BERSERK TO CONTINUE WITHOUT CREATOR KENTARO MIURA
The popular dark fantasy manga series lives on, with one important edict at its center: “Mr. Miura Said So.”
Image: Berserk, Kentaro Miura, Hakusensha Inc.
A YEAR AFTER THE TRAGIC PASSING OF AUTHOR AND MANGAKA KENTARO MIURA,Young Animal – the seinen magazine responsible for publishing Berserk – has announced that they will be moving forward with the story, publishing six chapters to close out the Fantasia Arc. These chapters will appear in the thirteenth issue of the year, releasing on June 24th, 2022. Following the close of the arc, fans can look forward to the start of a new arc in the series, and the first one wholly created without art or writing left by Miura.
Naturally, this may leave some readers with much unease, but the project is in the best hands available. A post on publisher Hakusensha’s website details the plans for the series moving forward, with Kentaro Miura’s long-time friend and fellow mangaka Kouji Mori leading Miura’s production team, Studio Gaga, in the creation and completion of the series. While the late Kentaro Miura left no concrete notes for where the story will go, the editing department at Young Animal insists that Miura was very forthcoming with his ideas for the future of Berserk, often discussing his plans, obstacles, and musings with Mori on a regular basis. These ideas, as well as Miura’s years of involvement with Studio Gaga, point to a team with the best chance at continuing the spirit of Berserk in a way that is truthful to its original vision.
To our readershttps://t.co/XzJk3Wzra8#BERSERK #ベルセルク pic.twitter.com/czA3UMmTDw
— ベルセルク公式ツイッター (@berserk_project) June 7, 2022
Both Kouji Mori and Young Animal magazine have acknowledged that, while Miura was very vocal about his desires for Berserk, replicating his work completely would be impossible, but both parties have promised to continue forward with the greatest effort to convey Miura’s ideas as faithfully as possible, “so as not to deviate from Mr. Miura’s own words.”
The work henceforth will be credited as: “Original work by Kentaro Miura, Manga by Studio Gaga, Supervised by Kouji Mori.”
Kouji Mori (Top) and Kentaro Miura (Bottom) at ages 48 and 15,
Kouji Mori is the mangaka behind Holyland and Suicide Island. Shortly after the passing of Kentaro Miura, Mori wrote a one-shot manga surrounding their friendship titled Mori-chan, Ken-chan, published in the 18th issue of Young Animal for 2021.
Initailly hesitant, Kouji Mori took on the task of completing Berserk, writing, “I thought, if I run away now, Miura would say, ‘I talked to you about it so much, but you didn’t do it!'”
“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 for your continued support.”
Kentaro Miura | Photo: Junichi Saji, Courtesy of Hakusensha
Kentaro Miura died on May 6, 2021 at the age of 54 from an acute aortic dissection. We at the Nakama Podcast and the Salad Bytes Media family as a whole continue to mourn his loss, and his contribution to the fantasy genre does not go unnoticed. We look forward to seeing how the story continues from here.
Sources: Hakusensha | Anime News Network