Heart Gear is a post-apocalyptic manga where heroine Roue may be the only person still alive. Even though there are no more humans, the world is still a dangerous place thanks to the threat of out-of-control killer robots. When Roue finds a Gear (robot) named Chrome, her caretaker Gear, Zett, is wary since Chrome has no defined purpose. But the three live together in peace until an Insane Unit attacks. Zett is destroyed, Chrome becomes a Combat Unit to defend Roue, and then the pair set out to find a way to return Zett to his Baymax-looking self again.
In doing so, this one-eyed giant thermos with limbs transforms into a good looking guy for some reason…? Because if you’re going to fight, fight as a hottie, I guess…?
Before I go on about the plot, let me talk about the dialogue. In the eight chapters that I read, there are already some significant changes in regards to names. For instance, the heroine’s companion is called “Zet” in the opening chapter, but when we see his grave in the next, it’s “Zett”, and the text is updated. But that’s nothing compared to the girl herself: after being called “Lu” in the first chapter and several pages into the second, she’s suddenly “Roue”. Her name literally changed two pages later. The reason why it’s spelled Roue is explained in the manga, but I’m guessing the translator (who also doubles as the letterer) ran into a time crunch and couldn’t fix the earlier panels. At the start of Chapter 7, there’s an author’s note announcing that the word “Droid” will be replaced with “Gear” for, and I quote, “copyright purposes”. I looked it up, and I had no idea that Lucasfilms has the word “droid” trademarked.
I know many manga have made changes from serializations to print, but combined with the English names being updated, I began to have this fear that I shouldn’t memorize things because there’s a good chance it will be contradicted later. As the manga approaches double digits in serialization, hopefully there won’t be any more of these missteps, regardless of who’s to blame. Although MANGA Plus is a free service, it’d be nice if these chapters could be reedited later.
Now, while there are early indications that Heart Gear will feature a human-robot romance, what is fascinating about Gears is that they’re already human-like. Sure, they’re still machines, like the Gear who has a mouth cannon. But the maid robot at a nearby house practically glomps Roue when she arrives, and an engineering Gear recounts his and his coworkers’ dream. There is the idea that giving a Gear a job means their “life” is restricted, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen A.I. have such clear personalities and preferences, at least this early in a story. Chrome is an exception since he’s just recently been given a mission, but even he has opinions and is already wondering about his sense of self. Unlike other similar titles, Chrome finding his “heart” won’t be an exception to this world. It’s a neat twist.
Heart Gear isn’t just a look at life versus artificial life, as it features quite a few battles and some very real threats. I don’t know how action-y this series is going to be, as while a (presumed) antagonist has been shown, the last couple of chapters are more about Gears and their views on the world. Depending on the direction of the manga, these chapters could end up being filler and disrupting the pace.
The manga could be balancing both philosophy and action, but Insane Units are probably not the pair’s biggest concern. Missiles seem to be targeting Roue, and Chrome has been heavily damaged a few times already. The art — which is amazing thanks to the detailed backgrounds and the variety of Gear appearances — kind of has the same problem as The Seven Deadly Sins has: battles may be too high-leveled from the start. Chrome is already getting his parts blown to pieces, and some Gear are already shown to be huge giants capable of wiping out entire units of soldiers. It’s a good thing Roue is so good at smiling and being a thoughtful girl because no way is she going to be able to contribute during a fight.
So while I like the idea of Heart Gear, things are a little shaky right now. The dialogue, the tonal shifts between fighting off Gears and visiting a hairdresser…in a year, I’ll either look back and say this is when the series went off the rails or when it started righting the ship. I’m pulling for the latter, as the characters and the art are too good to have the story cut short.