In the world of Bastard!, technology has fallen out of style in favor of magic. Here, we find Dark Schneider, who has just awoken from a 15-year imprisonment in the body of a small boy. He re-enters the world to find that his four old allies, once set on conquering the world together in order to bring about a utopia, have given up their old values and are now working to dominate the world only in the name of power, no matter what destruction they may bring. This does not sit well with Schneider, and he decides that with his new freedom and powerful magic under his belt, he is ready to teach his friends the "error of their ways." Kazushi Hagiwara, creator of the manga on which the series is based, is said to have included references to his favorite metal bands in the names of people and places in Bastard!, but after possible copyright concerns and translation into English from the Japanese pronunciation, these references can be difficult to detect. The name of a city in Bastard!, for instance, is Metallica; however, the Japanese dialect pronounces this "Meta-Ricana," and this is how it is left in the English version. It is also rumored that this six-episode OVA was originally planned as an eight-episode series but was cut short before production of the last two episodes were complete. ~ Cammila Albertson, All Movie Guide