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Genre Action, Adventure, Science fiction, Superhero, Mecha Magazine Shōnen Captain (1985–1997)Monthly Ace Next (1999–2002)Shōnen Ace (2002–2009)Young Ace (2009–present) Original run February 18, 1985 – present Similar Haou Airen, Crest of the Royal Family, Strawberry 100%, Hikaru no Go, Nana |
Bio-Booster Armor Guyver (Viz Media) or Guyver (Chuang Yi Publishing) (Japanese: 強殖装甲ガイバー, Hepburn: Kyōshoku Sōkō Gaibā) is a manga series written and illustrated by Yoshiki Takaya. The Guyver itself is a symbiotic techno-organic (or biomechanical) device that enhances the capabilities of its host.
Contents

The manga was originally serialized in Tokuma Shoten's Monthly Shōnen Captain, the first appearance being in the February 18 magazine beginning in 1985. When Shōnen Captain was discontinued in 1997, the manga was picked up by Kadokawa Shoten who subsequently re-released all of the previous tankōbon originally published by Tokuma. The manga is currently serialized in Kadokawa's Young Ace magazine. It has been licensed by Viz Media, Star Comics and Chuang Yi Publishing.

Guyver has been adapted into a single OVA titled Guyver: Out of Control (1986, based loosely on the first volume), a 12-episode anime OVA series (1989 to 1992, based on the first four volumes), two live action movies (1991's The Guyver and 1994's Guyver 2: Dark Hero) as well as a 26-episode anime series (2005 to 2006, based on the first ten volumes).

Plot

A test type Zoanoid escapes from the Cronos Corporation with three Guyver Units. Cronos soldiers attempt to recover the units from the test type, but are thwarted when the test type detonates a bomb that he has concealed in his bag. The Guyver Units are scattered in the blast. One of the lost Guyver Units, known as "Unit I", lands near two young high school students, Shō Fukamachi and Tetsurō Segawa. The second one is retrieved by Cronos and merges with Oswald A. Lisker to become the second Guyver later on. The final unit falls into the hands of Agito Makishima, who merges with it at an unspecified time. Shō accidentally activates the unit which then painfully merges with him.
Over time, Shō learns more about the Guyver and its abilities. The Guyver is virtually invulnerable, with its only weak point being the Control Metal. With this part intact, it can rebuild the host from the data stored within. If this part is critically damaged, however, the host will be eaten alive by the unit and perish. This is disconcerting and Shō starts to question whether he will ever be free from the Guyver. The situation gradually gets worse with continuously more powerful Zoanoids appearing. This makes it increasingly difficult to protect his vulnerable friends.
As the story progresses it also takes a startling turn, in which Cronos succeeds in taking over the world and reshaping it according to its ideals. The Guyvers are then labeled to the public as a "vanguard of alien invaders".
