Kyôshoku sôkô Guyver: Kikaku Gaihin (1986) (V)

Director:

Hiroshi Watanabe

Writers:

Monta Ibu (writer)
Yoshiki Takaya (story)

Genre:

Animation | Sci-Fi

Plot:

High school student Sho happens to come across a mysterious metal object that causes his body to become enveloped in a weapon-encrusted suit of armor...

Plot Keywords:

Based On Comic | Anime | Character Name In Title

Cast

Yû Mizushima	...	Shô Fukamachi
Michie Tomizawa	...	Mizuki Segawa
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Yûji Fujishiro	...	Detective Akitsu
Jun Hasumi	...	Genzô Makishima
Michitaka Kobayashi	...	Marmot (Guinea Pig) (as Sanshirô Nitta)
Jûrôta Kosugi	...	Guyver III (Agito Makishima)
Yu Ogura	...	Pupil
Nozomu Sasaki	...	Friend A
Ai Satô	...	Mother
Fumihiko Tachiki	...	Chronos Soldier B
Yasurô Tanaka	...	Truck Driver
Keiko Toda	...	Valcuria
Norio Wakamoto	...	Chief Ishiwatari

Also Known As:

Bio-Booster Guyver: Out of the Ordinary (Japan: English title)
Guyver: Out of Control

Runtime:

USA:55 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color

Quotes:

Shô Fukamachi: I can never go back, everyone that was close to me is dead.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Snatcher CD-ROMantic (1992) (VG)

Bloody hell bland, bloody brainless and just plain bloody

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.