“Rage of Bahamut: Genesis” is an exciting, action-packed series with wonderful animation, plenty of humor and fascinating characters that you will find yourself captivated by the series. Recommended!
Image courtesy of © Naoshi Komi/SHUEISHA, SHAFT, MBS. All Rights Reserved.
TITLE: Rage of Bahamut: Genesis
ORIGINAL AIR DATE: 2014-2015
DURATION: Episode 1-12 (300 Minutes)
BLU-RAY INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition, Japanese and English Dolby TrueHD 5.1, Subtitles: English
COMPANY: Universal/FUNimation
RATED: TV 14
Release Date: April 26, 2016
Director: Keiichi Satou
Series Composition by Keiichi Hasegawa
Script by Akira Tanizaki, Keiichi Hasegawa, Masanao Akahoshi
Music by Yoshihiro Ike
Character Design by Naoyuki Onda
Art Director: Goki Nakamura
Chief Animation Director: Naoyuki Onda
Anime Production: MAPPA
Featuring the following voice talent:
Go Inoue/Chris Rager as Kaisar Lidfard
Hiroyuki Yoshino/Ian Sinclair as Favaro Leone
Risa Shimizu/Tia Ballard as Amira
Eri Kitamura/Leah Clark as Kerberos (Cerberus)
Hiroaki Hirata/Tyson Rinehart as Lavalley
Hiroshi Iwasaki/Brian Mathis as Bacchus
Kenjiro Tsuda/Christopher R. Sabat as Martinet
Masakazu Morita/Kent Williams as Azazel
Megumi Han/Jad Saxton as Jeanne D’Arc
Miyuki Sawashiro/Apphia Yu as Rita
Ryûzaburô Ôtomo/Vic Mignogna as Belzebuth (Beezlebub)
Showtaro Morikubo/Kyle Phillips as Hansa
Tesshô Genda/Barry Yandell as Charioce XIII
Meet Favaro Leone, professional bounty hunter and casual scoundrel. When he’s not crossing swords with his arch nemesis and former best friend, Kaisar Lidford, he can be found at the local tavern spinning tall tales to anyone who will listen. After a one-winged demoness overhears his drunken boasts, she wrangles him into an unbreakable contract that will force him to make good on the promise he made.
With nothing but a destination in mind, the pair set out on their grand adventure – completely unaware of the dark forces working to fulfill an ancient prophecy that will bring about the end of the world. That is, unless a charming rogue, a clueless demon, a disgraced knight, and a tiny zombie can band together to change the course of history.
Visually arresting and fun from start to finish, Rage of Bahamut is a can’t-miss title for any action-fantasy fan.
Back in 2012, a card battle game known as “Shingeki no Bahamut” (Rage of Bahamut) developed by Cygames and published by DeNA was released for Android and iOS smartphones and tablets.
The video game topped the charts for 16 weeks on Google Play and also was a high grossing game for Apple’s App Store.
Two years later, the first anime adaptation of the game was created titled “Shingeki no Bahamut: Genesis” (Rage of Bahamut: Genesis) featuring anime production by MAPPA.
The series was directed by Keiichi Satou (“Asura”, “Saint Seiya: Legend of Sanctuary”, “Tiger & Bunny”), screen composition by Keiichi Hasegawa (“Astro Boy”, “Zoids”, “Devil Lady”, “Gegege no Kitaro”), music by Yoshihiro Ike (“DAYS”, “Blood: The Last Vampire”, “Asura”, “Tiger & Bunny”), character designs by Naoyuki Onda (“Psycho-Pass”, “Resident Evil: Damnation”, “Sol Bianca”, “Detective Story”) and art direction by Goki Nakamura (“Baku Tech! Bakugan”, “Cat Soup”, “Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt”, “Baku Tech! Bakugan”).
Featuring 12 episodes, the anime series will be released on Blu-ray and DVD in North America courtesy of FUNimation.
“Rage of Bahamut: Genesis” takes place during a time where the magical world of Mistarcia has humans, gods and demons trying to co-exist with one another.
Long ago, the winged behemoth known as Bahamut threatened to destroy the land but the humans, gods and demons fought together and sealed its power.
The God Key that was used to seal Bahamut was split into two, one half given to the gods and the other half to the demons in order to ensure that no one can unite the keys and release Bahamut from the seal.
2000 years have passed and the key is stolen by Amira, who is half god and half demon.
Meanwhile, a thief and womanizer named Favaro Leone is on an adventure to find a land known as Elhiem. Upon hearing this, Amira shows up and asks Favaro to take her there.
At first he refuses, but seeing her beauty, he tells her he will take her if she gives him a kiss. But soon after, one of the criminals that Favaro is fighting turns into a demon. But immediately, Amira reveals her powers of a demon and easily defeats the demon fighting Favaro.
