I n a fantasy world, 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 OK; problem is that not only is Dark Schneider sharing a body with a young boy, Yoko's sort-of-boyfriend Rushe, but he's also equally renowned for his skills in both magic and womanizing. Now, those pesky forces of darkness are still set on conquering the kingdom, and it's going to take all the tricks up Dark Schneider's sleeves (when he's wearing any) to stop them--when he's not too busy hitting on Yoko or Princess Sheena, that is.

In part 1, we see Dark Schneider's summoning, and we get to watch him duke it out with a big, nasty Hydra and its keeper Kebidabu.

In part 2 of the story, Yoko is captured by Gara (one of the four lords, as well as Dark Schneider's former ally) and his evil ninjas. The Kinghts of Meta-Rikana, along with Dark Schneider and Princess Sheena, set out to save her. But D.S. is going to have to get through Gara's traps, placed to test his old friend. Finally, to make things even more interesting, Schneider will have to face off with a particularly nasty Effreet (that's a fire elemental, for those of you who don't role-play) before saving her. This is going to be unusually difficult, being that Dark Schneider's magic is fire based, and as we all know, that doesn't work too well against Fire Elementals...

Review :

First, note that this review is based on only the first two episodes of the dubbed version, and I've heard from a number of sources that the translation doesn't do it justice. In all fairness, the series may be better than I make it out to be.

Bastard is kind of like a cross between Slayers and Tenchi Muyo, but it's not as good as either. It does have that mix of raunchy humor and touching romance, but in this case the emphasis is way out on the raunchy end of the spectrum, the general sleaze level is much higher (how about a slime creature that dissolves clothes), and most of the creativity that made those other two series so much fun is less in evidence here. That's not to say that Bastard!! isn't funny--there are plenty of jokes, most of them passable--but it's so low-minded and unoriginal that it just didn't quite cut it for me. On the bright side, if you are a fan of old fantasy role-playing games (Dungeons & Dragons), you'll probably see a lot of stuff you're familiar with (beholders, effreets, hydrae, although I never remember encountering a slime that only eats clothes, and slowly at that). In addition to having a kinda silly name, Dark Schneider himself is amusing, with his combination of obscene comments and really showy magic, but his most impressive power seems to be the fact that there's always a properly placed shadow whenever he loses his clothes--which happens surprisingly frequently (hey, it's nice to see the guy constantly ending up naked, for a change). Bastard!! does hint at something that might actually resemble character development or plot, but it isn't really evident in the first couple of installments (it may improve later on).

Animation-wise, Bastard!! is surprisingly well done (but then again, that's to be expected from Pioneer), and the art is fine, though not noteworthy. The character designs are attractive, but not original (though Schneider does have some nice fangs on him). Finally, the dubbing was poor and apparently very inaccurate (I can't speak for the original dialogue), but, again, that's almost expected.

Overall, Bastard!! is funny, and will probably be enjoyed by fans of fantasy role playing games, funny-fantasy series, or just really low humor, but it's general sleaze factor and high level of unoriginality mean it probably won't cut it for a lot of people.

Based on a long running comic book series, which is apparently very good, or at least a lot 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. 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 taken directly from the credits of the dub version and Pioneer's web page, 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 for more...

Rates :

-2- Funny, but in a really low way.

Genre :

Fantasy Action Comedy (Action)

In It :

Swordfights
General Sleaze
Beasties
Magic
Cute Kids
Fantasy

Break Down :

Pretty raunchy--would probably be on the high end of PG-13, and probably R in later installments. Pioneer rated it 16+.

Violence:
3--Enough hack and slash, but not really gory.

Nudity:
2--A scene here and there, with apparently much more later on.

Sex:
2--General sleaze, and adult jokes, plus more later.

Language:
2--Nothing noteworthy, other than some very un-fantasy language.

Availability :

Translated by Pioneer.
Available on Subtitled and Dubbed VHS.

AnimeNation and RightStuf probably both have this video if you want to buy it.

Cast :

Dark Schneider: Kazuki Yao
Rushe: Yuriko Fuchizaki
Yoko: Yuka Koyama
Sheela: Konami Yoshida
Kall-Su: Toshihiko Seki
Gara: Tessho Genda
Abigail: Ryusaburo Otomo
Geo: Nobuo Tanaka
Von Jobina: Tatsuyuki Ishimori
King of Meta-Rikana: Joji Yanami
Efreet: Seizo Kato
Priest A: Hideyuki Umezu
Priest B: Kiyoyuki Harita
Priest C: Toshiharu Sakurai
Kebidabu: Masaru Ikeda
Soldier: Shinichiro Miki
Court Ladies: Takako Kikuchi, Hidenari Ugaki
Narrator: Steiv Dixon

Crew :

Producer: Tohru Miura, Tetsuo Daitoku (Kisousha)
Original Story: Kazushi Hagiwara
Screenplay: Hiroshi Yamaguchi
Director: Tohru Yoshida
Art Director: Shigemi Ikeda
Animation Directors: Moriyasu Taniguchi, Takahiro Kimura
Character Design: Atsushi Okuda
Concept Design: Hiroyuki Hataike
Monster Design: Masanori Nishii
Music: Kohei Tanaka

Ending Theme Song: "Monochrome Trouble"
Lyrics: Toshinori Yonekura, Ryo Mama
Composed By: Anri Sekine
Arranged By: Anri Sekine
Performed by: Toshinori Yonekura
(Pioneer LDC)

"I'm In Trouble" (English Version)
Performed By: Toshinori Yonekura
English Version Produced by: Pioneer Entertainment
In Association with: Kit Thomas Production, Pioneer LDC