Slightly Biased Manga

Would you believe I confused Bastard and Berserk when trying to buy the better series for my roommate? I mean, both are fantasy, both are violent, and both are for boys. Apparently it’s all the same to me since I read girly comics. Berserk is the one I wanted, but Bastard is the one I got. In my defense, they didn’t have Berserk in the comic shop I was in, so it’s not like I drew a volume-to-volume comparison and decided this one was better.

The only adjective I can use to describe this first volume is “shitty.” My apologies. As much as I want to like this series (the plot sounds awesome, which is why I bought this one thinking it was Berserk), it just isn’t done very well at all. The art, while kind of cool and really suited to the extreme fantasy setting of the story, can be hard to read and follow. Viz is doing its thing where it pastes huge translated sound effects over the original to cover the lack of art edit, which makes the action scenes that much harder to follow… and, quite honestly, nothing very interesting happened in this volume. We are introduced to Dark Schneider, he fights a battle, throws a tantrum until a girl beats him up and seals him back up, then is let loose again when the kingdom needs him to fight another battle. Of course, he throws a tantrum again. That’s… really all that happened. His seal is broken by the kiss of a pure maiden, and I could not get over how much time is spent on her rejection and embarrassment over this kiss through the entire volume. Perhaps it’s been awhile since I’ve read a series like this, but even in shoujo series they don’t spend that much time on it. Oh, also, there are some comments from the artist included in the gutters between panels. They are some of the lamest, most unfunny comments I have ever seen. I think Viz edited some of them out because they were far too stupid, seeing as how they were quite literally notes to his friends. I’ve read some boring author talk sidebars, but his brief blurbs throughout the volume put every single one of those to shame. Ugh.

That list of grievances aside, I really want to like this manga. A badass wizard who is unlocked with a virgin’s kiss, is super-powerful and super-horny, coupled with awesome 80s art (however unclear it is in parts) is something I want to support. I like Dark Schneider, he is a walking stereotype hero hard-on, and I want to read any story he may be a part of. I’ve also heard that the series gets progressively more and more… pornographic as it goes on, and I desperately want to see this transformation in a Shounen Jump series. I want to see it like nobody’s business. It helps here that he is naked every time he appears. That’s a start.

Oh Bastard, if only you didn’t suck. Maybe it’ll get better if I keep reading. Volume 2 was at least an improvement as far as story quality goes.