Isn't that just the best feeling? It's something I've noticed with the small handful of shows I've given a rating of 6/6, where even on rewatch, even if some flaws become more apparent, I still overall label them as minor and love it just as much as I did on the first viewing. It's a rare feeling, but it bring such a sense of joy and comfort that I personally find hard to match. This show being very much inspired by Kikaider, one of my all time favorites, certainly helped with the feels when watching it.

Even better, a Borgman remake. :lolol

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUiUxP1p7hI

By the way, DreamSword, here's something that you might like in case you missed it. The Japanese title is Sentai Daishikkaku but the English title is Go Go Loser Ranger. :lolol
The manga is drawn by the creator of The Quintessential Quintuplets. Think of it as a story that has a similar plot to The Boys but instead of a normal human it's a sentai villain combatant who goes against the douchebag sentai team. M.A.O aka Gokai Yellow aka Washi Pink voices the Pink Ranger of the show.

Ah, yeah, I heard about this. Remind me whenever it's done airing, and I'll be sure to add it to the list!

Sure thing. It started about a month ago so assuming they do just the first 13 eps for starters I think it will wrap up around July. And I just realized Keiichi Sato who worked on Tiger & Bunny is the director and they also casted the narrator/voice of the accellular from Boukenger as the announcer.

Sho Fukamachi is your normal everyday kid. But unfortunately for him, he one day stumbles upon a mysterious metal object which soon bonds to him. This "Guyver" unit is what ends up pulling Sho into fight against the Zoanoids; A group of aliens bend on world domination. Can Sho defeat the invaders and save his girlfriend Mizuki while trying to make sense of his life getting turned upside down?

"Interesting" is probably the best word I could use to describe this movie.

Because it slots into a very specific sub-genre of anime history: That of the bio-horror influenced Tokusatsu hero show.

There were others floating around this time frame that I've seen: Detonator Orgun, Iczer, Tekkaman Blade. And while I liked all of those better, this wasn't bad.

Without doing any sort of direct comparison though, the first entry in the Guyver franchise comes out "okay." The animation? Okay. The action? Okay. The acting? Okay. The music? Okay. It all sort of just amounts to a very decent sit at the end of the day.

But if there's one major thing I took away from this past hour of my time, it was what a surprisingly human character Sho is. He's a scared kid, and many of his actions and reactions reflect that. But, over the course of the movie, when it comes time to stand up for the people he cares about, he does. While the arc itself is basic, it's the sort of thing that also makes him very likable.

Perhaps that's the key as to why Guyver ended up actually becoming a franchise. As otherwise, all I can think is that someone on staff must've been very passionate about the project. And I am very curious to see how this thing evolves going forward.

Sho Fukamachi is your normal everyday kid. But unfortunately for him, he one day stumbles upon a mysterious metal object which soon bonds to him. This "Guyver" unit is what ends up pulling Sho into fight against Chronos; A mysterious group that can create monsters known as Zoanoids bent on world domination. Can Sho defeat -- wait, this all sounds familiar.

Yeah, so, despite the original Guyver movie leaving itself open for a sequel, what instead followed was a six episode OVA that reboots and expands upon the story. And given it was dubbed, I assume this was alot of people's' first exposure to the Guyver franchise as a whole.

And lemme tell ya, the dub is the type of bad you just don't get anymore nowadays. It's a big reason as to why, despite this being my first foray into this franchise, this episode had me feeling rather nostalgic while watching it.

As for the contents of the episode itself, it's essentially just the opening act of the original movie, even following almost all of the same beats. Sure, some scenes are expanded upon, but not by a whole lot. The biggest differences being that the first attack now takes place in the woods(which makes more sense than out in the open road of the city), Sho is now paling around with his friend Tetsuro rather than his girlfriend Mizuki, and the second Zoanoid is now the leader of the grunt unit, rather than being the police chief.

Playing comparisons was a rather interesting thought exercise, as it's made clear that the people behind this did at the very least watch the original movie and considered ways on how to make it all flow a little better, and it makes me very curious as to why exactly they're going to take a one hour movie and stretch its story across six episodes. I could think of a few(we never got to learn who Guyver III was in the movie), but I'm just gonna wait and see.

