Fifteen years ago, Dark Schneider, a ruthless magician of immeasurable power, sought to conquer the world with an army led by his generals, the Four Divine Kings. However, he was defeated and sealed in the body of a newborn boy.
In the present day, the disbanded party of Dark Schneider has reformed with a macabre goal: to resurrect Anthrasax—the god of destruction that nearly annihilated the world four centuries ago—and establish a war-free society. To do so, the Four Divine Kings must break four seals located in four different kingdoms.
Targeted for its seal, the kingdom of Metallicana struggles to repel the army commanded by the Four Divine Kings. With hope dwindling, all eyes turn to the daughter of Metallicana's Grand Priest, Yoko Tia Noto. Not only is she aware that her adopted younger brother, Lucien Renlen, is Dark Schneider's prison of flesh, but she also knows the ritual to break the seal. Left with no other choice, Yoko successfully releases Dark Schneider, whose twisted personality has not changed over the years. As the fate of the world depends on where his allegiance lies, Yoko seems to be the only person who has some control over the powerful magician. But convincing Dark Schneider to turn against his old allies and protect those Yoko holds dear may prove to be an impossible feat.
[Written by MAL Rewrite]
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Comentários
MicahDarkFantasy
Personally, I love this! It is definitely my cup of tea and a breath of fresh air when it comes to adapting a manga into an anime. The title says it all, "Heavy Metal, Dark Fantasy". It's a sign that it's either gonna be something that won't be for everyone's taste, or it will be something that some people will more than likely enjoy. In my opinion, this anime definitely lives up to the title and I enjoyed every single episode from beginning to end. Dark Schneider is an excellent character and the other characters are what you might expect in an anime taking place in amedieval dark fantasy world where magic exists.
The fanservice didn't bother me that much and most of the "ecchi" moments are mostly in the end credits and a few are played for laughs. I've been excited for this anime ever since it was announced, and... I got exactly what I came for.
I love the story, the art style, the action scenes, the characters, and that kickass OP. If you're expecting a dark fantasy compared to the likes of Berserk and Attack on Titan... you might not take anything about this anime seriously.
But if you want a highly enjoyable dark fantasy anime with an edgelord protagonist and a story with heavy metal vibes, this anime is for you!
I loved this!
danilsty
If you are fan of the manga, or the OVA from the ‘90s, you might already know what this anime is all about. If you don’t, welcome to the world of “Bastard!!”! It is a dark fantasy set in a post-apocalyptic world chocked full of mythical creatures, psychedelic battles, power fantasy, and ECCHI; imagine Berserk meets InuYasha meets D&D, but horny. WHAT I LIKE: I am a big fan of the Kaifuku Jutsushi no Yarinaoshi manga, so it doesn’t come as a surprise that I like the perverted nature of this anime. FAN SERVICE IS LIFE! This, and Kaifuku, are borderline hentai; and I love that (pleasedon’t cancel me).
The first season is a pretty faithful adaptation given that it was written by the famous Yōsuke Kuroda (who wrote/co-wrote for series like Goblin Slayer, Mobile Suit Gundam 00, Hellsing Ultimate, Drifters, etc), but if you have read the manga by Kazushi Hagiwara in the ‘80s, you know that things are way more apeshit in there.
On a different note, the bad boy attitude of the MC does somehow appealed to me; I personally hate timid, indecisive MCs. They are kinda frustrating, and at times, annoying (here’s looking at you, Subaru of Re:Zero)
WHAT I DISLIKE: There are some goofy cinematography in there that might take you out of the immersion for a bit. For instance, there was a shot-reverse shot between the MC’s reaction and a villain lunging towards him while yelling his name. I don’t know if that was made for comedic purpose, or there was a budget cut in the middle of the production. 😂
Other than that, I was a tad bit disappointed because the anime tried to tone down on the horniness of the original material; you should just go all the way, brother!
