Kentarou Miura passed away?????(creator of BERSERK)

Taiso

Remembers The North,
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I'll circle back on all of this later to give my thoughts, since you all know how passionate I am about this series and I love talking about it.

Topics to be addressed:

Is Berserk bloated?

Is 30 years too long?

These are not necessarily the same thing.

Some of you may look to fill in these blanks but don't bother. I'll tell you what to think when I am not so tired.
 

Taiso

Remembers The North,
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Is Berserk Bloated?

Without a doubt. I wouldn't say that there are 'throwaway' arcs but with a little less meandering, some of the key points could have been more artfully interwoven into some of the other more essential arcs, streamlining the story and shoring up the parts that felt longer than they actually were. I feel as though there are definitely times where Miura seems like he's sticking to an outline and doing his best to interject meaning into some of the passages. I also feel as though characters like Isidro and Puck exist specifically to make some of those narrative doldrums a bit more fanciful and engaging. To say Miura doesn't have a plan betrays a gross misunderstanding of his creative execution. However, it's fair to criticize him for being unwilling or unable to make the story a little leaner and meaner.

Is 30 Years Too Long?

Again, yes. If your story, beloved around the world by millions of fans, outlives you after 30 years, you took too long. It's inexcusable, and only the Miura uber-simps would say otherwise, be thankful for 'what they got', and otherwise engage in meaningless platitudes. The dude, for whatever reason, procrastinated like a motherfucker and even though I am thankful for what he has given me, dying 30 years into your magnum opus is grade A bullshit and a cry for help.

That said, it doesn't invalidate the work itself in any way. The next time I do a read through of Berserk, I'll see how I feel about the work as an incomplete whole. Even if Studio Gaga continues, this is the line of demarcation of Berserk. Anything that follows is just a tribute.
 

Mr. Karate II

Edo Express Delivery Guy
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Is Berserk Bloated?

Without a doubt. I wouldn't say that there are 'throwaway' arcs but with a little less meandering, some of the key points could have been more artfully interwoven into some of the other more essential arcs, streamlining the story and shoring up the parts that felt longer than they actually were.
I feel as though there are definitely times where Miura seems like he's sticking to an outline and doing his best to interject meaning into some of the passages. I also feel as though characters like Isidro and Puck exist specifically to make some of those narrative doldrums a bit more fanciful and engaging. To say Miura doesn't have a plan betrays a gross misunderstanding of his creative execution. However, it's fair to criticize him for being unwilling or unable to make the story a little leaner and meaner.
That's exactly what I meant to say to page 3: maybe before his death Miura had planned how it should have ended the story, but since Guts formed his new group, the pace has dropped dramatically and the whole thing has become terribly slow (when the filler of the pirate island was created I couldn't take it anymore and it was right in this point that years ago I stopped reading this work).
 

sylvie

NG.COM TEMPTRESS
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I agree that Griffith returning to his human form was too much too soon, though
No, here's the thing that Japanese storytellers don't seem to understand: Kill the fucking character, they stay dead

I don't know if it's like, generations upon generations of hara kiri, or just a deeply faulted manifestation of the cultural Shintoism, or what-- but here on planet earth (and the Western world) our stories and entire perception of life's consequences are dependent upon death. If characters can't and won't die, especially beloved ones, the story doesn't mean shit and neither does all the strife and agony represented in the face of the supposed consequence of it. You lose so much integrity in a story with that. This obviously doesn't matter to the general public, because such stories are wildly popular, but having Griffith recover -- AT ALL-- from the punishment he endured that gave him the Femto form and his loss of humanity etc. etc. is a fucking copout.

