Nudity in bastard anime

If Bastard has one flaw, it’s the very American dub. It’s cheesy in the wrong way, though suitably evokes very early anime dubs by being a bit, well, crap. Similar levels of cheese are accomplished in the visuals from time to time, the most notable in this episode being a soldier clubbed into the ceiling and watching his shocked face reflected in a flying drop of blood. Yeah, it’s kinda cute, but it’s that sort of B-movie directorial flare we really don’t need in a scene we’re supposed to be taking seriously. Coupled with the awkward teenage angst between Yoko and Lucien, Bastard becomes dangerously close to being juvenile. The lingering shots of breasts, nudity and clearly erect nipples are also worth a smirk or two, but looking at all the promo art, that seems to be order of the day here.

If 2022’s adaptation of Bastard!! has any saving grace, it’s that it is very self-aware. The anime is not overly self-serious — in fact, a lot of its more ‘adult’ content is played for laughs, inviting the viewer to nod along and knowingly smile rather than be stunned or upset by its on-screen depictions of over-the-top shed or in-your-face nudity, the latter of which stops just short of outright pornography in certain episodes. In other words, regardless of its graphic nature, the content is presented as something more or less all in good fun, if not in good taste.

How is it the fault of the author(s) that a producers is obviously pressuring the studio to not adapt any of the nudity or lewd content? Most of the time mangaka have absolutely 0 influence in anime adaptations of their series, unfortunately. If they did there’s no doubt in my mind this would have nudity and other series like Maid Dragon or Bisque Doll might too, which should have had nudity in their adaptations as well since they did in their respective manga. The difference for those two though is KyoAni and CloverWorks are studios and not producers and are notoriously afraid of fanservice, it’s a wonder Bisque Doll even got picked up by CloverWorks to begin with, and they gutted it in the weirdest ways.

is a very special show for me. The manga, sadly on hiatus since 2010 (possibly due to Hagiwara’s degenerative eye condition), is a joy to look at. And I loved Dark Schneider so much that I named a precious, beloved cat “Schneider” because Mom kept calling him a bastard (he was a stray born under our porch). Schneider didn’t go around blowing up mountains and namedropping Dave Mustaine, but he was a big kitty (and probably laid as much pipe as his namesake did while he was at it, bless his unspayed heart). I was endlessly thrilled to hear it was getting a new anime, so imagine my excitement at getting to talk about it.

It’s utterly abhorrent, and I love it. Again, a little shamelessness goes a long way, and doesn’t even have “shame” in its vocabulary. If you have the constitution for nonstop tastelessness, this arc is stuffed with fun stuff. Like, I know I just ragged on the anime’s lack of nudity, but using the slime’s eyeballs to censor Yoko’s nips is truly inspired.