4 out of 5

So… this is the last of the Guyver material that has, so far, been published in English.  To which I say balls, my good man, as my English-speaking self knows the story gets super awesomely awesome from here on out – thanks, anime – and then there have been several years worth of books that go beyond what I know, which is just… tantalizing.  And frustrating.  And balls.

Armageddon isn’t quite the event of its title, but it’s pretty damn close.  A lot of big ol’ stuff goes down, with our guyvers exploring the relic, big bad Alkanphel exploding things, and Aptom being a huge, frikkin’ bastard.  Takaya’s slow trickle of lore keeps the book edging toward bigger and cooler concepts, and he continues his skill with one-upping his zoanoids with new powers and abilities that make them perpetual threats.  Still, you kinda roll your eyes when Gyro or Zektoll tries another round of “let me blast this guy with an even BIGGER laser,” and then walks away like their foe is dead, because its worked so well every other time…  But overall, the goofy fight dramatics are part of Guyver’s over-the-top appeal, and this volume has a great mix of forward momentum in both story and action.

Special shoutout to token female Mizuki: every character gets a little blurb on the bio page about how cool or scary they are, while Mizuki’s bio is one line about how Sho rescued her from bad guys.  Like, not even her bio is really about her.  Feminism for the win…