Kyoushoku Soukou Guyver (2005)

There was a time, in anime, when men were men, and they had huge swords and guns with which to leave bloody trails of corpses in their wake. Indeed, the Guyver series is one such anime, and in ages past it flew far in the firmament of ultraviolence into territories known by such classics as Ninja Scroll and Akira.

The remake brings Guyver up to modern standards as far as animation and sound are concerned, but otherwise it is deliciously old school in many respects. You'll find no moe lolis or tsunderes here, just a good old fashioned story about a boy and his biomechanical robot ... armor and the mutated freaks trying to kill him.

Guyver was always pretty dark and the remake lives up to this standard. You'll see young Sho tormented by the Chronos corporation in devious and spectacular ways, and he must constantly fight to protect his loved ones, who are kidnapped to use as bait in the early part of the series. To be sure this is a pretty old plot device and you could say that Sho is not much different than Peter Parker but with an alien symbiote (oh wait...) but as our old pal William Shakespeare would remind us its not the plot that counts but how you use it. The series takes us through quite a few ups and downs and makes a strong emotional impact. You will be impatient to see what happens in the next episode and there is never a drag in the action.

Surprisingly, one of the main appeals of the series is the growing relationship between Sho and his girlfriend. The development of her character is excellent and adds a lot of emotional flavor to the story, increasing the suspense and NEVER getting in the way of the action killing.

A few people have complained about the ending, but without posting any spoilers I can say that it is satisfactory from a dramatic and emotional perspective, even if there's a shit load of story material left unsettled. It would be great to have a second season, but since Guyver still hasn't found its audience I guess we'll have to make do with manga scanlations for now. In the meantime do yourself a favor and check out the Bioboosted Armor Guyver, if you have any taste for old school anime action you will not be disappointed.

If you're strongly familiar with Kamen Rider when watching this anime, you'll notice a lot of similarities with the plot elements. And it is not coincidence because the original manga-ka, Yoshiki Takaya, was influenced by Kamen Rider. But despite that, a lot of traits in Guyver are still distinctively unique, original, and engaging.

The beginning of this anime will be repetitive in some aspects, but I feel it is for the right reasons. At times, Cronos will try to kidnap Tetsuro and Mizuki to lure out Sho in almost the first 12 or so episodes, but like I said, the reasons are legitimate since it's ... the only way they can lure out Sho and eventually, they'll resort to other methods and the series itself develops to go beyond that aspect. I think the show was being realistic in that kind of way and I feel it does a great job of conveying that which is why I can forgive it being repetitive in that light.

What I love most about this installment of Guyver is how it uses a majority of their characters and how they develop individually, as well as their relationships with one another. It really surprises me how Mizuki develops and is used in this series. I say any average anime watcher will wonder how a character like her can be utilized, and I love how the anime really explores that and makes the story progress all at the same time.

As for where the anime ends, I heard it only covers roughly half of what the manga offers. It has an ending that does feel conclusive, but there is still a mountain of material and aspects left to explore, develop, and resolve. I know Chris Patton (who plays Sho) has expressed in the DVD commentary as well as the dub director that they want to do more Guyver. I hope in due time they make more Guyver anime.

Moving on, if you've seen the original OAV or read the manga, a majority of the character designs still have the same feel, but with new techniques have an upgrade that apply to faces, clothing, and hairstyles which makes them look more appropriate to their ages while I felt some of the character designs in the oav looked a little too mature and old, especially Tetsuro and Agito. Sho this time looks a lot like Heero Yuy from Gundam Wing as opposed to his more feminine design in the oav (I'm to assume that his design in the oav is more faithful to the manga's). Sho looks a little more generic with his design but he still comes across as unassuming with his slim build. I also like Murakami's design in this TV series. I felt his new fashion for the TV series is also appropriate for this day and age as he looked more like a Miami Vice character in the OAV, and I feel that design would be a little silly today, especially his aviator sunglasses in the oav (despite my love for old school.....and Miami Vice).

The coloring and detail to the Guyver suits still look appropriately organic, but the movement also makes it look more flexible and less stiff from the original OAV. The action is pretty violent on Berserk levels and its constant and exciting. My biggest problem is some of the background drawings, especially in the forest during the daytime. The detail and coloring look more like a children's coloring book. It really does stick out like a sore thumb. But the city designs on the other hand are very breath taking and the other character designs as the series goes on are pretty shiny and nifty.

