|
R4 DVD Reviews
|
|
Written by maehara
|
|
Tuesday, 25 January 2005 12:19 |
 Five volumes down, two to go - and as the end of Heat Guy J
approaches, the threads of the story begin to get drawn together.
When you think that this show started off looking like a bunch of
standalone stories, that's quite an achivement on its own. Next
question: can it all be pulled together in a way that works?
17 - Survival
Daisuke's away to Offshore again, and Boma's showing a
curious interest in his movements. Away from the city, Daisuke's
showing great disdain for strange things like 'grass' and the smell of
'fresh air' - the man's got no appreciation for the finer things in
life. When he finally reaches Siberbia, he finds the local culture
quite strange - an overhyped desire for personal independence has
turned helping someone into an insult. He's able to get help from one
resident, though - a former city-dweller, who is able to give him some
useful information. He's also the man who created the machine that
killed Daisuke's father - and J soon has to deal with an attack from
another machine...
18 - Independence
Back to the city - and
things have been happening while he's been away. For one, Daisuke's
special unit has been shut down, with J and Kyoko transferred to
headquarters and away from him. Not that Daisuke's desire to track
down the man responsible for his father's death - Echigo - is diminished
any. Meanwhile, Clair Leonelli, no longer in charge of his own life,
is reduced to living from handouts. Seems he left his former wealth
well-protected, though - specifically with a retina-scan system, so now
half the underworld is trying to track him down, thanks to a reward
being put out on his eye. Daisuke gets there first, but when he gets
caught in the middle of an out-of-control gang war, it's Kyoko and J to
the rescue...
19 - Truth
Daisuke approaches Boma, hoping
he'll join him - but Boma's not too comfortable with this idea of
having 'friends', and disappears before Daisuke can finish talking to
him. Later, Boma has to deal with his own inner demons when
considering Daisuke's offer, before having a run-in with Kyoko.
Someone else is on Boma's trail, as well - the 'Beast Master' from
another city, who warns Daisuke that Boma is really just a beast who
can't be trusted - and he's out to have him killed. Time for Boma to
face his past in order to save his future...
20 - Fake
Something
strange has been uncovered at a murder scene - the arm of a machine,
and it's a perfect match to J's. Seems someone has been leaking his
design specs - but who? J's creator, Antonia, was recently laid off,
part of company cutbacks due to a poor economy - has she been working
on the side? It's not long before Daisuke has a run-in with the 'fake'
J, who's under orders to erase the evidence and witnesses to his
attack. Cue the battle of the J's, as real faces off against replica...
Nice
to see the Offshore thread finally get tied up - although after his
brother's impatience about his lack of progress last volume, his
about-face in episode 18 was more than a bit confusing. Given the
way events unfold, it seems he may have been trying to find a way to
allow Diasuke to operate with more freedom than he otherwise may have
had - it just seems a bit strange the way it's done.
Boma completes the transformation from enemy to ally, and it seems that
Clair may follow the same path - certainly there's little of the old
hostility left between Daisuke and Clair's minders. It all works
out as quite the plot twist - while the tone of the show has remained
untouched, the connections between the characters have changed quite a
bit as the story has progressed, and it definitely keeps you on your
toes.
The real enemy now is the faceless Echigo, and events seem to be
building towards Daisuke finally taking him down. It'll be
interesting to see how that unfolds. For this disc, though, the
verdict is good - this volume is where Heat Guy J finally revealed its story arc & started to ramp up to a conclusion. Good stuff.
|
