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| Overall | Art | Animation | Character Design | Music | Series Story | Episode Story | Reviewer | |
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| Rent | 8 | 7 | 8 | 6 | 7 | 7 |
 Ggultra2764
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[series:386#1552] |
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Bastard proved to be some fun stuff thanks to its main protagonist: a cocky man by the name of Dark Schneider. He's certainly not your usual run-of-the mill hero. He's a lecherous, foul-mouthed, self-centered yet lovable jerk of a man who likes pressing the buttons of those he encounters in his clashes with the Four Lords of Havoc. Adding even more hilarity to the mix is how the man and his allies break the fourth dimension by making mention that it is always the heroes who win the battles hinting that they perhaps know they are in an anime series. Even the baddies prove to have just as a big an ego and tend to get irritated by Dark Schneider's big ego. The series is immersed in a Dungeons and Dragons-type scenario with some cheesy melodrama thrown in with the comedy. A number of characters get a decent amount of depth exploring how they were raised and came to cross paths in the past with Dark Schneider. The OAV even has some good-looking artwork and character designs. However, story and character details are some major issues with this series. Story flow felt a bit shaky at times as there were aspects to the plot left unexplored such as how the Four Lords of Havoc came together and how they got their demon army. There were other characters that even lacked depth, especially in the case of Abigail. Kall-Su's past was hinted at in a flashback in the final episode yet left unexplored. In addition, the series was left open-ended. Six episodes just wasn't enough to explore every nook and cranny of the world of Bastard. Otherwise if you're in for an action-comedy title, Bastard is worth killing three hours of time to watch. Just don't go expecting a deep exploration of the world in which the series takes place in. Last updated Friday, May 22 2009. Created Friday, May 22 2009. | ||||||||
| Rent | 6 | 7 | 7 | 6 |
 Big Fire
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[series:386#2441] | ||
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This story was silly. The mighty dark schnieder trapped in a kid? I like the all powerful thing, but this was just wierd. So the dude is stuck in a kid, gets freed by the damsel, who then in turn gets catptured by the bad guys...Who also happen to be Schneiders old buddies...Seems like this is a buy for many...But i would not add this to my collection...
Last updated Tuesday, February 05 2008. Created Tuesday, February 05 2008. | ||||||||
| Buy | 8 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 8 | 8 |
 Iceman_Aragorn
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[series:386#1517] |
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Honestly, Dark Schnieder is what this show is all about. It's really a very cool show, set in a crusades-era setting, with castles and hordes and kings and knights. Dark Schneider was sealed inside some boy, who has to be kissed by a virgin to release Schneider. But why would you want to release an evil wizard capable of ripping apart the world at the seams? Well, to sic him on a group of 4 other powerful beings who wanted to continue Shnieder's work: summoning a super-demon to destroy the world. Needless to say, the 4 are a bit confused why he's on the good-guy side, especially since he still acts like the same bad-@$$ prick he always was (he's a good guy because he's stil "half"-Rushe (the boy) who loves Yoko. Anyways, he fights all four of them in sequence, revealing their back stories as he goes. Sounds pretty normal so far, right? Well, the thing that makes this series so worth watching, despite the gratuitous nudity here and there, is Dark Schneider. He is one of the coolest characters you'll ever see. He's basically an evil good guy, but his character is just helariously cruel and arrogant to the point where you can't help but love him. also, the fact that he JUST WON'T DIE seems to make his character all the funnier. The action was also good, though the comedy was often a bit lacking. I liked the series in general, but even if you don't like it, you can't help but love Dark Schneider. It'd be a watch at worst, in the latter case. Last updated Tuesday, October 04 2005. Created Tuesday, October 04 2005. | ||||||||
| Buy |
 Anonymous #1479
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[series:386#1479] | ||||||
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I liked it. Was entertaining
Last updated Thursday, July 08 2004. Created Thursday, July 08 2004. | ||||||||
| Buy |
 Stretch
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[series:386#628] | ||||||
