If you landed here looking for a straight answer, here it is right away: BASTARD!! Heavy Metal Dark Fantasy is not finished. The manga has been on indefinite hiatus for well over a decade, with no new volumes since 2012 and no official word on whether the story will ever be completed. That’s a painful reality for fans of one of the most wildly ambitious dark fantasy manga ever serialized — but the situation is what it is.
Below, you’ll find everything worth knowing about the manga’s current status, the volumes that exist, the anime adaptations, and how to actually get your hands on the series if you want to read what’s there.
Is BASTARD!! Heavy Metal Dark Fantasy Manga Finished? No — It’s on Indefinite Hiatus
BASTARD!! Heavy Metal Dark Fantasy is not finished, not cancelled, and not officially ended. Its status is hiatus — the particular kind of extended silence that leaves fans in limbo year after year.
The series, created by Kazushi Hagiwara, first launched on August 10, 1988 through Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump — Shueisha being one of Japan’s largest manga publishers, and Weekly Shonen Jump being their flagship weekly manga magazine, where multiple series are serialized (published chapter by chapter) alongside each other. If you’ve heard of Dragon Ball, Naruto, or One Piece, they all ran in the same magazine. “Shonen” as a category refers to manga aimed primarily at younger male readers, roughly teens and up.
The series later moved to Ultra Jump, another Shueisha magazine that targets an older adult readership (what the manga industry calls “seinen,” meaning aimed at adult men rather than teens). That move made sense given how far BASTARD!! pushed mature content, but it also meant a slower publication pace — seinen magazines typically release monthly rather than weekly.
The standard collected volume edition ran to 27 cataloged volumes, with the most recent — Volume 27 — releasing on March 19, 2012.
That means the last new BASTARD!! manga chapter arrived over a decade ago. No conclusion, no final arc — meaning no self-contained storyline that wraps things up — no resolution at all. The story simply stopped.
There has been no official cancellation announcement from Shueisha. As far as public record shows, the manga remains in a state of hiatus rather than formal discontinuation. That distinction matters to some fans who hold out hope, though the practical difference between a 10+ year hiatus and cancellation is admittedly thin.
For anyone coming to BASTARD!! for the first time: yes, you can absolutely enjoy the 27 volumes that exist. The ride is spectacular. But know going in that the story does not reach a resolution.
Where the Story Stands After Volume 27
Without getting into heavy spoilers, the manga paused in the middle of an ongoing storyline with major plot threads left dangling. Key character conflicts, escalating power struggles, and world-shaping events were building toward what felt like a monumental stretch of story — and then nothing more was published.
This wasn’t entirely a surprise to longtime readers. The gaps between volumes had been growing wider for years. If you look at the release timeline, the pace slowed noticeably from the late 1990s onward. Volumes that once arrived annually started spacing out by two, three, or more years. Volume 27’s arrival in 2012 was already the product of a long wait, and when it came without any follow-up, the hiatus became the new normal.
The important thing to understand is that no official cancellation has been announced. The manga didn’t end — it stopped. Whether Kazushi Hagiwara will ever return to it is an open question with no confirmed answer. Fans speculate endlessly, but speculation isn’t confirmation, and there’s no insider knowledge to share here.
What exists across those 27 volumes is a genuinely wild heavy metal dark fantasy saga — continent-spanning sorcery battles, characters named after heavy metal bands and songs, a tone that veers between absurd comedy and apocalyptic stakes. It’s messy and ambitious and unlike almost anything else in manga. The incompleteness stings, but the journey through those 27 volumes is something a lot of readers consider worth taking anyway.
How Many Volumes Exist and What Editions Are Available
Here’s the full picture of what’s been published:
Jump Comics Edition — 27 Volumes
This is the primary edition. Published by Shueisha under their Jump Comics label (a publishing line dedicated to collected manga volumes), it gathers the individual chapters that originally ran in the magazine into book form — what the manga world calls “tankōbon,” meaning standard collected volumes roughly equivalent to a trade paperback in Western comics. Volume 1 released August 10, 1988; Volume 27 released March 19, 2012.
These 27 volumes represent the entirety of BASTARD!! as it stands. Volume 27 is the most recent volume, but it is not a final volume — the story is unfinished.
Complete Edition — 9 Volumes
Shueisha also released a Complete Edition spanning 9 volumes. This is a reformatted collected edition of the same material — think of it as a premium repackaging with more pages per book rather than new content. The page count per volume is much higher than the standard collected edition, hence the lower volume count.
Bunko Edition — 9 Volumes
A Bunko Edition was also published in 9 volumes. Bunko editions are the smaller, more affordable paperback format common in Japan — roughly the size of a novel. Again, this covers the same story content in a different physical format.
English Edition — Out of Print
Here’s where things get frustrating for English-speaking readers. VIZ Media — the largest publisher of translated manga in North America — formerly held the English license (the legal right to translate and sell the series in English) and published translated volumes. However, that license has since lapsed, and there is no current English print edition available.
There is also no legal English digital edition available as of this writing. No Kindle, no digital manga storefront — the lapsed license means VIZ is not selling BASTARD!! in any format, physical or digital.
