewhat well taken advantage of. The series also does a good job of introducing most of the important plot elements that are going to eventually come into play for the climax well in advance and in a subtle way. You never know what previous events that seemed like just parts of a single case are going to come back as an important point until right near the end and when they do get brought up it makes sense given the context.

Characters:

The best way to describe the characters in this series is that they're close to kind of standard archetypes with maybe one or two things to differentiate them from the usual character types they're playing off of. There are exceptions, a lot of the one shot and side characters just are their tropes, and there are a few characters like Boma or Daisuke himself who are more interesting, but in general that's what you can expect. A certain character type with a few additions. They aren't badly done, mostly, just don't expect anything too good from them. This isn't at Stand Alone Complex's level.

Art:

The art style is pretty unique but it doesn't look bad by any means. The characters look pretty good and the action sequences are nicely done, mostly and the futuristic tech you see is visually interesting. If there's any problem with the art it's that the backgrounds tend to be pretty basic. They don't look bad, but they do look like not a lot of effort went into them.

Sound:

The performances are decent enough, although most of them aren't anything great. The actors do their jobs competently although you do get some exaggerated lines and some that are a little wooden. However, those lines that are a bit wooden come from Sugou Takayuki who's voicing J and they give the character an inhuman quality that works given that he is an android. There is one really strong performance and it comes from Sakurai Takahiro, the same actor who voiced Cloud Strife and Megaman X. The music is pretty standard. It's simple and functional.

Ho-yay:

This series has a little bit. The dynamic between Vampire and Daisuke comes across as fueled by sexual tension at a few points. Kyoko also takes another girl home with her at one point although that one is less homo-erotic and more that the plot needed it to happen. So, the ho-yay factor is a 2.5/10. There's a little, but it goes nowhere.

Final Thoughts:

Heat Guy J is a sci-fi series with some interesting elements, nicely done action and good episodes. It also has some really bad episodes and a lot of general story issues. If you're a fan of sci-fi police stories you'll probably enjoy it. For myself, it's a 6/10. It's decent enough for what it is, but there are a lot of better works out there and it's merely okay in most respects. Check it out if you're a fan of the genre. That's the end of 2014. Next week we'll be entering January and that means Studio Ghibli Yuri anime starring Hayashibara Megumi. Well, not really. As awesome as it would be to be able to combine all the various themes I've had in January, and as amazing as that anime would almost certainly be, I don't think it actually exists. So, it's going to be magical girl month. It was NanoFated to happen eventually. Until then, have a happy new year everybody.

It is always satisfying to see a show with a lackluster start end on a strong note. Such is the case with Heat Guy J, a show that at first wallows in tired buddy cop hijinks, but ultimately proves to be a worthy watch in the long run.

The story follows Daisuke, a young smart-mouth cop and member of Judoh City's Special Services Bureau, and his android partner, J. Together they work to prevent crimes from happening in Judoh, under the supervision of Daisuke's older brother Shun. Daisuke and J have their hands full as the streets of Judoh are crawling with crime, from terrorists to ... organized crime syndicates. On top of that they have to deal with a rising, ambitious, and disturbed crime lord, Clair Leonelli. Much of the first half of the show is mostly standalone episodes of Daisuke and J busting down on baddies. These episodes range from being very good to very mediocre, with the cases involving Clair Leonelli being the best; and ones not involving him leaning more on the sour side. This is the big problem with the first half of the show, for every good episode there is an extremely underwhelming one; with a cliche, old, tired plot. Even some of the better episodes are just 'okay'. Honestly, watching through much of the first half feels like a bit of a chore. Luckily, there is some world building and character development in these episodes which really does payoff later in the long run; it is just that the episodic scenarios surrounding said development are washed up and stale.

