FUN FACT: the author got the idea of this story from D&D and his love of Heavy Metal. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if the pre-story from before Lucien became Dark Schneider was his D&D campaign, and the Four Lords were the other players.
No Dark Schneider would kill any man he found prettier than him but would respect and mock any hero who stood against him. This is a guy who taunts his enemies before making them an ally or incinerate them. His actions makes since to him alone.
@@Philotheist777 DS is but more. He's revealed to have been a fallen angel and can summon large machinations that literally shatter reality . I find it funny later when he's also entertaining Beelzebub fighting Satin. He shows his demonic and black wings( 4 winged angel) when transforming into his AWESOME Majin form! There more powers he's revealed that Griffith couldn't possibly handle.
Hey Ryan, my name is Kevin. I’ve had a rough time these past few months. I just want to let you know that every time I see one of your videos my days gets instantly better. I love your videos, no matter what they be. Thanks for all the great content.
Dude I am SO happy someone is talking about this manga!!!!! When I first picked it up at a secondhand bookstore, I was immediately drawn to the sharp and bold lines and chaotic artwork. It was practically screaming at me to buy it. People think Redo Healer and Goblin Slayer is bad? Imagine if THIS got an anime adaptation My popcorn 🍿 will be ready 🤣🤣🤣
An anime's already out. I think it only has like 4 episodes though, and only covers up to SPOILERS when the main girl gets kidnapped by the ninja guy and gets rescued. It's also heavily censored compared to the manga.
Redo t Healer is fcking awful. Goblin slayer is nothing like it. Rtd is sickness with some extra stuff like minor plot and fights(nobody would be talking about it if it was hentai) , where GS is a very basic d&d like based story with just a few pervy scenes& fan service. From the look of it Bastard!! is uncompareble to Rtd.
Heres a line from Schneider from the Pioneer anime that I think you'll enjoy : " Dia-mon, you glutinous fool! You forgot the most important rule of combat! Your the evil macho badguy! Everyone knows the Macho Badguy can't win- Especially when facing the exceptionally handsome and popular main character!"
Ok here's some notes I wish were included in Bastards!!! Review: #1 The Series has an anime ( only covers the 1st few volumes sadly)! By Pioneer and excellently dubbed with veteran faves such as Richard Epcar, Amanda Lee, Steve Blum and Daran (Cozmo) Norris! #2 Spells and Sorcerory: If you like Final Fantasy styled summons and powerups, this is the manga for you! In Volume 23, DS(Dark Schneider) summons a HUGE Bahamut armor that literally walks along the countryside battling against a 'former friend/angel' who transforms into a nightmarish centaur beast! This fight literally continues into volume 26! There's tons more with reference to mana consumption and even D&D monster stats! #3 The creator Kazushi Hagiwara had collaborated with Nobuhiro Watsuki( Rurroni Kenshin) to create the series Endride. #4 Anthrax( Anslasax) is the God of Destruction that evolves into a devine being that claims its sent by God to be a punishment against humanity. However, Hell, literally breaks loose and a Huge Serpentine Behemoth strikes and all of humanity must watch as DS has been sealed away by Anthrax prior to this fight...making the stakes that much higher. #5 Though on indefinite hiatus, Hagiwara still created supplement material for his manga. He's even gone back to redraw his pervious manga chapters because he worked on a weekly scheduled and hated his rushed art before being transitioned into a monthly book. His newly collected works have been given new covers, and even collected into artbooks and doujinshis- which btw there's a special volume called 'Sweet Suck!' Involving the princess I recommend to anyone! #6. It's a Rock manga. DS is a David Bowie inspired character with many nods to Metallica, Kiss ( especially Gene Simmons), Price, Bon Jovi and and so much more! #7 Bastard!!! Was a favorite manga of Daiske Iswatari and helped inspire the amazing Gulty Gear series! Dark Schneider= Sol Badguy , Kall-Su = Ky-Kiske, Lars outfit inspired the Holy Order knights outfits and even Porno Diano inspired elements of I-no! #8. Viz released the series YEARS ago but stopped publishing around volume 19, making it very expensive while Japan is on hiatus on volume 27.
