7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
We gather now, to talk of many things..., October 7, 2003
Well, actually just one thing: Manga Video. Manga Video is to Anime what Clear Channel is to Radio. That may not sound entirely fair considering that Manga Video is responsible for bringing us Ghost in the Shell, Perfect Blue, the Patlabor Movies, and now Magic Knight Rayearth (on one disc!), but they are not without their poor decisions and bad calls. Yoshiki Takaya's Bio-Booster Armour Guyver epitomizes this.
Originally, the episodes were available in six VHS volumes with two episodes each (at about twenty to thirty dollars a pop) with original opening and closing credits and music. They were released through U.S.Renditions and L.A.Hero. Later, Manga Video revived the series by releasing each episode on its own videotape (called "datas" and for about twelve to fifteen dollars a pop) which seemed pretty economical (especially if you were picky about your favorite episodes) until you actually watched the tapes and found out that Manga video had changed the opening and closing credit music with "Guyver Rock!" If that does not make you cringe, you are of a stronger will than I. Also, Manga decided to change some of the voice actors for the english track (namely the Zoanoid Data files and some of the zoanoids themselves) which should probably not bother anyone, but I think it is still worth pointing out.
The quality of the transfer is spot-on, which may not exactly be a good thing. We get to see all of the poorly cleaned cels, all the sloppy camera moves, all the discolorations in skin-tones, and all the lousy english-text-boxes laid over the japanese credits. But fear not, you can see and hear the original opening credits in the special features menu. Why Manga did not just simply present the credits in their original format in the first place is beyond reasoning, so I have given up trying. My advice for watching: neither the english nor japanese audio tracks are particularly impressive, so just hit that mute button, pop in your favorite KMFDM album (or whatever you like) and let the images do what they do best.
The highlight of the disc, in my mind, apart from the archival quality of DVD over VHS (which should go without saying) is the complete collection of Zoanoid Data files. Reminiscent of the animation sequences of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (which is the ONLY time you will hear H2G2 and Guyver in the same context), these sequences are informative, imaginative, and give some great insight into character designs. Yoshiki Takaya did not simply draw monsters and let them go to town on each other, he was trying to create a universe. If only Guyver's escapades into the world of audio/visual media did the source material justice.
Final Word: Four out of Five for presentation, Two out of Five for butchery. Average is Three. NOW, ON TO VOLUME 2 AND THE FINAL INJUSTICE!
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fantastic!, May 11, 2000
As my title says, this is a fantastic series! A normal high school student named Sho Fukamachi comes into contact with an living cybersuit called the Guyver. The Guyver is basically a living creature that merges with humans and gives them incredible superpowers. Sho has this thing on his shoulders that opens a dimensional portal that the Guyver comes through, then the Guyver wraps itself around Sho's body (However, we don't learn that the Guyver comes from another dimension until later in the series.). However, there is the evil Kronos corporation that created the Guyver, along with 2 other Guyver suits. The Kronos corporation wants all the Guyver suits back, and they'll kill anyone who tries to get in their way! The Kronos corporation experiments with people and turns them into horrible monsters called Zoanoids which they use as soldiers. Fortunately, the Guyver has incredible weaponry that Sho uses to fight the Kronos coporation. One of these weapons is the Mega-smasher, the Guyver's most powerful weapon. Sho grabs ahold of two fleshy panels on the Guyver's pectorals, and pulls them open to reveal two powerful lasers which can destroy anything. The Guyver can also make incredibly sharp blades come out of each of it's elbows. With weapons like these, the Kronos corporation had better watch out!
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Guyver Anime is a must have, February 19, 2003
By A Customer
This was one of the first anime's I ever watched along with Akira and Fist of the Northstar. This series was one of the best at the time and still is a classic to this day.
The series revolves around Sho, a young boy who has the mixed fortune of merging with an alien super weapon called the Guyver!
In this bio booster armor, Sho is nearly invincible and immortal but he must discover his pwoers while facing an evil corporation known as Kronos that is bent on conquering the world with its army of humans that can transform into Zoanoid monsters.
The action and battles are intense as is the mystery of one of Sho's allies who is also a Guyver.
The only downside is that only 12 episodes were ever made and the series is wide open for more, but to get the whole saga of the Guyver, you must locate the back issue comics from Viz Comics.
Also this anime series spawned 2 live action movies. The first one was horrid and the second one was more tolerable. Do not judge the anime by them, please. In fact if you must see the live action movies, do your self a favor and skip the first one. You'll thank me for that.
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