The show picks up in episodes 11 and 12, which reveal more of the workings of the world of Heat Guy J. The existence of the Celestials and the way they keep order in the world is thought provoking in on its own, and easily one of the more fascinating aspects of the show. It was also fun to watch Clair wreck havoc and almost destroy the entire city of Judoh, and solidify his rivalry with Daisuke. The quality of the episodes after 11 and 12 was a big improvement over the first half. From an assassination attempt on Daisuke's brother Shun, to Clair's attempt of revenge on Daisuke in the fallout of events of episode 12, the scenarios of each episode where more engaging and exciting that those of the first half. Characters that saw minimal development before, got their fair share in these episodes; most notably the Special Services Bureau's secretary, Kyoko, and the wolf-headed hybrid Boma.
All the while, even deeper darker secrets of Judoh are slowly unraveled, leading to a twist late in the show (which you may or may not see coming) that makes the show's final arc its most gripping and touching; ending on a strong note. Even still, the cliches of the first half are still very much present, and bog down the shows quality at times because of how conventional it feels.

As far as the characters go, Heat Guy J has a pretty decent cast. The titular character J is a pretty cool android. It is a feat to make a character who is inhuman yet has personality, but J pulls it off quite well. To be fair, J does display human-like attributes, but that largely feels due to his programming, which it is. There are times, however, J does come across as a bit too human; enough so that some viewers will have to take this with a grain of salt, especially since themes of what make up a sentient being are not present at all in the show. Where J is stern and (obviously) kind of robotic, Daisuke is laid-back and likes to take things in stride. This makes his chemistry with J pretty fun to watch, albeit also pretty conventional. At times it feels like the writers were trying too hard in making him cool and carefree, but the character does have enough personality to prevent him from being just another 'cool guy' type character. Clair is by far one of the most fun characters in the show despite being cartoonishly despicable much of the time, kind of like Joker from the 90's Batman animated series, but with daddy issues. The rest of the cast all have their time in the light and are all likeable, but very much part of an ensemble; which ultimately caps their development.

Heat Guy J is pretty solid on the technical side of things. Character designs are diverse, with Daisuke, Kyoko and Clair being more slender than the gruffer guys in the cast like J and Giovanni. Characters are colorful but thankfully not outlandish. The city of Judoh is quite a site; beautiful metropolitan streets juxtaposition with broken down slums and dangerous alleys, the city feels like a character itself at times. The look of the show is not particularly innovative, in fact it looks like many sci-fi thrillers, but overall it still nice. The music is also good, particularly during the action scenes, and a few other interesting music choices. However, it isn't fantastic, and at times it feels like certain themes are overused.

Overall, Heat Guy J is a solid sci-fi police show. It has a rough start, and can often be bogged down by cliches. However, it picks up very nicely as it continues, and shines at the end. With a likeable cast of characters and a few good twists, Heat Guy J succeeds despite having some big stumbles here and there.

Hm... HeatGuy J. Writing a review on this anime actually has me a bit puzzled in terms of how much I enjoyed it. Originally I became interested in the anime after seeing several advertisements online for the complete series on DVD. The fact that someone who worked on EscaFlowne was a part of it greatly influenced me in watching it as well.

The plot is interesting. Its set in a somewhat futuristic city named, 'Judoh.' Judoh has a very strict law organization which the two main characters, Daisuke Aurora and the, 'Heat Guy' J, are a part of. It's more like a smaller version of Special ... Ops, who specialize in doing a little under cover work in order to find the culprit and capture them. a lot of their missions usually involve illegal aliens.
J is an android of unbeatable strength (in comparison to the other androids) and is Daisuke's partner of justice.

So for the story, I would give it a 7/10, for the fact that the setting was likeable and certainly the last few episodes had me on the edge of my couch cushion! It would have gotten an 8, if not for the snail pace in which the storyline was shown in. It took around seventeen episodes for the main plot to flesh out, which, for me, made it hard to finish the series.

