Bastard!!????

[deviceboy]

Okay,
I've been reading tons and tons of reviews at least 30!!!
and all of them are split right down the middle in terms of how many people like it and dislike it. Usually when this particular situation occurs (mixed opinions and reviews), I read there other reviews to to kind of get a feeling of what their tastes are...

But, I honestly can't make up my mind. So, I just want to hear what you guys think...

Please!! I really want insightful opinons. Nothing like...

I hated it it was crap!!! or
Its the BEST ever!!


and no major spoilers please...


Oh yeah,
I also wanted to know if anybody knows what the differences are going to be between the two DVD versions(regular and Limited Edition)

[suzaku]

i can't say anything right now 'coz i haven't watched bastard yet...sorry

[deviceboy]

...

[Mikomi]

I'm in the mid of the manga series and have watched the first two OVA episodes. And I think that Bastard is a good anime. Nothing outstanding. Okay, I'm a girl, for guys all the anime girls make Bastard worth to be seen. :heh: Anyways, I think the manga is better.

[Darklightz]

It depends on your taste.

It was good,but not great.All you see during the whole series if sexy babes(and sexy is putting it mildly,they're almost naked) and powerful people throwing apocalyptic spells at each other.Kinda like DBZ for adult I'd say

[Tenchi-san]

I rented the first ova tape and watched it today. I thought it was gonna be a comedy, but its really not. The dub isn't that good to me. Schneider's voice is so annoying to me. Too whiny.
There were some funny parts to me though. I had to put one in my sig.

[GEKIGANGER 3]

i like the series and i am watching the sub in school now.

[Yuri]

I love Bastard!

It's hilarious, full of action with a bit of romance! :)

I like the japanese voice of Dark Schneider better than the english voice!

And Mikomi is rigth! The manga is a lot better and more complex! At the moment there are 21 mangas released I think!

[Tenchi-san]

why is it called Bastard anyway? I can't even say the title around my parents.

[Mikomi]

I don't know this for sure but I think Bastard is the name of a sword. I've read that in one of my anime magazines.

[GEKIGANGER 3]

i think it is called bastard because dark schnieder is a bastard or he usually act like a bastard.

[cpt._saddam]

Originally posted by Mikomi
I don't know this for sure but I think Bastard is the name of a sword. I've read that in one of my anime magazines.
A bastard sword is a large sword which can be used with both hands or just one hand (if you are strong enough). So it is neither a one-handed nor a two-handed sword. Its a bastard(sword)! :D
Well haven't seen the series (but want to buy the manga) so maybe something else is meant...

[deviceboy]

Kool!!

Thanks for the info....

I've spoken about it w/ a friend, and he had said that though its definitely not one of the best, not by a long shot...he still enjoyed it...

and from what I hear, I'm guessing that it's pretty much brainless fun?...
I mean don't get me wrong. It's not like I'm totally against it,

but aside from all the complex story lines, ground breaking animation, etc., my friend says that it's just one them animes to just have around once in a while...

Oh yeah! I've found out that the DVD Limited ed. comes w/ an action figure of the main character...

Please, Please keep em coming I'd love to hear what the rest of you think....

[deviceboy]

.........:D

[cloakactive]

This show is really one of those shows where it totally depends on your taste.

Personally I didn't like it that much, yet most of my anime buddies rave about it.

So watch it first (borrow it, rent it, whatever) then if you like it that much go ahead and buy it.

[Doku-beibi]

Okay...let's see.

Bastard!! Could come from the sword. But I'm pretty sure it doesn't. It's an 80's Heavy Metal reference, just like everything ELSE in the series. It refers to the name of a band...I can't remember WHOSE band right now, very sorry, but the name was changed before they got really popular. The author of this series is a huge metal fan, though, and probably knows more about that than swords.