The biggest downside to all of this is Sho's' new design. I do not like his new haircut at all. Given that Mizuki looks practically the same as she did in the original movie, it's a shame that they didn't go for a similar route with Sho. But it's an overall minor complaint.

It's a solid start, all things considered. And I look forward to seeing what they do from here.

I wish I could comment, but all I’ve seen of this franchise is the first live action movie.

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Film/TheGuyver

Oh, I'm aware that exists. Still surprised that the guy who played Sho in that movie will be at one of Ranger conventions this year.

Huh.

So this episode was pretty much the whole rest of the original movie but condensed into like 24 minutes.

It leaves me overall very confused and conflicted. Confused in that I have no idea how they've still got four episodes left in them at this point, and conflicted in that I didn't agree with alot of the changes made to the original movie.

While I felt most of the changes made to the original when it came to the first episode made sense, here, many of them seem pointless at best and detrimental at worst. Namely that Guyver II is changed from a woman to a man, thus eliminating a strong-willed woman from the cast, and how Tetsuro is acting as the strategist for Sho during the fight, thus removing alot of intuitiveness that Sho displayed in the original movie.

There are other little changes, like the back tumors now being established with Sho, or how the police are still Zoanoids in disguise but now generic ones. But they don't matter nearly as much as the ones previously mentioned. Though it's also a very odd choice at how Mizuki hasn't factored into anything yet.

And even if I weren't comparing to the first entry, this is a mini-series and not an OVA. You figure another Guyver would be saved for episode 3 at the earliest, rather than being the immediate next step, right? Because really, it's been established pretty quick that regular Zoanoids aren't much of a match for Sho. Raising the stakes from here is going to be rather tricky.

Overall, yeah. This one left me feeling rather off about the whole thing. But hey, maybe the next four episodes will surprise me.

Zeraboobus. That is the name of the Hyper Zoanoid fought in this episode.

With that out of the way, I think the writers agreed with me when it came to how Tetsuro and Sho were handled in the second episode.

Because here, Tetsuro gets basically removed which in turn allows Sho to shine in many of the ways that he did in the original movie. His intuitiveness and ability to put others above himself are on full display during the climax.

And when it comes to my question of how exactly things were going to flow in terms of the narrative, I was surprised in how this episode still managed to use elements of Out of Control while still expanding into a brand new arc; That being the new threat of the Hyper Zoanoids.

Because just like in the film, Mizuki does get kidnapped. She is infact rescued by Guyver III. And Sho does experience horror over the possibility of him becoming a monster. The context of those elements are alot different, sure, but that overall felt like part of the fun rather than as a detriment like in episode 2. Just a shame we don't get that iconic scene of him all alone in the mountains.

One thing that I keep forgetting to note about Sho as Guyver though is that I rather like his fighting style when he transforms. Unlike many other toku heroes, Guyver is rather direct and to the point. Often aiming for eyes, slicing limbs off, and doing whatever he can to make quick work of his enemy. He doesn't even bother opening doors! Instead just opting to punch right through them. Funny, but effective.

The only thing left to note is that it's pretty obvious that the student council president is Guyver III, which makes me wonder why they even bother playing it up like some sort of mystery. But it's whatever. Overall just interested in seeing just what they do with the angle more than anything.

So yeah. Solid episode overall.

This episode was so stupid.

It's an episode that's entirely fueled by the lead character being incredibly dense, and a climax that doesn't amount to much.

And I'm not talking about Sho here, but rather Tetsuro. I've grown to really dislike this character, because he barely even qualifies as one. Rather, he's just a walking method to make the plot move forward.

Now you might be thinking "But DS, don't you like it when it's the characters who push the plot forward?" And the answer to that is, yes. But the way it's done in this episode is incredibly forced and at the detriment of the character who's actually supposed to be our lead.