The artwork was rather nice: a lot of it seemed almost like a tribute to the old EscaFlowne animation (character design-wise, and even personality-wise sometimes. Trust me, you'll spot an Allen Schezar and a Dilandau in here. xD) There was a bit of CG in this show at the points where they wanted to show an intense car chase scene, or when they wanted Daisuke to ride his blue motorcycle. The CG did not stand out too much, which I liked.

The sound? (I'm assuming that means the music as well as the acting and all that.) I will say that the soundtrack is 100% unique. Who would've thought that android-battling and bagpipes would go together so well! The soundtrack was a very high point in this series, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The acting job in both Japanese and English was absolutely fantastic. This anime had one of the better English dubs I've heard in years.

Character: Well, I can automatically say that J was a very cool character. Based on his programming, he would always spout these responsible lines about what a man should do in situations given to him. Particularly, his favorite line involved men never going back on their promises. If only every man was like J, jeez. XD
Daisuke was a fairly interesting character. His calm, laid-back attitude grew to be rather loveable.
Other characters in this series were definitely unique, and I will only say that the only person I did not like was Boma. Some may disagree with me, but his existence almost made it seem like he was just a quick little add-in. His backstory did not contribute to the major plot, and so I found myself annoyed whenever he came on screen.

Overall, I would give this a 7/10. This is not an average anime, but nor is it a masterpiece. The slow plot pacing was what killed most of it for me, but that may be just because I wished for something to happen that would contribute to the main problem and solution in the end. Plus I had high expectations plot-wise because of the fact that someone from EscaFlowne was involved, and EscaFlowne had something contributing to the plot in practically each episode. If you have not seen EscaFlowne and you are planning on watching this, it may be better for you to watch this one without having something to compare to. ^^;; The things in this anime which made me enjoy it were J and his quoteable lines, the appearance of The Celestials (one episode for it? Come on now D:), the soundtrack, and most of all, the fact that romance was not a key factor between two particular characters by the end of it. You could sense something may happen, but for now, it did not. I usually love romantic endings, but only if the two characters are immediately meant to fall in love from the get-go (or if they make continuous hints of romance throughout the series.) HeatGuy J had a few hints of romance, but not many. So the ending decision was a good one.

So in conclusion, the story could have moved a little faster, the final three episodes were basically amazing, J's image of a man is the most ideal man out there, and people who have seen The Vision of EscaFlowne may like the reminiscent character designs.
A fine job, but it could have been just a little bit better.

Thanks for reading!

Heat Guy J


Story: 7/10

Heat guy j is an action packed story following two members of The Department of Security, Daisuke Aurora and his android partner J, as they protect the city of Judoh' citizens from the criminal underground. Meanwhile things heat up as the most prominent mafia Don is succeeded by his young, and mentally unstable son, Clair Leonelli. Clair is a cruel, and calculating young man out to prove that inexperienced or not, He can carry his father's title of "Vampire". Now our heroic duo must not only foil every petty criminal in town, but also take on the entire Leonelli "family".Hitman Reborn this ... is not. The mafia is portrayed in a far more traditional way, far out doing the aforementioned Reborn. If you want a hard boiled mafia Heat Guy is the way to go. Ties run deep, and betrayal will find no forgiveness. The only thing stopping me from raising this title's score is the episodic formula. It's pretty easy to follow with it's episodic stories, and underlying plot. Many of the mini arcs are interesting, unpredictable, and quite memorable.

Art: 8/10

At first I was offput by the character designs. I found them fairly unappealing. The artist behind them is none other than Escaflowne's own Nobuteru Yuki. I'm personally not a big fan of his style, but the characters in this show come off very well....even if the do have strange, super pointy noses. They are all different in appearance, each having their own little quirks. Sexy Antonia, Smooth Daisuke, Insane Clair,and even Little Poor Girl Monica. Each design a perfect fit to the character in question. The animation is crisp, and doesn't get chunky during the fight scenes. It is sometimes hard to believe this show is getting close to ten years old. The world in which Heat Guy J is set is also expansive, even though most of it takes place in the city of Judoh. The backgrounds created for this series are well detailed, and lively. In populated areas, there are bystanders, instead of empty streets. The creative team obviously put some effort into making us believe in this city. From expansion bridges to underground cities, the backdrops all pull in to the city of Judoh.