Other Heavy Metal References:
Dark Schneider - Dee Sneider, Twisted Sister (?)
Metallicana/Meta-Rikana (for the dub) - Metallica
Iron Maydon - Iron Maiden
Judas - Judas Priest
Witos Nekki - White Snake
Megadeath - Megadeath
Anthlsax/Anthrathrax/Anslasax/Antarasax/a million OTHER variations of spelling - Anthrax
Venom - Venom
Gunzenlo (a spell) - Guns 'N Roses
Captain Von Jobina - Bon Jovi
And just about every other name of a place or spell or bad guy has reference to Metal.

(If you should ever read this, Tenchi-San, it's funny that you put-down Dark Schneider's dub voice. He and Tasuki from Fushigi Yuugi, your avatar, share that dub voice. )

As for character development and all the other deep stuff:

This OVA is swords'n'sorcery. It's TERRIFIC if you like stuff blowing up, people getting their arms cut off, monsters right and left, and redheads. Dark Schneider is the extreme male...he's like a caveman, only so much better looking. He has no manners, no conscience and the libido of a pack of rabid dogs. However, since he's been stuck in the body of the young boy, Rushe (not Luche or Lucien), he's been merged with a lot of Rushe's traits.

He likes to do laundry (you see this in the manga), he smiles like a teddy bear when he's happy, he saves people Rushe cares about, and he's madly in love with Rushe's life-long crush: Tia Noto Yoko. Seeing as how Yoko is a tough young girl and doesn't take shite off of anyone (like John Wayne, really), she's constantly bossing DS around and fighting with him over the topic of her chastity. He wants it gone, she swears it's there to stay. It makes for much comedy to see a young, fifteen-year-old sprite of a girl smacking the crap out of the most powerful wizard who ever lived. Of course, there are some moments of real romance between them, in a tooth-rotting sweet sort of way, but a lot of times they get interrupted by Dark Schneider's long-time love, Arshes Nei (that dark elf girl). The love triangle is well-played, and you get a lot of insight into Dark Schneider through his trials with Arshes, whom he does fight with when she accidentally hurts Yoko.

As Dark Schneider is the main character, all the other characters are really only there to show you more about him...Gara's flashbacks of meeting DS show you that Gara really wanted to just BE like DS- free to do as he pleased, and with a will that nearly conquered the world- , Arshes's show you the impulsive and whimsical side of the white-haired wizard...Yoko brings out his softer side. Of course, if you want to ignore all of this and just enjoy the gore and fanservice, Bastard!! is laden with both.

The manga is MUCH longer and MUCH more complicated. It's also a lot of fun, really!I own all twenty-two volumes. As for the anime, I rented the first tape from Blockbuster one day...and I loved it. I had to know what happened. I bought all three dub VHS via a Sam Goody store, and when, years later, I found it on DVD, I bought that, too. I actually like the dub still...it's well timed and mostly true to the original dialouge. The sub is good, and the only real difference in the dub and sub is that Yoko's voice is much more commanding in the dub, which makes more sense. One thing that I absolutely LOVE about the OVA: the animation. I love it because it progresses IN TIME with the art style of the manga! As the OVA moves along the timeline of the manga, it keeps up with the changes Kazushi Hagiwara was undergoing in the way he drew the characters and places. That, my friends, is pretty amazing. You get old school and hi-tech in one neat little DVD.

And a damn catchy ending theme.

[jackal]

I saw Bastard a long time ago (about ten years ago) and I can tell you it was pretty cool then so for me it still is cool. I ordered the DVD from the US (cause I know it won't ever be out here in Aus) which is how much I like it.

The story in the OVA is interesting enough and leaves alot of interesting back story which makes you think "hmm....how are these people related?? and what happened before?" etc etc and half of those get answered but that's also the problem, it will leave you on a cliff hanger not in the same bad way as Berserk but in a way that you know there's more to it which is why you should pick up Viz's mangas if you're interested in finding out what happens after the six OVA eps (it's currently up to issue 13 or Vol 1 collected) or even the Japanese mangas if you can read or translate them.

The OVA I would recommend cause it does have some pretty cool and well done action scenes and the story is not bad considering they only had six eps to work with.