Guyver: The Bioboosted Armor
Guyver: The Bioboosted Armor (強殖装甲ガイバー, Kyōshoku Sōkō Gaibā?) is a Japanese anime series based on the long-running manga series, Bio Booster Armor Guyver, written by Yoshiki Takaya, adapting chapters 1 - 59 (volumes 1-10) of the manga. The production was in association with ADV Films and Kadokawa Shoten. The series first episode aired in Japan on August 6, 2005 and the last episode aired on February 18, 2006.
The series aired in North America on December 20, 2010, on the FUNimation Channel.[1]
Plot
A test type Zoanoid, disguised as a normal man, escapes from an organization called the Chronos Corporation with a bag containing three items called the Guyver Units. Chronos soldiers attempt to recover the units from the test-type but are unsuccessful; the test-type was discovered with a grenade in his possession and used the grenade, killing himself and scattering the Guyver Units around the area. Meanwhile, one of the lost Guyver Units lands near two young high school students, Shō Fukamachi and Tetsurō Segawa. Curious as to what the unit is, Shō accidentally activates the unit which then merges with him, becoming "Guyver I." Now, Shō must fight for his life against Zoanoids sent by the evil Chronos Corporation, sometimes going to extremes in order to recover the three Guyver Units.
Characters
Most, if not all, of the characters from the original Guyver manga series appear in the new Guyver anime series. Several characters from the new anime series have undergone a slight change of design from their previous looks from the past animated OVA and manga series (see Guyver (OVA) and Guyver: The Bio-Boosted Armor). For instance, Shō has a different style, brown hair rather than his original black hair. Mizuki now has black hair in the 2005 series instead of her brown hair from the previous series.
Main characters
- Shō Fukamachi (深町 晶, Fukamachi Shō?)
- Voiced by: Kenji Nojima (Japanese), Chris Patton (English)[2]
- Shō Fukamachi is main protagonist of the series. A 17 year old, second-year student at a Tokyo-area high school, Shō cares deeply for Mizuki Segawa and has a romantic interest in her. Tetsuro Segawa, Mizuki's older brother, is his closest friend. He comes across the mysterious Guyver unit, which merges with him and takes form as "Guyver I." Chronos is now in pursuit of Shō, wanting the return of the Guyver unit. Now, Shō must fight for his life and protect those close to him against the Zoanoids of Chronos.
- Mizuki Segawa (瀬川 瑞紀, Segawa Mizuki?)
- Voiced by: Nana Mizuki (Japanese), Luci Christian (English)
- Mizuki is a typical school girl that goes to the same school as Shō. She is the younger sister of Tetsuro Segawa, Shō Fukamachi's best friend. At first, she grows a crush on Agito Makishima, but later starts to appreciate Shō a lot more, to the point where her affections have completely shifted over to him.
- Tetsurō Segawa (瀬川 哲郎, Segawa Tetsurō?)
- Voiced by: Kōsuke Takeuchi (Japanese), Lowell Bartholomee (English)[2]
- Tetsuro is a chubby third-year student and is Shō's closest friend. He is highly intelligent, keeps his hair cut short and wears glasses. Tetsuro is a Science Fiction fan and the leader of the Sci-Fi society club in the school, which gives him some knowledge to make quite a few assumptions about the things involving the Guyver.
- Agito Makishima (巻島 顎人, Makishima Agito?)
- Voiced by: Katsuyuki Konishi (Japanese), Brian Jepson (English)[2]
- Agito is a third-year student at the same high school the others attend. He almost never allows sentiment to stand in his way. He does not even show much expression in his face, but acts quite friendly at school. He finds a Guyver unit and merges with it to become "Guyver III." Agito also seems to have extensive knowledge on the Guyver and its abilities and exhibits them quite well. Agito seems to have his own agenda when it comes to dealing with Chronos. He is an excellent example of an anti-hero.
- Natsuki Taga (Taga Natsuki)
- Voiced by: Tomo Adachi (Japanese), Kira Vincent-Davis (English)
- A high school girl that attends the same school as Shō and his friends. She is also a close friend to Shō and the Segawa siblings. She becomes of great help to them later when they are forced into hiding after the apparent deaths of Sho, Agito, and Masaki.
- Richard Guyot (リヒャルト・ギュオー, Riharuto Gyuō?)
- Voiced by: Kinryu Arimoto (Japanese), Bill Wise (English)[2]
- Guyot is tall, powerfully built man. In the beginning of the series, he acted as the commander of Chronos Japan branch after Agito Makishimia's foster father, Genzo Makishima, failed to retrieve the Guyver units. He has an immensely commanding presence.
- Masaki Murakami (村上征樹, Murakami Masaki?)
- Voiced by: Mitsuaki Madono (Japanese), Andrew Love (English)
- Masaki was a freelance journalist captured by Cronos and used as a guinea pig in the Zoalord development program. He is a tall, thin young man with shoulder-length hair, and normally wears sunglasses, even at night. He joins with Shō to fight Cronos, having his own revenge in mind. He does not quite trust Agito at first because of Guyver III's earlier connections with Chronos.
Other characters
- Voiced by: Hironori Miyata (Japanese), John Swasey (English)
- Shō Fukamachi's Father.
- Voiced by: Kenichi Ogata (Japanese), Brando Austin (English)
- Agito Makishima's foster father and ex-Head of Chronos Japan.
- Voiced by: Unshō Ishizuka (Japanese), Jason Douglas (English)
- An inspector from Chronos Headquarters. He is "Guyver II."
