Seijuuki Cyguard

A military experiment goes wrong, resulting in a huge armored heavy metal guy with a battleaxe and shrieking gargoyle pauldrons going on a rage-fueled rampage. This is what's advertised on the cover and this is what you should expect to see when watching it. It's not everyone's thing, but it's definitely my thing. Biotechnology settings rock, the action is good, the music is great. Ohata is a genius, I wish there was more work from him.

Just like any other fifty minute long 80s action OVA, it's like, just watch it. At worst you get a sleazy action romp, and that's not really a bad thing.

Seijuuki Cyguard wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be, but since it's a one-shot, this OVA has very little to offer in terms of plot or character development.

The plot, thin as it was, did mostly make sense, and it wasn't too hard to follow along. The characters' motivations were simple, but relatively clear.

The animation was average, but rather static. There were some parts where characters were talking and their lips weren't moving. The character designs were different from the average anime and had a bit of a Western retro sci-fi look.

The monster/armor thing was kind of difficult to understand -- was ... it armor, or did the character fuse with something and turn into a monster? The design of the armor/monster was also confusing; it appeared to be a hodgepodge of different elements, almost chimera-like, and it was hard to tell what exactly I was looking at.

I think there was some brief nudity at one point, but it was so extraneous that I forgot about it. There is violence and gore, but it's more silly than shocking.

As for sound, the voice acting itself is OK, but the lines they are made to say are cheesy. (Stuff like "playtime is over," etc.) Also, everyone seems to like saying the main character's name. A lot. If you played a drinking game while watching this, and took a sip every time someone said "John," you'd be passed out long before the credits roll.

This anime has a primarily heavy metal soundtrack, which sounds cool and fits the tone of the series, but the individual songs are rather forgettable.

The ending is rushed and a bit strange, leaving us with more questions than answers. Questions that will never get answered, unfortunately, since this is a one-shot.

Overall, Seijuuki Cyguard isn't anything spectacular, but if you want to turn your brain off and see something cheesy with lots of action and outlandish gore for about 45 minutes, this fits the bill.

After I went down this super bizarre rabbit hole with another anime OVA called MD Geist, I found myself watching Cyguard. It’s story is pretty low quality, with its characters just sort of existing in this weird area of so little characterization I can’t really even hate them, y’know? It’s pretty mediocre in that regard.
BUT
THE SOUNDTRACK


FUCKS!!!!!
The soundtrack grabbed me by the neck and throttled me throughout the entire OVA. It’s so cool that I still listen to it CONSTANTLY. It was made by a Japanese Metal band called Trash Gang. TRASH GANG! That fucks!!! Sadly they only made an album for this and sorta ... disappeared after that. Cool guys, I bet!
The design of the demon possessed armor of the main character is pretty cool too! There’s a resin kit or it floating around if you’re into that sort of thing, but it goes for a steep price!! Overall, I did enjoy Cyguard, but objectively it’s not great- but, hey, if you have nothing better to do... it’s on YouTube! Goforit!