MY REVIEW ON IG: https://www.instagram.com/p/Cfds1FJlGYw/
Rydawg04
I love this show It's basically if you take 80's metal album covers and gave them a story full of lewdness, violence, and a main character that solos every verse with gigchad energy alone As a metal head and anime fan this anime is 10 out of 10 Dark Schneider is what the red pill guy think they are but they will never be anywhere near the level of Chad energy that is Dark Schneider and the opening is the greatest anime opening of recent memory The story is bat shit insane if you like the metal life style you'll enjoy this The art and animation are greattoo
The show is call Bastard heavy metal Dark fantasy the Dark fantasy part feels like it could be replaced with just fantasy and make more sense the show can be Dark but the comedy and fan service keep me from saying it's a true Dark fantasy
This show is for you if you like: If you like metal, If you like lewdness, If you like violence, If you like old school DnD.
kaiser_the_2nd
This adaptation of Bastard isn't what you think it is. You might be looking at the title HEAVY METAL, DARK FANTASY and reading other reviews and expecting it to be the animated version of a Frank Frazetta painting with Rhapsody blasting in the background but no, that's not what you're in for. What Bastard actually is, as funny as it may sound, is a dull, slow anime with extremely standard violence compared to other "violent" shows and constant fanservice that isn't even that explicit. This isn't that CONTROVERSIAL ANIME with SEX AND VIOLENCE that you heard about. In fact there's almost no sex at all, justgroping.
But enough about that, let's talk about the technical aspects, shall we? For starters, the pacing is horrendous. You'll have many episodes where barely anything happens at all, with the characters standing still and occasionally casting a band reference spell. Sometimes we'll also have the old "characters have a very slow fight while someone watching comments on it" trope too. How exciting. How METAL.
The writing isn't anything special, but it doesn't try to be. Not being "deep" or "well written" isn't exactly the problem here, however. The problem is the writing fails miserably to make the flow of the show exciting. As I've said before when talking about pacing, this show drags a lot, and the writing doesn't help at all. The characters are dull and don't do much except for commenting in the current event. Most of them are just bland allies or enemies who eventually turn into allies or die after the most mid fighting scene you'll ever see.
The animation is... decent. It suffers from the dull plastic look a lot of modern anime does tho, but it doesn't actively bothers me. The choreography of the fights is what drags the animation down, as a lot of it is just boring and doesn't have much happening. You'll have decently well made effects of fire and magic and lightning and whatever the fuck while nothing exciting happens or the characters exchange a boring dialogue.
The music is, as par for the course, isn't jaw dropping either. Sounds like non-copyrighted 80s/90s power metal as you'd expect. It is pretty disappointing still, as something with a huge metal motif should at least try to stand out for its music and not just name dropping metal bands for attacks and locations.
In all, Bastard is bad, but not even the type of bad that would turn around into fun, it's just boring and not fun at all after the few first episodes where you realize it's going nowhere else. It sells itself as some hardcore badass metal show, but doesn't even have the balls to show nipples or real gore. Like I said, this isn't Rhapsody or Blind Guardian. Hell, it's not even Manowar.
Speech500
A major selling point of this anime is the abundance of rippling abs and the flocks of women breasting boobily about. But sexy anime characters don't appeal to me, so I was only sticking around for the schlock. And there's plenty of schlock here. It's got that unashamed old school corniness to it. Insanely dumb in an endearing way. The first episode was a joy to watch, the second was fun, and the third was okay. By the eighth, the fun had worn off and I wasn't sure why I was still watching. The production value was... better than this show deserved. Surprisingly pretty animation,lovely use of light and colour. Great music, memorable and distinct character designs. I listened in English and I was happy with the dub. On the down side, the characters were weak and the plot bounced around like a pinball. It was badly written, but self-aware enough to be entertaining.
This is probably a show that would have benefitted from a weekly release. It's simple enough to remember across a season, and releasing one episode a week would have kept the silliness from getting stale.