Characters
Shō Fukamachi (深町 晶, Fukamachi Shō)
The main protagonist of the series, Shō is seventeen years old and a second-year student at Narisawa high school. He has black hair and a slim build. He fights Cronos to protect his friends and family than from any need to see the enemy brought to justice. Had he not become host for a Guyver Unit, he would have happily continued in ignorance of Cronos. He cares deeply for Mizuki Segawa with the intensity of first love and Tetsuro Segawa, Mizuki's older brother, is his closest friend. As he is the host for the first Unit activated, he is known as "Guyver I".Tetsurō Segawa (瀬川 哲郎, Segawa Tetsurō)
A large-framed, chubby third-year student, Tetsuro is Shō's closest friend. He is highly intelligent and can think rapidly when he has to. He is a rabid science fiction fan and the leader of the sci-fi society in the school, which gives him the background knowledge to make numerous accurate guesses about the Guyver armor, Zoanoids and Cronos. He wears his hair short and has glasses.Mizuki Segawa (瀬川 瑞紀, Segawa Mizuki)
Mizuki is a typical schoolgirl. At the beginning of the story, she has a crush on Agito Makishima, but later begins to appreciate Shō more. She is somewhat short even for a Japanese girl, very slender and wears her hair in a page-boy cut that emphasizes her large eyes.Agito Makishima (巻島 顎人, Makishima Agito)
Agito is of medium build and muscular; he is a third-year student at the same high school the others attend, but looks older. Portrayed as an anti-hero, he almost never allows sentiment to stand in his way. He appears shrewd and calculating. At one point a candidate-member of the Cronos Elite, he is now viewed by them as a traitor. Even though he may have activated his Unit before Oswald A. Lisker, the second Guyver, he did not openly appear in his Guyver armor until after Lisker was eliminated and thus he was dubbed "Guyver III". Agito shows a frightening knowledge of what the Guyver can do throughout the series. After the Cronos conquest, Agito leads a resistance organization known as "Zeus No Ikazuchi" or "Zeus' Thunderbolts", as he plans to overthrow Cronos and steal their power (as the god Zeus did to his father, Cronos).Fumio Fukamachi (深町 史雄, Fukamachi Fumio)
Fumio is a widower and Shō's father, but almost nothing else is known about him. He is captured and used by Cronos as a guinea pig and turned into a Guyver-killer Zoanoid to entrap Shō. He ends up being killed by Guyver I in battle.Aptom (アプトム, Aputomu)
He is a battle creature that hunts down other Zoanoids created by Cronos (except Lost Numbers). By absorbing small amounts of DNA from other Zoanoids, he can replicate their forms and powers, as well as mix the attributes of several Zoanoids in one body. He can regenerate himself even if only small pieces of him are left. Since discovering this ability, he begins killing Zoanoids to take their powers and bio-matter in order to become the most powerful battle creature and becomes a renegade from Cronos. In time, he comes to ally himself with the Guyvers in various battles. Aptom was one of the lost number commandos along with his two compatriots, Somlum and Dyme, who were killed in battle with Guyver I. This leads Aptom to carry a vendetta against Shō. Over time, Aptom questions his own motives and considers Cronos' part in his suffering. He was originally developed as a Zoanoid with the ability to morph into different types of Zoanoids and possess the power of the types he morphs into, but the project failed and he became a Lost Number. Dr. Barcas was interested in Aptom's abilities and carried out further experiments on him. This freed Aptom from the mental control of the Zoalords and gave him the ability to rapidly evolve. Aptom also has other unexpected abilities, including the ability to regenerate himself even from the smallest remaining piece of his tissue and the ability to clone himself, each clone having its own consciousness. Throughout the story, he has gone through several different chosen forms after absorbing multiple Zoanoids. His human shape is of a muscular man with a distinctive scar that runs down the left side of his face from hairline to jaw. He often dresses in a leather jacket, jeans and sunglasses.Toshiaki Hayami / Bio-Freezer (速水利章 / バイオ·フリーザー, Hayami Toshiaki / Baio Furīzā)