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(Buy-; it is a short series after all, and thus relatively affordable) Whereas critic Christian Nutt at "AnimeJump!" found the first two episodes of Bastard!! to be "boring", but described the later episodes as "comedy gold", Jason Huff at "The Anime Review" felt "it starts off better than it finishes". Just goes to show you what an exact science reviewing anime is. I tend to lean towards Nutt's conclusion, but I would substitute the word "average" for "boring" to describe the first two or three episodes. I also must reluctantly agree with Carlos Ross at "THEM Anime Reviews", who concluded that "it should've been a classic". No, Bastard!! as a whole isn't quite a classic (due in part to the dilution of the references to heavy metal bands) but surely some of the individual episodes are! My favorite is number four, in which Schneider takes on a vampire with an attitude. Speaking of attitudes, don't let me forget to mention that it's Schneider's own personality, a sort of lovable A-hole, that is one of the best things about this series. As for the question of whether he (and Bastard!! in general) are better in sub or dub, I think my vote will go with subtitled mode. I liked the wording of the one-liners better in this form, and Schneider seemed to have more sarcasm to him-- then again, maybe I'm prejudiced because I watched that form first. Watching the dubbed version was fun too, especially since Gara has the voice of Spike Spiegel and Yoko has that of Faye Valentine. I did notice English voices sometimes speaking while the charachter's mouths were still. When it comes to choosing between sub and dub, which would you prefer: "Impossible!"(sub) or "Oh shit!" (dub)? Another classic episode would be number five--I think I finally understand what "melodrama" really is as a result of watching it.* And then there's the concluding episode, which had me saying to myself "This is so crazy!". Bastard!! is a neat story, worth buying just for the classic scenes contained within it (That's what I did, after watching a rented copy). The ED song, "Monochrome Trouble", Rocks (and I hear the translation of the original Japanese version was left out for good reason: "The chain around your neck was a mess. I fixed it with my tongue"...). *Melodrama: A work (as a movie or play) charachterized by extravagant theatricality and by the predominance of plot and physical action over charachterization. Last updated Tuesday, February 05 2008. Created Friday, June 11 2004. | ||||||||
| Buy | 7 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 6 |
 Kendo
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[series:386#697] |
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Bastard!! is a thoroughly entertaining anime, if you like that sort of thing. It draws a lot from heavy metal and from what appears to be a D&D campaign gone horribly, but hilariously, wrong. The humor is off-beat at best, but for those who appreciate quirky humor, grandiose dialogue, and outreageously stupid motivation, you can't get much better than Bastard!! The main character, Dark Schneider, wants to rule the world, his motivation being that he can kill all the men and have every beautiful woman in the world all to himself. DS is a big jerk and a pervert, but I have seldom seen a character with so much charisma. Bastard!! is fairly disjointed, I'll admit, being based off a very long running manga series (worth the reading if you don't mind the ocassional semi-detailed full frontal and the fact that DS will sleep with just about any breathing female) Although the majority of it is hilarious (and well dubbed, for a shocker), some elements of the story are out of place, and the tragedy doesn't always work well with the screwball comedy. But, it could have been much worse, and is still quite enjoyable, if it's to your taste. Last updated Monday, December 29 2003. Created Monday, December 29 2003. | ||||||||
| Rent | 7 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 7 |
 Jan-Chan
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[series:386#967] | |
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At some point, anime can be so bad that it actually transcends itself and emerges as a something that can be considered a cult-classic. Well, time will judge this series, but Bastard is one of those animes that you will either love or hate, with very little middle ground. I enjoyed this series (as did one of my 14year old friends), but just dont expect anything but cheesy over-dramatized dialogue, spoken by preposterous and exaggerated characters. It is that this series does not even try to pretend to try to take itself seriously, which allows it to be so playful and outlandish. I feel that the scriptwriters of Bastard were having so much fun telling a story, that they did not even bother trying pretending to be a parody or ripoff of any other series. At some point, you just have to watch it and decide yourself if Bastard is a treasure or a bomb. I will give it a RENT+ rating, with the understanding that there are those who might enjoy the story and want to buy this DVD. ................(10/03) Last updated Tuesday, May 26 2009. Created Monday, October 06 2003. | ||||||||
| Avoid | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 |
 Anonymous #1012
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[series:386#1012] |
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hmmmm i was very very disappointed in this movie. it was a bad anime. i cant believe i wasted my time downloading it. it was poor, only thing I liked was the character Dark Schneider.
