The Guyver is a sci-fi action series which in my view succeeds in two areas. This would be in the action scenes and with some of its characters. The battle scenes can be very brutal on some occasions. The action scenes consist of hand to hand combat plus battles with advanced weaponry. The Guyver armor itself has some interesting abilities. The wearer can slice enemies to pieces or completely annihilate them on the spot with different weapons, which adds variety to the battles.
The main character Sho is very believable because his personality seems genuine. Sho doesn't possess the typical shonen mindset consisting of the super bad teen that loves to fight and overcomes all near death odds simply by believing in himself. Sho is forced to battle with combat ready soldiers. However, he doesn't possess the slightest bit of training. He gains all of his experiance in the heat of the moment. Also, luck plays a factor at times. I think the storytelling is well presented in this area, and it gives the series a realistic feel.
There are plenty of characters introduced with only a few that actually serve a purpose. The villains are a mixed bag for the most part. The generic Zoanoids are mainly cannon fodder and lose their appeal very early. The real threat comes in the form of other Guyver units, as well as an advanced group called the Hyper Zoanoid Team 5.
The Guyver is an all out action series for the most part, but it takes other measures to try and be a little more than that. The plot is rarely boring, and the events that take place are mainly to display the Chronos Organizations links throughout the country: such as media manipulation and even mass mind wiping. These overwhelming advantages works in Chrono's favor heavily against Sho.
The series does several things right but has its flaws, and animation and artwork happens to be among them. The animation tends to suffer by the sixth episode. The animation during the opening credits was actually used as a battle scene. I find this approach to be very lazy, and some of the character designs for the Zoanoids are downright atrocious. The artwork only gets worse later in the series. The English dub isn't bad, but translations could have used some serious work. Definitely watch this with subs.
Not exactly one of my lows, but for those whom remember the original VHS releases will definitely be greatly disappointed, because songs are either changed or completely removed altogether. The original Guyver theme song can only be heard when watching the Japanese version with subs. The English version plays a very generic song that even people new to the series may immediately despise.
The series also has a problem with its episode presentation. It isn't the least bit subtle when delivering the episode titles. Here's an example, episode five is titled "Death Of The Guyver"; as if the writers couldn't come up with a bigger spoiler. This is what adds to the predictability and after episode three there is very little in the way of suspense, simply because the episode title already alerted the viewer on what to expect.
I know of several anime fans whom consider this series a classic and even a must see, but this is nostalgia playing a huge role because many cite this series among the first they seen over 20 years ago. I really don't feel the same way at all. I will never shower a title with praise simply because it opened new doors for me. I just find that type of attitude to be strange.
I mainly recommend this version only to serious anime fans whom must see everything anime related. If you don't fall into that category and you're more picky. Then your time is better spent with the remake. The 26 episode series remake which also goes by The Guyver surpasses this version in character development, character usage, story depth, plot, animation, artwork, and soundtrack. After watching this version again I have to say it's just not on the same level. This is also considering that the remake also has its flaws.
Highs: Brutal and very vicious action scenes, believable main character
Lows: Predictable, some crude artwork