Because here's the thing. Tetsuro's' involvement robs Sho of any and all agency, and Tetsuro's' own deductions about the plot not only come right out of nowhere(he makes a ton of baseless assumptions about Chronos), but also lack any and all forethought to the point of idiocy. It made it very heard to not just roll my eyes at the entire episode.

For example. Tetsuro and Sho both acknowledge that Chronos kills anyone who even comes close to discovering anything about the Zoanoids or Guyver. So Tetsuro's' master plan is to... tell a friend of his and try to spread the word farther. Somehow it never dawns on Tetsuro that doing so just paints alot more people as targets, and Sho claims he figured such a thing would happen, meaning he lost all of his backbone and let innocent people die.

It made me immediately not give the slightest care about the climax, inwhich Sho has to fend off a raid on the school by the Hyper Zoanoids. Especially since Guyver III comes to the rescue anyway, thus sort of invalidating any involvement Sho even had. The shining star of the original movie is now taking a backseat to the side characters, and as someone who grew to rather like Sho, I am not at all okay with that. It makes everything alot more boring and tiring, especially after it seemed like the writers had learned better with the previous episode.

So, yeah. A total flop on basically all fronts. Wasn't pleased with this one.

Believe it or not, that screencap is of the only cool thing in this episode.

This episode is where I threw up my hands and gave up any pretense of the story being any sort of enjoyable for me.

Like, imagine if, in Dragon Ball Z, right after Goku went Super Saiyan, Frieza just shot him and killed him with a Death Beam. No effort. No cool fight. No emotional pay off. That's what happens in the climax of this episode.

The rest of the episode doesn't even at all matter. It's just more showcasing of how Chronos is all invasive ala Shocker from Kamen Rider. And I guess the cast learns that Agito, the student council president, is a bad guy, I guess. Not that it amounts to much of anything.

Speaking of Agito, when it comes to the dub, I am convinced that the studio outright forgot to turn the actor's' mic on when recording his lines, because the dude's' volume is so much lower than everyone else's' that it makes very, very hard to understand at times. Bad acting is one thing. Bad audio quality is whole 'nother ball game.

I'm so glad there's only one episode left. Any longer and I honestly would probably drop the show. If Sho's no longer around, I don't really have any reason to stick around, given he's the only thing I like in all of this. I swear, if Tetsuro becomes the next Guyver...

To say this was underwhelming would be incorrect.

Because see, I expected this ending to be stupid. And it was! However, it's noteworthy in just how much it fails on practically every level.

On a narrative level, the way Sho is brought back to life is a total cop out. Even moreso in how Agito somehow knew it work, when Agito became Guyver III at practically the same time that Sho became Guyver I.

Ontop of that, Sho is robbed of basically any and all narrative importance. Agito is the one with the major beef towards the big bad, and is also the one leading the charge for the majority of the episode. Heck, when the Guyver unit is on autopilot, it even fights way better than Sho ever did.

On a character level, the end result is that Sho, once the best part of the first movie, is basically nothing more than a background element in the story named after his superhero alter ego. And it's not just him either. Was Mizuki a damsel in distress originally? Sure, but you know what, atleast she was directly involved in everything. Here she's barely been a thing.

It made the moment where Mizuki wakes Sho up by calling out to him ring incredibly hollow, given that their relationship has been given almost no focus at all. I would've sooner believed it if Tetsuro had been the one who got through to the berserk Guyver. And make no mistake, I still can't stand Tetsuro all throughout this. It's just that his usual shtick is stolen by Guyver III here in the finale. That's slightly better, I guess?

So as you might guess, I was not a fan of this OVA overall. And that's not me saying the first movie was anything incredible, but it was alot tighter and better focused than this was atleast. But sadly I'm not totally done yet, given that there's a second OVA that serves as a sequel...

Ah yes, the much-coveted Mike Judge cut. :lolol

"That boy ain't right I tell ya hwat."

Sean Barker is your normal everyday dude. But unfortunately for him, he one day stumbles upon a mysterious alien object which soon bonds to him. This "Guyver" unit is what ends up pulling Sean into fight against the Chronos Corporation; A group of mutant aliens bent on world domination. Can Sean defeat the invaders and save his girlfriend Mizki while trying to make sense of his life getting turned upside down?

