Synopsis
Continuing the adventures of Daisuke Aurora and his android partner ‘J,’ volume 2 of the series has Daisuke and J fighting off Claire Leonelli’s continued attacks on their very lives as well as the duo having to go to the mysterious ‘underground’ to retrive a lost heirloom of Daisuke’s, and finally, to solve the very tragic past of a certain guitarist.
Review
The show is getting better and better. While I was enthralled with the first volume, this one is better because of the very fact that each self-contained story is more interesting and plot driven. While the show still has no overall story connecting each episode, much like the last volume, it’s much like Cowboy Bebop in its episodic style: each story isn’t really related, but each episode is so good you just want more. The same holds true for Heat Guy J. Each episode is a wonderfully visceral style of art, animation, music, and characters to create an overall package that really meshes well. At times, the show does walk a fine line of pretension, but it never falls off and stays steady to keep itself riveting and cool.
The Breakdown
Just about everything in this show is good. I’m having problems saying anything bad about this show, and I’m very jaded. Just buy this now already and stop wasting time.
» The Pros
An eclectic mesh of music and animation, the entire show screams 'hard work' in every sense of the word. You can tell the staff put their heart and soul into the show, much like their previous effort Escaflowne. The jazz-like feel, the bright vibrant world, it's all just so very beautiul to look at and listen to. That's not to say the rest is bad, quite the contrary in fact. The characters are deep, well-written, funny, smart, and most importantly, not annoying. The dialogue isn't the same usually dry speech that most anime bore these days. Much like Quentin Tarantino, Kazuki Akane (creator of Heat Guy J) seems to have a penchant for writing which keeps me really interested in each episode's detective story, which this is becoming very quick. Not a bad thing at all.
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» The Cons
Well, let's see. The music might not hold everyone's taste, especially the bagpipes, but I have to say that personally, I haven't headr to many shows with better music. The episodic nature of the show so far may turn some off because they like their anime oer-arching and plot driven, but I'm guessing this same minority didn't like Cowboy Bebop either, so they obviously don't know what they are talking about. Hmm...I'm really searching hard to find something, but there really isn't much wrong with the show, beyond that it just isn't the type of show you like, fundamentally speaking.
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» Animation
10 |
Already reviewed in Vol. 1. |
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» Sound
10 |
Already reviewed in Vol. 1. |
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» Story
8 |
Each story is really good unto itself, just that this disc doesn't have anything on calibur with last disc's episode 4. Still, overall, these episodes are better story-wise. |
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» Recommend
10 |
If you bought th first volume and didn't like it to much, this volume won't change your mind, but if you liked the previous volume then I must recommend you buy this one ASAP. And for those who haven't seen the show, go back and read my Vol. 1 review and then go see that before seeing Vol. 2. |
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» Other Information
Language: English/Japanese with English Subtitles
Extras: None. Zero. Zip. Nada. But this show doesn't need any anyway.
Package: Much better than last time, with J in a cool have skin on half skin off of his body while he's in a charging attack. The heat swrils around him, making this very cool fire-like effect. It's very bright and shiny, meaning it'll grab many people's attention. That's a good thing. |
Wednesday, August 12, 2026