The obsession/allowance for reversing decisions and retconning in Japanese media is borderline unacceptable from an artistic POV. I think perhaps in Japan these things are seen for what they are, a component of a successful commercial product that keeps giving to the consumer, and also people like SignOfZeta who are completely AND UTTERLY roped into several Japanese toy-selling rackets
 

Mr. Karate II

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Posts
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No, here's the thing that Japanese storytellers don't seem to understand: Kill the fucking character, they stay dead

I don't know if it's like, generations upon generations of hara kiri, or just a deeply faulted manifestation of the cultural Shintoism, or what-- but here on planet earth (and the Western world) our stories and entire perception of life's consequences are dependent upon death. If characters can't and won't die, especially beloved ones, the story doesn't mean shit and neither does all the strife and agony represented in the face of the supposed consequence of it. You lose so much integrity in a story with that. This obviously doesn't matter to the general public, because such stories are wildly popular, but having Griffith recover -- AT ALL-- from the punishment he endured that gave him the Femto form and his loss of humanity etc. etc. is a fucking copout.
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This is the exact reason why I never passionate to works like 'One Piece' or 'Bleach' and why I find most current shonen are really soporific: Attack on Titan' has been a nice throwback to the works of the twentieth century, but it took a really long time for savor such a work.
 

Jon

Mr. Tater
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The two manga that people seem to enjoy these days were Shingeki no Kyojin and Demon Slayer. The first was great until Eren decided go all emo and attempt to destroy the world. He, in the end, was a huge douche.

As for Demon Slayer, I enjoyed it until the final battle. The ultimate demon literally flailed his arms as his main attack. Then, it ended with some weird time skip that made no sense. Yeah, to the people who enjoy this work, sorry to say, you will be disappointed if you're watching the anime.

Jon
 

2Heed

Big Bang Pro Wrestler
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877
I really wish we'd get an update on this situation. I also wish Taiso was back.

Really think a continuation would be the best direction to go with, but only if they have concrete plans to get to the endgame and not leave people hanging for multiple months/years at a time.
 

GhostSeed

Angel's Love Slave
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To our readers

We will resume the serialization of Berserk.
Please accept our apologizes for the long wait before we could make this announcement.


We have read as many of your comments as possible for the "Dai Berserk-ten (The Great Berserk Exhibition)", "Young Animal Memorial Issue (Young Animal 2021 No.18)", and "Berserk Volume 41". We are extremely grateful for each and every one of your words and for your messages sent to us through social media. We are truly touched by the love you all have for Berserk and the influence it has had on your lives. It is truly sad that Kentaro Miura himself is not here to read your comments with us.


Before his passing, Kentaro Miura spoke to his close friend Kouji Mori about the stories and episodes he had in mind for Berserk. He also had similar talks with his studio staff and editor. He wondered, would everyone be surprised if I drew something like this? How about a character like this? Would this storyline be interesting? The talks were not meant as his last words, but were a part of his ordinary days as a manga artist.
Such ordinary days continued for more than a quarter of a century. Our minds and hearts are still filled with the thoughts Mr. Miura shared with us during that time. We have also found memos of ideas he wrote and designs for characters that he drew and left behind.
We were reluctant to end his story without sharing these with his fans.
Our hope is for everyone to read the last episode that we have put together, until the very last frame.


Upon resuming the series, our production team decided on a basic policy.
"Mr. Miura said so."
This is what the production team kept in mind.
Since he did not leave behind rough drafts, it is impossible for us to create a manuscript exactly in the way he would have intended. However, we will write the manga so as not to deviate from Mr. Miura's own words. We would like to take the "Kentaro Miura" that we knew so fondly through our conversations and work and convey this to all of you in a sincere manner.
We believe that this policy, although imperfect, is the best way to deliver the Berserk that Mr. Miura envisioned to everyone as faithfully as possible.

From the next issue, we will first publish six chapters until the end of "Fantasia Arc/Elf Island Chapter". After this, we will start a new arc.
Credits after the resumption will be "Original work by Kentaro Miura, Manga by Studio Gaga, Supervised by Kouji Mori," and the numbering of the manga books will continue in order.

