A heart is our core, where flesh meets soul. Some things the heart makes us feel are simply unexplainably incredible. Even so, the ability for emotional capacity and empathy are the fundamental qualities that distinguish us from other species whether they are animal or alien. 

Or do they?

Enter the 1995 Japanese animated television show Brave Police J-Decker (BPJD), where a partnership between giant AI robots and humans saves the world. This anime poses several intriguing, but puzzling questions that are still relevant today: What if AI, intelligent enough to feel human emotions, claimed to have a heart? Would the robots be considered human too? To obtain answers to these hypothetical questions, I avidly devoured BPJD. I was immediately drawn in by the unique characters and the very idea of future self-aware technology. It was a surprisingly modern touch for something old. So, while possibly outdated, this anime perfectly represents the best of mecha—the Japanese giant robot genre—and is filled with nostalgia for simple times where we all crowded around the TV to root for the good guys locked in battle with the bad guys in a courageous faraway struggle. 

In BPJD, 10-year-old boy Yuuta Tomonaga stumbles upon Deckerd, a humanoid robot under secret construction by the Japanese police, built to fight advanced forms of crime. Yuuta’s constant contact and eventual friendship with Deckerd gives the robot a “heart” triggering him to gain sentience and newfound respect from his human companions. Given their success with Deckerd, the Japanese police force commissions several other robots with similar intellect to also be constructed. Because of Yuuta’s uncanny ability to connect with AI, he is soon recruited as the captain of this new team of robots dubbed the “Brave Police”. He goes on all sorts of adventures with these sentient robots protecting his beloved Nanamagari city. The robots’ existence is questioned by those who fear the robots to be dangerous because they are not human. But time and time again the Brave Police robots prove themselves to be more than indiscriminate unfeeling automatons, protecting their friends and citizens of Nanamagari city from technologically advanced villains at the cost of their own function.

A deep sense of camaraderie, kindness, and courage pervades the show, especially in the characters' reactions. BPJD’s robots are more than machines, and viewers are pulled into their world by their heartstrings. Viewers feel like they’ve changed when the characters change for someone they love. The audience also keenly feels the heartbreak when the robots cry over loss and the warm joy when the characters laugh together over a shared joke. 

Before viewers are even aware, BPJD’s characters, with their little quirks, have begun to grow on them. No amount of logic could ever explain the connection viewers find themselves feeling. Watching soon becomes a pleasant reminiscence with old friends.

In short, Brave Police J-Decker is a classic 1990’s anime brimming with funny, heartwarming, tear-jerking moments, and plentiful action to stir up enough nostalgia to make viewers' hearts burst with fondness. 

So, let me ask. Who of any age wouldn’t want to experience this exhilarating adventure of fighting crime and speeding down Nanamagari city streets into a beautiful sunset with beloved compatriots after saving the day? 

I know I wouldn’t miss it for the world. Not since the limitless future holds the promising reality of self-autonomous robots. But you have to see BPJD to believe it. Ikuzo! Let's go, duty calls!