Bastard!!, Volume 1 Book

Talk about a visitor overstaying his welcome… This manga would be great if it didn't do the same blunder most shounen do. Drag things unnecessarily.

Bastard (double exclamation points) is an epic fantasy series, which continues every time the mangaka feels like it. That is why it's been over 10 years the story began and it still is not finished. A thing that shows in the art, as it turns a lot more computerized and mature after the big timeskip. It felt kinda alienating but nothing too bad.



ART SECTION: 9

The general artwork is superb as both characters and backgrounds are very detailed and the action scenes are simply out of this world. The setting is a blend of medieval and sci-fi and that makes things very interesting as a concept. It feels a lot like playing 2nd edition D&D in a post apocalyptic setting.

The characters are drawn in quite the stereotypical way, with males being muscular machos and women being lust incarnated, with as little clothes as possible. Clothing is generally over the top, with impossibly huge shoulder pads and gizmos as decorations that are mostly for show and fan service rather than practical. And for some reason, they regenerate along with their owners, so out of nowhere naked people grow a new set of clothes, lol.

A thing that makes this series special is the rock and metal tributes. Almost every name, spell and area is named after rock and metal bands or famous singers. So it is quite hilarious to see things such as a three headed hydra named Man-O-War or a spell called Exodus. Part of the fan service as well I guess.

The action is quite brutal and epic to the point of literally having spells powerful enough to turn entire mountains to dust and human limbs to mince meat. It has some really gore moments in it, as well as some rather bold nude and soft sex scenes. Nothing is taken too seriously though, as there are quite a lot of comedic moments that ease the grim atmosphere, the heroes can regenerate even if they have been blown to a million pieces and there is never actual sex in it. Still, the violence and the profanity are quite high and inappropriate for ages below 12.

As the story progresses, the action scenes and the scenery become more and more psychedelic, to the point where the latest volumes are non stop action in an Aliens-like environment, where it is hard to distinguish organic from inorganic. Quite cool but it becomes too gross and bizarre for my tastes.



STORY SECTION: 4

The story never takes itself too seriously and mostly goes for macho battles and soft porn. It is not bad but it did become repetitive and tiresome and it made me lose interest in it.

The main story is at first about powerful warriors and wizards gathering seals in order to unleash a demon lord that destroyed most of the world in the past (our present that is) and recreate the world as they see fit. The good guys end up freeing their leader, Dark Schneider, as he is the only one powerful enough to stop them. The thing is, D.S. is more dangerous than the evil generals themselves. It is not exactly original or complicating but it is not totally clichéd either. D.S. is trapped for a long part of the story inside the body of an innocent boy and can only be freed by the kiss of a maiden. And he is horny enough to jump at every pair of boobs his eyes spot. Yeah, nice excuse for ecchi there. Also, the first main bad guy, demon lord Anthrasax, is something out of Ginger's artwork. Bizarre, gross and completely chaotic evil. This creates a very dark, erotic and at times comical story that always results to battles that make even DBZ feel poor.

But at the same time it is never too grim or serious as the good guys always find some poor excuse to win and be completely healed. No matter how much beating they get, they always survive and heal completely. It was cool the first dozen of times but then it became annoying.

The story is yet not finished and the rate the mangaka draws, it might take 10 more years to do so. It became too repetitive and wasted a lot of time on filler scenes and battles with unimportant villains, plus the good guys simply don't know when to die. They are currently battling demon lords and archangels but I no longer find it appealing to keep reading as it outlasted its interest. It does add more to the setting as it goes on but it progresses too slowly and most of the new stuff is not interesting.



CHARACTER SECTION: 7

As the title implies, every major character is a bastard with a double exclamation point. All brawn and no brains, selfish and arrogant. Women are fragile bishoujos that can't stay dressed for more than 5 minutes without being sexually attacked. Yet, unlike most heavy-dudes and useless damsels-in-distress in fighting series, they also have a drama behind them that gives a sensitive side to them. You almost feel they are just little immature kids with super powers, which go haywire every five minutes under the pressure of their ambition and sexual tension. The cast in this series is not original in any way, yet they seem to be an interesting mix of the best parts of the established clichés.
-Dark Schneider is practically an immortal that loves to blast people to bits, like Alucard from Hellsing. Yet, he cares about his women and even allows them to hit him when they get angry. That is a lot funnier than what you can tell by simply reading it here.
-They play jokes to each other and yet don't forget to mention the cruel events in their pasts that led them to this mess.
-They talk like they are gods and yet they also cry and complain a few minutes later.

In all, although they are not original or realistic in any way, they have a wonderful mix of comedy and drama that overshadows almost all similar characters in other shows. The trio of Schneider, Nel and Gara strongly reminded me of Berserk's Griffith, Caska and Guts; yet these guys were funny half the time and developed a lot faster. Some more add to the group later but they all pale before them, as the story repeats too much.



ENJOYMENT SECTION: 5
As I said, it is a very cool and blood boiling manga that unfortunately dragged for far too long and comes out far too slow. I see nothing left of interest in the story, as all their motives are now shown, yet the story keeps going for brainless action with bioorganic freaks and mecha clichés. If it was more solid in its pacing and had ended already, it would have been a masterpiece. But it didn't and it now feels as silly as Bleach.

OVERALL SECTION: 6
Very good in the beginning but loses a lot of steam as it goes on.