Sound: 8/10

The opening song "FACE" by Tryforce sets the mood for the show. It's a catchy song that fits the overall mood of the series. The only problem is that it isn't to memorable. The first ending song, "Gap In The Heart" by WYSE is a little bit faster, and has a pretty amazing set of lyrics. The second ending song "Hikari" by Saeko Chiba is slow, and beautiful. I would be hard pressed to call it a good match for Heat Guy J though. The background music for the show fits really well. I find that if background music flows so smoothly with the scene that it doesn't distract you, then it is just right. The soundtrack just adds to the overall ambiance of the world of Heat Guy J.

Characters: 9/10

Heat Guy J has a fairly diverse cast of enjoyable characters.

The sexy doctor Antonia, who treats J like a member of her own family.

The poor girl Monica who sells photos to take care of her mother.

The insane mafia Don, Clair.

The smooth talking crime fighter, Daisuke.

The waaay to forgiving cop, Edmundo.

Kyoko, the feisty coworker.

Of course there is a lso J, the powerful android sidekick of daisuke.

Every character serves a purpose. Right down to Daisuke's fangirls. Cynthia, Vivian, and Janis. Everyone has a reason to be there. The back stories are simple, and don't seem to leave the viewer bogged down with flashbacks. The characters relationships are believable, and don't seem forced. The heroes motives are clear, and the villains deserve what they get, even if " That was a big loss". Even as an android J learns little life lessons as he helps the Department of Security along the way.

Enjoyment: 9/10

Each story being different from the last, you never really know what to expect from this show. It is full of surprises, and has many memorable moments. Over half way through the show I can honestly say that this is title far exceeded my expectations.

Wow! What a great series! I wasn't sure if this series was going to be predictable and boring.. however once into it, each episode was different and evolved nicely with great mixing of drawn and computer animation and stellar characters. It was a very pleasant surprise for me.

Story 10/10: A suave "detective" like city worker with his machine partner fight crime in a corrupt city.. that's just the framework... the story delves into different types of people that are found in any given city and shows interactions and development of friendships, alliances & betrayals.

Art 10/10: The art was fantastic. The characters were realistic and ... they did a great job with minor & major details throughout. The CG was well mixed & impressive especially in regards to fight scenes and scenery.

Sound 8/10: The sound involved was well placed, but not amazing.. the music grew on me- the opening was well planned for Dai & J relationship.

Character 10/10: The characters were by far the best part of the series. Daisuke is probably one of the coolest characters I can think of in any series. His nonchalant yet caring attitude really shined. The sense of comradery in the series was great. There was a positive upbeat message of trusting and caring for others, even when it doesn't seem like its a good idea. J's character was great as well, Antonia created a great mix of serious but sincere personality traits in his hardware.

Enjoyment 10/10: It was a wonderful series that made me feel a sense of pride for the town of Judoh.. even with all its faults...

Overall 10/10: I highly recommend this series to anyone who likes action and a well developed story line.

To summarize the upcoming wall of text for those in a hurry: Heat Guy J is excellent and lots of fun, go watch it!

And here comes the long version of all the praise:

Heat Guy J was one of those pleasant surprises that happen once in a while. I grabbed the DVD box set from the bargain bin - vintage 2002, in 16:9 anamorphic widescreen and with Japanese; English Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS soundtrack - can't resist a deal like this, right? In hindsight I have no clue how I managed to overlook this series for all these years.

