Netflix’s Bastard!! Is A Refreshingly Self-Aware, Horny Anime

Spicy. Screenshot: LIDEN FILMS / Netflix / Kotaku

When I first watched Netflix’s new anime, Bastard!!: Heavy Metal, Dark Fantasy, I expected a melodramatic anime series like Recording of the Lodoss War. What I got was a shameless show about a wizard and his ever-growing harem of busty, animated waifus. I loved every second.

Bastard!!: Heavy Metal, Dark Fantasy, directed by LIDEN FILMS, is a remake of the 1992 anime Bastard!! Ankoku no Hakaishin. Bastard’s elevator pitch!!! in Kotaku’s summer anime guide, which you should check out by then, is that a wizard named Dark Schneider is resurrected to save the kingdom from, I don’t shit on you, Meta-Licana (pronounced Metalicana) , malefactors. However, that description is just the tip of the iceberg for what this horned anime has in store.

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You see, Dark Schneider was the villain of the series. In fact, he was the leader of the series’ antagonists, the Four Lords of Havoc, prior to the events of the anime. While Schneider touts that he’s the hero of this shonen anime – a groundbreaking fact he’s not afraid to remind viewers and other characters – Schneider is actually the embodiment of early OVA anime tropes. 90s of almighty lust. wizards. I mean, man had Sense8 level orgies with his harem enters his conquest for world domination. But, like all subdued beings, his pride won out and he was locked away in the body of a mild-mannered boy named Lucien.

The kingdom of Meta-Licana is forever losing in a war against the four lords of chaos. The Kingdom’s only trump card is the resurrection of Dark Schneider from Lucien’s body. They aim to do this by having Lucien kiss the lips of a virgin woman. Wait, don’t close this tab just yet. I know, that’s a pretty stunning premise. However, this show works because of its awareness of its ridiculous premise. The curse-breaking virginal kiss to save the cursed kingdom is one of the many times the series pokes fun at its absurdities at every opportunity. After summoning Schneider in the first episode of the series, for example, the kingdom asks to summon him again at the start of the second episode because it would be easier than going through the effort of mustering their armies.

Bastard!! is not like your parents’ romance novels. Screenshot: LIDEN FILMS / Netflix / Kotaku

While overcoming the Kingdom’s demands to kiss the tall, dark, and handsome Schneider, Lucien’s caretaker – and arguably the second funniest character in the series – Tia Noto Yoko develops feelings for the dark wizard despite his abrasive personality. . She’s not the only one either. Without fail, with each episode, Schneider’s potential adversaries develop a desire outside of their orders to join his harem, sabotaging the Lords of Havoc’s plans.

Say what you want, but listen to me: the representation by Bastard!! of strong women who defy orders and know what they want, whether it’s a conquest of power or a sexy moment with a hunky wizard, is one step ahead of the genre. attribution of women being interchangeable cardboard cutouts of characters that blend into the background.

Unlike most harem anime which depicts its protagonist salivating creepily over its cast of women, the women of Bastard!! Don’t take shit from him. Every time Schneider crosses a line, they call him a bastard with the tenacity of AEW ring announcer Justin Roberts and give him a well-deserved kick in the ass.

Hmm, where have I seen this dynamic before? Screenshot: LIDEN FILMS / Netflix / Kotaku

Schneider and the show itself often tease female characters because they are understandably excited for him for being the show’s de facto attractive male character. But Schneider has a certain class about him. Beneath his horny, self-absorbed teenage bravado hides a weirdo who sometimes has thoughtful things to say and puts himself in danger for those he loves. Instead of treating women as his property, the show flips the trope by having Schneider have a real relationship with the women in his life.

The personalities of Schneider and Lucien merge, much like that of Amon and Akira Fudo in the manga Devilman Grimoire. This character amalgamation turns former POS Schneider into something of a forward-thinking wizard Inuyasha– type character; he craves to be praised whenever he does something cool like, say, saving his guardian from a slimy, clothes-melting monster. That’s not to say the show lacks “spice.”

Although the existence of pig anime that normalize sex and attraction are rare, bastard!! somehow manages to have his smoky cake and eat it too. This is one of those anime where you’ll have to turn the volume down so you don’t get noise complaints from neighbors about high-pitched moans intertwined with heavy metal music. The show occasionally dives into spicy Dragon’s Breath-chile-pepper-scoville levels, but they’re more hilarious in context than its trailers, and there’s no actual sex in the show, just hilarious inneundos. . For example, the characters in the series are poisoned most often and have to make other characters “suck up the poison”.

Sometimes Schneider fights the Beowulf style. Screenshot: LIDEN FILMS / Netflix / Kotaku

While the fan service situation isn’t surprising to see in an ecchi anime, the English voice cast clearly had fun dubbing this show and upping its ridiculousness to 11. I laughed my ass off when Schneider said tell the saint that you puritan princess she needs to suck the stronger poison. Bastard!! is tropey as hell, but it doesn’t take itself too seriously, much like isekai comedy Konosuba if the main character had a lot of sex.

While Schneider is yet to hit a home run with one of the defected Four Lords of Havoc underlings that he converts to his side through his Dio-esque power of charisma, the show’s opening and closing themes are unequivocally fucking fucking. Coldrain and Tielle knocked it out of the park with the show high octane opening and closing themes. No notes or skips, just direct firecrackers.

Bastard!! obviously isn’t expected to run as an anime in 2022 but it kinda sticks out the other end as one of the funniest and spiciest anime of the season and I resent it more.