Referenced to your #8, are you saying there are a total of 27 volumes of Bastard!! available in Japanese and only 19 volumes were translated into English?
Yep! Dark Schneider inspired Sol Badguy! Kall-su inspired Ky-Kiske. Even Lars outfit inspired their Holy Order outfits. There's tons more reference as well!
@@markness90s13 why just Xrd and Strive? I'd say all the serie is inspired, no aspect "picked up" from the end of Bastard but from its whole, and GG is waaay toned down compared to Bastard. That said both are awesome. Let's just hope Ishiwatari doesn't burn out himself and his creation as Hagiwara did 🤞
Im so glad you've finally read my favorite manga with my boy Dark Schneider! Been a Fan of the series since the Pioneer Anime was released with the hero played by Kosmo! The art gets incredible as each volume progresses and the action is phenomenal! Not to mention the nods to D&D, Street Fighter and even hilarious PPG and Disney References!
I'm totally feeling you man. I followed the first half of this Manga very eagerly and even memorized some spells lol. Then that plot twist! And the time skip! I couldn't follow anymore and just gave up
The artwork is amazing, and the artist did another Manga that based in a high school setting "Campus " I think. But yeah, because of his highly detailed art, it used to take a year to get one chapter printed in Jump... not surprised you said the last one was made in 2012.😅
I know how you feel, Bastard!! is probably the best manga I can't recommend to anyone. Bastard!! is such an amazing ride and Hagiwara is an absolute madman though. It's a rotten shame Viz stopped at volume 19. And comparing it to Evangelion is pretty appropriate since EVA probably got the idea of turning angels into mechs from this series. That time-skip happened because some kind of accident destroyed the pre-production work Hagiwara had done on the rest of the Crimes & Punishments arc so they just skipped ahead in the story.
I was introduced to this amazing series by the anime. I’ve been collecting and importing the manga and art books for almost 20 years now. This is my absolute favorite manga of all time and I am so excited to see someone discussing it.
Let’s gooooo, glad to see you’re pushing the Hagiwara greatness. This was easily one of the most enjoyable series I read in 2020, I just wish the series would come back and finish 😭
Love this manga! Remember seeing it as a kid like wtf. Read it as an adult and I’m glad I never forgot about it. GUYVER was always advertised around it
Oh yeah, loved bastard!! Second half of the story is a beast. Already a great manga back in the days before Berserk getting notice and became the legendary dark fantasy of all time.
I remember having a good time with the anime when I first saw it, but was put off by how pervy it was upon revisiting it later. Love the setting and the metal references, but I share your desire that the series was more of a dark fantasy epic than a sex comedy. Thought about checking out the manga throughout the years but after hearing you say that it's 30+ volumes with no ending and a decade since an update, I think I might not lol. I felt your pain when you said that haha. Still think the King Diamond episode is a cool stand alone to show fellow metalheads.
The reason plot is so confusing is because apparently some timeskip chapters are missing. We can see DS having flashbacks about events that we are supposed to know from those chapters (like Diano being Gabriel), there are even glimpses of panels from them. Last 2 chapters are direct continuation of the events before timeskip happened. Also Hagiwara is apparently redrawing entire manga into his new arstyle, so we are not gonna see new chapter in very long time
@Elation ; That last part is a bit misleading. Hagiwara started to redraw the manga when the Kanzenbans were released in 2000-02. However after Kanzenban 3 he stopped doing that so only the first few chapters got redrawn.
Im a big metalhead maniac and what you just described here make me wanna sell my soul to the devil. I got to try that manga !!! Reading this while listening to some old Manowar, Thor, Iron maiden, Overkill, Cirith Ungol, Warlord, Slayer...
