| Heat Guy J #7: Revolution |
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| Friday, 16 September 2005 | |
 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. |
