Customer Reviews

Bastard - The Complete Boxed Set [VHS]

5 star:		(27)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I first heard of the "Bastard!!" series back in the early 90's and recalled many fans at an anime convention talking about how cool the series was and how funny it was because of the main character's name (Dark Schneider) and the many references to popular US metal bands (from the 80's).

After watching all six episodes, I just fell in love with this series. There have been several "Bastard!!" video games available for the SNES and Sony Playstation and the series has yet to be "fully completed", although the six-OAV episode arc is just totally awesome!

The series is about an evil warlock named "Dark Schneider" who has been freed from imprisonment and fortunately, the evil warlock has been combined with a very good kid named Rushe which makes him somewhat a hero to aid the people of Meta-Rikana" and take on his old generals and army.

The storyline is just awesome but since this anime includes combat, humor and wizardry...the battles can be bloody and too violent for some people.

All in all, an awesome anime featuring awesome characters (and character designs) such as Ninja Master Gara, Thunder Empress Arshes Nei and more.

Check out this anime, you won't be disappointed.

I mistakenly stumbled upon this series while drunkenly strolling the aisles at a video rental store. Since I am attracted to profanity, the title alone was enough to convince me to rent the video. I watched the video and really enjoyed the campy humor, violence, nonsensical plot (although I've been told I don't get it because I've never read the manga), and the over-the-top characters.

Sadly, the video rental store only had volume one on tape, and after getting hooked on the series after just a couple of episodes, I was rather upset I couldn't see how things turned out. That is why I was so quick to purchase Bastard - Complete Collection. Finally, I was able to finish this unique and entertaining series.

Dark Schneider, an evil warlock - with an unusually non-threatening name - is released from some kind of prison where he'd been stuck for quite some time. All he wants to do is take revenge on the people that imprisoned him and wreak some havoc like only the world's most powerful wizard could. Unfortunately for him - due to circumstances beyond his control - he is essentially forced to fight for the people who imprisoned him in the first place.

Now, Dark Schneider is sort of forced into being a good guy while being as evil as he can in the meantime. As you can imagine, hilarity ensues. Dark Schneider must now do battle with the evil folks he used to command since they're still pretty devoted to bringing back some ancient, evil deity who will destroy the world.

There aren't many special features on the DVD, but it is still completely worth buying just to enjoy this series in its six-episode entirety. You can marvel as Dark Schneider gives speech after grandiose speech and then gets mangled and mutilated while doing battle (his opinion of himself is really quite high). You'll be thrilled when you catch references to 1980's metal bands, such as Count Dai Amon, a hilarious vampire character who is basically a parody of the squealing, Danish, metal legend - King Diamond. And you can laugh at exquisitely ridiculous dialogue such as "That's right. It's slime!" (Watch for that one, it's brilliant.)

This is a great DVD. What it lacks in length, coherence, and a plot that makes total sense, it more than makes up for with action, adventure, violence, tongue-in-cheek humor, castles, monsters, ninjas, great characters, and a crazy warlock named Dark Schneider.

I dont' know if you have ever heard of this particular series, but I recently purchased it while at the local video store. It's pretty cool. Kind of reminds me of lodoss war, in the sense that every living creature is like a giant bag of blood, and if you're cut BAM!!! you spring a leak like a water mane busting.

I noted the main character, Dark Schneider, or Darsh, is very intreguing. His character progresses quiet nicely throught the series, going from not quiet pure evil to a reluctant hero. IF you think you;ve seen someone with more ego than this guy, you're probably wrong, but on the plus side this 400 year old mage has the power to back up his mouth.

The first (of 6) episode, an annoying mage, with some power, is attacking the town, now Darsh is freed from his imprisonment, inside a small boy to fight this threat. He can only be freed if kissed by a virgin. Fortuantely, Yoko, Rusha's best friend (the small boy who house's this super mage) has been unwittingly prepared for this day her whole life.

OF course, being evil as he is, and having been iprisoned for the last 15 years, Darsh decides, as his first act, to kill everyone instead, but the invader gets in the way, and cuts darsh's face, drawing blood. Then Dark's power is unleashed, and the invader (calls himself the invisible.... I can't remember his name) gets a heaping helping of a dish I call severe pain laced with VENOM (watch teh show you'll get why I spelled it in caps).

Now the big picture:

You see Darsh's old generals, his ex girlfiriend, and his old army have decided to take over the world like he would have if he hadn't been imprisoned. The four generals, are pretty cool. Althought I think they were based off Record of Lodoss War, or it was based on them, one or the other.

One, a ninja master, reminds me of Ashram from Record of Lodoss War. While the ex-girlfriend, and Darsh's adopted duaghter. (there's a long story in that one turst me it's better to see than hear) is like Pirotause. The last two guys are a mage of undead creautes is who reminded me of Wagnard, where as the ice mage (a very interesting character who gets very little screen time, and when he is there, it's merely to look good. but when he does act... cool) acts a lot like Ashram as well.

Reluctantly Darsh takes them all on (along the way killing a vampire/mage who just seems to cry out for a beating, trust me one look and you'll agree) and being nigh immortal, unleashes a super does of pain to his enemies.

A happy ending, but I get the feelign there was supposed to be another series, since the last battle is won, but there are a few lose ends left untended to.

If you liked Record of Lodoss War or Fist of the North Star, you would probably love this series. My only true complaint is that this series wasn't longer. Since some stuff seems to be rushed through.

Bastard is an interesting anime. It reminds me of a role-playing game with sexual undertones. The series is about a warlock who is summoned forth by his enemies to save every one from certain doom.