I would like to open up this part of the review by saying I really enjoy the dub. It's of course not in the league of Cowboy Bebop's or Gundam 08th MS Team's, but it's a great dub and far superior to the old OAV dub which really sucked. I thought the actors did a very excellent job of portraying teenagers and yet still being true to the situation that lies around them. Despite how I feel that the seiyuu cast in this one doesn't hold up to the talent of the oav's cast, I felt it still does a great job and I feel the English equals it. So despite not having an all star cast in Japanese, I think the English and Japanese voice acting are still top notch.

The background music is also excellently orchestrated. It really creates this organic feel and it really comes across as sci-fi along with horror elements. I thought the OAV had more catchy music and I personally like it more, but as contradictory as it sounds, I think the music in this series captures the atmosphere of Guyver more appropriately.

All I can say is if you want a well-paced story with an excellently utilized cast of characters along with wicked action, then this is the anime for you. As for a new installment, I hope to count on it.

Several fans of the original Guyver hated this series without giving it a chance. However, I welcomed the very much needed change. This version which is considered The New Guyver far surpasses the original in many ways. There were numerous elements that had room for plenty of improvement and it succeeded on improving in some areas. Most noticeably is definitely the animation, characters, dropped story elements, and better use of plot devices.

The animation is very good, the fights are very brutal and stylish; a good portion of the fight scenes are fluid and aren't downplayed into unseen action. The character designs for both the Guyver ... and creatures are done well. The creature designs are imaginative but some come off way too goofy looking. The animation and artwork are far from perfect though. Some episodes lack the same quality and the artwork appears to be done very lazily. This is most noticeable during episodes 13-16 especially. I found myself actually despising the artwork at times. Fortunately though, the animation regains its focus way before the end and returns to its former glory.

Character development along with character usage stood out to me quite a bit. The characters are better used and given longer life spans to push the story this time around. This is mainly concerning the villains, in which this added a little more depth to the storyline. There are hidden agendas and one villain in particular evolves into more of an antihero type. The main character Sho is much easier to tolerate now, and is given the time to better adapt to the armor. His actions and personality are very believable, especially in the way that Sho isn't a trained fighter. This fault puts him at a big disadvantage against all of his opponents. Despite the realism that is applied here, this is actually a love/hate approach for me. Sho at times appears to be too weak and many battles are won by pure luck.

There are many questions answered this time around unlike the original series which raised a few and left them hanging. I'll leave that part alone as not to spoil it with details. The battles at times can be violent. They consist of weapon use via high energy attacks, fisticuffs, along with slicing and dicing. The battles have their gory moments at times. However, they're also a mixed bag to me. Some are very well done with the Hyper Zoinoids boasting some nice abilities; but I can understand the hatred from the fans to a certain degree when concerning the violence in the series. The original was definitely more violent. One battle in particular that really stands out as being heavily toned down in comparison with the original, would be the battle with the Guyver's nemesis Enzyme.

The battles with Enzyme can be boring to say the least. They are not on the same level when concerning the sheer brutality and drama found in the original. Those whom never saw the original will benefit the most with these encounters. While fans whom have seen it will more than likely find it very hard to digest; but this not at all means the original is better. The action scenes present here are still entertaining, and the storytelling elements along with the characters are far superior to the original.

The soundtrack and voice acting is also greatly improved. The opening theme song "Waiting For" performed by Reiri is without a doubt one of my favorite songs in anime. This song alone makes me want the soundtrack, and even if this was a bad anime I could actually watch it to listen to this song alone.

The New Guyver is a good series and despite the things it does well; I still have a hard time giving it a full recommendation because of it's unfinished feel. I think this will appeal more to those whom just love anime and can over look weak endings.

Highs: Nice animation & artwork, great action, characters serve a purpose

Lows: Inconsistent animation, open ending, last three episodes are disappointing

This anime could have been really good... a few things they did wrong was adding "drama", countless flashbacks that was not needed. The ending ??? to be honest this was my biggest problem with the anime... Zx-Tole was the last fight ? really what happens with Chronos? also possibly rethink the animation so it looks less like Power Rangers!

Think about the last great anime series you've seen....think....think...think...now forget that about that garbage you call "good" and go watch Guyver: The Bioboosted Armor.