Overall I give it a 5/10. Not good, not bad.
Barry_McKokiner
I coomed in my tighty whities upon hearing the music for this show. Thorough entertainment and fun throughout this series. Very suprised how good the animation and sound was. Havn't binged watched a anime like this in a while. People constantly describing really obvious things that is going on /about to happen in the fight from the sideline like a sports commentator is the only small gripe i had. The fan service i found hilarious and the Dark Schneider / Lucien personalities mixed is quite funny relating to tia noto. This isn't going to open your third eye or make you thinkreally hard about the plot but it definetly does not deserve a low 7. If your on the fence i would highly recommend it if you have netflix already.
SalarymanRambles
Usually I can't stomach stories of overpowered demon lord with a harem featuring a fanservice parade. I'm shocked by how much fun I had with this. It dawned on me that this is what all those countless "resurrected demon lord" shows (along with most Isekais) try and fail to imitate. TL DR: it's KonoSuba parodying Berserk instead of Isekais. To the point it almost feels like this is what inspired KonoSuba. Except this isn't as fanservice heavy and does have a linear shonen plot that drives the story instead of the slice of life narrative. I went in blind. I knew nothing of the story and myonly frame of reference were Kentaro Miura (Berserk) and Yoshihiro Togashi (HxH) praising it. And with the first half of the first episode I honestly expected a dark Berserk like story. Never expected it to be such a great comedy.
The humor is perfectly executed. Generic explanations about magic will take place, only for characters to turn around and say, "Ugh, that's such a cliché.". And despite building a harem, he never really gets his way, ends up being rescued by his damsels when he's distressing, as well as always being humorously blocked each time he's about to consummate.
And the spots where plot takes over and serious drama of the story takes center stage, it's actually compelling. It didn't feel like it was the B story, which is the case in most of the OP MC stories these days; they "have" plots but none of it matters since those shows are only about stringing together scenes of our invincible protagonist easily winning.
And, that brings me to my next point. As overpowered and legendarily strong our self described "Handsome protagonist hero" is, he doesn't simply win easily. He has glaring weaknesses he has to navigate. That all makes the difference since it always does cast an intrigue of how he'll manage to win. That all makes the fights be entertaining.
CONS:
The only criticisms to me would be how the satirical tone wasn't fully set until episode 3 or so, so I could easily see people being annoyed with it after a couple of episodes. That, and also, it clearly didn't have the biggest of budgets or the most dedicated of directors. Also, the main girl Yoko did have a schtick that got old really quick.
Won't ramble on beyond this. It's incredibly funny. One of the most fun series I've seen in a while. And one of the most catchy opening songs I've heard in a while as well.
ThatAnimeSnobRE
Disclaimer: Most of what I wrote ended up being a comparison to the older version, since on its own the current Bastard is nothing special, just another action show in a sea of action shows. The 90s OVAs on the other hand were special. Not only they came out at a time when sakuga was rare in the medium, they also did the smart thing and trimmed the fat, leaving only the juiciest parts. There was a lot of crap in the source material that is simply not fun to read. The more faithful new adaptation carried over those bits, and as a result wegot an average action schlock show that most will ignore or will be annoyed by, because of the horndog protagonist. And now for a more detailed breakdown.
The previous adaptation of Bastard was one of the first anime OVAs I had watched on VHS during the late 90s and at the time it was the best thing ever. Fast paced, non-stop epic action, hot babes, amazing animation, cool characters, anti-hero protagonist, a captivating post-apocalyptic fantasy setting inspired by D&D, Jojo-esque references to heavy metal names, and a very basic but functional plot that both embraces cheesy fantasy stories while also making fun of them. It was schlock, don’t assume I thought it was a masterpiece or something, but it was the best possible schlock of its time.