Storyline (might contain minor spoilers):
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The main character ... Daisuke Aurora works with his android partner J for the City Safety Management Agency in the town of Judoh. The unit is supposed to investigate "signs which indicate that future crimes may be committed" - something like a preemptive task force it seems. The team is supplemented by Kyoko Milchan who is the office manager and has an eye on the budget. She also oversees the distribution of Daisukes weapon and ammunition which usually amounts to handing out a whopping three bullets (seems like they operate on a really strict budget, but on the other hand - who needs a lot of firepower with a guy like J around?).

When Daisuke is not hanging around the office idling on the couch, evading requests for written reports and ignoring taciturn and motionless J standing on call, the episodes follow our heroes while doing their work, which consists mainly of information gathering from various sources in the town of Judoh. This way the main setting, which is the city of Judoh, slowly takes shape and the supporting characters are introduced. The early episodes concentrate on Clair "Vampire" Leonelli, the young and seemingly psychopathic newly established Don of the Company Vita Crime Syndicate, who is in the process of claiming leadership and taking over the operations after his father died. Organized crime is doing well in the city of Judoh and besides the Leonellis there are various other groups of mobsters watching over their turfs.

General overview:
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What at first glance seems to be just a sequence of unrelated stand-alone episodes and disjointed cases slowly develops into a deeper and more complex plot while hints and bits and pieces of information begin to fall into place and allow glimpses into a rather intricately woven world. After episode four even the most casual watcher will suspect that a conspiracy is lurking somewhere ahead. The storytelling is excellent and never confuses its audience with nonessential information or the useless techno-babble that futuristic settings usually seem to spout . The plot unfolds in an unhurried way and then sucks the viewer in. The individual stories are interesting and well-structured with twists and turns and supported by memorable characters.

The core of Heat Guy J is a classic detective story comprising (political) thriller elements and borrowings from the good fellas and buddy cop genres. The setting is vaguely futuristic, the cityscape and some scenes are so Blade Runnerish that calling them only "inspired by" is a rather friendly way to describe it. The creators designed a highly atmospheric and fascinating environment. The city of Judoh is done very convincingly, the streets are lively and busy with passers-by, bustling shops, traffic and a changing day and night scenery.

The character cast is vast and all the recurring characters are well developed - many of them have an interesting background story, vices, quirks, problems and their own way of looking at life. The cast includes cynical cops, streetwise (small) girls, small-time crooks, gene-manipulated beings and corruptionists, to list just a few. All of them have a reason to be in the story and are not just padding or backdrop. The character interactions are convincing and entertaining. I found that only J himself of all things was lacking a bit in depth and personality, but oh well, he is a machine after all. He seems to gain a limited understanding of the world surrounding him in the course of the series though. Daisuke has this laid-back and politely observing way of doing things that makes him very endearing and as a bonus he is sharp as a tack. In the beginning it is hard to determine if he is simply phlegmatic or extremely broad-minded. Anyways, he is one cool guy.

Although the scenery can be quite gritty and dark, there is not an overwhelming amount of violence or gore. Action scenes are not overly abundant and mostly short but they are nicely orchestrated when they occur. If you are looking for a shootout every two minutes or a non-stop action flick you better look somewhere else. You will get some impressive hand to hand combat, shiny sword action, gun fights - including even some tank fireworks - but only if the story really warrants such action. Also do not expect over the top comedy; the creator decided to incorporate some dry humor (in case of J a substantial amount of whacky one-liners...) and the dosage slightly increases in the later episodes but you will probably not suffer an uncontrollable laughing fit while watching.

The underlying themes in the anime are about the importance and worth of friendship and loyalty, and the question if satisfying one's desire for revenge will make you a happier being or ruin you.

Visuals:
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The artwork is stunning. Yes I said stunning. Although panels get reused and there are stills (with only camera pans and zooms used to liven them up some), the background artwork is gorgeous and atmospheric. Everything gives off the vibes the scene demands - be it dark, gritty and depressing or lively, refreshing and colorful. The setting is modern with a futuristic looking scenery as well as some retro elements. It is a weird mix of technologically highly advanced features and a lot of outdated machinery that looks like it was imported straight from the 50s.