- Voiced by: Tetsu Inada (Japanese), Robert Kraft (English)
- Toshiaki Hayami/Bio-Freezer
- Voiced by: Takeharu Onishi (Japanese), Illich Guardiola (English)
- Voiced by: Saburo Kamei (Japanese), Charles C. Campbell (English)
- Voiced by: Yasunori Matsumoto (Japanese), Gray Haddock (English)
- Voiced by: Dai Matsumoto (Japanese), John Gremillion (English)
- Fried'rich von Purg'stall
- Voiced by: Hiroshi Tsuchida (Japanese), Brian Jepson (English)
- Voiced by: Tomohisa Asō (Japanese), Romulus Venicito (English)
- Jabir Ibn Hayyan, Gregole
- Voiced by: Yoshinori Sonobe (Japanese), John Gremillion (English)
- Voiced by: Yoshinori Sonobe (Japanese), Josh Grelle (English)
- Lǐ Yǎn-Tuí, Derzerb, Enzyme II
- Voiced by: Go Shinomiya (Japanese), Rhelik Shadowbriar (English)
- Voiced by: Kenta Miyake (Japanese), Jim McClellan (English)
- Voiced by: Kōichi Tōchika (Japanese), Mark X. Laskowski (English)
- Voiced by: Tomoyuki Shimura (Japanese), Adam Dudley (English)
- Voiced by: Yoshitaka Hirano (Japanese), John Swasey (English)
- Voiced by: Aamir Hydrai
- Voiced by: Blake Shepard
- Voiced by: Mariela Ortiz
- Voiced by: Wendel Calvert
Episodes
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Staff
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Japanese Staff
- Junki Takegami
- Koji Ueda
- Natsuko Takahashi
- Yasuko Kobayashi
- Yuuji Hosono
- Music: Hayato Matsuo
- Original Manga: Yoshiki Takaya
- Character Design: Yoshihiko Umakoshi
- Chief Animation Director:
- Masato Sawada
- Yuji Ikeda
- Creature Design: Masato Sawada
- General Supervision: Yoshiki Takaya
- Sound director: Jun Watanabe
- ADV Films
- GENCO
- Kadokawa Pictures
- Sojitz Corporation
- WOWOW
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English Staff
- ADR Director: Charles Campbell
- Translation: Brendan Frayne
- ADR Script: Clint Bickham
- DVD Graphics: Larry Koteff
- Editing:
- Eddie Shannon Jr.
- Neil O'Sullivan
- Patrick Givens
- Roberto Garcia
- Joey Goubeaud
- John Ledford
- Mark Williams
- International Coordination: Toru Iwakami
- Mix: Matt Wittmeyer
- Packaging Design: Larry Koteff
- Post-Production Manager: Shelly Thomas
- Producer: Scott McClennen
- Production Assistant:
- Maki Nagano
- Monica Jimenez
- Paul Mericle
- Production manager: Joey Goubeaud
- Recording engineer:
- Adam Jones
- Afshar Kharat
- Bobby Gordon
- Senior Translator: Javier Lopez
- Sound Design: Matt Wittmeyer
- Translation Proofer: Kaoru Bertrand
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Theme songs
- Opening THEME - "Waiting for" - Reiri (Líng-Lì Yáng)
- Ending THEME - "Cotton Candy" - Bonnie Pink
Differences from the past series
The Guyver TV series covers more of the original manga storyline than the 12 episode OVA series, being more loyal to the manga, mainly the first 10 or so volumes (covering everything up to the arrival of Guyver Gigantic). However there are key differences between the anime variation and original manga series:
- Guyver II/Oswald A. Lisker survives his first battle with Guyver I due to him and Tetsuro's escaping during the first of Guyver II's many Control Medal malfunctions. He is even kept from fighting up until the final episode of the "Cronos Japan Arc" because he is the only Guyver in Chronos' possession. Though he does meet the same end with a final grotesque malfunction, and then is caught in the collapse of Cronos Japan's HQ, all thanks to their self-destruct sequence.
- The only weapon Guyver II had used in the manga is the "Head Beam" and nothing else. In the anime he had also used the "High Frequency Vibration Sword" and the "Mega Smasher" weapons.
- In the manga, Aptom held Mizuki hostage in order to force Sho to call out the Guyver armor and cut off Mizuki's clothing completely, leaving her naked in front of Shō. However, in the anime series, Aptom only cut parts of Mizuki's clothing off.
- In an homage to the popular story in the manga where Guyver I/Shō's disembodied arm from the battle with Enzyme mutates into a clone, the dissolving Guyver I in the Enzyme battle turns into the clone's final form.
Many of these changes were, however, made with the permission and even involvement of Yoshiki Takaya.
Subsequent releases
- The Guyver TV series made its U.S. TV premiere on October 26, 2006 on the Anime Network, airing only the first episode and later, the rest of the series. The first episode was also viewable for free at IGN Entertainment, Inc. for a short period of time.
- The first four episodes were released in America on November 14, 2006 on DVD.
- Currently all 26 episodes of the television series are available through the Xbox live marketplace, via the Xbox 360.
- It also aired in the UK during the now non-existent Anime Network block on Propeller TV (Sky Digital Channel: 195) from June to November 2007.
- In spite of the fact that ADV helped produce Guyver: The Bioboosted Armor, this was one of over thirty titles that FUNimation picked up licenses for from Sojitz. According to a representative of Lace, however, ADV Films still has the German and UK rights to the anime[3]
References
External links
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Guyver series
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