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Guyver

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"Guyver" is a two-act, 12-episode OVA. Act 1 was released from 1989 through 1990, and Act 2 was released in 1992. The series is based on an original manga by Yoshiki Takaya, creator of “Hades Project Zeorymer”; and features character designs by Hidetoshi Ohmori , who did the “Deprive” segment of “Robot Carnival”. (I have shikishi drawn and signed by Mr. Ohmori in my "Robot Carnival - Deprive" and my "Megazone 23: Part 2" sections.)

It is the story of a high school student, Sho Fukamachi, who accidentally comes into contact with “bio-booster armor" called the Guyver (basically living body armor that increases his strength, as well as providing protection). The armor is alive and acts as a parasite that lives in symbiosis with its occupant. Once it picks a host, the host is stuck with it.

The Guyver was discovered by an evil Japanese company, Cronos, which secretly controls the world and turns its employees into giant monsters called "Zoanoids" (your average dehumanizing job). Unfortunately for Cronos, they don’t have the knowledge to make Guyver units. They only have the original three they found. So Cronos decides to get the armor back by sending its monster employees after Sho and his friends, in order to capture him for dissection.

This is the anime that started both my anime collection and my cel collection. I saw it when I was about 14 (the perfect age for this) and I loved it. It was great; whole sections of tweaked dialog started to enter both my, and my friend’s everyday speech. Example, right before a test;
“I don’t want to die. Please, I don’t want to die!”
“Fool, since you left before completing studying, you can only survive a few hours after leaving home. You’re dead!”
“But you said it was multiple choice. Damn, you lied to me!” “I’ll never give up the test, never, never, aaaaahhhh!”

Although gory, it’s great fun. I’d recommend "The Guyver" to any guy. I think a lot of women might not like it, because the only female character is Mizuki, and she’s perpetually whining and in peril. I think Mizuki’s longest line was, “Oh, you’re hurt. You fought to protect me and I’ve been so mean to you.” After hearing this line I had a huge, stupid grin on my face, and I snicker every time I hear it.