The character artwork is very unique with a slightly old-style feeling and might not be everyone's cup of tea. Heat Guy J was directed by Kazuki Akane with Nobuteru Yuki doing the character designs, both were also working on Escaflowne - so it is not a great surprise that the two shows share the look to some extent. If you have seen Escaflowne you will certainly recognize the noses. Woah, that nose! (ever read Asterix and Cleopatra btw? But I digress... sorry).

The animation of the action scenes is nicely choreographed and really snappy-looking. Sadly I have to mention the 3D integration too I am afraid. It is not really good. Especially having to watch Daisuke ride his favorite vehicle (a kind of futuristically inspired motorbike with sidecar) on multiple occasions borders on irritating. But luckily the 3D CG parts are used sparingly overall - so it does not distract too much from the rest of the visuals and designs which are truly awesome.

Sound:
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Holy cow! The score.
I went searching for the OST directly after watching the first episode. This is one of the best anime scores I have ever heard. Electric guitars paired with folkloristic elements, choirs, piano, eery female vocals, tribal oriental-sounding tunes, acoustic guitar, percussion and techno beats, as well as a lot of other weird sounds. And best of all: bagpipes. Yes absolutely, I kid you not, they used bagpipes. All these ingredients produce one hell of a unique and adorable soundtrack. The music itself is used fittingly throughout the anime and adds the right mood, atmosphere and impact to the scenes. The OP "Face" by Try Force is a catchy rock song and fits the show well, the two EDs are nice but not very memorable.

I cannot comment on the English dub, since I only watched the Japanese version. The 5.1 DTS track does not make much use of the back speakers, it is mainly center-oriented. Otherwise the sound mixing is fine. Music, speech and sound effects are clear and distinct. The Japanese voice cast is consistently excellent.

Grumbling:
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Is Heat Guy J perfect? No. It falls slightly short of excellence. The end is rushed (maybe budgeting issues or just direction?). Although the finale has lots of oomph, the solution to the conflict for me was unconvincing and even kind of cheesy. There are also various plot holes and inconsistencies in the storyline. In the end the imaginative world setting had not enough depth. I wish they had elaborated more on the directly antecedent history of the world and its power structures. Too much of the political, economical and social environment was left hazy and unclear. Another thing that bugged me was the lack of understanding and the insufficient interaction between Daisuke and J through great parts of the show.

The Good:
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Bagpipes obviously. In addition Heat Guy J is stylish with a considerable cool-factor. It is good-looking, entertaining, has likable and unconventional characters, very well orchestrated action, an intelligent plot, and awesome music. Did I mention the bagpipes?

Heat Guy J will probably appeal to people who like old-style adventure telling and detective/ thriller stories augmented with reasonably dosed action.

Heat Guy J was apparently under the radar for many anime fans when it was picked up for licensing by Pioneer years ago which is a shame considering this was an all-around great action series worth checking out. The series mixes around both ongoing plot and individual cases where Daisuke and his android partner J deal with the underworld of crime throughout the city of Judoh. One of the show's greatest strengths is the great deal of effort it lays out in laying out the world of the series and exploring its characters. Judoh is a city ridden with poverty, crime and corruption which the ... series isn't afraid to tackle, even with Daisuke's character being as calm and easygoing as he is. People with positions of authority abuse their power. Those in the slums of Judoh struggle to get by and live on the streets. Crime syndicates have enough influence on city activity to evade arrest. The series also mixes in elements in or out of Judoh that effect the city's activity and characters such as the Celestials, those living in the slum city in Judoh's sewers and a group of people who adapted to living without the conveniences of the city. While these elements seem irrelevant at first glance, they do hold a significance amount of influence on driving the show's plot and motivations of specific characters.