As Amira wants to make sure that Favaro keeps her promise, she leans to give him a kiss but instead, she gives Favaro a demon’s tail and tells him that she will only take it off, if he takes her to Elhiem.
Meanwhile, a knight named Kaisar Lidfald is on a mission to kill Favaro as revenge for the death of his father. Discovering a young girl zombie named Rita, the two search for Favaro.
Also, Jeanne D’Arc leads her knights to find Amira for her role in stealing one half of the keys that could unseal Bahamut. Also, unrest is happening due to the theft of the God Key and the boundaries that were in place for godkind and demonkind is starting to crumble and a war is about to begin between the two. And the seal that kept Bahamut sealed, is now starting to disintegrate.
As Favaro tries to make good on his promise to escort Amira to Elheim, they are unaware that everyone is looking for Amira.
Can Favaro protect Amira? And why did Amira steal the God Key?
VIDEO:
“Rage of Bahamut: Genesis” is presented in 1080p High Definition. The anime series features great animation and wonderful background art. Bahamut is well-rendered, human characters, gods and demons are well-drawn and well-shaded.
Because this is a TV series, there is a subtle softness to the overall animation, so it’s not too vibrant. Character designs, animation and background art are fantastic.
AUDIO & SUBTITLES:
“Rage of Bahamut: Genesis” is presented in Japanese and English Dolby TrueHD 5.1. Typically, the English dubbed soundtrack tends to have a 5.1 lossless soundtrack, but how awesome is it that both Japanese and English soundtracks are in 5.1. So, everyone can enjoy the lossless soundtrack depending on their preference. Voice acting is well done for both Japanese and English. Great use of surround channels and LFE.
Subtitles are in English.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
“Rage of Bahamut: Genesis” comes with the following special features:
- Audio Commentary – Episode 1 – Featuring audio commentary by ADR Director Sonny Strait, Ian Sinclair (voice of Favaro), Tia Ballard (voice of Amira), Chris Rager (voice of Kaisar).
- Audio Commentary – Episode 12 – Featuring audio commentary by ADR Director Sonny Strait, Ian Sinclair (voice of Favaro), Tia Ballard (voice of Amira), Chris Rager (voice of Kaisar).
- Episode 6.5 – “Roundup” – A recap of the first half of the series.
- Episode 6.5 – “Roundup” Preview
- Textless Opening and Closing
- Textless Closing for Episode 12 (Full Screen)
EXTRAS:
“Rage of Bahamut: Genesis” comes with both a Blu-ray and DVD version of the anime series.
Prior to watching “Rage of Bahagmut: Genesis”, I was not aware of the video game.
I watched this anime series and thinking how fascinating it was to have a protagonist who was a redhead and had an afro. Then seeing humans co-existing with gods (angels) and demons, meanwhile the dead are sprouting up and zombies are everywhere. And seeing a zombie girl become a major character.
Suffice to say, the concept is nothing I have ever seen in an anime series. And immediately, the characters you followed throughout the first half of the series are immediately put into a chaotic situation and all heck breaks loose. Not surprising considering the series is only 12 episodes long and the writers had to make the storyline work within those few episodes.
The adventures of four individuals who are quite opposite from each other. Favaro, the man with the ‘fro who loves to steal and spending time with the ladies. Kaisar the knight who wants Favaro dead because he blames Favaro for the death of his father.
But I found myself being captivated by the action-driven storyline and its mysterious protagonist, Amira. She not only kicks ass when in demon mode but she happens to have a spunky side that leads her to act out against Favaro. And for some reason, she has stolen the God Key which keeps the behemoth known as Bahamut sealed.
And as mentioned, you have a zombie girl who hangs out with Kaisar the knight and has a pessimistic attitude. And dare I say, there is also a talking duck that the group befriends.
And if that wasn’t crazy enough, You also have Joan of Arc who is a saint/knight who becomes the savior for the people and then ends up being put on the stake to be executed.
Behind-the-scenes, you see tensions building up between the gods and the demons and for the most part, chaos befalls on the magical world of Mistarcia.
So, much goes on throughout this series and there are a number of characters introduced quickly, but not too much that you get confused. If anything, with 12-episodes, “Rage of Bahamut: Genesis” is an action-packed anime series that is not difficult to follow and because it’s a short series, you may find yourself captivated enough to watch it straight through.
As for the Blu-ray release, animation by MAPPA was really well done. The series looks very good in HD and both the Japanese soundtrack and the English dub are well-done and you get two audio commentaries, a 6.5 recap episode and more.
Overall, “Rage of Bahamut: Genesis” is an exciting, action-packed series with wonderful animation, plenty of humor and fascinating characters that you will find yourself captivated by the series. Recommended!
