Bastard!!

Original Title: バスタード!! - 暗黒の破壊神
Romanized: Basutaado!! - Ankoku no Hakaijin
Literal: Bastard!! - God of Destruction of the Darkness

Plot Synopsis

The peaceful kingdom of Meta-Rikana is under attack by the forces of evil--four dark lords, bent on summoning Ansla-Sax, a god of destruction. The only hope is for a young magician-in-training, Yoko, to cast an ancient spell intended to summon the black magician Dark Schneider, banished from this world 15 years ago in a fierce battle with the forces of light (actually, he was leading the same guys who're now attacking the kingdom again). Well, the spell works; the problem is that not only is Dark Schneider only willing to take on his former buddies and army for kicks, but he's also equally renowned for his skills in both magic and womanizing. It'll take all the tricks up Dark Schneider's sleeves (when he's wearing any) to stop those pesky forces of darkness... when he's not too busy hitting on Yoko or Princess Sheena, that is.

Quick Review

Rating: 3 / 5
Reviewer: Marc
Review Date: 2004-10-31

Bastard!! is an interesting take on gritty fantasy sprinkled with comedy, but it's a mixed bag. On the up side, there's lots of drama, plenty of action (nearly half of each episode is an extended battle laced with drama and flashbacks), some quality tongue-in-cheek comedy, and it's a good looking series. On the down side, it shifts moods from funny to serious too abruptly, it's a bit sleazy for my taste, the characters are underestablished, and most of the subplots feel like afterthoughts. On the whole, it falls somewhere between a randy parody of the fantasy genre and a reasonably interesting, if somewhat scattered, take on it.

For fans of the comic, the anime will probably be a real treat--sort of an attractive highlight reel--and fans of magical action or low-brow comedy will probably have a ball too. On its own, it's enjoyable, but is too uneven to be anything particularly memorable.

US DVD Review

The DVD is a rather nice one; it includes all six episodes at a reasonable price, plus a sharp video transfer and two reasonably good stereo audio tracks. The animated menus provide access to some cel art, but there isn't much else to speak of. There was also a limited edition at one point, which consisted of the same DVD packaged with a Dark Schneider action figure.

Content Guide

Pretty raunchy, and Geneon appropriately rated it 16+.

Violence: 4 - Most of it isn't terribly graphic, but there are a couple of gory scenes.

Nudity: 3 - A fair amount of exposed flesh in episodes 3 and 4, and Dark Schneider ends up naked several times through the series.

Sex/Mature Themes: 2 - Not much, but scattered adult humor and mature themes.

Language: 3 - Dark Schneider doesn't use the cleanest language.

Notes and Trivia

Based on a very long running comic book series (in fact, still going in some form as of 2006) by Kazushi Hagiwara. It's available in English from VIZ, and is apparently very good, or at least better than the animated version.

A note about names: Many of the names in Bastard!! have been translated into English more than one way, causing some confusion, and I've gotten several complaints. Rushe or Luche is one case, Bon Jovina or Von Jobina another, and Meta-Rikana or Meta-Likana (or even Metalicana) is a third. The names in this review are the versions used in the official US release, but since there isn't exactly a correct way to transcribe Japanese into English (there is no distinction between an "L" and an "R" in Japanese, for example), any of the versions are correct in their own right.

A second note about names: Many of the names in Bastard!! were, shall we say, inspired by heavy metal bands. It doesn't take much imagination to see how Metalicana could have come from a certain band, and it isn't much of a stretch to get Bon Jobina from Bon Jovi. Use your imagination (and listen closely to all those spells) for lots more...

Finally, a side-note: A handful of AAW readers from our very early days might remember that I had posted a less than positive look at the first couple of episodes of the dub, and the reader comments showed that this was not taken well by Bastard!! fans. Much later I got my hands on the DVD, and this review reflects having carefully watched all six subtitled episodes (twice, in fact).

Availability

Available in the US from Geneon on hybrid DVD. Formerly available on three subtitled or dubbed volumes.

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