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R4 DVD Reviews
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Written by maehara
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Friday, 16 September 2005 01:00 |
 The end of another series, this time Heat Guy J,
which takes off on a tangent for its final volume with a story that
just came out of nowhere. I wouldn't mind so much if it didn't
throw so much of what happened previously in the trash, and leave you
wondering, "Why?!"
24 - Alteration
Seems Daisuke's brother Shun is doing some behind-the-scenes
manipulation, with the objective of prompting a coup d'etat in
Judoh. His maneuvering has caught the attention of some in the
underworld who decide it would be better if Shun were 'erased',
including Shogun. Word gets back to Daisuke, who sets out to save
his brother's life. Meanwhile, the machine recovered from
Echigo's island contains a video recording that throws a spanner into
the works of Daisuke's investigation - proof that Echigo was killed
some four years previously, so who is playing the part of "Echigo" now?
- while Clair comes to his senses in time to stop J from carrying out
instructions to kill...
25 - Revolution
Shun makes his move and seizes control of Judoh, while Clair explains
to Daisuke what's been going on around him & J continues to fight
the instructions Shun's coded into him to kill those who would oppose
him. For Daisuke, the quickest solution would be to destroy J,
but he's not willing to do that to his partner and needs to quickly
find a way to disable his partner. While Shun consolidates his
control over the city, Daisuke turns to Antonia for help in restoring J
to his normal self, and Clair decides that the last thing Company Vita
and the Vampire needs is a dictator running Judoh...
26 - Guys
Daisuke and Clair begin their efforts to remove Shun from power.
With the military in complete control of the city, direct force doesn't
stand much chance of succeeding, but Antonia's been able to give him an
advantage or two by inserting a virus into the computer systems on the
Central Tower, and by reactivating J - although there's no guarantee
Shun won't be able to take control of him again. Shun, meanwhile,
prepares for the showdown he knows is coming by activating an squad of
hs own machines to protect him...
There's only one thing more annoying about the way the events of
these final three episodes came completely out of the blue, and that's
the way they all lived happily ever after & no-one was
punished. Mauro gets a welcoming hand after betraying Clair
(remember Clair would be dead if Mauro's plan to replace him had fully
succeeded), Shun gets his old job back after mounting an armed coup and
killing how many people... Come on, let's have at least a little realism. For the most part, Heat Guy J
has been a very enjoyable and underrated series, but the events of this
final disc did throw something of a dampener on my enthusiasm for it.
Which makes it tricky to decide how to recommend it. It's
definitely worth watching, but if consistency of storyline or having
some level of believability is important to you, be warned that this
final volume is very much a mixed bag. Other than that, this is a
series that's well worth checking out.
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