Wednesday, September 30, 2015

:anime: Free/Low-Cost Anime Pick of the Month:: Heat Guy J

Poor J…

[Post Date: Oct. 6, 2015. Intended Post Date: Sept. 30, 2015. ]

Heat Guy J

Official Sites: Japanese, English
Additional Links: ANN Entry, MAL Entry
Video [Free {Streaming}]: Hulu, FUNimation.com, YouTube

For some reason—and, appropriately, always unintended—I seem to often find myself doing a set of "commemoration" posts for a particular creator around this time of year (between August and October). It is just one of those strange things that occur, but once I find myself covering topics closely associated with someone or a studio, I usually find myself saying, "what the heck?" and just going along with it with a few additional posts. This time, it has been a mix of studio Satelight and director Kazuki Akane, who directed a number of titles there. It first started with April's bonus Pick of Arjuna (the former's first work), then with Satelight's m3 the dark metal appearing in June's "Manager's Special Mk. II!!: Anime Only This Manager Seems to Love…" Pick special, and in last month's Geneshaft, the second of the studio's work, which was directed by Akane. It even spilled its way onto HardDoor: Screenshot Haven with a capture from Satelight and Akane's Noein.

For September, I thought the best way to signify this "Unplanned Satelight & Kazuki Akane Dual Celebration" was to pick out a certain, particular title. One that was done by both the studio and the individual. One that also happens to signify the venerable animation house's unusually-high number of high-profile, notorious flops and trainwrecks (on- and off-screen…). One that, on a more positive note, represents the latter's propensity for the "different" and the sublime. Yes, there could be only one show that successfully fills all of those criteria.  A show that is legendary (if not a byword) for how big a failure it was; the first, and still one of the most notable, black sheeps in Satelight's barn. An anime that, in actually, is rather good and has managed to receive such acknowledge from the few that have actually bothered to see it.

That anime, as veteran fans might guess (or as this mere post has already spoiled…)…is Heat Guy J.