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Rage of Bahamut: Genesis |OT| Dark Fantasy Anime Epic Funded By F2P Success

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Kusano123

Neo Member
Going to be one hell of a ride if they can keep everything consistent. Really felt like I was watching an OVA instead of a TV series. Also mind blowing by the fact that the series is based on an online card game.
 
Awesome first episode. The horses crossing the bridge scene in the beginning gave me Shadow of the Colossus feels.

Some genuinely funny moments too, like the dog in the summoning circle. Hope they keep it up.
 

Einherjar

Member
Better than I expected, I knew it was based on a card game so I was expecting some card duels. Turns out it's an actual show. Will keep watching, and gonna go look up the game now lol.

Edit: Oh god, the game is terrible. Do not waste time like I did even researching it.
 
I really loved this first episode. It was a really fun and beautiful ride. I go on a watching spree to filter out anime every season. This one was entertaining to me through the entire episode.
 
Art is great, but I don't like the battles or the concept. It's based on a card game so I expect more merchandising like the pokemon anime than a good plot, but will give it a chance for a few more episodes.
 

Branduil

Member
Rage of Bahamut 1

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Really fun opening episode. Some have compared it to Pirates of the Caribbean and that seems like an apt comparison; it's a show with flamboyant, charismatic protagonists and over-the-top setpieces, aided by dynamic camera work. This is the Mappa show Watanabe should have made instead of Terror in Resonance.

Aside from an opening sequence oversaturated with digital effects, the show looks really good. Some strong art direction and lighting, varied and stylish character designs, good background art, and a couple of nice sakuga sequences. I just hope Mappa didn't blow the budget on the opening episode.

Seems like a show that will end up on Toonami in a couple years.
 
I was actually looking for Grisaia since that's available on my country's Crunchyroll version but I've watched this instead.

Welp. looks like something up my alley.
 

duckroll

Member
Tokyo Otaku Mode has an interview with the director which has some pretty odd but interesting pieces of info:
http://otakumode.com/news/5333c2cf0...terview-Rage-of-Bahamut-Anime-Adaptation!-1-3
http://otakumode.com/news/5344af42a...terview-Rage-of-Bahamut-Anime-Adaptation!-2-3
http://otakumode.com/news/5344b65e2...terview-Rage-of-Bahamut-Anime-Adaptation!-3-3


Some highlights:

Tokyo Otaku Mode: Could you give us some background on what made you decide to take on this project?

Director Keiichi Sato: For this, I received a request to direct a Bahamut anime and create a story from scratch. Up until now, I’ve worked a lot in genres that I’m good at, such as near-future anime, and I hadn’t made any fantasy anime with swords and magic or any on-the-road type anime. I took on the project thinking it would be good to focus on something different and challenge myself.

TOM: What else did you focus on in this work?

Sato: I tried to keep the story simple while leaving room for emotional depth. I think it’s important to keep the important plot points spread out in the story, but I didn’t want to make something that wouldn’t be understood and accessible after watching the first episode. I am always thinking about how the character drama should develop and grow as I write. This series follows an adult character in a grown up world, and he likes to drink. I’m very interested to see how his mature behaviour is received by younger viewers.

TOM: Could you tell us in detail how you ended up working in the anime industry?

Sato: At first, I teamed up with a friend from school, aiming to become a comedian.

TOM: Comedian? So that’s why you’re so good at talking. But still, comedy and anime directing are two completely different jobs, wouldn’t you say?

Sato: It was in my high school years that I first saw MTV. Before that, I was watching Best Hit USA. I like western music, and watching promotional videos made me dreaming of making PVs myself. I didn’t know how I could enter the video world, so I was worried, then a friend invited me to do comedy. That was what started me on the road of comedy (laughs). The friend who invited me made a night flight, and just when I was struggling and not sure what to do, an acquaintance introduced me to a studio in Tokyo, which I went to work for. I worked behind the scenes, making variety programs and television dramas.
 

phaze

Member
Shingeki no Bahamut 1

I do prefer my fantasy anime more grounded and serious (I'll get my Witcher animu one day!) but this was good nonetheless. The demons and dragons stuff as well as the general tone remind me of Slayers a bit. I wasn't big on the main protagonist's character design but it works within the confines of the show. It helps that he's a funny and a well written character so far.

Outside of some iffy CG this was great looking episode and I only hope the production values won't drastically plummet down further down the line as is the case with so many shows.

