BASTARD!! Heavy Metal Dark Fantasy Manga Volumes: 27 in Japanese, Only 19 in English
BASTARD!! was created by Kazushi Hagiwara and published in Japan under Jump Comics (one of Japan’s largest manga imprints). The English-language edition was published by Viz Media. The first volume hit shelves in Japan on August 15, 1990, kicking off a saga that would stretch across more than two decades of sporadic publication.
In total, 27 volumes were released in Japan, with the final volume published in March 2012. The key detail: the series is officially on hiatus. It is not completed. That last volume wasn’t a finale — Hagiwara simply stopped publishing new chapters, and the story remains unfinished as of 2026.
On the English side, the situation is even more limited. Viz Media’s English-language edition reached 19 volumes before the license was discontinued — meaning Viz stopped translating and printing new volumes, and no other English publisher has picked the series up since. That means volumes 20 through 27 have never been officially released in English. If you’re reading in English only, almost a third of the published story is inaccessible through official channels.
This gap exists because English-language manga publishers must separately acquire the legal right to translate and sell each series. When a publisher drops that license before finishing, the remaining volumes simply don’t get translated — even though they exist in Japanese. It’s one of the biggest frustrations for Western fans of the series. The story doesn’t wrap up neatly at volume 19 — it stops in the middle of an ongoing storyline, leaving English-only readers in a particularly rough spot.
What Each Volume Covers — Key Story Arcs Worth Knowing
Understanding what you’re getting into with BASTARD!! means knowing how the story evolves across its run. A story arc is a self-contained segment of the larger plot — think of it like a season of a TV show within the overall series. The tone, content, and scale shift dramatically from one arc to the next.
Early Volumes (1–6): Dark Schneider and the Four Lords of Havoc
The series opens by introducing Dark Schneider, a legendary dark wizard who has been sealed inside the body of a young boy named Lucien Renlen. When the Kingdom of Meta-llicana comes under siege by the Four Lords of Havoc — Dark Schneider’s former allies — he’s released to fight them off.
These early volumes establish the series’ signature blend: dark sorcery, apocalyptic battles, and heavy metal music culture references woven into every corner of the world. Heavy metal is a genre of loud, aggressive rock music — think bands like Metallica, Megadeth, and Iron Maiden — and Hagiwara names characters, spells, and locations after bands, albums, and songs. The result is a fantasy world that feels like a metal album cover come to life. The tone here leans more toward comedic dark fantasy, with Dark Schneider being an arrogant, lecherous antihero — a protagonist who lacks conventional heroic qualities — who’s equal parts terrifying and ridiculous.
The world-building in these volumes is surprisingly deep for how chaotic the surface action feels. Hagiwara sets up a sprawling mythology that he’ll build on for the rest of the series.
Mid-Run Volumes (7–15): Escalation and Deeper Lore
Starting around volume 7, BASTARD!! begins to escalate significantly. The conflicts grow larger, the lore gets deeper, and the stakes become genuinely apocalyptic. New factions emerge, the characters become progressively more powerful, and Hagiwara starts layering in religious and mythological references alongside the metal ones.
This stretch is where many readers get fully hooked. The storytelling becomes more ambitious, and Hagiwara’s art — already impressive — starts pushing into truly extraordinary territory. Battle sequences become more elaborate, character designs grow more intricate, and the dark fantasy elements get substantially heavier.
The content becomes progressively more mature and violent as the series continues. What started as edgy-but-fun dark comedy with gratuitous comedic and sexual content gradually shifts into something much more intense. If you’re sensitive to graphic violence and nudity, be aware that the series leans harder into both as it goes.
Later Volumes (16–27): Apocalyptic-Scale Battles
The final stretch of BASTARD!! moves into full apocalyptic territory. The scope of the battles becomes cosmic, the mythology expands to massive proportions drawing on religious and mythological imagery, and Hagiwara’s art reaches its most detailed and ambitious.
Here’s the catch: volumes 20 through 27 are Japan-only. If you’re collecting the English release, your story ends at volume 19, which falls right in the middle of this escalating phase. The later Japanese volumes contain some of Hagiwara’s most impressive artistic work, but they’ve never received an official English translation.
Reading Order and Where to Start
Good news: BASTARD!! is straightforward to read. It’s a single continuous story with no separate side series, stories set before the main plot, or alternate reading paths to worry about. You start at volume 1 and read forward in order. That’s it.
There are a few things worth knowing before you begin, though:
- The early tone is different from the later tone. Volumes 1 through 6 or so play more like a dark comedy with fantasy action. If the humor and provocative content in the early chapters aren’t grabbing you, know that the series shifts into much darker, more serious territory as it progresses.
- No side material required. Unlike some long-running manga that accumulate extra stories, BASTARD!! is self-contained within its main volumes.
- If you can only read English, your journey ends at volume 19. The story doesn’t conclude there — it simply stops as far as the official English release is concerned. Volumes 20–27 exist only in Japanese through official channels. Some fans seek out unofficial translations made by other fans for the remaining volumes, but those exist outside the scope of official availability and occupy a legal gray area.
For readers coming from the anime (Japanese animated series), start from volume 1. The manga contains substantial content that adaptations either skip or compress, and reading from the beginning gives you the full experience Hagiwara intended.
BASTARD!! Manga vs. the Anime Adaptations
BASTARD!! has received anime adaptations — animated TV or film versions of the story — but none of them come close to covering the full scope of the manga. The manga remains the definitive version of the story by a wide margin.