The new adaptation is far more faithful to the manga it was based on (yes, I have read it) with far more polished artwork and a super cool opening song (the previous version lacked one). It still lacks the best thing the older version had, which was the skipping of the secondary fights. You see, in the manga every big boss had several underlings who would get their own mini arcs and battles. Those parts were just stalling the final showdowns, meaning the most spectacular parts. The 90s OVA said ‘screw it’ and ignored them completely, focusing only the highlights. The new version doesn’t do that and as a result most of the episodes became a dull waiting game for when these useless mini bosses will be defeated and the big bad will finally make his move. It just wasn’t the same.
Along with that came another big issue many others had with the show, and that is the constant sexual harassment scenes. Schneider is a horndog, that cannot change, but too much of something becomes a detriment. He constantly grabs tits and ass during the lesser fights. Since the 90s OVAs skipped those parts they also removed most of those scenes, so he doesn’t come off as THAT much of a creep. Also people nowadays are offended way easier and having dozens of molestation scenes in a row only manages to multiply the negative backlash, so again, removing them altogether was the best move.
Something I noticed people defending in those lesser episodes was the importance of world-building. Although the anime is mostly a mindless action flick it also has its share of lore and flashbacks which can make you appreciate it more for not being generic warrior archetypes in a generic setting. So yes, a more faithful adaptation fleshes out the world and the cast much better. The issue is, it did it at the expense of the pacing, it had a lot more tasteless molestation, and it felt dull since you were just waiting for the big bad to come in and for the real battle to begin. Let’s also be honest, nobody gives a shit about the story in such types of anime. You only want to see action and hot babes. Several dull episodes that exist just to fill your brain with lore are just out of place, thus entertainment-wise they were a detriment.
Lore and molestations stuff aside, the new version is also not as cool as the older version. It doesn’t have the same super-cool hand-drawn sakuga animation, spell incantations lack the impact of the older version, and in general everyone moves in a more stiff way because newer technologies use android animation and CGI that tends to make everything feel plastic and robotic. All that took away most of the cool factor and the result is a rather average-looking action flick.
Maurits
You don't watch this anime for the story. You watch it for the fanservice. Whether you like men or women, you'll be served. That said, content warnings for dubcon and incest. (Minor spoiler: A male character has an adopted daughter that he has also had sex with when she was an adult.) I was planning to give this show a 6/10, but the last episode did some great things with character development, which bumped it up to 7/10. Only in that last episode does the story truly get interesting. Before that, Dark Schneiders pecs are carrying the anime. Also, for my fellow leftists... The story isfilled with capitalist realism. If you are allergic to bad ideology, skip this anime.
Wolfie219
I haven't been this satisfied with an anime in such a long while. Most of the things I saw I truly adore. Story was simple and engaging, characters were fun, music was on point and animation wasn't half bad either. I even got myself a new favourite for the MAL profile, that being the protagonist of "Bastard" Dark Schneider. This merciless, lecherous and goofy character is everything I wanted in a show bearing the words heavy metal and dark fantasy in its title. I can't praise this show enough. It was such a breath of fresh air in the sea of isekai and shallow romanceshows that take themselves too seriously which this day and age is full of.
As hardcore as this show is with elements of overly explicit sexual and gorey scenes, it really doesn't take itself seriously and that's what I like the most about it. It's a fun dark fantasy setting with lots of cool characters besides the mc. He is, of course, a lady's man, but a real one, unlike other anime characters who just try to be him. Women are at his feet and even other men acknowledge him and his talents. Though he is also hated because of the huge amount of magic power he wields and how he uses it to spread havoc around the world.
Many anime fans who prefer complex and a bit confusing plotlines won't like this show that much. The introduction already explains most of the story and the world it is set in. You definitely don't have to think about things too hard. Just relax and don't let certain scenes put you off the show. It is a true classic gem.
If I had to nitpick about anything regarding this show I'd say that the lack of actual metal music is a bit lackluster. Sure, a hard rock opening and cool intense soundtracks do make up for it so I won't bash it too hard for just that.
