[DreamSword]

Data 3: Mysterious Shadow - Guyver III

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.

[DreamSword]

Data 4: Attack of the Hyper Zoanoid - Team 5

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.

[DreamSword]

Data 5: Death of the Guyver

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...

[DreamSword]

Data 6: Terminal Battle - The Fall of Chronos Japan

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...

[Sunred]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DreamSword

Data 6: Terminal Battle - The Fall of Chronos Japan

To say this was underwhelming would be incorrect.

Ah yes, the much-coveted Mike Judge cut.

[DreamSword]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sunred

Ah yes, the much-coveted Mike Judge cut.

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

[DreamSword]

The Guyver (1991)

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.

[Mesnick]

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.

[ZeroWolf]

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.

[DreamSword]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mesnick

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.

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.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ZeroWolf

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.

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.

Quote:

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.

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.

Quote:

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.

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