As I mentioned, Bastard is like a role-playing game. It has a lot of the common role-playing or faerie tale elements within it such as a princess, a maiden in distress, sorcerers, knights, monsters, elementals, and a multitude of villains to boot.

This DVD contains all six episodes of the mini series of Bastard. Bastard has a reputation for being the cheesiest anime every created. Despite it's reputation, I found it to be well worth it. The animation is fair and the music is not that hot but the slap-stick comedy and the plot make up for where Bastard lacks. If you are into role-playing I highly suggest you purchas Bastard because it is a good laugh.

I admit I wasn't very taken by Bastard! after watching the first two episodes. It seemed sillier than I expected, and without much in the way of a decent plot or characters. However, the more I watched, the better it got.

Bastard! strongly focuses on its characters, almost foregoing the plot in the process. Dark Schneider is the "hero" of the story, and yes, he's a bastard. It took me a little while to get used to his arrogant attitude and overposturing, but I was soon laughing at his crazy antics and one-liners. I still have trouble taking him seriously because of his name, however. Thunder Empress Arshes Nei, now *that's* a good name (maybe this explains why she whooped his ... so many times ^_^). There's also Yoko, the "damsel in distress", although she does prove herself rather vindictive at times. Various other characters include Gara, a ninja master, and Rushie, Dark Schneider's alter-ego.

As previously stated, there is little in the way of story. It basically revolves around a giant army trying to conquer the world. This is simply an excuse for lots of mayhem and destruction, which is a good thing in this case. The action was very exciting, with D.S. firing off mega-powerful spells left, right and center. You want plot? Go watch Record of Lodoss War. You want action? You've come to the right place.

If you're looking for humor then you've also come to the right place. Just look at some of the names. Ansla-Sax? Iron Maydon? Oh, brother. Plus, there are plenty of other jokes in the form of one-liners and outright silliness. Especially funny was watching Dark Schneider and Yoko. He's just putty in her hands...

To back up the good material found here, this series has some impressive production qualities. The artwork is quite vivid, with lots of bright colors to enhance the battle scenes, and the animation is fairly smooth. The English voice-acting is mixed, though. I preferred Dark Schneider's arrogant English voice to his Japanese counterpart, but the remainder of the characters sounded better in the original version. But if you prefer your anime in English, then the dubbed version won't hurt your ears.

If you're looking for a good fantasy anime with plenty of action and laughs, then grab ahold of Bastard!.

In short, this is one of the most entertaining things I've seen in awhile. It's thoroughly mindless, and the producers don't just want you to know that; the characters take asides to explain that. The hero (you'll hear his name every other sentence) is blatantly arrogant. He steadily trumps his own self-flattery to make himself the "most powerful wizard," the "most beautiful man," the "handsome main character who doesn't die because the writers need him to steal the show," to the point where he says in episode six: "IDIOT! IF THERE'S A GOD IN THIS WORLD, IT'S ME!" The hero dies so many times and then comes back to life that you wonder if Japan has any fables comparable to "The Little Boy Who Cried Wolf." But that doesn't matter--you still care about the hero because he redeems all of the (attractive) enemies he takes down. He's so shallow and the attempts to develop his character go in all sorts of directions. In short, he's awesome. Heck yeah, buy this series. It'll make you appreciate a series that actually tries to build dimensions into the plot other than sex, shouting, and violence. It'll trump any other films that try to make a real plot out of sex and violence. On a side note, the bad guys are trying to free this thing called "Ansla-Sax." So, I hear they're making another six episodes. I think it would add a decent plot twist if they finally break the seals and discover a small, black canister of 'Anthrax' with a biohazard symbol on it. What else would destroy civilization in "seven days?" Yes, I'd be willing to spend an afternoon writing the script for it.

Bastard!! is an ironic choice of titles for an anime film (this coming from a guy who thinks "Cowboy Bebop" sounds quite normal). This being said, this DVD gives the essential version of Bastard!! that is required for the highest level of pleasure in viewing.

Bastard!! is the classic story of an anti-hero evil wizard who changes over time to defend a kingdom he once tried to destroy.

If you are new to fantasy or anime, I hightly recommend this DVD to wet your feet.

Exellent anime. Superb visuals, exellent storyline, cool and original characters, great fighting scenes, laugh out loud splashes of comedy thrown in at just the right times, exellent price (27 bucks for 3, 1hr long, VHS tapes). Typically i'm pretty hard to please but I just can't find anything wrong with this anime.

One thing: be sure you watch them in the right order, mine didn't come in the right order in the box and my friend put in the last tape first. =P No, not ALL my friends are that dumb.

Bastard!! brings together some of the best elements normally found in different anime titles and puts them together as a powerful ride!

Awesome animation, Powerful Magic, Incredible Monsters, well developed characters, action, adventure, a love triangle, sacrifice and most of all, a sense of humour, Bastard!! is definately one of my favourite all time anime titles.

Reccomend the subtitled version over the dub.

The first thing I noticed about this particular anime is that Dark Schneider really likes to take his clothes off. A lot. It's listed as 16 and up, and it pretty much means it. Though it was never explained why he'd go from a such a bad, evil warlock into the guy that saves the world, it's still a good story line that injects humor, violence, and lone guy saves everything mystique.

I was equally impressed with the voice overs and the animation. Usually the voices are a little funny, but these might have been originally done in English as well as it was dubbed and voice actors chosen. The DVD comes with a couple of extras, including 17 panels of art from the film.

A good anime, but definitely not for children.