Guyver: The Bio-Boosted Armor is a 26 episode anime series by OLM based on the first ten volumes of the popular Japanese manga of the eighties. The story follows young Sho Fukamachi in his fight against the malevolent Chronos Corporation after being accidentally merged with the mysterious Guyver Bio weapon.

In many ways, Guyver: The Bio-Boosted armor is a remake of the first Guyver Anime series from the early nineties. There are some nearly frame-for-frame matches, and it has the same Sci-Fi/Horror leanings of its predecessor. What this version does beyond its predecessor is flesh out the rather complex story of the Guyvers and their battles with the demonic Zoanoids.

Fans of the original anime series will learn the complexities that were absent from earlier anime, giving this outing the feeling of something cinematic. Having the span of 26 episodes to tell the story also allows some down time with the characters, as well as the obligatory anime recap episode two-thirds of the way through. The voice acting in the English version is better than the original, but not by much, and the translation is clunky at times.

The animation is good, but not spectacular, and takes the usual dip in quality in some episodes. One thing that the new version does not improve on is in the handling of the more climactic moments in the story. The original Guyver anime had great moments that used melodrama to capture the horror that Sho and his faithful friend Tetsuro felt when thrust into terrifying situations. The Enzyme battle, for example, as well as the last dual Guyver battle in episode Six of the original series is classic, but doesn’t quite get the same epic treatment here. That’s not to say that the battles aren’t well done, but they lack the kick and direction of its 80’s predecessor.

Overall, fans of the anime and of the manga should be satisfied with this Guyver redux. You’ll enjoy the Anime to Manga comparison in the special features, as well as the production gallery and the clean open and closing title sequences. If you’re a real Guyver fan, this series is definitely worth a look.