To end this, the first part of the show ended in a huge cliffhanger and I can't wait for the rest to come out. I hope it just gets better from here. If you liked anything I mentioned above, you will definitely enjoy this show.
whiteflame55
After watching all 24 episodes of this, with most of it being out of spite, I can honestly say that I didn't like this anime. Other anime have done the power fantasy/harem better, and frankly, it's so much more frustrating to watch with a main character who is this insufferable and side characters who are this utterly infatuated with him. The sexual scenes are needlessly gratuitous and far too common, the fights are just ass pull after ass pull with no real strategy behind them, the reasons why everyone is doing everything remain murky at best and are dumb as hell at worst... hell, eventhe selling point of the anime of having a villain essentially in thrall to the main heroine just seems more and more distant by the end. If a S2 of this is coming, I won't be watching it.
BrotherPatrix
I'm not gonna make this review too complicated, but I will say that I have not read the manga, nor did I watch the previous adaptation(OVA), so please bare in mind these aspects. Now the main reason why I have scored an 8 is mostly because of the music, art and overall enjoyment. I knew 100% what to expect from this because I have a general good idea what to expect from these types of shows, and it did not disappoint. I really enjoy the animation and also one does not simply ignore Coldrain as an opening song, I did not skip the opening once, Ifeel they were the perfect fit for a rock/metal theme show of this kind. I also re-watched the anime in English DUB, which did not strike me impressed, I'd recommend the Japanese version, but also have to admit that the laughs are better in English even so the weird cackling in Japanese does it justice in a comedy/satire perspective, I just felt like pointing that out.
There is no need to include spoilers, because there is nothing to emphasis about the story, at least for this season. Story is plain at the moment, I don't know if it will get complicated, but I feel like people should watch the show for the action and good animation, also for the music. It hints a bad ass theme done right in my opinion.
So overall, I really think people should give this a shot. I for one will definitely look forward to the next episodes. Enjoy!
algoPotaku
The first 3 chapters we see a very repetitive dynamic, what do you think if this continues the whole series will be a real shit. But luckily that doesn't happen, from chapter 4 things get very interesting, it expands the universe. The animation is good for netflix, the plot is interesting, it's full of echi, bordering on hentai, that's good. The development and character design is very interesting I want to see more of how it becomes in the future. The soundtrack is quite good, I really liked how the anime is very entertaining and the end of the season seems magnificent to me, thatis, it leaves you wanting to see much more and I hope they release more chapters.
En español:
Los priemros 3 capitulos vemos una dinamica muy repitiva, que pensas si esto sigue toda la serie va ser una verdadera mierda. Pero por suerte no sucede eso, a partir del capitulo 4 las cosas se ponen muy intersantes, expande el universo. La animacion esta buena para ser de netflix, la trama es interesante, esta lleno de echi, rozando lo hentai eso esta bueno. El desarrollo y diseño de personajes es muy interesante quiero ver mas de como llega a ser en un futuro. La banda sonora esta bastante bien, me gusto mucho como esta hecho el anime muy entretenido y el final de temporada me parece magnifico o sea te deja con ganas de ver mucho mas y espero que saquen mas capitulos.
Spike101x
Why does anime do this? "I'm your daughter and your lover!" I really liked the old-school heavy metal concept. Even the characters and attack names are from metal bands. You don't have to have pseudo incest and pedo to have a good anime. If you removed all that and the idiots who stand around an commentate the obvious it would be an 8/10. I don't know why MAL won't let me post the above without adding a larger review. This is plenty. I guess I can add that it's a lot like Inuyasha except more perverted. Which is fine. I just don't know why themain character has to be 9 years old and raised by the second mc that wants to bang him.
