Bastard!! (1992-1993)

[BASTARD!! -暗黒の破壊神-]

Director: Katsuhito Akiyama
Studio: AIC
Starring: Kazuki Yao, Yuka Koyama, Tessho Genda
Episodes: 6

Synopsis:
Fifteen years after the evil wizard Dark Schneider was poised to conquer the world, his power is the only thing that can save the Kingdom of Metallicana from falling to the Dark Rebel Army.

Impressions:
This was one of those titles I would often see back in the day but never checked out. With the release of the new adaptation and me delving into the original manga, I finally got around to watching this to round out the set. I commented on my review of the remake that the current-day aesthetic was a bit incongruous with very 80s look of the source material and, believe it or not, it's also true here, if to a lesser degree with the 90s being in closer proximity. The look aside, this is a rather abridged treatment of the manga's story, but you don't lose too much in the exchange. The main thing sacrificed are Sean Ari and Kai Harn's encounters with Dark Schneider and Gara's fight with Nei before DS returns to Metallicana. In exchange, we get some additional backstory for Gara and a big hero moment for him when fighting the cyclops. (It would seem that the creators like Gara.) Scripting and performances can be rather stilted in places and corner-cutting in the production are noticeable (albeit likely inevitable due to budget and technical considerations). Overall, I would say the new version is better made, but if you appreciate 90s-era OAVs, there's plenty to like here. I don't think there's much appeal for general audiences, especially nowadays, so if you're not prepared to take this warts and all, you'll probably want to pass on it.

Rating:
50/50