I'll start by saying that way back in the day I watched the original Guyver. I've learned that it was an OVA and i'll tell you this...do not compare these series. The orignal was junk and this is a fucking work of art.

The story follows this fella named Sho. He's your normal high school student who through a run of bad luck, (or good), get's turned into this Guyver, a Bio-Mechanical Weapon. The coororation who designed, constructed, and ... discovered this Guyver unit wants it back and is certainly not thrilled with the fact that this kid is the one who has "melded" with it. As the series continues, it follows Sho, his friends and allies, and the fight to save the world from the orginization know as Chronos.

Let's start by saying that this show progress at a wonderful pace. Each episode covers pleanly of ground and leaves the veiwer wondering what is going to happen next, and hanging with suspence. Throught the entire series, we meet new and exciting people, are given more then enough background about them to form an opinion, and learn to either love them or hate them.

It's a topic that has been done before, meaning good vs. evil, but this series has this uniqueness that is very intriguing and addictive. The series in it's entirety capures topics so perfectly and discusses, religion, science, bio-mechanics, and human integration in such fulidity that even someone with little or no knowledge on a topic comes away in utter awe and belief. That's the first GREAT thing about this series...as crazy as it seems, it's BELIEVABLE. Amazing story telling.

And one of the things that make this series so believable are the characters. Let's start with our main man Sho. He's the shy, quiet, nobody at school. He has his own morals and beliefs, and he carries this on even after his transformation. He's not a fighter. He doesn't want to hurt and kill people. But he's got no choice. It's either him or them. He's got to protect his buddy, his buddies sister (who Sho really wants to lay the nuts too), and the rest of his friends from the "evil cooporation". As the saying goes, "A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do".

Then we have the main bad guy, Guyot. He's got his reason's for wanting to take over the planet and he has a plot that, if played out right, would work. He looks like a bad guy, acts like a bad guy, and does bad shit to good people. It was very refreshing to have an evil do-er that we want to fail.

I also haven't metioned the underlings. These are the main threat to humanity. They are called Zoinoids and are humans tranformed into mutants. They are given super-human strenght and unique bio-weapons which only they posess. There are many different types and levels of zoinoids so we aren't watching the same people fight the same looking creature over and over again.

Finally i'll say this about the character's in Guyver: TBA. There are good guys that you don't like and bad guys you are really pulling for. A VERY nice change.

The music ties in well throughtout Guyver. From orcastrated, violin sessions providing thrilling fight music to quiet background tunes during monologues, everything matchs the atmosphere perfectly. The voice acting was nice too. No one really stood out above others as either superb or foolish; they just did a wonderfully ordinary job.

The Opening Theme was brilliant giving the viewer a quick glimps of what to expect to see. You see are the main characters, the Guyver suits, the enemy, and the upbeat music gets you excited to start the episode. The Ending Theme music is nice too, a much slower melody and provides you a calming atmosphere, integrated with lines and bubble things.

This series just so well done. You feel for the characters, and you relate to what they are going through. You laugh, cry, and pray everything works out for them. You love the crisp lines detailing the characters, and are blown away with the background. The plot has so many twists and turns it would give a sailors knot a run for it's money. It's drawn so well and the animation is so smooth. What little CG it has is blended in so nicely you don't even know it's there. You've got blood, guts, and glory. You've got an underlying love story. You've got a story of unreprised friendship. You've got fight scenes more then worthy of mention. If you add it all up...you've got you're next best series.

Now quit reading this shit and go watch for yourself.

Review From A Hardcore Guyver Fan

The original 12 ep OVA was one of the first anime series I saw and when I say that trust me catching ANY anime in England in the early 90’s wasn’t easy.

After watching the new series I decided to wait a while before reviewing, as I had mixed emotions about it, comparing it to the older ova version and gathering my thoughts…well in a nutshell an good but flawed remake.

Animation

Good animation but I noticed the gore level was cut down a GIANT notch compared to the ova which was one of Guyver’s highest selling points IMO. So there was a ... lot of odd cloured and shady blood which I found quite lame. Fight scenes were JUST above average and the Opening was actually quite cool.

So in this respect I am MOST DISSAPOINTED with the animation compared to the original OVA!

