Heat guy is a relatively unknown anime from director Kazuki Akane. There were only twentysix episodes ever made which are combined here in one DVD boxset! This is one of the few anime DVD's to actually get a release inn England and it has done quite well considering it isn't very well known! The animation style combines animation with CGi effects which works very well and has a nice contempory feel about it! I have seen better animation but this wasn't done on a movie budget and so has some flaws!
STORY
The series is set not too far in the future. Most of the episodes take place in a city named Judoh which is a mega city. Everything is built up beyond belief. As with most cities there are nice areas and those that are crime hot spots. There is also another secret town beneath the city. The protagonists of this story are agents of the Special Services of Crime Prevention. This task force must act to prevent crimes from ever happening. They watch for suspicious behaviour and watch well known criminals when they enter the city. The division isn't very well funded at all. There are only three peole working there. The two agents are called Daisuke Aurora and his android partner called "J". Also at their headquarters there is a secretary called Kyoko Milchan:
Daisuke
The hero of our story. In the english dub Steve
Staley provides Daisukes voice. He has done a lot of work in anime and video games as is a well known name. The character design is pretty good. It isn't particularily original but works well throughout the series. He wears a white suit in a very casual way. The director seems quite focused on colour in this anime. The good characters generally all have very light, bright colours used where as the bad guys have reds and blues used. Daisuke has blonde hair. His personality is a little bit egotistical and he has a lot of belief in himself. He can back it up as he does haave a lot of skill but early on in the series I found it harder to identify with him! A lot of the time in anime's however the protagonist is an anit-hero! You do not find out all of Daisukes back story untill later in the series so I wont say too much. He doesn't have any parents and his elder brother is the Director of security.
J
The android is Daisukes partner. He is voiced by Bob Papenbrook in the English Dub and again has done a lot of voice work for anime and video games! The characer design here is very good. J is modeled on and older man but with a huge frams. He dresses smartly again and even though he wears black he is often quite light and the animtors use green quite often in scenes with him in. J has personality even though he isn't human and often says very noble things and seems to think of himself as a man rather than an android. J can move very fast and hit very hard. After prolonged use of his powers he needs to vent off steam from huge pipes in his shoulders. Its pretty cool when this happens and I very much like the animation. J in general is animated very well. The animators keep a balance between his huge side and his gracefull movements.
Kyoko Milchan
She is the secretary at the division. She is voiced by Kari Wahlgren in the english dub. She too has loads of roles under her belt. Im not too fond on Kyoko's character. She is the stereotypical pretty and annoying character that plays Daisukes love interest. The series doesn't often deal with anything love releated so it is small interest! The animators use pinks (her hair is pink also) o give her that girly feel but im not a fan and believe she is the weak link in the main characters.
As in all good stories there are a few bad guys that keep appearing. These provide the ongoing stories in the series. There are also the "monster of the week" bad guys who feature in single episode sotries. These bad guys are all very original and designed ery well. It never feels like a chore to watch one of these episodes! Here is a runthrough of a few of the main antagonists!
Clair Leonelli
He is known as the Vampire. This is the titles given to the head of the mob basically. He is the head of his dead fathers crime organisation. He is voiced by Johnny Yong Bosch who some of you may remember as the original black power ranger! He also does the voice of Ichigo Kurosaki in Bleach! Im a fan of this guys voice, he really has an anime style! Clair is slightly messed up. He has a very unstable personality causing the other crime lords to fear him. He proves to cause many problems for our heros and features in most of the episodes! I like the design on him but unfortunately I thik it is copied from the popular anime "Death note" from a character known as "L". He only has certain similarities but its still there and still unoriginal!
Boma
He is both bad guy and good guy! He is voiced by Richard Cansino. The character design here is awesome. Boma spent his early days in a high security prison where he was experimented on. His face now resembles that of a wlf and he has super stength and speed. He proves to be a decent match for even J. He is searching forr his sister and seemingly will kill everyone in his way till he finds her. I like the character here but the actual voice acting is terrible, which is a shame as the english dub is generally OK! There are a few of the main characters you will come accross. The series possibly hasn't done aswel as it could have due to unoriginality. Mostly everything is very good but I think everthing has to be spot on for an anime to be great!
Price
This is the DVD's most appealing feature. The entire boxset can be picked up for around £10. This is great value for 26 episodes. The DVD doesnt have any special features at all but it is still a great price. I enjoyed every episode of the series but die to personal preference watched most of it in Japanese with subtitles!
Music
The main theme is pretty good. You will have it in your head all day even if you cant understand the words. The band that does the title music also provide music for the episodes and it is quite good. Some of the sound effects become very familiar and are used well. As with many other animes individual characters have teor own themes. This works really well and I personally find J's themem to be awesome. It suits him really well giving off a nobel and wise vibe!
Final thought
This is a decent anime. I don't suggest you get this as your first experiance with anime, it will give you a bad impression. It has something about it that means you should become more familiar with the style of great animes before youw watch this one. People who have been anime fans for a while but havn't heard of this should go buy it.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Production Year: 2007 - Science Fiction - Director: Francis Lawrence - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Alice Braga, Charlie Tahan, Dash Mihok, Will Smith, Salli Richardson, Willow Smith
Heat Guy J...A new word for cool. From the creators of the hugely popular Escaflowne The ... more
Movie and Last Exile comes the brand new futuristic cop show, Heat Guy J - an exhilarating action adventure series that combines cyber-punk sci-fi with the best el...
From the creators of the hugely popular Escaflowne: The Movie and Last Exile comes the ... more
brand new futuristic cop show Heat Guy J - an exhilarating action adventure series that combines cyber-punk sci-fi with the best elements of the buddy-bop genre. B...
Postage & Packaging: £0.00 Availability: 3-5 working days
![Heat Guy J - Complete Series 1 [Box Set]-DVD](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/100294834.jpg "Heat Guy J - Complete Series 1 [Box Set]-DVD")
![Heat Guy J Complete Series 1 Box Set [2003] [DVD]](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/78477842.jpg "Heat Guy J Complete Series 1 Box Set [2003] [DVD]")
exceptional by (7%):
very helpful by (93%):