Speaking of characters, Heat Guy J does enough at fleshing out many of its characters. The show explores the backgrounds, mentalities and personal beliefs of many of its prominent characters, including those among the crime syndicates of Judoh. Some characters even find their personal beliefs and mentalities challenged at points within the series when Heat Guy J chooses to address a major flaw or lingering story element that said character was dealing with throughout its run. From Boma's search for his lost sister to Claire handling the responsibilities of a mafia leader in his abusive father's footsteps, the series does enough to have you care for the challenges faced by many of its characters throughout the series.

As I explained above, Heat Guy J's episodes are divided up into individual and ongoing plot focus. The individual episodes feature a self-contained case with many being used to explore and/ or develop its major and supporting cast. The 'ongoing plot' episodes slowly uncover a conspiracy concerning the city's power structure connected between crime syndicates and influential city leaders. These episodes take their time at slowly unveiling elements to the conspiracy and those responsible for it, as well as delivering some shocking plot twists that did enough to keep this reviewer interested. The only issue I have with the show is that the final episodes seemingly bring about the show's climax too quickly as the narrative wasn't as smoothly paced as much of the show had been running.

In terms of presentation, Heat Guy J is visually impressive for a TV title featuring highly detailed and vast settings with vibrant color applied to them. This same detail and color also went into designing the characters, though their details do come across as a bit rough with a number of character designs. Animation in Heat Guy J is notable in that the show goes for a variety of different types of action sequences such as sword fights, hand to hand combat, fights between robots, gun action and even a land-to-sea battle involving a tank. Many of these scenes featured vehicles and characters moving about at a fluid pace and hardly any shortcuts were apparent with the animation. For music, the show's soundtrack consists of upbeat and haunting musical tracks featuring a variety of instruments such as electric guitars, woodwind and keyboard which blend together perfectly in the various scenes seen throughout Heat Guy J.

Overall, Heat Guy J made for a surprisingly solid action anime with plenty of depth on its world and characters, as well as not being afraid to test out various types of action sequences with its animation and having a great soundtrack to listen to. This is a definite keeper if you are a fan of action anime and is one that needs more love from anime fans.

i always look for animes of a specific style, the same style of trigun and cowboy bebop. heat guy j has that style, and something the rest of them dont have.

bagpipes, a whole lotta bagpipes.

its structured in the same way as cowboy bebop, its mostly filler, a story episode in the middle and then it finishes with a bang in the end. most of the interesting stuff comes from seeing the characters and their backstory's, how they get along with the other characters.

the art is good, nothing out standing, but it has its own unique style. all the backgrounds and vehicles are cgi and the ... characters are animated in 2d at all times, even fight scenes. it doesnt stand out, the characters fit in with the 3D enviroment perfectly and allows for the camera to be played around with alot more.

the music is great, everytime the android, heat guy 'J', gets into a fight bagpipes start playing. the opening and endings are great and i never felt like skipping them, the second ending i didnt like first but it grew on me. but the music has its own unique style to it.

all the characters are bad ass, it doesn't always focus on the main characters, all the side characters have their own story and develop throughout the show and i grew to love them.

when i watch an anime i either absolutely love it or i forget about it all together. a big factor is how re-watchable it is. something could be great like hellsing ultimate but after watching it i dont feel i need to see it again. an anime can be flawed like hellsing tv but much more memorable this is a flawed and very memorable anime that you will come back to every so often.

one thing that i dont like is that each episode has a case to be solved, and there is a buildup to that case being resolved, the climax of each episode is very short, they find the bad guy fight him in a cool, but short scene and then case closed. they could have made these sequences longer.

even though i said its flawed im giving it a 10 because i either absolutely love an anime or forget about it all together, and i absolutely loved Heat Guy J.

Edit: forgot to mention that this has a great english dub. all the voice actors fit the characters perfectly. i watch the dub whenever possible(though i do check if its good first) and this is safe to watch in english.