If you found this series through the Netflix adaptation — whether the first season in 2022 or the second season (“Hell’s Requiem Arc”) in 2023 — you’ve only scratched the surface. There’s also a 1992 OVA that adapts the earliest story arc, but even taken together, the adaptations cover only a fraction of the manga’s storyline. Large portions of the plot, character development, and world-building exist exclusively in the manga. If you’ve watched an anime adaptation and enjoyed it, the manga goes vastly further — both in story scope and in the sheer detail of Hagiwara’s artwork, which is one of the series’ greatest strengths.
For anyone who came to BASTARD!! through an adaptation, start the manga from volume 1 rather than trying to pick up where the anime left off. The adaptations compress and rearrange enough material that jumping ahead means missing significant content. Plus, Hagiwara’s art is genuinely worth experiencing from the beginning — it’s a huge part of what makes the series special.
Where to Buy BASTARD!! Manga Volumes in English
This is where things get tricky. The 19-volume English run published by Viz Media is out of print — meaning the publisher has stopped making new copies, so you can’t simply walk into a bookstore or order them new from a major retailer the way you can with currently published manga.
Here’s what the buying landscape looks like:
Physical Volumes
Since the English edition is out of print, the secondary market — resellers, used bookstores, and private sellers rather than the original publisher or mainstream retailers — is your primary option for physical copies. Online resellers and manga trading communities are the main sources. Early volumes (1 through roughly 10) tend to be easier to find and more affordably priced, often showing up in the range you’d expect for used manga. Later volumes — especially those approaching the cutoff at volume 19 — can command significantly higher prices due to limited print runs and collector demand, sometimes reaching multiples of the original cover price.
If you’re looking to start collecting, grabbing the earlier volumes while they’re still relatively accessible is a smart move. Prices on out-of-print manga tend to climb over time, not fall.
One solid starting point is picking up volume 1 to see if the series clicks for you before committing to hunting down the full run. Given that BASTARD!! has a very specific style and tone, it’s worth confirming it’s your kind of thing before investing in a potentially expensive collecting project. The card below shows Vol. 19 — the last volume VIZ published before the English edition went out of print — which is useful for identifying the edition you’re hunting; the earlier volumes, including Volume 1, turn up through the same secondary-market listings:
bastard heavy metal dark fantasy
Digital Availability
Digital availability for the BASTARD!! manga volumes is unclear as of 2026. Older, out-of-print series can be inconsistent across digital platforms — some storefronts carry them, others don’t, and the selection may not include every volume. If you prefer digital, it’s worth checking multiple manga storefronts directly rather than assuming one platform has everything.
Setting Expectations on Price
Because the English volumes are out of print and the series has a dedicated collector base, expect to pay above original cover price for many volumes — especially the later ones. This is normal for discontinued manga and not something likely to change unless the series gets a reprint (which there’s no current indication of).
Budget-conscious collectors should watch for listings on used book platforms and be patient. Volumes show up at reasonable prices periodically, but it can take time to assemble a full set.
Is BASTARD!! Worth Reading?
The core question: should you actually start a manga that’s been on indefinite hiatus since 2012 with no ending in sight?
What Makes It Great
BASTARD!! is a landmark dark fantasy manga. It pioneered the blend of heavy metal culture and violent sorcery action in a way that influenced countless series after it. The world is creative, the battles are spectacular, and Dark Schneider is a genuinely memorable protagonist — abrasive, overpowered, and strangely compelling.
The art by Kazushi Hagiwara is the series’ crown jewel. Especially in later volumes, the level of detail is extraordinary — think intricate armor plating, massive spell effects that fill entire pages, and densely detailed environments that reward slow reading. Hagiwara’s technical skill is among the most impressive you’ll find in manga. If you appreciate detailed fantasy art, BASTARD!! delivers at a level few series can match.
The heavy metal references are woven into every element of the world — from character names to spell incantations to the overall aesthetic. For readers who are also metal fans, there’s an extra layer of fun in catching all the references. But even if heavy metal isn’t your thing, the series works on its own terms as a dark fantasy action epic.
The Major Caveats
The biggest issue is the incomplete story. BASTARD!! has been on hiatus since 2012, and there’s no indication of when or whether it will resume. This means you’re committing to a journey with no destination. For some readers, that’s a dealbreaker. For others, the ride itself is worth it.
The second issue is the English availability gap. Even among the published volumes, you can only officially read 19 of the 27 in English. And those 27 volumes don’t finish the story either. So you’re dealing with two layers of incompleteness.
Finally, as noted at the top of this guide, heavy content warnings apply. BASTARD!! contains graphic violence, nudity, and mature themes throughout its run, and these elements intensify as the series progresses. This is not a series that pulls punches, and it’s definitely not for younger readers or anyone uncomfortable with graphic dark fantasy content.
The Verdict
BASTARD!! is best suited for readers who enjoy the journey over the destination. If you can appreciate a manga for its incredible art, wild creativity, and sheer unrestrained energy — even knowing you won’t get a proper ending — it’s absolutely worth experiencing. It’s a landmark of dark fantasy manga, and its influence on later series in the genre is clear.
If an unfinished story is something that will genuinely bother you, though, it’s fair to pass. There’s no shame in wanting a complete narrative, and BASTARD!! can’t give you that right now.
For everyone else — especially fans of dark fantasy, heavy metal, or beautifully detailed manga art — BASTARD!! is one of the most distinctive manga in the dark fantasy genre. The early BASTARD!! manga volumes are a blast, the art only gets more jaw-dropping as you go, and Dark Schneider is the kind of character you won’t forget anytime soon.