Kyôshoku sôkô Guyver: Kikaku Gaihin

I have been a fan of the "Guyver" series for over 10 years. I only fairly recently found out that this movie existed and it took me quite some time to track down a copy. The beginning of the movie pretty much follows the story line of the original manga, but after the G-Unit bonds with Sho the story line changes somewhat. For instance: Guyver II in this variation of the story is a female Chronos operative (the scene where the unit bond with her is essentially a rape scene, but lets be clear, this is not hentai!).

The animation is generally pretty stylish and slick (considering its a 1986 release! And its certainly more impressive than the poor animation quality of episode 7 onward of the 1989 12 part adaption), but suffers at times when certain scenes are re-used time and again. The story line goes nowhere and degenerates into a big fight between guyver I and II (guyver III appears later, but no explanation is given as to his identity and he disappears pretty quickly). Its almost as if they writers read Yoshiki Takaya's manga up until the Sho discovers the guyver and then they thought: "Bugger this, this is boring, lets just have a big fight scene!" If you are a guyver committed fan, this is a must to complete your collection, but be under no illusions: Underneath this anime's flash facade there is a giant void!

I find it way better than the new series. fast action and no fillers! strait to the point story line that grabs your attention from the start. could definitely be extended but it is still great!

I searched all over for this video, and I was greatly disappointed when I watched it. It's a very dark anime. I would say it's more horror than action. Don't expect anything like the series Bio-Booster Armor. The animation quality is the only thing it has that's better than the series. Get the episode tapes. This OAV is not very good.

This movie seems to be a highly condensed retelling of the opening chapters of the Guyver manga series which then spins off into a whole new story onto itself.

From the get go, this 50 odd minute long OVA seems to be a prime example of "style over substance". Character development here is a totally alien concept. Our main character of Sho appears for like one minute, has some dialogue with his dad and his girlfriend and then we get thrown headlong back into the action. I get that the director is trying to show the main protagonist's sense of fear and shock at suddenly being in possession of an alien symbiotic weapon (the Guyver unit), being hunted by monstrous assassins and having his friends die around him, but the lack of characterization just does not allow the audience to relate to Sho as well as they could have. There are some flashbacks that I am guessing are supposed to instill a sense of pity for the character. But due to slipshod character development (or rather, an overall lack of character development) those scenes come across as a cheap attempt to milk a tear out of the audience for an otherwise uninteresting protagonist.

The much hyped and largely extolled action in this movie is not just violent, it is excessively so. It seems like every monster and villain that ends up shedding blood just so happens to have, like, a thousand arteries running through the same spot. Blood is not shed; it is splattered, sprayed and splashed with all the wild abandon of a kid playing with the garden hose. The monsters are at first creepy in the opening scene where one of them attacks a truck driver on a dark and stormy night. But once the scenes move to the daytime, the monsters come across as looking only slightly better than those in Power Rangers. The whole story seems to be centered on the fights, causing the entire movie to spiral quite literally, (as the title says) out of control as it heads toward its halfway mark.

The next hyped aspect is the female guyver(wow a guyver with boobies. Woop-de-doo). What is up with you people?! The character of agent Valucia adds nothing to the story and her only purpose for being there to give those hot blooded and deprived otakus something to salivate over. Tastelessly and unnecessarily over-sexualized, the director takes every opportunity to either show her naked or huffing and puffing away, all sweaty in the gym. The only times she keeps her clothes on are just like a transition from one naked scene to the next. There's even a full minute worth of anime tentacles going all over her un-clothed frame.

This movie should appeal to only the most die hard of guyver fans and anime otakus looking for a violent and borderline hentai anime fix. For those of you looking for an adaptation of the Cult manga series "Guyver" with a good coherent story and characters we can actually care about, look elsewhere. Anything you'll find in this movie is bland, brainlessness and bloody.