This movie is better than the OVA. I will fight Guyver fans on this.

I get it. American adaptations of Japanese properties get a bad rap. Even worse if they're a live-action adaptation of something animated.

And, admittedly, I didn't go into this with any sort of high hopes either. But the further I went into the movie, the more I found to appreciate about it. Especially as I'm doing a deep dive into the Guyver franchise as a whole.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that the film is any sort of underrated masterpiece or anything; It has a host of problems. Certain character and plots hooks being dropped as soon as they're brought up(Sean "learning to control his temper" goes nowhere), and most damningly, the tone is all over the place.

But yet, the good stuff in the end overshadowed the bad in my eyes. Despite taking a number of deviances from the source material, it also has a ton of scenes and elements taken directly from Out of Control and the OVA, especially in the case of making Sean a very likable lead via alot of the same traits that made Sho so likable in the original anime movie.

Heck, in some cases it even surpasses what came before it. First of all, there's no Tetsuro in this movie, and thanks to that Sean is in turn the main focus throughout most of the movie, and has his own sense of agency which pushes alot of the story forward. They also actually take a minute to explain how exactly the Control Metal works, which makes Sean's' revival way more believable than what Sho's' was in the OVA.

I also liked how the Guyver unit in itself is very alien in its design, rather than being a hunk of metal like in the original. And while it's not particularly amazing, there's some rather solid set design and cinematography all through the film. Especially in the opening sequence concerning the scientist who's running off with the Guyver Unit. Just a shame that the score overall seemed rather confused as to what to do half the time due to the constantly shifting tone. I can't see myself ever buying this soundtrack.

And on that note: Yes, the tone of the movie overall is rather badly handled, especially in the latter half of the film. But yet, the scenes that work really do work. I found the toast scene to actually be pretty funny, and alot of the more moody scenes, like the one where Sean goes into his girlfriend's' apartment to find it ransacked, were rather effective in their atmosphere. I really wish there was a version of this movie wherein they successfully copied the overall style and tone of the first Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles live-action movie, because that would've really worked great here.

So in the end, the movie isn't some supreme amazing classic that everyone should see, but what it does well, I end up rather liking. And as such, I actually like this better than the OVA that came before it. When put up against the first animated movie though, well, that's a bit of a tougher call. Regardless, if you haven't yet due to its bad rep, I recommend giving this movie a chance. If nothing else it can be a fun time. Just don't go in expecting anything Oscar worthy, or even some super faithful adaptation of Guyver itself.

When watching Guyver 1991, I also thought of a live-action adaptation of the Turtles from the 90s. I would actually rank the first Guyver among the best American anime adaptations. And overall, it’s a pretty good movie, if you don’t take it seriously.

I think this is the first time I've seen someone with positive opinions about both the Out of Control OVA and the first live action movie :) . Most other people I've encountered hate how much both differ from the original manga.

As for me I like what they were able to do with the practical effects on the budget they had (something that would carry over to the second live action film) plus seeing Mark Hamil turn into an ant is worth it.

The 90s ova series...it made odd choices here and there. It wanted to be more accurate to the manga (hence no Mizuki and more Testuro) but then completely dropped chapters and changed other things which I can only guess was done so that the initial 6 eps had a good ending point if a second batch was abandoned.

Oh a word of warning about the 2005 anime series. You're going to find it very familiar...for the first 16 episodes or so as it adapts the manga from the very beginning, again.

Man, I dunno if I myself would rank it that high. But ya know, when you think of the competition of the time period, then like, yeah, surprisingly more faithful of an adaptation than most.

First off, welcome to the boards! Hope you enjoy your stay!

As for comparing to the manga, I have no real interest in reading it. So I'm mainly approaching this from the idea of Out of Control being the baseline, since it came out first amongst the anime stuff.

Oh for sure. The suit design in general is rather good. And speaking of FBI Guy's' mutation, I watched the censored version of the movie. And it's so weirdly because like, the violence got toned down, but yet the horrific body mutations were a-okay, apparently.