One of Dr. Odagiri's assistants, and the one who manipulated security footage at the Relic's Point base to cover Agito Makishima sneeking Shō Fukamachi and Mizuki Segawa in. He is later the sole survivor of that group of scientists that escaped in the relic, along with the Segawa siblings and Agito Makishima's aids, after the destruction of the Relic's point base. The scientists were infected by a deadly virus as Cronos' means of keeping them under control. The only way to escape death is to be supplied with regular shots or to become Zoanoids. The only way to become a Zoanoid and yet not be slaves to the Zoalords is to become a Lost Number. Since supplies of the medicine were running out, they resorted to attempt to becoming Lost Numbers. Hayami was the only scientist that survived the process, becoming "Bio-Freezer". He possesses the unique power to affect the temperature of the environment around him to a certain extent. Aptom finds him and, once he realizes what Hayami is, brings him to meet the Guyvers and their friends. Unfortunately, later on his mission with Sho to save Aptom from the three rogue Zoa Lords, he sacrifices himself to save the latter, knowing that he was going to die anyway, due to flaws in the make-shift optimization process.Apollon (アポルオン, Aporuon)
A mysterious figure that has begun collecting Zoacrystals from the deceased Zoalords. He appears to wear a dark armor made from the same material as Guyver's control metal. He has demonstrated mind control, an ability only seen used by Uranus or Zoalord. He also mimicked Caerleon's self division by manipulation of 'unfolded space'. Dr Barcas has speculated that Apollon could be a vanguard of the Uranus. He also appears to be on a tight schedule. He is likely based upon apollyon. Even though the katakana is closer to Apollon, the kanji that is often used beside it is abyss.Cronos
Genzo Makishima (巻島 玄蔵, Makishima Genzō)
Director of Cronos' Japan Branch, he is in charge when the Japan Branch loses the Guyver Units. While initially one of the people in charge of developing new Zoanoids, Genzo has, unknown to him, fallen behind in this category as well once Dr. Barcas begins designing Hyper Zoanoids, Zoanoids of highly enhanced capabilities. His failures to retrieve the Units as well as come up with any significantly new Zoanoid designs results in Commander Richard Guyot relieving him of duty. Genzo is then used as a guinea pig for the new "Enzyme" Zoanoid prototype, a Zoanoid specifically designed to destroy the Guyver Armor by dissolving it with its acid. After he retrieves Guyver I's Control Metal in battle, he is ordered by Guyot to self-destruct when the dissolving Guyver I attacks Enzyme.Oswald A. Lisker (オズワルド·Α·リスカー, Ozuwarudo Ēi Risukā)
A Cronos agent, or as he describes himself to Shō, "an inspector from Cronos HQ". Lisker was in Japan to supervise the transfer of the inactive Guyver Units to Cronos headquarters and was considerably annoyed to discover Makishima had managed to lose them. When one damaged unit was recovered, he insisted on taking a look at it and involuntarily became its host. As the second known activated Unit, he was called "Guyver II". A man vain of both looks and martial arts skills, he decided to take on the task of retrieving the Unit Shō had bonded with. His Control Metal, which had been damaged when the Unit was initially lost, malfunctioned under the stress of combat. Shō took advantage of his weakened state and struck the metal, causing further malfunction. The control metal burst out of his head and the organism that made up the armor began to consume Lisker's body. Shō then used his Mega-Smasher to put him out of his misery. Lisker is tall, with curly blond hair.Zoalords
Manga volumes
- The Unit called "G"
- Cronos
- Murakami's Secret
- Aptom's Menace
- The 12 Lords
- Guyot's Counterattack
- The Menace of the Remover
- A New Beginning
- Guyver Gigantic
- The 13th Lord
- The Living Ark
- Archanfel's Island
- Gigantic Dark
- Final Match
- The Return of the Guyver
- Purg'stall's Attack
- His Name is Libertus
- Imakarum's Awakening
- To the Abyss
- Evil Aptom
- Revenge
- The Dark Kingdom's Rebirth
- The Real Face of Divinity
- Aptom's Return
- The Draglord's Attack
- Reid of the Valkyria
- Beginning of Calamity
- Gigantomakhia
- The Unexpected Guests
- On the Isle of Mysterious
- Yoke of Fate
- Colossi of the Darkness
Anime
Guyver: Out of Control
Guyver: Out of Control is a 1986 short horror original video animation based on the manga. It was released in the U.S. and Canada in 1993 by L.A. Hero under the Dark Image Entertainment label. It has since been out of print in North America. The story follows high school students Shō Fukamachi and Mizuki Segawa who accidentally discover one of three Bio Booster Armor units stolen from the Chronos Corporation. When Shō and Mizuki are attacked by a Zoanoid, the unit comes into contact with Shō and bonds with him, transforming him into Guyver I and promptly destroying the Zoanoid assailant. Meanwhile, a female Chronos agent named Valcuria acquires a second unit and becomes Guyver II. She then abducts Mizuki in order to challenge Shō for the Guyver I unit. On Anime News Network, Justin Sevakis called it an "extremely dated piece of pulp that still somehow manages to be fun".