Tsuyoshi Takaki’s debut for Black Torch had some charm as an urban fantasy series about anti-demon paramilitary shenanigans. Yet it failed to catch on and his latest series is a change of direction. Heart Gear is a post-apocalyptic tale about the last known human journeying across the wastelands with her android protector. It doesn’t win awards for originality, the fabled city Roue and Chrome want to reach is visually similar to Zalem Central to the Battle Angel Alita series. And like many manga the first volume is mostly an extended first chapter detailing the basic basic premise before the author struggles to find their footing over simple episodic adventures. With extensive exposition littered throughout before the final pages can promise a forthcoming overarching plot.  Thankfully Heart Gear has solid action and cool machines rampaging through a desolate white landscape. Chrome might be a bland character but sometimes all you need is a guy on rocket stakes dodging rail-cannon from an insane Armored Core boss to keep the reader engaged.

Volume 2 achieves better results with its episodic structure.  Around Chapter 10 the series changes gears; introducing a bored security camera experimenting with cinematography to give a quirky new perspective on events. This coincides with palace intrigue around the gladiatorial arena, Valhalla, and its tyrannical ruler Wodan. The fragile relationships between Valhalla and the other powerbrokers expressing their interests capturing in Roue and Chrome gives Wodan some panache.  The metal overlord might seem dull but he is silently weighing up conflicting interests.  He needs to plot around other factions while guessing at their intentions and figuring out how to exploit this current moment without accidentally provoking retaliation.  The conflict gets more layered while Takaki’s character designs get wilder and crazier in the arena.  So seemingly this is where Heart Gear truly begins. While not outstanding it has done enough to string me along for now.