Yeah I figured as much. Thanks for the heads up though.

It's all setup for this next arc, and as such there isn't too much to talk about.

Mizuki and Sho's' dad get kidnapped, and a new "freelance writer" makes himself known as an ally. There's also a poorly animated fight against a bunch of Zoanoids.

And... that's kinda it? There's not alot of intrigue in this one. But I'm not holding anything really against this episode per say. It really is just here to try and get the ball rolling, you know?

I just wish I were more invested in these characters.

That title is a lie and has nothing to do with the episode.

Anyway, this show has gotten really tiring to sit through for me at this point. Not being at all emotionally invested doesn't help.

But even disregarding that, when it comes to this episode specifically, there's so much that just makes this one feel like a total slog. For example, I swear that the animation is getting worse with each passing episode.

The episode itself is full of padding too, especially at the start, with some really unnecessarily extended flashback sequences and a whole lot of dead air. Pair that up with some really pretentious dialogue, typically with the abuse of the word "Nightmare" and I'm just so out of it all.

The most alarming thing for me in this episode though was the revelation that Inoue, a very prolific writer for Kamen Rider, was most likely inspired by Guyver. As in this episode, "Another Guyver" shows up, as a more monstrous version of our hero. And just like in Kamen Rider Agito, he's not yet fully evolved and is one of the more effective people in his team.

This episode is also kinda weird in terms of both story flow and placement because it's the lead up our heroes storming the enemy base, which is like, ya know, a finale thing. But yet we still have four episodes to go. I can only hope that means that the rest of this OVA will go by quick.

Personally I liked the idea of the lost number commandos, zoanoids that got unique capabilities but couldn't be replicated, yet thought the execution was lacking. The animation has taken a hit and if memory serves, it doesn't get better. Of course, it has been a long while since I last watched this version so I'm open to being pleasantly surprised.

Must say though, the UK got the short end of the stick with this series as Manga Entertainment UK completely changed the opening with some kind of dance track.

The way it's executed just raises a whole lot of questions. Like, New Big Bad acknowledges that there's no way for them to win if they remain incomplete, so like, why not just complete them and have them kill Guyver later as he approaches the base? There was plenty of time.

Yeah, Manga UK was known for doing that with their dubs back then. In some cases it really works(their soundtrack for Cyber City Oedo 808 is incredible), but other times, not so much.

I'm sure this really works for someone out there, but that person is not me.

Even ignoring how I feel no attachment to any of these characters at this point, there's just so much working against the "tragedy" of this one.

So, the whole crux of this episode is that Chronos modified Sho's' father into a Zoanoid, and bank on Sho not fighting back against the now Enzyme II. That or Sho kills his dad. Either way.

There's so many ways this entire scenario could be solved clean though. For example, Agito overhears about a master plan that Chronos has, and yet for some reason never decides to try and intervene. Freelance Writer also just doesn't shoot the Zoanoid despite him having no real attachment to Sho or his dad.

And I really don't get why everyone acts so surprised at how the Guyver suit works, as it does nothing different than what it's been shown to do before. Sho literally can't die; He's regenerated from literally nothing. And it's also been shown to be able to pilot itself multiple times at this point, yet everyone acts like it puppeting Sho's' body around is something new.

Maybe I'm just a heartless monster, but this was literally a hopeless scenario for Sho's' dad. Killing him was a mercy. And it was either that or the bad guys win and the world ends. Sure, it sucks. I get that. But ultimately? I do not buy into everyone acting like Guyver just committed the worst crime imaginable, nor do I jive with Tetsuro blaming it on Sho, specifically. Spare me the theatrics, none of this works!

Sorry for not being emotionally invested in a character who I barely knew.

Yeah...this incident. To be fair, this is another change from the manga as originally it was Sho on his own that fought his dad as Agito was way laid by the Hyper 5, so we didn't get any of that third act fallout we got here. Also, my memory must be playing up as I could have sworn this was episode 10.

Still, on the bright side, only 3 left.

That actually makes alot more sense and it makes me wonder why it was changed.