First and foremost I want to say that due to there being only three types of reviews - 1. Recommended, 2. Mixed Feelings and 3. Not Recommended, I was forced to set my review as "Recommended", when in fact it's sitting between "Recommended" and "Mixed Feelings".

I will get straight to the point, the characters are interesting and well developed, the story is also interesting, but the problem is the pacing and the cadence of events. What I've noticed about more popular and mainstream animes is that they get you involved into it from the start, whereas, the exposé in Heat Guy J literally takes about ... 20 episodes before the plotlines start connecting and things begin to get interesting.

The anime is by no means bad, but if you aren't very patient or don't have a lot of free time, like I am, you will feel bored and not getting that urge to keep playing the next episode. The story is good, the world it takes place is actually very interesting, I only wish they explored it more than they did, for example, what is outside the city of Judoh. If this series was 12 episodes instead of 26, it would have been even better. If it had a 2nd or 3rd season that addresses further events, it might have been even better.

I guess the series didn't get enough traction so it never got the chance for further seasons. I'd say watch it, just arm yourself with some patience, the good things come at the end, and in the end you will feel like you wish there was more of this.

this is my first review^^ anyways this series is one of my fav series^^ It's bout this guy [Daisuke] who's father was killed by an android years ago now Daisuke and his partner Android [J] fights off villains like a guy named vampire who loves to just blow stuff up this show has amazing art too along with great sound. The characters are pretty original so that's cool^_^
Anyone should watch this anime I got the boxset it's wicked^_^

I'm not going to beat around the bush here, Heat Guy J is excellent. It is the kind of series you come across every once in a while where you know next to nothing about it and on paper it does not sound that great but once you watch the first few episodes it hooks you in and provides hours of solid entertainment. The reason i liked it so much is 2-fold. First, it has got some great characters, and some really memorable characters: my personal favorites are clair leonelli, the head of the cities biggest crime family , and Buma, a sword-fighting werewolf ... who not only looks cool but has one of the most entertaining sub-plots in the series: and second, the story is extremely well told and is an interesting tale touching on many different themes and as a piece of mafia/crime fiction it could hold its own against many similar tales. The character designs are excellent across the board with one exception, Daisuke's brother Shun could easily pass for the twin brother of Integra from Hellsing, and the dub is extremely good here. a lot of dubs are poor but here it is well casted and all the voice actors do a great job and fit their respective characters to a tee. The story really is the star of the series in my opinion . Once the main plot really starts to develop it moves at a great pace and there is not that many episodes i would consider filler. There are some great twists in the second half of the series and some of them really throw you off guard. The story deals a lot with the theme of revenge and to be specific the idea of taking revenge, versus letting go of your hate. Personally i find the mark of a good series is that when you are not watching it you are thinking about and trying to figure out whats going on, and Heat Guy made me do this a lot.
The animation is also excellent and mixes in some CG/3D effects into some sequences and these sequences look good more than they don't. The action is fast paced and well animated.

Overall this is an excellent series. The main characters Daisuke and J are fun to watch and have a great partnership and most of the support characters are equally if not more entertaining. It's got a great story and excellent animation and voice acting and i would reccomend it to any anime fan.

In the city of Judoh, Claire Leonelli has inherited leadership of the Mafia group "Vampire" following the death of his father. To keep Claire's and other criminal activities in check, the city's Bureau of Urban Safety has Special Services Division operative Daisuke Aurora and the super android code-named "J" (whose identity is apparently kept in secrecy, as androids are banned in the city). With both of them around, crime now has little room to breathe in Judoh.

My thoughts:
Interesting anime. Daisuke is an investigator with an very confident attitude. He's partnered with an android called J who always has an anecdote advice for Daisuke in ... each episode. Each episode has a bad guy and a case to solve, but it also seems to follow a hidden agenda. This agenda leads to a final confrontation between Daisuke and his brother Shun. Overall the story is good, the characters are fun and compliment each other. Worth watching.