The Movie:
I pretty much summed up my feelings about the Guyver anime series in my review for The Guyver: Bio-Booster Armor Vol. 1, and the quality of the audio/video presentation and extras are the same. Volume 2 continues with the next and final six episodes of the series that continue the story of Sho, the teen who is empowered by the alien bio-armor Guyver, and his battles against Chronos, the evil international organization who breed vicious monsters called Zoanoids and want the Guyver armor back for their own nefarious needs. The Guyver series features some slick animation, a preponderance of violence, gore, and action, and battle scenes galore. There is just enough plot and storyline to keep one relatively interested, but the series lacks depth, characterization, or any truly memorable aspects that you might find in better examples of the genre. Those who simply want to wallow in the action/adventure elements of the series will definitely get their money's worth - after all, who can resist the charm of humans changing form into monstrous creatures, fangs and all, or every boy's fantasy of suddenly being able to tap a source of nearly infinite power? There are shades of comic-book mythology here, with influences clearly felt from Spider-Man, Captain Marvel, and The Incredible Hulk. But for all the sound and fury, there's not that much under the hood. I moderately enjoyed watching the series in its entirety, but after watching The Guyver: Bio-Booster Armor Vol. 2 very little of the plot or characters stayed with me.

The episodes included on this DVD are as follows:

Data 7 - The Battle Begins
Data 8 - The Last Unit
Data 9 - Transformation Tragedy
Data 10 - Haunted Village
Data 11 - The Beastmaster
Data 12 - Reactivation

The DVD

Video:
I have to admit: the made-for-television video looks very good. Framed in a 1.33:1 aspect ratio, the video presentation looks fairly sharp. Colors are strong and vibrant, a definite plus when presenting animation on DVD. Images are displayed with good clarity, with solid contrasts and sharp detail, although edge-enhancement creeps up somewhat frequently. Tell-tale compression noise is also visible. Overall, the image is sharp and pleasant, better preserved than one might imagine.

Audio:
The original Japanese soundtrack is included, as well as an English dub. The Japanese 2.0 soundtrack sounds confined and limited. It lacks any real expansion or directional effects, with a slightly hollow quality that detracts from the audio experience. While this can be easily written off as "par-for-the-course" for made-for-TV material (and indeed, one cannot reasonably expect an audio experience on par with that of, say, the DTS track on Saving Private Ryan), with so much bombastic action occurring on-screen one can only dream of a more immersive soundstage.

On the other hand, the English soundtrack is presented in both Dolby Digital 5.1 and 2.0. It goes without saying that if you are not listening to the original language, you are shortchanging yourself – the English dub is pretty awful. That having been said, the English 2.0 track sounds slightly better than Japanese, with clearer dialog and slightly deeper fidelity. The 5.1 channel opens up the mix even more, with aggressive activity booming from the surrounds and LFE channel. While this definitely improved the audio experience, the 5.1 audio isn't as enveloping as one would hope. Surround channels basically analog the center channel audio, with some slight ambient and background noise. There is very little in terms of directional or discrete effects – basically two channels of audio are unevenly split over five. It's a workable track, but you're better off listening to the Japanese audio.

Extras:
The Guyver: Bio-Booster Armor Vol. 2 comes with a few nice extras that are sure to please Guyver fans. The Japanese Version of Data 12: Reactivation is included for those who would like to see how the original version of the final episode differs from the American version. Zoanoid Data Files contains short video descriptions of several of the main characters, Zoanoids, and Guyvers that appear in the series. The Original Japanese Intros detail the alternative opening title sequences for the Japanese version of the show. Photo Gallery showcases nine still shots from the series.

The Manga Extras section is divided into four sub-sections. Manga Video Previews features trailers to other Manga Video titles, including Virus: Virus Buster Serge, Rayearth, Black Jack: A Surgeon with the Hands of God, X, Ghost in the Shell, and Ninja Scroll. Manga DVD Catalogue contains stills and synopses for twenty-five of Manga's titles. Merchandise and Catalog Info is a short video that showcases some of Manga's available titles (on both video and DVD) as well as some of their available merchandies. Finally, Web Links contains hyperlinks to the home pages for Manga Video, Sputnik 7, and Palm Pictures.

Final Thoughts:
While I can't say that The Guyver: Bio-Booster Armor Vol. 2 ranks in the upper echelon of anime I've experienced, it certainly delivers in terms of action and intense battle scenes. The DVD is definitely worthwhile for fans of the series: with nearly three hours of series content plus extras, fans will get some serious value out of the disc. Anime fans who are new to the series should definitely give this one a rental first, while those new to the world of Japanese animation would be better served elsewhere.