Last updated Monday, October 06 2003. Created Monday, October 06 2003. | ||||||||
| Watch | 6 | 6 | 3 | 5 | 5 |
 Greg Bread
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[series:386#763] | |
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I didn't expect much from bastard when I started watching it so I can't say that I'm disappointed. 4 lords of destruction wish to revive the super-lord of destruction so they can destroy the world and create a utopia of sorcerors. Only one things can stop them now! Dark schneider! The macho egotistical mostly insensitive super-powerful sorcerer and your stereo-typical anti-hero. Thats basically the plot and theres not many surprises along the way. None of the characters r remotely realistic, The females have huge breasts and only dress half-way and the male characters are bulging with muscles. Its nothing that I haven't seen before and it wouldn't bother me if any of the characters had depth. One of the stupidest scenes I saw in this series : This guy gets impaled through his abdomen by an object 3 inches in diameter after getting his arm completelty ripped off and then stands up after the boss has been defeated 10 minutes later and laughs. Like cmon I understand this is a fantasy story but they could at least made some of these scenes believable. The story is imcomplete and leaves room for a sequel so we really never see what happens in the end. On the plus side there is some good action in here but not good enough to warrant a rental. Last updated Thursday, June 12 2003. Created Thursday, June 12 2003. | ||||||||
| Watch | 8 | 7 | 8 | 0 | 6 | 5 |
 kakyuu_prince
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[series:386#404] |
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This was disappointing. I had heard that it was hysterical and a shame they had only made a short OVA. I only liked Dark Schneider and that girl with the pointy ears near the end (I can't even remember her name). Yoko (I think that was her name) was annoying and all the nudity was annoying and common. The story just jumps from episode to episode with no real sort of connection between them, what was with the episode with the guy who needed to suck young virgins' blood? First he rips their shirts off, sucks their blood and then plops them onto the floor, I thought it was completely ridiculous and just an excuse to show some random anime girl's chest. That stuff that ate away at Yoko's clothes too while she was chained up, is this turning into a hentai or something? The only real high point was Dark Schneider's dialougue, but even then I've heard that Pioneer censored a lot of his bad language. I've only watched Bastard! once and unless I have absolutely NOTHING else to do one day, I probably won't watch it again.
Last updated Sunday, October 13 2002. Created Sunday, October 13 2002. | ||||||||
| Buy | 7 | 8 | 7 | 0 | 7 |
 Midnighter
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[series:386#94] | |
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Bastard!! (with two exclamation points...ooooh!) was quite enjoyable. I tend to not like "Sword and Sorcery" stuff, but Bastard!! plays more like a parody of S&S convention than a serious attempt at it. Seemingly influenced by Heavy Metal magazine, Bastard!! is imaginitive and darkly funny. The first episode is rather weak, serving only to introduce the cast, but once everyone is assembled, things move along at a near manic pace, not just poking fun at S&S but STABBING fun at it. Much of the humor is sexually oriented, though, which may turn some veiwers off, which is unfortunate. Dark himself is a wonderful character, managing to be immediately likeable despite being...well, a Bastard. Yes he's a sexist pig, yes he's power mad, arrogant, conceited and at times nasty, but he has a charisma and charm to him that makes us like him anyway. This ability to have Dark play both hero and villian equally well is a major reason why Bastard!! is a success. The dialogue is wonderfully cheesy, and the dub is possibly the best I've heard, particularly Dark's voice actor. It takes serious talant to pull off the some of the lines, and Bastard!! does it. It's also fun to pick out the references to various crappy heavy metal bands, using the "Japanglish" pronunciation to avoid copyright infringement, I suppose. I honestly don't really remember the music, so I chose not to evaluate it, but if it was so unmemorable, how great could it be? The 6 parts tend to be episodic, with status quo generally returning at the end, something I dislike, but the cast comes back togeather at the end in a touch of continuity. The plot is fairly convoluted at times, almost choking itself by introducing shattering events and then not addressing them, i.e. Dark's miraculous resurrections, but these lack of explanations, while disappointing, aren't really frustrating and are easily forgiven. Overall, nothing about Bastard!! is really bad, so I give it a buy. It's good points are many, and it is consistantly entertaining and funny. Not for all tastes, but amusing for most, I think. 2-26-02 Last updated Wednesday, October 09 2002. Created Tuesday, February 26 2002. | ||||||||
