Why Berserk Should Never Have Returned (2024)

The untimely passing of Kentarō Miura, the creator of what is one of the most influential dark fantasy titles in history, left a huge hole in the manga world. His death meant that Berserk, a title that Miura had essentially worked on his entire life; one that had gone on to be one of the most influential titles of its time, would be doomed to be unfinished.

After Miura's passing in May, his assistants and colleagues at Studio Gaga, released a communiqué which explained that the future of the Berserk manga would remain undecided. However, in June 2022, Studio Gaga and Miura's long-time friend Kōji Mori released an announcement that the Berserk manga would continue, and it has since picked up from where Miura's final chapter left off – here's why this was not for the best.

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Context

The unexpected end of Berserk with the untimely passing of the author created an incredibly sad yet fitting way for the Berserk series to end, especially considering where the series was narrative-wise. The final Miura chapter of Berserk was released in September 2021, four months after his passing. Having managed to bring Casca's memories back to her, Guts' long journey to have the only other survivor of the horrible events of the Eclipse finally return to her senses was in some effect over, and the lack of a conclusive ending is right up the alley of the Berserk series as a narrative. There are no happy endings, and even Casca's revived memories don't come without a price – as a result of regaining her full memories of the dreadful events that took place that fateful day; Casca is unable to even look at Guts because seeing him invokes memories of Griffith; of the demon known as Femto. The ending of Berserk with chapter 364 meant that the series, although unfinished according to the plans that he had set out for it long before his passing, would have a de facto ending at a point in the story that would not be completely unreasonable on the basis of it having completed one of the series' longest-running and most important narrative arcs with the return of Casca's memories.

Miura's colleagues at Studio Gaga took a year to mull over the decision, having kept the fate of the series in the balance for a while after Miura's passing. The reason for this was that Miura's colleagues wanted to consider what he would have wanted for the series, and on that basis, the future of Berserk remained undecided until the announcement was dropped on June 7 this year. The beginning of the post-Miura Berserk was on June 24, with the first of six chapters produced to conclude the Elf Island/Fantasia Arc, and a whole new arc to follow. The plan is to take the Berserk narrative all the way to the end that Miura had envisioned for the series long before his death; a plan that his close friend Mori claims to know intimately because of how much he and the late author had talked about the series. The execution of the continuation of Berserk is therefore hinged on Mori's intimate knowledge of Berserk and the future for the series that Miura wanted, as well as his close understanding of Miura as a colleague and close friend. Staff at Studio Gaga are also operating based on what Miura had talked about with them in their various meetings regarding the direction the series is taking.

Approximation

When reading the first Berserk chapter made without Kentaro Miura; the difference in the execution of the story is overwhelming, and while the art is familiar and reflective of the team's long-term journey with the manga, there is something about the layout of the panels, the perspectives used and a notable use of minimal amounts of dialogue in the conclusive chapters of the Fantasia Arc that make the Berserk without Miura really appear to be missing something pivotal in its production. That missing element is of course, the hand of Miura himself. Without his unique perspective, keen eye for detail and ability to create intricate yet small panels, the visuals in the new Berserk left something to be desired, while the pacing of the last few chapters in the Fantasia Arc felt like a rushed job despite it happening a full year after Miura's passing, and part of what maintained this feeling is the strange decision to minimize the amount of dialogue over the course of the chapters, despite the fact that in Berserk chapter 365, Griffith literally makes an appearance on Elf Island. Perhaps an attempt to bring more attention to the art, the sequence of events in the final chapters of the Fantasia Arc unfortunately do the opposite of what was intended, so despite the idea being to bring Berserk to life in the way Miura would have "wanted", it ultimately only looks like Miura's Berserk at first glance. That being said; however, the Studio Gaga art is by no means detrimental to the series overall, and does read like a studious attempt to replicate Miura's art style.

Another aspect the new Berserk chapters did not get quite right is pacing, with the first of the post-Miura chapters running much shorter than what is generally expected from Berserk chapters, not to mention the aforementioned lack of dialogue making this shorter page count more apparent. Guts' confrontation with Griffiths is a quick affair as it grows more and more obvious that Guts can do absolutely nothing against him. Despite it being a short bout ending in Casca's capture, the confrontation left a lot to be desired from an artistic point of view, and the ultimate destruction of Elf Island felt like a rushed conclusion to the arc that featured a story progression as significant as the return of Casca. Ultimately, the idea that the series going forward is no longer the production of Miura's direct influence but rather, an interpretation of Miura's desires for Berserk going forward, is evident in the manga's execution at the hands of Mori and the staff at Studio Gaga. As such, the new Berserk chapters carry with them a feeling of an approximation towards the lifelong work of Kentaro Miura; Berserk, but not quite. While that's not necessarily a bad thing in light of it being in the spirit of fulfilling Miura's ultimate vision for the series, it comes down to whether or not one even thinks such an endeavour is even possible, especially for a work as significant; as influential; as close to the author as Kentaro Miura's Berserk.

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