Japan produces a lot of anime in a huge range of styles, genres and quality. There is practically something for every taste and every age group, which is one of the advantages of catering to a huge population that not only loves animation but also does not see it only as the preserve of children, as in the West. Although a lot more anime is shown on Western television now, thanks to the proliferation of cable and satellite channels, and now internet ‘TV’, the cost of dubbing and/or subtitling does not always making it economically viable for small TV stations to broadcast, so most of it is released on DVD. A large amount of anime is only released directly to video, and with multilingual possibilities of DVD it has become a cost-effective way of marketing anime internationally, which has been great news for fans. Manga, along with ADV, are at the forefront of bringing anime to Western audiences, with Manga having two of the best-known anime (Akira and Ghost in the Shell) in their stable, you can be pretty sure of quality releases from them.
Heat Guy J is one of Manga’s latest releases, with a sci-fi/cyberpunk theme. And while it isn’t Ghost in the Shell there are some similarities, with the eponymous hero being an android special cop, with a human assistant. Heat Guy J was created by the same team that made Escaflowne the Movie. It was shown on American TV (MTV2) after its initial release in 2002 and it ran until 2004, and seems to have been aimed at a late teens audience. The storylines are not nearly as complex as GITS, but they are still very watchable. The characterisations are good and the relationships between the characters are believable and make a nice, often humorous, contrast to the action scenes.
Android J was secretly built by the government as a special agent to combat crime in the oceanic city nation of Judoh. But while J initially appears to be human, the illusion quickly disappears in clouds of scorching steam when he goes into action. Together with his human partner, Daisuke Aurora, J works for the city’s Special Forces Unit, a branch of the City Safety Management Agency responsible for detecting signs of possible future crimes. Assisting them are Kyoko, their cute administration officer, and the sexy Antonia Bellucci, the woman responsible for developing the technology used to build J and now in charge of overseeing J’s maintenance and repair.
Overall the animation is good for a television series, with some excellent background art. The machinery, especially J, when he is stripped of his human exterior, and his partner’s motorbike are particularly impressive. The villains also get some of the better artwork, which easily differentiates them from the good guys.
I find a lot of anime a bit too superficial and cute and, ironically, too Japanese, and although this does retain the typical conventions of big eyes, pointy chins and big, colourful hair they do not seem to be as overt as other anime. The English dialogue is well written, with some nice humour and banter between the characters.
If you have not seen this series before and you like cop/buddy type stories then it is definitely worth having a look at, and it develops nicely, like a good series should.
This two-disc DVD box-set contains the first eight episodes and comes with both Japanese and English soundtracks in Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS surround sound, but no extras.
Heat Guy J Volume 1 is available from March 27, directly from the Manga website or from Amazon. Volume 2 will be released May 15.