Bastard!!: Heavy Metal, Dark Fantasy (BASTARD!!-暗黒の破壊神-, Basutādo!! Ankoku no Hakaishin, lit. "Bastard!! The Dark God of Destruction") is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Kazushi Hagiwara. It first appeared in Shueisha's Weekly Shōnen Jump, in March 1988, and continues to be published irregularly today in Ultra Jump. Its individual chapters have been compiled into 27 tankōbon volumes as of March 2012. Kazushi Hagiwara is an enthusiastic fan of heavy metal music and Dungeons & Dragons,[4] using ideas from both of these in the Bastard!! story. Many characters and places in the story, for instance, are named after members of Hagiwara's favorite bands. The manga was adapted into a six-part anime OVA series by AIC released from August 1992 to June 1993. The manga was published in English by Viz Media. Only volumes 1–19 have been translated, with no plans to release the rest. The OVA was released in North America by Pioneer in 1998. Bastard!! is one of Weekly Shōnen Jump's best-selling manga series of all time, with over 30 million copies sold by 2008.