CyberXane
Take a sip everytime you hear someone say Dark Schneider lol. So as someone new to this anime with no knowledge of it. It has a 90's look, but modernized by animation. It's kinda a cliche anime, but if it's an old story then I kinda understand. But as someone who's seen many anime I've seen this troupe so many times, so I can't really rate it like I'm new to anime lol Very horny characters, and they use a lot of eye candy to keep viewers watching. The interaction and the characters are alright. Decent story I suppose. Main character is best described as pervy/horny Inuyashawho's powers are magic based. But yeah not much else that really stood out to me. Seemed like a typical fantasy all and all. It has minor humorous scene just as any other standard anime would have. It's a pretty average fantasy anime all across the board. But all in all. It's alright, probably something someone new to anime would enjoy. So I recommend if you haven't seen many anime then you might get a kick out of this anime.
Tablekun
Bastard!! may not be a big success story in the anime medium, but what it does do, it does well. For those expecting the old school style of anime, this is what you'll get. It's not a masterpiece, it's not even that good to be honest, but the aspects it needed to hit, it did. Animation is great, sound quality is great, it has great fights, it has lewd fanservice, and this is all I was expecting. If you go into this knowing, it's a trashy old school anime homage, then I think this can be enjoyable for some, whilst others,I can see people turned off by its shallow storytelling, and it's fanservice.
Animation 9/10
- Great style, very flashy, good fanservice, just high-quality work.
Sound 9/10
- Solid OP/ED, great sound effects, BGM, etc, again very good quality work put into the production of art and sound.
Story 5/10
- The story leaves something to be desired, the story does exist, but the show can feel episodic to a degree, hopefully in part 2, it picks up steam.
Characters 7/10
- Great character design through and through, but many of these cool characters get an episode or two, and then were off to the next character. The show is about Dark Schneider though, so I can excuse the lack of depth in characters.
Enjoyment 7/10
- It can feel boring at times, a bit episodic, and feels like the story doesn't really go anywhere, but the journey through the first 13 episodes was entertaining enough to complete it, and I will watch part 2 soon.
I recommend this to those with an open mind, that this is not a banger, it is old school in its format, but amplified in its presentation. Don't bother if boobs scare you.
angelo0015
Funny with the main character being a pervert and all powerful. The story is interesting and intriguing with many moments you wonder there is going to be a plot twist at the ending for sure. This dark fantasy has a 90s vibe to it but the animation are extremely well done. Some may say the show is at a slow pace, but it skips to the main parts in my opinion and the fight scenes are semi enjoyable. Biggest problem is the constant telling the audience what they themselves can see. The entire episodes is wasted on telling the audience what is happening right now, asif the audience is little kids. That kills the show and makes moments seem corny as hell. There is no need for the characters in the show to be commenting on obvious things going on like a commentator.
iBlewupthemoon
If I were to describe BASTARD!! in six words, they would be "THAT'S F**KIN' METAL AS F**K, DUDE!!" While not perfect, LIDENFILMS have begun to redeem themselves from the trainwreck that was the 2016 Berserk anime. I liked BASTARD!! for similar reasons that I liked High School DxD as well as JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. It's dumb. But it's dumb fun and catches you off guard with the sheer amount of 80's metal references it gets away with, even more and less butchered by the localization than JoJo, mostly being lawyered up by spelling changes and adding hyphens in the subtitles. BASTARD!! runs itself on three rules:Rule of Cool, Rule of Funny, and Rule of Sexy. This is a double-edged sword for BASTARD!!. On one hand, it's hard to take the plot seriously when, most of the time, it revolves around Mr. Schneider thinking with the brain between his pants, most fights just revolve around who can out-asspull the other, and the Fourth Wall is about as existent as it is in Deadpool. However, the sheer amount of these asspulls keep the audience on their toes, as surface level of a technique as it is, and its often juvenile sense of humor got a chuckle out of me more than a few times.