Bahamut wasn't on my radar before the wave of favourable impression made its way here but this was an impressive effort and I'm in for more.
 

Philippo

Member
Whoa, this shit was good.
Such an awesome mix, defintely feels like FInal Fantasy x Road to El Dorado x Samurai Champloo, like others suggested.
Can't wait to see more.

Also, i want this to be FFXVI soo bad!
 

Nephtis

Member
This part slayed me. I was waiting for something completely epic, then the dog scene just... bahahahahahahahaha

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Finalow

Member
Shingeki no Bahamut: Genesis 1

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horses running on rooftops? Top kek; garbage tier animu confirmed
that was a really good first episode. I love the spaghetti western vibe (well, you know, it's my country etc.), from the music, the presentation of the characters, also Favaro Leone. someone called Eastwood coming next. high budget episode no doubt, really cool animations.
I'm curious about the stone cards thing, when someone (maybe just for humans?) dies becomes a stone card? Or maybe it's just for people with a bounty on their head.
 
this interests me much more than I thought it would being based on a F2P mobile game.

Where are you guys watching the first episode? It doesn't seem to be on funimation anymore.
 

sonicmj1

Member
this interests me much more than I thought it would being based on a F2P mobile game.

Where are you guys watching the first episode? It doesn't seem to be on funimation anymore.
The first episode hasn't aired in Japan yet. I bet it'll come back after that happens in a few hours.
 

Xenex

Member
Thoroughly enjoyed episode 1, premise seems good and I love the art style.

Edit 2: Forgive me mods, won't happen again.
 

Antiochus

Member
Episode 1

That was even better than I expected honestly. It wasn't just the production values which impressed, but how it was all put together. For fantasy animation is definitely felt inspired by films than by other anime, which is always refreshing for the medium. It's a very expressive show with minimal exposition, something I certainly hope continues.

It's really nice to see a story being told by what happens rather than people explaining what is supposed to be happening. The relationships between the characters, their motivations, and the general setting in the world can be derived by what the characters do and what they say to each other without anything feeling unnatural. The title cards for the character names are pretty hilarious too. For a show with a dark setting where people don't seem to mind killing each other, the tone is pretty whimsical. Pirates of the Caribbean comes to mind... for more than one reason (lol).

So yeah, the story seems interesting enough, the characters are better than expected, the animation is great, the action is great, the music is phenomenal. Unless they totally fuck it up, this could be a real winner.

It is again interesting to note that this praise for a anime TV program would be considered the bare minimal qualification for a American live action TV procedural. There really is a chasm of expectations and standards when people critically approach Western live action shows compared to Japanese anime ones.
 

duckroll

Member
It is again interesting to note that this praise for a anime TV program would be considered the bare minimal qualification for a American live action TV procedural. There really is a chasm of expectations and standards when people critically approach Western live action shows compared to Japanese anime ones.

Natural storytelling without exposition definitely isn't the bare minimal qualification for a TV procedural, or a Hollywood movie. Come on. Just look at something like Agents of SHIELD for example. The characterization and writing is abysmal. There is definitely no element of "show don't tell" there. Every little detail is explained as if no one on the show really knows their jobs, we are told repeatedly that a character is "the best" in something without there being much to show for it, etc. It's not really something that's well executed commonly in any media when it comes to introducing fantasy or scifi as a setting. I don't think it's something we can take for granted.
 
Personally I do believe that standards are different when it comes to anime vs western tv. I think the difference is that so many of us here in the west have so many options to live action tv that we choose the best of the best to watch. With anime though I'm not sure. Those that watch seasonally and aren't aware of director/writers just have to hope that a premise sounds good enough to give it the the three episode rule to see if it will turn up decently.
 

duckroll

Member
Oh the standards are definitely different. Don't get me wrong. Anime as a medium by and large has way lower expectations when it comes to writing in particular. By the same token, the standards for premium TV stuff like HBO is significantly higher than the average TV series.

I'm just saying that we shouldn't take good execution of "show, don't tell" for granted. In narrative critique, it's one of the most satisfying things to see done right - regardless of standards. And I think that there's no need to pretend that this is something which is very common in entertainment. It isn't. Some people don't even try for it. Many do and don't succeed well. It's not easy.
 

Loke13

Member
HELL YEAH at the gratuitous male butt shot at the end don't see that too much in Anime. NEW FAVORITE SHOW!!
 
