Review: Undefeated Bahamut Chronicle [DVD]

Release Date
21/8/2017
Format
Blu-ray, DVD
Studio / Publisher
Lerche / MVM Entertainment
Certificate
15
Language / Subtitles
Japanese / English
Episodes
1-12
Discs
2 Blu-ray, 3 DVD
Run Time
300 minutes

A former prince from the Old Empire, a Princess from the New Empire, an all-girls academy and a plot to bring down the Empire, is what Undefeated Bahamut Chronicle brings across its 12 episodes. Airing in 2016 and based on the light novel written by Senri Akatsuki comes the anime adaptation produced by Lerche (Assassination Classroom, Magical Girl Raising Project, School Live). Released by MVM entertainment as a standard edition Blu-ray and DVD version, Undefeated Bahamut Chronicle, only has a Japanese language track, and the on-disc extras include a textless version of the opening and ending themes.

Lux Arcadia is a former prince from the former Arcadia Empire which was overthrown by revolution five years prior to the start of the show. Following the fall of the old Arcadia Empire, Lux is burdened with an unpayable debt to the new Atismata Empire. To pay off this debt, Lux takes on odd jobs for the empire’s citizens. It is on one of these jobs Lux stumbles falls into the all-girls Royal Officer Academy bathing area. It is then he meets Lisesharte Atismata, the princess of the Atismata Empire. Following a duel with Lisesharte to decide his fate, Lux is enrolled into the academy, from here he is asked to handle exploring ruins, fighting monsters, all while trying to survive the onslaught of girls. The Royal Officer Academy is tasked with teaching the students how to use mechanical armoured suits called Drag-Rides or Machine Dragons.

Undefeated Bahamut Chronicle is a harem action series full of clichés right from the start, and when I say from the start, I mean the first few minutes. However, that doesn’t make it a bad show. Yes, as mentioned it’s full of all the cliché moments we’ve come to expect from a harem; the main character walking in on a room full of women in the bath, all the common female character traits, etcetera. While, other shows rely on these moments to carry the episodes through, Bahamut uses them on the side and very sporadically at that. Although, surprisingly, the amount of “ecchi” scenes are kept to a minimum. Plot-wise it is hard to explain what is happening as it does jump around different points and doesn’t fully follow through with each of them. Out of the 4 arcs covered, the last arc is the strongest and best paced, and the most action-heavy. Visually, Undefeated Bahamut Chronicle comes in about average compared to other shows, although the drag-rides are well designed, especially the advanced versions some of the characters have. The opening theme is “Hiryuu no Kishi” by TRUE and the ending theme is “Lime Tree” by nano.Ripe.

Probably the best point of Undefeated Bahamut Chronicle is the cast list, in fact, it’s too good of a cast list for the type of show Undefeated Bahamut Chronicle is. Lux is voiced by Mutsumi Tamura, Kobayashi in Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid. Lisesharte is voiced by Lynn, Fuuka in Fuuka. Supporting cast members include, Yukiyo Fujii (Tetra in Log Horizon 2), Yurika Kubo (Loki in DanMachi), Risa Taneda (Kaori Miyazono in Your Lie in April), Shizuka Ishigami (Stella Vermillion in Chivalry of a Failed Knight), Yoko Hikasa (Rias in Highschool DxD) and Rie Takahashi (Emilia in ReZero), to name a few.

Verdict
Although quite generic and having a plot that falls a bit on the flat side Undefeated Bahamut Chronicle is still an enjoyable show with the occasional funny moment and well-designed action set pieces along with an excellent cast. Undefeated Bahamut Chronicle is worth watching if you want to just sit back and relax and not care too much about what is happening.
7
GOOD