Heat Guy J is an episodic detective yarn structured around individual missions that fit within some kind of larger narrative framework concerning rival mafiosos, mysterious scientists and a bunch of swooning women in love with the somewhat boyish and effiminate Daisuke — J’s human partner who dominates screen time and is consequently far more involved in the story.
Suited to an undemanding audience looking for fairly standard intrigue and action, there’s little to dislike but not a lot to love about J and Daisuke’s adventures. The designers have tried to carve out a culturally diverse milieu in a similar way to Cowboy Bebop, but populated it with less fascinating characters and without the thick atmosphere and roller-coaster pacing of that series. Some overused establishing shots and cheap, plastic-looking moments don’t help. On the other hand, each episode is strong on plot and they progress rapidly to their funky, upbeat conclusions. This might be a good show to crack out at midnight and devour along with a stack of favoured munchies.
Android J sort of reminds me of Arnold Schwarznegger in his glory period (Predator, The Running Man, Total Recall): ‘his’ actions speak louder than words and while he takes some significant blows, ultimately he has that tougher-than-armageddon ability to rebound from dismemberment, pulverisation, and even … suspicion. I don’t understand, however, why Daisuke is so evidently the focus of the series. Purporting to be about J, from what I’ve seen so far the story has more to do with a love triangle between Daisuke, his undervalued personal assistant and the woman always on his mind, the beautiful and intelligent (*gasp*) female creator of J. When she treats Daisuke’s ‘hot partner’ for some mechanical problems and he cools off by ejecting his trademark steam, it doesn’t take an extreme interpretative leap to work out what’s really going on here.
Just because I prefer stories and ideas presented in a less juvenile and more thoughtful way doesn’t preclude me from enjoying the rough and tumble of this series, but demographically I’m way outside the audience reach and thus struggle to admire it as anything more (or less) than a happy-go-lucky romp through a tame, and occasionally lame, teen-fantasy universe.