What a glorious show, the character design, the animation great find AnimeGAF. I am sure I don't need to say it but it reminds me so much of Record of Lodoss War.
 

Nibel

Member
Wow, the animation is something else.

And so far, the story seems interesting. Will keep this on my radar. Bahamut's design reminds me very much of FF.
 

duckroll

Member
Episode 2

Looks like they're going to be traveling from place to place each week. That should certainly keep things interesting visually. The animation quality isn't anywhere as good as the first episode, but it's still pretty attractive. The designs carry the characters a long way, and even though the art isn't very consistent here, there were a lot of nice character animation moments. The highlight of the episode was definitely the dance sequence. Not only was it really energetic, it also did a great job of conveying how drunk Amira was, which made the scene much more humorous.

The OP has a strong music video aesthetic going for it, but I don't really like it much. The song is pretty awful, so the entire thing just feels... lame. The ED on the other hand is pretty awesome. Sayo Yamamoto did a great job on the direction there, with a really cool alternative art style. Pretty similar to the ED she did for Attack on Titan too.
 

Link Man

Banned
Cross-posting:

Rage Against the Bahamut 2

OP offends my ears. If I had to describe this episode with one word, it would have to be inconsistent. The writing, pacing and art all seemed to be messed up in this one, and while we're just getting to know the characters, their portrayal here seems pretty inconsistent as well.
 

Jarmel

Banned
Shingeki no Bahamut -2

Yea there was a bit of a drop compared to the first episode but it's still really good and the presentation/direction is topnotch.

I'm also liking Amira a lot more than I expected.
 

Jex

Member
[Bahamut] - 2

Well, perfunctory CG action intro aside, this was another pretty good episode and it confirms that the enjoyable writing from the first episode wasn't just a fluke. It's good to see that they kept the characterisation of Mr. Afro as kind of a weasel which is a blessing considering I assumed that he'd become some kind of good-guy after embarking on his quest. It's actually rare to see a protagonist of this sort in this day and age: he's not a hero, villain or even an anti-hero, he's just an amoral rogue without redeeming qualities. Compare and contrast with a personality blackhole like Shirou or Inado.

On the production side it's pretty clear that they invested a lot of time into making that first episode a killer because this didn't nearly have so many insane action sequences but it still looked pretty good, especially the dancing. So, all in all, very positive.

Although that OP song was so awful that it made the Parastye OP seem good in comparison.
 

Crocodile

Member
Didn't know the director of Tiger & Bunny was working on this or that the ending of AoT and this show were done by the same people (though I noticed the similarities). Explains a lot about their high quality so far. Show is a LOT of fun so far :)

Amira is much more kid-like than I expected compared to the 1st episode.

I think the word(s) you're looking for is
moe? KAPPA :p
 

duckroll

Member
They're clearly going for the characterization where she's not quite human, and has a child-like innocence about the ways of humanity, while showing that she's not a dullard. So she's very capable and aware when it comes to things she's familiar with, but clearly didn't grow up in human society.

The flashback also seems to suggest her mother was a angel/goddess, so I suppose her father is a demon? She's clearly a hybrid of some sort, the hints are all over the place.
 
Episode 2

The highlight of the episode was definitely the dance sequence. Not only was it really energetic, it also did a great job of conveying how drunk Amira was, which made the scene much more humorous.

I like the little detail at the end of the dance that they added in. The noise and face Favaro makes when she leans back
 
Man if it keeps going on like this, this will definitely be my favorite anime this season. The animation is superb and I like the pacing of the episodes.
 

Branduil

Member
Rage of Bahamut 2


Good show. I hope it can maintain its strong characterization and sense of adventure even as the plot thickens with complexity. It's not as good looking as the first episode, but it's still well above average. Really liked the dance sequence.

This episode also gets the slapkuga seal of approval.

Oh yeah, the Sayo Yaamoto directed ED for Bahamut is pretty good although I'm not really in love with the music:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvkXodHrIIk

It's certainly up there with Sayo Yamamoto other recent ED's like Attack on Titan:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWUCdTngVjk

and Fujiko OH GOD NSFW:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UbJUjfKS3IU

She's certainly been sticking to one visual style for all three shows.

Yeah, I suspected that was her. Some really nice visuals there. Not a fan of the OP in comparison, especially with that bad metal song.
 