I was first exposed to this through the ova which I found hilarious and bad ass I bought a bunch of the volumes a while back and read a few and I really enjoyed what I read and it's definitely something I want to get back to sometime
Glad you're covering this manga, it's one of my favorites. I picked up volume 12 in Boston back in 2000 and couldn't believe Hagi drawing the heroes fighting corrupted elves/angels holy smokes! It was like his own castle defense story with Street Fighter references for the special moves (half-circle --> forward, heavy punch!) and ridiculous levels of detail and flair. Just insane stuff that kept getting weirder so the writer/artist wouldn't get bored. Last I checked, it was a full-on Kaiju battle between DS and a corrupted, fallen Uriel (while Lucifer and his entourage watched). Try out Tengho Tenge by Oh!Great if you enjoyed this art.
@@LowellLucasJr. tenTen is amazing... The first couple volumes are nothing special, but then Oh!Great finds his stride and kills it. The flashback to samurai era Japan in b&w is INSANELY well done. Plus, it ends on an excellent note.
this manga freaked me out when i first saw it in a store as a kid. it was in japanese. the art was fire! and i recognized the character from the covers. i always saw artwork for it. when i finally saw what the manga looked like, there was a scene with some druid monk looking dudes doing an occult ritual sacrifice or something. that scene freaked me out and i was done after that.
This manga is famous as one of the three where the author has/had long periods of not producing new material in Japan. It's the original one before Hunter Hunter and Berserk. It's def not one to recommend but it's one to read as a reference point. When this manga first came out, it shattered expectations of the hero saga by having the main protagonist as an op evil horny one. (it's nothing special now, but at the time in1988, it was different). Japan was in the midst of an RPG boom with d& d themes in manga, where Lawful good protagonists was all over manga back then. At the same time in the vid game world, Dragon Quest, Romancing Saga, and Final Fantasy series were immensely popular (back when Square and Enix were two different companies battling for JRPG supremacy.) （Just for reference, Dragon Quest the Adventure of Dai came out in 1989. Its currently an Anime airing right now) After Anthrax in the manga, it skips a whole entire part where DS fights and collects the Judus Pain and makes it even more confusing. So all of a sudden you have a destroyed world with OP DS and OP enemies, while going with the theme of this evil protagonist is actually the only ally to humans and god, angels, demons alike hate and want to destroy humans.
It weirdly reminds me of Gintama then you mentioned unexpected lore and all those stuff. You've convinced me, it seems awesome!! I'll binge read once the weekend comes. also I have to stop halfway to not get spoiled- I'll come back once I finish it. Geez, I'm really a sucker for another dark fantasy.
HAHAHA! Of course you weren't! This and Gunnm were the first manga I ever read back in 97 at 8y old even before holding a Dragon Ball tome in my hand and I was mindblown. What is odd is that I didn't read Berserk until my early twenties. I highly recommend you to try out Gunnm.
Never finished Gunnm, but it is a great, great series. Highly recommend. It's dark but not too dar; it has comedy but not too much comedy... the action is very well pased. Only thing that I ignored was the technological mumbojumbo.
@Shin Shaman cool story. Was considering checking it out but I've been a fan of berserk for like 20+ years... It wasn't even close to mainstream back then.
Dawg...... Your channel is fucking gawd like✊✊ mos def gonna rep this man by purchasing his merch.. Thanks for getting me through much with your reviews bro bro ✊✊✊
I only understood what was happening after rereading it like 3 times lol but even then, it's not that it doesnt make sense, its that the shit's complicated also spoiler im pretty sure Luche and DS really are two halfs of one soul- Lucifer
That second half explanation of the plot captured 10 billion % my feelings about it. I went back to read some later chapters at one point, and I just jumped in, and I had no idea what was going on. But as I kept reading, it dawned on my that neither did the author, so I felt just slightly better haha.
The anime is crazy nuts too. Came out in the same few years as Excel Saga. I grouped them together anyway for most crazy anime. English voice acting for Bastard is a riot. Worth it 10/10.