Sound

Opening is a very nice/sad song very appropriate, character voices were cool, Zoanoids were perfectly cranky as usual, I really would like to hear the new English dub for this one because in the ova sho used to scream all the time and aptom made me laugh the way he used to taunt sho, so that’s something for me (and other fans) are looking forward to.

Story

Excellent, I say excellent because I never read the manga and the ova ended on a ridiculous cliffhanger that always left me wondering will the story continue. Well it didn’t just continue, the story was remade (so to speak). Expecting the same things that happened in the ova I was considering skipping to the rest of the story, luckily I didn’t and apart from the first two episodes which correlate with the ova the rest was a fresh new perspective of the story of Guyver. I wont give any spoilers but I will say that although it is the same story as the ova, key (and I mean KEY) elements of the story and characters are explored and explained like never before giving the story more substance, as well as events taking different turns new characters etc.

Character

Another shining point for the remake. Character development is so much more explored/explaned now between characters (e.g. shos relationship with his father and past, Agitos past.) This really helped with emotional build up with main episodes (cough enzyme 2 cough). The characters themselves are as expected entertaining, whether it’s Guyver 3 plotting or Zoanoids surprising relationships with each other. In retrospect its quite amazing the way your views of characters may change throughout this series. Nothing lacking in the charcter department at all.

Enjoyment

I would say enjoyment could easily be increased by watching the OVA series first.
If you do happen to watch this version first I can guarantee you still won’t be disappointed. Guyver itself is a very interesting take on an accidental hero (like spiderman) dealing with a overwhelming situation when just trying to live a normal life.

Sadly when I think about it the thing I like most about this remake is the expansion on the actual story, but for some reason I prefer the original OVA mostly because I felt although it was very korny (yes its korny) it really drew me in with the action scenes and in this remake those same action scenes did not hit as hard

Never-the-less as a hardcore Guyver fan I was very impressed and satisfied with the new version. The manga has been running for so long it makes me wonder where the story has gone up til now and if they will animate it further.

Time will tell I guess

Planet Tyro Rating: High Watchable

Planettyro.com

I really should not enjoy Guyver as much as I do. It's Big, loud, dumb, and cliched, however, this just adds to the overall charm of the series. In a way, it brings back memories of those years of my childhood I spent glued to the TV watching "Power Rangers".

"Guyver: the Bio-Boosted Armor" follows a boy named Sho Fukamachi, an average High School student who lives with his father, is treasurer on the Student Council, and like watching old Sci-Fi movie with his best friend Tetsuro. The story kicks off as Sho and Tetsuro find a "Guyver Unit". After Tetsuro accidentally turns it on, ... it attaches itself to Sho and transforms him into "The Guyver". The two then begin to learn of a secret society known as "Chronos" who created the Guyver, and has secretly been creating mutants called "Zoanoids", who they plan to use to conquer the world. As Chronos learns of their identities, their attacks begin hitting close to home, and Sho decides to destroy Chronos, before it's too late.

Sho's also not the only one with the powers of The Guyver, however, there is also Oswald Lisker, a Chronos employee who holds the unstable Guyver II and Guyver III, a mysterious stranger who appears and disappears like the wind.

If this description sounds absolutely awful to you, you're not alone. When I finished watching the first episode show, I was looking at myself in a mirror, demanding why the hell I thought sitting through this thing would be a good idea, but, I decided a few days later to keep on going. I'm glad I did.

While I'm not a fan of the idea of turning off your brain in order to enjoy something, Guyver is a series where you can just sit down with some good friends, maybe get out some cold drinks, and sit back and enjoy a gory, action filled series.

Funimation has put up the entire series up for free here (http://www4.funimation.com/video/?page=show&b=37) and will be re-releasing it on Blu-Ray this summer.

This is one of the FEW newskool anime i like very much, basicly because its revived from an movie and the 13 part serie´s i used to watch on t.v back in ´95 with the blood and gore and all, and the 1ST 13 ep in the new one goes ALMOST EXCACTLY as the first serie started, and goes even further!!!!I was soo damn hooked after the infiltration of genom, new and darker twists that connect to the story, the COMPLETE TRUTH abouth the guyver and their makers, and the real rulers of genom , plus and ending i was totally satisfied with. ... As for the chara, no problems with it, they kept the same personalities, enemy´s and guyver model s original as possible!
The fact that the makers really have tought this through after more than 20 years to revive this deserve´s more than praise, strong beginning and a DAMN strong ending that connects, something i really miss in a lot of today´s anime.