That means you can’t walk into a bookstore or open a digital storefront and pick up a copy. Physical English volumes occasionally turn up through secondhand sellers, but availability and pricing vary wildly. There is no active English publisher for the series as of this writing.
If you’re comfortable reading in Japanese, the original Jump Comics edition and the collected editions can still be found through Japanese booksellers and import shops.
The BASTARD!! Anime — Does It Continue Beyond the Manga?
Two anime adaptations (Japanese animated series based on the manga) have arrived in recent years, which caught some newer fans off guard given how long the manga had been dormant:
- BASTARD!! — debuted in 2022 on Netflix
- BASTARD!! -Heavy Metal, Dark Fantasy-: Hell’s Requiem — started July 31, 2023 on Netflix
The anime adapts portions of the manga’s existing story. It does not continue the narrative beyond where the manga left off. If you’re hoping the anime might push the story forward into uncharted territory, that hasn’t happened.
The anime did renew interest in the franchise and brought BASTARD!! to a global audience that might never have encountered the original heavy metal dark fantasy manga. That visibility led to natural questions about whether a manga return might follow — but no such announcement has been confirmed.
For newcomers who discovered the series through the Netflix anime: the manga covers more ground than what the anime has adapted so far, so picking up the volumes gives you a fuller picture of the story. Just be aware that even the manga doesn’t finish the tale.
Where to Start Reading BASTARD!!
If you want to read BASTARD!!, start at the beginning with Volume 1 of the Jump Comics edition. The series doesn’t have complicated reading orders or side stories that demand a specific sequence. One volume follows the next.
Alternatively, the Complete Edition (9 volumes) offers the same material in a larger, reformatted presentation. If you prefer fewer, chunkier books, that’s a perfectly valid way to experience the series.
What to Expect Going In
BASTARD!! is a heavy metal dark fantasy manga in the most literal sense. Character names, spell names, locations — they’re all drawn from bands, albums, and songs across metal and hard rock. If you’ve ever wanted a manga where a character literally named Dark Schneider casts universe-shattering spells while the entire aesthetic screams 1980s album cover art, this is it.
The series is also decidedly mature in its content. There’s graphic violence, sexual content, and a general excess that was pushing boundaries even by the standards of its era. It originally ran in Weekly Shonen Jump, which seems almost unbelievable given how far the content strayed from typical fare in that magazine — and its eventual move to the adult-oriented Ultra Jump made a lot more sense.
The tone fluctuates between deadly serious apocalyptic storytelling and over-the-top comedic moments. That tonal whiplash is part of the charm for fans, though it can be jarring if you’re not expecting it.
For English Readers
The biggest obstacle for English-speaking readers is the lapsed VIZ Media license. With no current English edition available — print or digital — your options are limited:
- Secondhand copies of the VIZ English volumes exist but can be hard to find and expensive depending on the volume. Online secondhand marketplaces and used bookstores are the most common sources.
- Japanese editions remain available if you read Japanese or want to experience the original artwork alongside a translation tool.
- The Netflix anime adaptations offer an accessible English-subtitled (or English-dubbed) entry point for the story’s earlier storylines.
If secondhand English volumes interest you, the VIZ edition does turn up from time to time.
bastard heavy metal dark fantasy, Vol. 19
Frequently Asked Questions
Will BASTARD!! ever be finished?
There is no official statement confirming either a continuation or a permanent cancellation. The series remains listed as on hiatus. Fans have been waiting since 2012, and while the anime adaptations renewed interest in the franchise, no manga return has been announced. The honest answer is: nobody outside of Kazushi Hagiwara and Shueisha knows, and neither has said anything definitive.
How long has the manga been on hiatus?
The most recent volume (Volume 27) released on March 19, 2012. That puts the hiatus at well over a decade. The gaps between volumes had been growing for years before that, so the transition from “slow release schedule” to “indefinite hiatus” was gradual rather than sudden.
Is the BASTARD!! anime a complete adaptation?
No. The anime covers portions of the manga’s story but does not adapt all 27 volumes’ worth of material. And since the manga itself is unfinished, neither the anime nor the manga tells the complete story. If you watch the anime and want more, the manga goes further into the story than the anime has covered so far — but it too stops without a conclusion.
Can I still buy BASTARD!! in English?
Not through regular retail channels. The VIZ Media English edition is out of print and no longer actively licensed, and no legal digital English edition is available either. Your best bet for physical English copies is secondhand sellers — used bookstores, online marketplaces, and manga collector forums. Prices and availability fluctuate, and certain volumes are harder to find than others.
Is BASTARD!! worth reading even though it’s unfinished?
Plenty of readers think so — and here’s why. The 27 volumes that exist deliver a sprawling, chaotic, genuinely unique heavy metal dark fantasy experience. The heavy metal aesthetic, the absurdly escalating power levels, the mix of comedy and cosmic-level threats — there really isn’t another manga quite like it. Going in with eyes open about the lack of an ending makes a difference. If you can enjoy the ride without needing a destination, BASTARD!! has a lot to offer.