Bastard!! is the illegitimate love child of Berserk & Dragon Ball that got adopted by Devil Man. It's like the author thought Dragon Ball is awesome Metal is awesome Miura Sans Artwork is the best so I'll show him. Wrote Bastard and then Midway met his lifelong Idol Go Nagai who encouraged him to follow his dreams and finally do Devilman justice by writing his own version of it.
The best way to describe Bastard!!! Is an over the top fantasy story featuring a protagonist who is the literal personification of Lust. He hates other men and would bully any hero til their beneath his boot. Dark Schneider is modeled after David Bowie and has the attitude of a rockstar! Men want to kill him, woman lust after him, and he's bent on getting what he wants. His powers are unrivaled as he makes a mockery out of any of his foes. What makes him fun is he's the answer to ending beings of immense power, though any woman can put him in his place. The art for the series is epic as volume 15 showcases the most dramatic change in style and was sadly put on hiatus around volume 27. The Manga-ka is still illustrating material for bastard, as he redraws past pages that get collected in thick, Takobon special edition volumes. Some, even too raunchy by Shuiesha standards, are collected in adult Doujinshis and artbooks; which sell out super fast. I own 3 of them and know from experience.
I managed to collect the first three "rebuilds" and was surprised at all the effort put into them. The slip cases and extra art... very cool! He produced later works for the rpg in his modern style (around '2015??), so every couple of years I look up Hagiwara to catch up.
@@patriciosoler3861 same here my bro. Also he worked on an anime collaboration with watsuki ( Kenshin creator) and contributed to a Street Fighter artbook! It's quite sexy!
@@LowellLucasJr. Really? Ok, I'll look it up. The American translators had to put SO much work into bringing Bastard!! Stateside. Man, I'd love to see more of Lars and the rest of the heavy metal samurai sorcerers...
@@patriciosoler3861 The series is called Endride. Sadly Viz ended the manga at volume 19 stateside but theres been a few translators here and there that translated the later volumes and supplement material.
The OVA of this is 10/10 golden! You watch it for Dark Schneider's charisma and sass. Some of the lines used in it makes it feel like it's just a really well done abridged series. One of my favorite lines is when a character says, "I'll kill you! I'll kill you dead!" I always forget where I heard this from but I'll randomly say it when I'm talking outloud while playing video games like it's some common reference that others will get....but I guess not. GOOD NEWS! A new anime series for this is coming out at the end of next month on Netflix. It's supposed to be 25 episodes and end of June will be the first 13. As the OVA was only 6 episodes, this should cover more and maybe smooth out the story a bit.
Might check this manga out. Also I would recommend checking out the manga series Hajime No ippo but no pressure 😁 great video btw keen to check this out
Anthrasax and Orochi (from One Punch Man) look really similar. Must be the biggest inspiration for Murata when making Orochi. They both have snake like limbs with dragon heads. They both have a similar facial structure. And they both can have many forms.
I just came on yt after watching the first 2 episodes of the new anime on Netflix... i don't know, possibly another of my youth heroes was destroyed but I'm still going to watch a couple more episodes to decide if I want to waste my time on the anime. It was the very first manga that I read when I was 15/16 when it was published in italy and of course it was my favourite. I don't think I read more than ten or a dozen mangas so I'm far from being an expert but I know that Jojo, Berzerk or Videgirl AI left a mark on my generation and even more Ken Shiro, especially for Italians also bc its still on TV after more than 30 years. But literally in the past 20++ years no one knew about Bastard...
I'm on Episode 3 and I distinctly remember D.S.not taking alot of Yoko's shit. She'd pretty much tell him to stop being an asshole and he'd turn around and say "Yea but I know you like it!". Again, only on episode 3. I may end up eating my words down the road.
Late 80's manga style. Lots of manga at that time had the same type of characters. I think Johji Manabe (Outlanders, Caravan Kidd) and Masamune Shirow (Apple Seed, Ghost in the Shell, etc) had the same themes going as Bastard!!
