Even at its onset, Yoshiki Takaya’s Bio-Booster Armor Guyver series proved popular enough to gain not only a single OVA adaptation, but multiple ones. Yet whereas the original, released in the same year as the manga’s first volume, was a glorified introduction to the setting, The Guyver: Bio-Boosted Armor (1989-92) goes much further, showcasing how a solid, classic OVA should be, despite its circumstances.
Released in two sets over three years, the circumstances behind the 12-episode miniseries’ creation are muddled. Though Bandai helped to produce this work, along with having industry veterans Koichi Ishiguro, Masahiro Ōtani, and Naoto Hashimoto on board as directors, there’s little else known from behind the scenes. For instance, though Visual 80 is known to have handled the first half, it’s unclear who did the later episodes outside of outsourcing studios. Moreover, while it saw a Western VHS release in 1992 – which was largely kept intact, save for the nudity being edited out in the final episode – it’s otherwise been all but abandoned distribution-wise.
While the English opening of the OVA comes off as cheesy, it nonetheless retains the anime’s solid theme song and overall tone. (Source: YouTube)
Even with those in mind, the OVA hasn’t faded into obscurity. If anything, it’s found a new lease on life online. So how does this manage to stand the test of time, even compared to its old-school predecessor?
True to the Text
Adapting the first five volumes of the manga, this rendition of The Guyver once again follows the trials of high school student Sho Fukamachi (Takeshi Kusao, Tom Fahn), who with best friend Tetsuro Segawa (Kōzō Shioya, Victor Garcia), winds up in the wrong place, at the wrong time. Upon being bonded against his will to one of the titular Guyver units, he finds himself being pursued by the Japanese branch of the insidious Chronos Corporation and its hidden army of Zoanoids. What follows is a harrowing quest for truth, survival, and justice against an ancient conspiracy threatening humanity’s future.
Unlike Out of Control, the OVA sticks more closely to the source material. This is evident not just in how the hero gets bonded, but also in the attention placed on lore-building. On top of the main plotline, which features the manga’s arch villain Oswald A. Lisker (Norio Wakamoto, Gary Michaels), you get more of a glimpse into how Zoanoids are engineered, why Chronos and its true masters are so keen to get their hands on the Guyver units, and how said suits are so powerful that they could regenerate their users after “dying”. Granted, there are still some differences, such as the elite “Hyper-Zoanoid Team Five” showing up much earlier than in the pages, and Lisker himself dying similarly ahead of schedule. That said, it’s still remarkably faithful, if not always to the letter.
Thanks in no small part to having 12 episodes to work with, there’s also ample time for the characters to shine. Sho is made sympathetic as a teenager way in over his head, though he grows quickly into a hardened badass without sacrificing his empathy. Meanwhile, Tetsuro is shown to be more than just a nerdy sidekick in putting his intelligence to good use. And though his sister, Mizuki (Yuko Mizutani, Melissa Fahn) isn’t given as much attention, she’s certainly made relatable and firm enough to not be window dressing. This extends to how there’s more attention on their relationships with each other and those surrounding them, which add tragedy as the battle against Chronos intensifies. Which isn’t to ignore how even the antagonists, such as Zoalord Richard Guyot (Hidekatsu Shibata, Bill Kestin), as well as rival Agito Makishima (Hideyuki Tanaka, Steven Jay Blum) are given sufficient development.
To be sure, the plot can feel like “monster of a week” at times, especially with all the Zoanoids being sent to the slaughter. Agito being made this morally ambiguous anti-hero is also made very blatant early on that by the time it happens, the impact is diluted. That being said, the mix of horror, action, and gritty rebellious undertones seen in Out of Control is refined to be more in tune with the manga. That there’s less of an obvious ‘80s vibe to the atmosphere in favor of highlighting the sci-fi elements – from secret bases to alien biotech – certainly helps in making it feel less dated in hindsight.
Beyond Grindhouse
You could tell that The Guyver: Bio-Boosted Armor had a bigger budget than its predecessor. While there are some choppy scenes and moments where the animators cut corners, the visuals are generally crisp. On top of a more Seinen design for the characters, there’s much attention to detail in clothing, equipment, the Zoanoids’ appearances, and especially the titular suits. In motion, these come off even better, whether it be the visceral transformation sequences, or how brutal the fights can get. What the OVA lacks in grindhouse flair more than compensates with solid action that’s on par with the best of its kind during the late ‘80s and early ‘90s.
At its best, the animation can be both brutal and very crisp, making for some intense action sequences. (Source: YouTube)
Audio wise, the anime is similarly well-done. For one, all the episodes open with Shinichi Ishihara’s rousing “Bio Booster Armor Guyver“, its synth and guitar-heavy riffs becoming synonymous with the franchise as a whole. The rest of the soundtrack, while not as memorable, is at once ominous and action-packed without feeling dated, be it the orchestral flairs, or the rock-laden interludes amidst the gory carnage. The Japanese voice-acting certainly helps add to the experience, with veteran seiyuu Takeshi Kusao and Kōzō Shioya at their prime. The same couldn’t quite be said of the English dub, which varies considerably between decent – with the Fahn siblings and a certain Steven Jay Blum giving some solid performances – to inexplicably laughable even for the time. Still, it’s rather commendable.
Despite having the looks and sounds of a resounding classic, however, it also seemed doomed to oblivion. The series wasn’t directly followed up on after 1992 for reasons that are still unclear. Although Manga Entertainment released the full OVA on DVD for Anglophone markets in 2004, it’s been out of distribution ever since.
While this has left the 12-episode run feeling incomplete in hindsight, The Guyver: Bio-Boosted Armor nonetheless proved popular enough to help influence the creation of a proper TV adaptation by 2005. On top of that, its continued presence online has not only preserved this piece of classic OVA action for posterity but also introduced younger anime fans to Takaya’s magnum opus. Unlike the live-action Hollywood film that came out around the same time, this is not something to be forgotten.