Story (6/10):
The story of Guyver The Bioboosted Armor followed a very standard and by the books method for Sci-Fi anime. You got the MC who (surprise surprise) got no mother and live alone with his super understanding father and suddenly acquires a power that causes his ordinary life to shatter, an evil organization the controls the world from the shadows and are after the power that the MC got.
The show also implement the usual "that not even my final form" and "that not the final boss" methods that are usually used in this type of show
The plot reminded me of Zetman which is a 100 ... times better (only read the manga so i am not sure about the anime quality)

Characters (6/10):
Every single character is the cliche of their respected type. You got the MC that as usual goes in the usual loop of "i can't do it" to "i can do it and will protect everyone" the MC doesn't give you any reason to rally behind him as a viewer really. You also have the childhood friend who the MC loves and of course is oblivious to the fact and got a crush on some other guy, and don't forget the best friend who is the only person that knows the MC secret at first and insist on being with him although he is useless.
You also have the guy helping the MC with ulterior motives and the mysterious stranger how knows alot about the truth of everything
Even the Evil organization got the standard hierarchy you see in every similar show

Art and Animation (5/10):
The show simply looks old in every aspect whither it's the environments, the characters, or the animations the show offers bellow average visuals. I am sure it is an improvement over the old show but it just look bad compared to the stuff that were out at the time it was released, hell even some older stuff look better especially the animations, the fight scenes were a pain to watch.

Music & VA (7/10):
the music offers nothing of note it didn't stand out much. Both the OP and ED were the norm of such a show.
The Dub was not half bad although it was kind of stiff at some points especially when screaming was involved :D

Effectiveness (6/10):
I was mildly entertained by the show even with all it's flaws but i still would have rather watched any other thing instead. The only reason i finished it was to give an accurate representation of my thought about it in this review
Oh i almost forgot to mention that it didn't have a proper ending (if you can call that an ending)

Overall (6/10)

You might think a 10 for this series is to high, But i have a special spot for this series. I remember renting the vhs's and sitting down with my brother and my nephews on bean bags with lots of snacks.

the story is average, the animation is average decent, But the character design and tech design is absolutely freaking awesome.

The movies they made of the series was cool to, it was awesome to see it all come to life and the fighter with the damaged Guyver unit was epic.

I was told the manga is still going so i would love to catch up on it, ... But i would really like to see the anime series continue one day though.

I liked how they were able to make guyver and zoanoids look so much like the original designs while also making them look modern as well. I enjoyed the longer plot and how we learn a bit more then we did then in the original.
tho I feel the music in this was not as great as the original, I enjoyed how it allowed the plot but also changed things from the first anime and added in some new things. All and all I really loved this anime and hope they will do some more seasons one day.
I would have to give it a 8/10

Guyver is basic shonen adventure dreck (extra emphasis on "basic") where a mediocre high school student dons a suit of alien power armor to fight an organization called Chronos.

It was boring and terrible, and I watched it to the end because apparently I am trash for this kind of thing.

The source manga has not aged gracefully, and the anime would have felt dated and backwards even on its initial release over a decade ago. Characters don't seem to have strong personalities to distinguish them from the basic outlines of the tropes that were molded from, and the overall flatness of these characters cause the "serious" ... dramatic beats to spew an endless fountain of bathos and narm. This is particularly true of the female love interest Mizuki, whose main purpose is to exist in an endless cycle of hopeful waffling and emotional breakdowns so over-the-top that they were hard to take seriously. The lead character Sho does not escape this comical overreach either, with a personal crisis that occurs near the middle of the show only succeeding at eliciting guffaws aplenty.

Guyver does better with its anti-heroes. Although their personalities are just as rote as any other characters, at least there is conflict built into their situations, which means they are more engaging by default.

Pacing is better than average. Guyver basically starts off as a simple monster of the week formula, but soon starts to break the status quo and veers into more of an adventure structure with a longer set of rescue arcs. Although the focus on monster fights as obstacles results in conflicts and resolutions that feel artificial, this anime does successfully escalate the threats over time. However Guyver ends on an incidental fight with a tertiary character, which leaves a bad aftertaste.

While Guyver is dense with action fights, little of the animation is particularly expressive. At the very least, the gross insect-inspired monster designs were pretty fun.