It's always a great sign when the anime reveals that I was giving more credit than what it deserves.

Because as it so turns out, having any sort of psychological effect on Sho in regards to his father's' death was infact NOT in the big bad's' plan, and he only turned Sho's' dad into a Zoanoid for the lolz, I guess.

As you might predict, this was another one wherein I really had to question alot of the logic behind it.

Like, how did the big bad know that the group would be heading to Takeshiro to begin with? Why did we have yet another death fake-out with Sho when he's survived far worse multiple times? How did Another Guyver get so much stronger in the span of a single night?

Combine that with some really bad animation(especially at the start of the episode), and Tetsuro acting holier-than-thou towards Agito for Agito daring to save everyone's' lives via killing a bunch of Zoanoids and this one was really annoying for me to sit through. It made me really start to question if sitting through the 26 episode anime would be worth it or not.

Time will tell I suppose. Just two more to go.

I do wonder about that myself...with a lot of the changes to be honest. For something that touted itself more authentic to the manga, it made just as many changes as Out of Control did.

Only reason I can think of is to either add drama or they were worried about pacing as they clearly knee which point to end on. One I'm not sure you'll be happy with if I'm honest.

Data 10...not much to say here that you haven't said.

If drama really was the first thing on their mind, then they really fumbled in some areas. Like, why have Big Bad be surprised that Sho is mourning his father? Even if that were accurate to the manga, having it be part of his plan in the first place would add to the overall situation.

So confusing.

That's the annoying thing...it isn't even in the manga! It's a baffling decision really as nothing I can think of really explains it satisfactory manner.

While noting spectacular, this episode was a step up.

It's one long talking scene followed by an action sequence, but for the most part it worked thanks to a solid grasp of atmosphere.

The animation took a surprising upturn too, being probably the best animated episode in the entire second OVA. The fight between Guyver III and the three Enzyme IIs was actually pretty solid.

In terms of story content though, it's pretty basic. The backstory we're fed on the Zoanoids is almost nothing new that we hadn't already heard in the first OVA, and the twist of Murakami(the writer) being a Zoalord/alien was kinda obvious from the second he appeared, you know?

This does make me wonder though just how in the heck this is all supposed to end next episode, though. It feels like we've taken almost no major steps towards any sort of climax. But, that aside, this episode wasn't bad, and is probably the best one in the whole of OVA-2. So incase anyone was thinking I wasn't giving any credit where it was due, there ya go.

Yeah....OVA 2 ending...a bit to talk about there. You won't like it.

As for this episode, you can see where some of the other episodes animation budget went, I'm guessing the director was fan of Murakami, but the changes do little for me. Regarding the origin of the Zoanoids scene, I've noticed a few times that they'll reuse the sequence without adding much to it. I mean here only new thing was Murakami's status as a proto-zoalord, standing in for Gyo. I know the OVA series is loved by some of the Guyver community, but I do feel nostalgia is a heavy factor

I wouldn't be surprised if this were someone first exposure to "edgier" anime or even anime in general, given the time it was dubbed. And in those respects I can kinda see the appeal, but as someone who's seen many other shows of its ilk, can't say I share the sentiment.

I half expected this.

With the way things were going, I fully expected this to be the sort of finale wherein the story doesn't end, but rather just stops.

What I didn't expect the episode to have the balls to do, however, is reveal that the big bad of the first OVA was still alive and that everything our heroes did up to now was essentially pointless.

Needless to say I was not pleased. It's bad enough that I found the characterization of everyone in the cast incredibly lacking, that the plot made little sense, and that the animation was, for the most part, garbage. Oh no, had to kneecap it all by saying that my chain has been getting yanked this entire time.

Oh right, for those that might care, Aptom AKA Another Guyver is our final boss, and I haven't really mentioned it up to now, but I definitely will here. I find it so funny that the bad guys have legit better camaraderie and chemistry with one another than anyone on the hero side does. And that goes for both Parts 1 and 2 of the OVA. It almost made me wanna side with Chronos a few times.