This manga teaches me that: *"I'm a Flame King Elemental! I'm immune against your pitiful fire spells!"* Protagonist: *"I CAST FUCK-YOU-FIREBALL"* [Flame King Elemental Dies]
That artwork is really something and I mean, perverted stuff like in Urusei Yatsura and City Hunter sounds pretty interesting. I’m just a bit confused but perhaps if I try Bastard!! out it will make more sense, right?
Oh they're based off Izumi Matsumoto( Kimagure Orange Road) art style because Hagiwara was apprenticing under him. Luckily, he developed his own style his gals GET EVEN HOTTER later!
The manga/anime is like if you mixed Berserk (A world plagued by demons, medieval kingdoms, characters that look vaguely like the three main leads of Kentaro Miura's work, an evil group of demons as the main antagonists, Christian imagery and it's status as an incomplete work) and Violence Jack (the post-apocalyptic setting and long-haired hero) with Heavy Metal music, hentai and ecchi harem genres, a dash of Devilman (young boy transforms into a powerful warrior who fights demons) with the ultra-violence from all three aforementioned works. It's also worth noting that it came out only one year before Berserk.
Ok so Bastards world is a Dark Fantasy that's a reverse medieval setting because of the folly of mans super science. This created Anslasax, Anthrax for its original name, the God of Destruction- a being that caused the annihilation of the entire world! The story escalates from this thing being revived to untold horrors it creates...which even Hell itself opening up and unleashing its fury on everyone!
So the writer was obviously a fan of the film Heavy Metal. I'm kinda hyped for the anime now. Also I like how you said you wouldn't give spoilers but then show entire pages with dialogue intact. Chad move.
I would like to give this recommendation Ryan I think you’ll like it it’s called Akira it seems like it’s in your field if you feel like consuming it watch the movie then read the manga from the start as there both drastically different
Watching the anime on Netflix for the first 2 seasons they combined the 2 halves into 1 and watching ur video was hilarious literally LOL and I really like what they changed but still making it just like the Manga
So... the Anime adaptation drops on Netflix tomorrow.... when the manga isn't finished... unless its coming back up & THAT is why we get an Anime now 🤔
I happened to grow up reading this as it was released in the... 90s. A lot of sexy stuff sort of went over my head, as it seems to be the norm among the shounen mangas. Like Master Roshi and Ryu Saeba (City Hunter).
weirdly the whole dark persona for the hero basically makes me think of yugi muto's pharaoh persona as we basically dark until it was reconned as being cold and calculating heroic chaotic. another trope is deeper kyo anime, dark mega.exe in man in NT warrior, shirako from three eyed child shirako,
It has been 22 years for me, but I did buy this manga on a regular basis when the paperback books of it were first published in Germany, starting in the year 2000. Even then, it had a certain "dated style" to me as it was originally started in 1987, 1988. It was certainly my favorite for a year and a half, maybe a bit longer. After that, the German translation had progressed to the later volumes, and that is where Bastard!! really lost its focus and it turned into an almost completely different endeavor altogether, adding several tiers of gods, angels, demons, and whatever. As you pointed out, after volume 20 or so it is almost completely unrecognizable from the beginning, dozens of new characters swarm around and are then swiftly killed or ignored again, and it just became unsalvageable to me as a story. It is a giant train wreck of a fantasy story, one where I know some volumes are basically a single fight scene, and there is no progress in the plot at all.
I read some of Bastard! when I was 15... that was 16 years ago. Never came back to it because I found Berserk... completely forgot it existed if I'm being fully honest 😂
Reminds me of The God of Highschool. First it was about kids fighting for the title, then it's about gods, then it's about saving the world, only for it about to go back to fight for the title, while fighting against discrimination after a long timeskip, then saving the world again, then it becomes an apocolypse, then again saving the world. Like dude, make up your mind.
