Based on a digital collectible card battle game, “Rage of Bahamut: Genesis” is one more title in the shonen category that transcends the genre, mostly by combining a number of other anime elements and coating them in an impressive and adult-oriented audiovisual package.
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The story unfolds in a magical world called Mistarcia, where humans, gods and demons co-exist, although the first two seem to be in an alliance against the third, who try to influence the world mostly using cunningness. In the past however, when a terrible force in the shape of the dragon Bahamut appeared and threatened to destroy the whole world, the three races came together, and managed to seal its power. The key to that seal was split in two, with one half going to the gods and the other to the demons. Now, 2000 years later however, and while the world experiences a relative peace, a woman named Amira appears which seems to hold the god's half of the key. With an apparent loss of memory, she searches for her lost mother and stumbles upon a bounty hunter named Favaro, who eventually ends up helping her reach her destination. Favaro, however, has an arch enemy who is willing to chase him all over the world, Kaisar, and ex-aristocrat/current bounty hunter who blames him for his family's demise, and also ends up under Amira's spell. Bacchus, a god who is in charge of receiving and paying for the bounties also becomes involved, with the same applying to Rita, a 200 years old Zombie Lord. At the same time, gods, demons and humans are split between those who want to revive Bahamut and those who are trying to prevent it, and nothing seems to be as it seems.
The elements that make “Bahamut” stand out from the plethora of similar titles are both contextual and presentational. Regarding the first aspect, the main factors are the loans from many previous anime titles and a number of elements from mythology, history and religion. In that fashion, the overall setting loans much from “Berserk” with the dark-ages/medieval setting while the three main characters share many similarities with the ones in “Samurai Champloo”. The violence/gore levels are higher than the latter title, but by no means reach the “fest” of the former. Furthermore, some minor “loans” from “Attack on Titan” are also here. Apart from those, the story includes dragons, biblical demons and angels, characters from Greek mythology and one whose story (and whole persona) actually seems to follow that of Jean D'arc. Evidently, this could easily lead to a whole lot of mess, particularly when combined with the many plot twists, but Keiichi Sato and writer Keiichi Hasegawa manage to make it work somehow, even despite the obviousness of the ending. The sole exception lies with a few episodes just before the end, where the anime seems to be rushing and losing its sense of balance overall, although not to a point to fault it in general.
Regarding the presentation, “Rage of Bahamut” is one of the best anime released in the later years. The amount of detail Naoyuki Onda implemented on the characters is of the highest level, reaching almost movie standards, thus managing to separate them quite clearly, despite their plethora. The same applies to the background and the overall sets, that also highlight the use of color that always fits the occasion (dark and red for the demons, white and silver for the angels, etc). The animation from Studio Mappa is also excellent, with the movement of both humanoids and monsters being realistic as it is impressive, particularly in the various battle scenes that find their highlight in the episodes of the finale. Some elements of humor do exist, particularly deriving from Bacchus and his duck assistant and the overall childish behaviour of Amira, but the premises remain those of the drama/action and the series does not become ridiculous in any way, a tendency that even the most famous titles of the category cannot avoid occasionally. This achievement also extends to the sensuality of the title, which is evident, subtle, artistic, and adult-oriented finally, since “Bahamut” is not tormented by the ridiculous concept of the fanservice all its bloody-nosed extensions, is another aspect that makes the anime stand out. Lastly, Yoshihiro Ike's music induces the anime with a very fitting sense of epicness.
“Rage of Bahamut: Genesis” is extremely well-shot, manages to implement the chaos of its premises in measured fashion, and most of all, is a title that adults will enjoy equally.