Looking back, the first volume of Berserk was published in 1990 with 28,000 copies released for the first edition. It was not an immediate hit and only a small group of people knew about it. Still, it drew avid fans and was able to hold their interest because people could feel Mr. Miura's desire to refine his craft. After a while, Berserk became a huge hit through Mr. Miura's extraordinary efforts and some good luck. Today, the first volume has been read by 2 million people around the world. We believe that Berserk has touched the hearts of many fans, and Mr. Miura would be happy to know that his thoughts have had a great influence on people's lives and work. We hope that everyone will continue to have the same connection with Berserk in the chapters to come.

Thank you to all the fans who sent us messages.
We are also grateful to the many fans who quietly supported the manga through their thoughts.
Every one of you will be the source of our energy as we move forward.
We are truly grateful to you all.

June 2022
Young Animal Editing Department



Nearly 30 years ago, Miura called me and said, "I need to talk to you about drawing a rough draft." I went to his workplace just to talk as we always do, but Miura looked more serious than usual. "I need to draw the Eclipse," he said. I sensed it would be hard work, but couldn't believe it when I was trapped indoors for a week… In that very moment, the storyline for Berserk was completed, until the very last chapter.
Strangely, the story for Berserk went on exactly as we discussed at the time, with almost no changes. I continued to talk to Miura often, whenever there was a big episode. We did so ever since we were students, consulting each other while working on manga.


I think people with good intuition would realize by now that I know the story for Berserk up to the very end. Still, I cannot say that I can draw it because I know it. That is because only the genius Kentaro Miura can write a masterpiece like Berserk.
However, a great responsibility has fallen on me.
While he was alive, Miura said, "I haven't told anyone other than you, Mori, about the story in its entirety." And that was the truth. It is too big a responsibility. I thought, should I talk to fans about it through an interview? Or should I publish an article with some illustrations? But that wouldn't convey the scenes that Miura described to me, or the lines of Guts and Griffith…
Just when I was trying to decide what to do, I received a message.
"The staff are saying they will finish the last chapter that was left behind, so can you take a look?"
The last few pages of the chapter were incomplete. Some did not even have the characters drawn on them.
I took a look at the manuscript, without expecting much.
Desperation can push people to create miracles — There it was, the completed manuscript for Berserk.
"Mr. Mori, will you let us do it?"
Miura's apprentices, who Miura had been so proud of while he was alive, asked me straight.
Company Director Shimada, a mentor for me and Miura, also said, "If you do it, the company will give our full support."
I thought, if I run away now, Miura would say:
"I talked to you about it so much, but you didn't do it!!"
Alright. I'll do it properly.

I have a message and promise to everyone. I will recall the details as much as possible and tell the story.
Also, I will only write the episodes that Miura talked to me about. I will not flesh it out. I will not write episodes that I don't remember clearly. I will only write the lines and stories that Miura described to me. Of course, it will not be perfect. Still, I think I can almost tell the story that Miura wanted to tell.
The talent Miura's apprentices have are real!
They are brilliant artists.
Many of you may not be fully satisfied with the Berserk written without Miura, but we hope everyone's thoughts will be with us.
We ask you for your continued support.

June 2022
Kouji Mori
 

The Chief

U.N. Apologist,
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This is such great news! Berserk is my favorite manga of all time. I've been picking up the oversized deluxe editions as they come out and I can't get enough. I'll be looking forward to reading the upcoming chapters in years to come.
 

Hattori Hanzo

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Sep 14, 2018
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Mine already arrived in May. Preordered it long ago before Kentaro Miura died. Didn't read or even unpack it.
 

Azra113

Street Hoop Star
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Dec 26, 2010
Posts
1,410
This is such great news! Berserk is my favorite manga of all time. I've been picking up the oversized deluxe editions as they come out and I can't get enough. I'll be looking forward to reading the upcoming chapters in years to come.
I started my collection in french, the mangas are the same as the Japanese ones, but the English deluxe ones made me switch sides and restart in english.
I really hope we can get a proper conclusion and that shit gets moving faster than that damn boat arc.
 
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