Hands down, this 2005 revival of the Guyver series in animation form is by far the best there is. Extremely faithful to the source material barring a few minor changes, a well plotted story arc with a satisfying conclusion and a stylish new lean and mean look all adds to the enjoyment of this 26 episode series.
From the heavy metal j-rock opening theme song to the deliberately slower pace as the plot unfolds and the heavy elements of mystery, the tone of this series seems decidedly more mature than its predecessors. The character development of the main cast is more well-rounded here due to its longer run, resulting in some very likable protagonists. This is further helped along by crisp, clear, good looking character designs (without resorting to sexualisation of characters like in the previous Guyver: Out of Control OVA) and a bunch of talented voice actors both for the Japanese and the English audio track. The designs for the Guyver units and the monsters are the real highlight of the whole show; intricate, well proportioned and not overly stylized.
Though an excellent adaptation of the cult hit manga series(and possibly the best adaptation of Guyver ever made) it has only a mediocre standing among other modern anime series. The story tends to get bogged down in a "monster of the week" formula featuring increasingly powerful new villains with each episode and a once-in-a-while "boss monster" to give a heightened sense of threat to the heroes. Upon subsequent viewings, the characters and story would come across as not entirely original, bearing many parallels to other anime, manga and even American comic books like Spiderman(alien symbiote that enhances fighting ability but also violent tendencies
hmmm
..does Venom ring a bell?). The animation itself is pretty hit-and-miss. While the art and colours are vibrant and clear with adequate shading, shadows and detail, the animation makes use of too many of the typical "short cuts" seen in lower budgeted anime. The overuse of still frames, extreme close ups, slow panning and quick cuts takes away from any enjoyment that can be had with the otherwise intense fight scenes.
This brings me to my next point.
Guyver 2005 was advertised as "the new face of ultra-violence" but it failed to deliver what it promised. The fights in the previous OVAs and even in the live action "Guyver: Dark Hero" were a lot more violent than what is presented here. Maybe this would be violent when compared to the 1991 Mark Hamil Guyver joke-of-a-movie or when compared to anime like Pokemon, but to an audience familiar with shows like Hellsing, Spawn or other supernatural genre anime, Guyver does not live up to its hype. Plus, the vibrant colours sometime look too vibrant and tend to give many scenes a relatively cheery look that clashes with the dark tone of the story and so does the overly simplistic background art. On the flip side, there are some enhanced computer effects which are sparingly put to good use for special powers and some transformation scenes.
As a guyver fan myself, i feel obliged to give this a 10/10 just for being the best installment of Guyver ever created, but i shall be objective here. As an anime series, Guyver 2005 is only mediocre and fails to live up to its hype. But as the newest addition to the guyver franchise, it is sure to please the long time fans and anime action junkies. A great jumping-on point for newer fans to introduce them to the guyver mythos with its updated look and fast paced action.