But, whatever. I don't see myself ever returning the Guyver OVA in my lifetime, and frankly, good riddance. If nothing else I'm glad it's finally over with.

I did say you probably wouldn't like it :lol I'm surprised at this point they didn't try an OVA only ending as I think they knew there wasn't going to be more. The production committee that is as I believe that no other staff were kept on between the two stages of the OVA.

I forgot though that Gyo's survival was kept a secret till this point as the 2005 anime doesn't, which gives rise to a unintentionally funny scene, which I won't spoil here but makes you question certain characters intelligence.

On to better things!

Well, things I consider better at any rate.

The first live-action Guyver movie had its issues.

But you know what it wasn't? It wasn't boring. As dumb as some of the jokes could be and as jarring as some of the gore was, it was never boring.

This movie though? This movie is almost impressively boring. The pacing is sluggish, the movie is full of padding, and almost every scene drags on for way too long. The film could have easily been a half hour shorter.

I had read claims that this movie was more faithful to the anime than what the first movie was, and let me just say, that claim is utterly false. Outside of some very loose references, Guyver 2 has almost nothing to do with the other story beats of the Guyver franchise. Heck, it barely has anything to do with the first movie. And frankly, I feel like that's where it fails most.

Because here's the thing. This movie is, first and foremost, meant to be a sequel to The Guyver from 1991. And instead, Dark Hero does its best to utterly distance itself from said film. Sure, the tone is more consistent, but alot of the stuff that I enjoyed from the first movie is now gone.

The biggest thing being that this sequel has basically no likable characters. Mizki is thrown out of the film, Sean lost alot of the characteristics that made him likable, and all of the new characters introduced are very one note and very boring. Sean's' new love interest in Cori is someone of whom he has basically no chemistry with. And the new cop character? Let's just say that he's no Mark Hamill, alright?

But hey, maybe the plot is solid? It's not. The most infuriating thing being that the entire story relies on almost every character having absolutely zero depth perception and also being deaf. There were so many times that characters just utterly fail to check their surroundings, let alone notice anyone else in the area.

Case in point: There's a scene where Sean is trying to communicate with an alien ship upon discovery that it's alive, and one of the researchers has been tailing him. We hear the audience hear that their shoes clank against the floor as they walk. The room Sean enters before he begins talking has only one entrance. Yet somehow, someway, science chick manages to sneak in undetected, and make it underneath the floor of said room. Did she teleport?

If there's one thing I can give the movie credit for, it's that most of its stunts were directed by a young Koichi Sakamoto. While it's very clear that he's still finding his style, and thus doesn't give us anything remotely close to the greatness he'd later bestow onto Power Rangers, some of the stunt work is still quite solid. With the final battle in particular being actually pretty good.

I just couldn't get into this movie at all. And it makes me think that maybe the Guyver franchise just isn't for me. Gonna take a week long break before going into the 2005 anime to detox a bit. See you then.

Again, I completely agree with your opinion. I heard a lot of praise for the second film, but after watching it, it disappointed me both in comparison with the first film and in itself. The battles may not be bad, but you have to wait too long for them. So it would be better if they made a short film.

I'm going to be the dissenting voice here but I felt that this movie was head and shoulders above the first film. Unlike watching the first film where I found it going too comedic, this one nailed the manga tone and gave us something the manga probably never will, a guyver-zoanoid (I hope some makes a 3d print of that design soon to go with the others). I will agree on editing though that it could have gone through another pass, maybe restoring some footage that would have helped fill the gaps like the scene where Sean breaks up with Mizuki. Though given the budget was only 30% of the first film (apparently), they may not have had the money for that.

I will admit though, I may have some bias as it was the first proper Guyver thing I watched following a advert on the Sci Fi Channel in the UK.

Regarding your break for the 2005 anime, I fear it won't be long enough, but appreciate that you're still going to give it that try.

Yeah, the action sequences being so few and far between only serve to highlight just how much dead air is all throughout the movie.

Hey, more power to ya. I agree that toning down the comedy probably would've done the first movie alot of good. But on the flipside, the utter lack of any and all comedy makes the sequel feel incredibly dry.