It has a solid cast of characters, even if it is mostly composed of Dark Schneider, the women fawning over Dark Schneider, and the EEVILLL villains. Their motivations are kinda vague and most of the women (and my boi Ninja Master Gara) are won over simply by Mr. Schneider's gigachad energy, but they carry the plot nicely and are entertaining to watch. It is also very interesting to see the dynamic between ultimate sigma male Dark Schneider who gets mad bitches and his total simp side who is forced to respect wamen, mostly by Yoko, who is alright as a female lead and we get to see her fend for herself a fair amount of times for a muggle character, even if she is kind of a generic character that the female fanbase can relate to and mostly overshadowed by more interesting waifus like MY BOI NINJA MASTER GARA who steals the show with his charisma and has his fair amount of time in the spotlight even if he is sidelined late in the series as a live commentator for Dark Schneider, the other (actual) waifu that steals the show, Arshes Nei, has an interesting story arc late in the series and (while her backstory is a bit sus by today's sensibilities) the character is quite relatable for an anti-villain.
Overall, BASTARD!! is great dumb fun and has a solid ensemble of characters, entertaining well-animated fights, and I almost forgot to mention the ABSOLUTE BANGER of an OP by coldrain. This first season ends on a pretty abrupt cliffhanger but is mitigated by the fact that 1. you actually want to watch more, and 2. Netflix only is making us wait two months for season 2 instead of NINE DAMN MONTHS FOR JOJO I AM STILL MIFFED ABOUT THAT!
Overall, BASTARD!! is the guilty pleasure anime of the year. If you are a fan of silly dark fantasy stories I would suggest giving it a watch.
i-like-this
80’s Heavy Male, Dork Fantasy. “Bastard!! Heavy Metal, Dark Fantasy” is a breath of fresh air when compared to the modern fantasy anime genre. An adaptation of an 80’s manga, the show is free from all the popular tropes like isekai protagonists, video game worlds and levelling systems and from all “ThE hErO” (except Dark Schneider (self-proclaimed)) and “tHe DeMoN lOrD” bullshit that plagues almost all modern fantasy anime. This is not going to be an anime for everyone. If you’re not into your ecchi scenes which border on hentai, a rather predictable story or background characters (usually ninjas) giving a running commentary on how amazing someoneis for casting a spell or how awesome it was when a guy punched another guy then you probably won’t like this show. This is also not LIDENFILMS' best work. The animation can vary between looking good to something on par with Record of Ragnarok.
However, there is a certain, unapologetic honesty this show gives off which makes it fun to watch. Dark Schneider’s whole goal is to kill the man who sealed him away and take over the world just so he can make a harem yet, he is completely at the mercy of his carer/love interest Yoko who only needs to chastise him once to get him to act like a puppy. He’s not the most original anti-hero out there (or maybe he is because this manga was written in the 80s?) but he is very fun, very loud and a hell of a lot better than certain harem protagonist whole Oh, I don’t know, buys a slave and Stockholm syndromes her into having sex with him, which is saying a lot.
I like the world-building. A medieval setting with swords, magic and cool-looking monsters and ghouls. The magic itself is dependent on gods, catalysts and chanting which branch off into unique sub spells making the systems that govern them interesting and flexible.
Also, I watched this dubbed which I can only describe as ‘What if 4Kids voice actors weren’t limited by censorship and did crack before every recording session?’ It is a wild, 80’s sort of camp acting that I haven’t experienced in forever and I fucking loved it, even when it was admittedly a bit cringe.
You can always count on Netflix when it comes to ‘so bad, it's good’ anime. I don’t think “Bastard!! Heavy Metal, Dark Fantasy” quite fits into that category. It’s not the worst nor is it the best anime, but it gave me the same sort of smile and enjoyment I got from watching “High Rise Invasion”. The sort of anime you recognise isn’t good but gives you the sort of laugh and glee you get from something that you know you probably shouldn’t be enjoying, but you are. It’s ridiculous, it’s not going to be everyone's thing, but boy is it a thing to watch.
6/10 It’s Okay *Thumbs Up*
