Berserk by Kentaro Miura

I have never written about a book or anything else other than footwear and clothing. Anime and manga are something I have contemplated writing about for some time, yet for some reason, I have chosen to put it off till now.

It has been a mission of mine the last few months to read more forms of print media to help broaden my horizons and thought processes in day-to-day life. It has been intriguing to say the least. There is no doubt a notable difference to my willingness to want to read, which like many of us is always the struggle. I guess that willingness has encouraged me to write my first manga related literary piece on Berserk.

Of recent, Berserk has been written by many other blog spaces. Pages such as Subukaru, which if you haven’t, would highly recommend giving a read. But I must say that hasn’t put me off wanting to write something down.

To give a bit of context, Berserk was written by the late Kentaro Miura and was first published in 1989. Kentaro initially wrote a pilot to the manga in 1988 and off the back of its success was made into a series.

Stepping away from the story line briefly, artistically Berserk is a masterclass in finer details. The stylisation of the characters, fight scenes, weapons and armour are all meticulously designed to draw you in, then as the cherry on top of the cake, the story line; intense, twisted, hellish and dark. Add all these things together and you get an immersive story that stops you from wanting to do anything else other than read on. – Let’s bare this in mind, there aren’t a lot of words in the manga, so to be so captivating every page you flick through is a testament to the artwork produced by Kentaro Miura.

The story follows Guts, a lone mercenary who has faced constant hardship since birth. His journey takes us through dark and decrypted battles, facing both people and demons across Europe. Guts as a character from start to finish forgoes a heinous amount of self-development, unveiling a twisted side that he chooses to supress to avoid harming those close to him, and destroying those who have wronged him. Thus spending much of his time alone.

The more anime, manga, comics, game, film etc… I have delved myself into. It’s hard not to notice the influences Berserk has had on so many writers over the years. Things such as, one of the most well-known weapons within the Final Fantasy (FF) franchise, the ‘Cloud Buster’ sword used by Cloud Strife in FF7, was taken from Gut’s very own ‘Dragon Slayer’ sword (a long, thick and heavy steal sword used to take down his opponents). Some fans even claim Berserk influences in Marvels Avengers: Infinity War, specifically the scene of Thanos laying on a pool of water, grasping the soul stone with the eclipse visible in the background. – This is compared to Griffith (Gut’s best friend) scarifying his followers in order to become more powerful. Although this was never confirmed, it is very possible the soul stones premise was taking from Berserks Behelits (a demonic face covered egg that can grant the user more power in return for a sacrifice).

For me, Berserk is my all-time favourite manga and anime. I remember watching the original anime (released in 1997) being blown away by the complexity of the story and character design. The newer rendition of the anime (released in 2016) I must admit I didn’t enjoy, mainly down to the animation style itself. It looks somewhat childish in comparison to its predecessor. Due to my frustration of not wanting to watch the newer anime, I chose to read the manga from the very beginning. So far it has blown both anime adaptations out of the water without question. It is a great shame that Kentaro was unable to complete the story before passing away in May 2021.

Berserk has not only stood the test of time, inspired writers and enticed artists to look at its work. But it has created a legacy that will be put down as one of the all-time greatest manga’s ever to be written.

Rest In Peace Kenaro Miura.