Rage of Bahamut 2

I'll echo the thoughts so far that the episode didn't look as good as the first one, but to expect movie-level animation for an entire series might've been asking for too much. The OP I swear was trying to emulate the Berserk Golden Age Arc Trilogy opening in the visuals, but unlike the Berserk movie OP which has a good song selection that fits with the show, this metal song was just bad. Not cheesy bad even, just bad. The ED was damn good too, the visuals were gorgeous and the song fit very well. I had to remind myself this was an anime though because the ED looked damn western up until the main girl started dancing.

As to the episode itself I am glad that it isn't exactly like Samurai Champloo as I originally thought it was going to be, but it might still end up going there once the three main players join up (which will probably happen next episode). I like that Favaro not only looks like a sneaky weasel, he actually is one. I won't say it's my preferred character type but it's definitely a breath of fresh air. The gag this episode of "look into my eyes" actually had me giggling because the VA did an amazing job with the noise he made at the end. In fact the VA for Favaro has been amazing. I'm surprised they went the direction they did with Amira. At first it seemed like she'd be the serious woman type, but she ended up being more girly and bubbly that I expected from her introduction in the first episode. I really want to like Kaisar as I love his design, but the show doesn't really seem to care about giving him more of a background at least 2 episodes in, so until they do he's just the rival who keeps getting beat by Favaro using cheap tricks. I remember in the trailer for the show he will eventually show his skills so I hope it happens soon as I don't want him being a gag character ala Team Rocket.

I'll once again echo the thoughts of others here and say the highlight was definitely the dancing scene. It bothered me a bit that somebody who clearly hadn't danced before could all of a sudden do dance moves that seemed like they fit a bit too well with the music. But I ignored that because the scene was so fun. The music in particular, OP aside, I'll never stop praising and the selection of a Gypsy Kings-sounding track was a great choice to emphasize the salsa-esque dancing.

Something felt off in the episode pacing for me. I don't know what it is but the part that bothered me the most was the necessity of the bounty hunting scene. Felt like it didn't fit with the rest of the episode.

Also I am not looking forward to
the evil talking moe dogs
. I just had to be reminded further that this is anime. The talking duck I didn't mind, but god damn.
 

Finalow

Member
^the talking duck owns. that duck + the old man are a great couple.

another good episode, not as action packed as the first one but I'm ok with it. also I'm liking the mc so far. the op song is pretty bad, yeah, good visuals at least.

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pretty cool the clothing scene,

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the dancing was also really nice.

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/all that f2p money doing work
 
The duck and the drunk man are fine, but they detract the work in the sense that they are in the group of things reminding me that it's either based off a game or anime.

Same with the
two talking cat/dogs who made 'cute' noises
at the end. Stuff like that ruins my immersion.
 

Finalow

Member
The duck and the drunk man are fine, but they detract the work in the sense that they are in the group of things reminding me that it's either based off a game or anime.

Same with the
two talking cat/dogs who made 'cute' noises
at the end. Stuff like that ruins my immersion.
the whole setting made by any type of monster or mythical creature, magic stone cards and dragons does a pretty good job in reminding that this is an anime based off a fantasy game. not sure why you get that impression just from a talking duck, lol.

the lady with those 2 puppets will probably be a shitty cliched charchter, hopefully they won't fanservice into her tits too much.
 
I think I've been conditioned by quite a few anime to expect a female character to come onto the male character when intoxicated.

I'm glad that we got the complete opposite in this case. The dance segment was probably the best part of this episode. Can't wait to see how the group dynamic changes once Kaisar joins.
 
the whole setting made by any type of monster or mythical creature, magic stone cards and dragons does a pretty good job in reminding that this is an anime based off a fantasy game. not sure why you get that impression just from a talking duck, lol.

the lady with those 2 puppets will probably be a shitty cliched charchter, hopefully they won't fanservice into her tits too much.

The creatures and the dragon don't really have anything to do with anime and can be considered fairly standard to fantasy. So that wasn't the issue. Heck even half naked females is common in fantasy so that didn't bother me too much. But the talking anime duck, the transforming stone card, and now the anime-esque enemies are definitely part of the reason reminding me it's anime in that it doesn't exactly click with the rest of the setting the show is trying to establish. The stone cards being the biggest detractor.
 

Relix

he's Virgin Tight™
Well, trailer sold me. That looks AMAZING.

*UGh such a shame CR doesn't have it, only Funy. Dat SD shittiness :(
 
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