In the city of Judoh, the Special Services Division of the Bureau of Urban Safety has created a new weapon to combat crime: a mechanical enforcement officer codenamed ‘J’. Alongside the young street cop Daisuke Aurora, J sets out to bring criminals to justice and uphold the Division’s motto of ‘Stopping crime before it can happen’. Their job is made more difficult when a mafia don is succeeded by his mentally unstable and ruthless son Clair Leonelli.

There are plenty of futuristic cop shows around, making this one of the thoroughly well-trodden themes in sci-fi anime. It was for this reason and that of the high episode count in one box that I approached Heat Guy J with a little trepidation. My fears were soon allayed when it became clear that this is good, solid entertainment which takes a simple idea and uses it well.

The format is pretty straightforward: Daisuke and J are sent out on a mission, there are some high speed chases on foot or on Daisuke’s high tech motorbike, Daisuke and J fight and apprehend the bad guy(s) and they return to the station to be pestered by their exasperated office girl Kyoko for the mission reports. There are recurring appearances of Clair and his Mafia henchmen but otherwise it’s no-nonsense criminal-of-the-week crime fighting; what makes Heat Guy J so enjoyable is the cast of main characters and the way in which it does all this in great style.

As tried-and-tested as the ‘buddy cop’ theme is, the contrasting personalities of Daisuke and J make a good team and their dialogue exchanges work well. As a ‘bad guy’ Clair is suitably evil-minded and unpredictable, presenting our heroes with some interesting missions. There are plenty of action scenes (featuring J’s habit of emitting clouds of steam from pipes that pop out of his shoulders — one of many quirks in the show that are yet to be explained) that are animated with fluidity and panache, and there is some impressive if rather obvious use of CG that is only let down by some repeatedly used footage.

Unlike many sci-fi shows with urban settings, Judoh is a fairly bright and bustling place with only the back alleys and criminal hideouts showing a dark, gritty cyberpunk aesthetic. In fact Heat Guy J has a very Western comic book feel with its guitar-driven soundtrack, bold colours and New York-inspired skylines. It is clear early on that the city has a ‘no robots’ law in place, making J the only mechanical humanoid in town and giving him the edge over his adversaries. What is also revealed is that this law is in place to protect the city’s inhabitants from rogue androids — a scenario which apparently cost the life of Daisuke’s father several years previously. This makes the friendship between J and Daisuke more intriguing and hints at more depth to the story in later episodes.

In Summary

The opening episodes of Heat Guy J are straightforward crime-busting action featuring some engaging central characters, fast-paced plotting and striking visuals. It certainly won’t win any medals for originality of concept but it makes for undemanding entertainment that has the potential to be a very enjoyable series. In addition, eight full episodes in one box is great value for money.