Berserk (manga)


Berserk is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Kentaro Miura. Set in a medieval Europe-inspired dark fantasy world, the story centers on the characters of Guts, a lone mercenary, and Griffith, the leader of a mercenary band called the "Band of the Hawk". Miura premiered a prototype of Berserk in 1988. The actual series began the following year in the now-defunct magazine Monthly Animal House, which was replaced in 1992 by the bimonthly magazine Young Animal, where Berserk continues to be serialized intermittently.
The manga has been adapted into a twenty-five episode anime TV series covering the series' Golden Age arc by Oriental Light and Magic, which aired from October 1997 to March 1998. A trilogy of films, , was released beginning in 2012. A second anime TV adaptation was broadcast in 2016 and 2017 for a total of twenty-four episodes.
As of January 2016, Berserk had over 40 million copies in circulation.

Plot

Production

Prior to start serialization, Miura at age 18 worked as assistant to George Morikawa, of Hajime no Ippo fame. Morikawa quickly acknowledge Miura's high artistic level and stop working with him. In 1985, Miura applied for the entrance examination of an art college in Nihon University. He submitted his project Futanabi for examination and was granted admission. This project was later nominated for Best New Author in the Weekly Shōnen Magazine. His first serialized work, Noa, was published in the magazine, but it did not work out. In 1988, while working for Buronson in a project titled Orō, Miura published a prototype of Berserk in Hakusensha's Gekkan ComiComi. This 48-page prototype won the 2nd place at the 7th ComiComis Manga-School prize. The serialization of Berserk would began in Hakusensha's Monthly Animal House in 1989.
In an interview with Yukari Fujimoto, Miura mentioned manga artists Yoshikazu Yasuhiko and Fujihiko Hosono as early influences to his art style, as well series like Violence Jack by Go Nagai and Guin Saga by Kaoru Kurimoto for the story and atmosphere of Berserk. Fist of the North Star by Buronson and Tetsuo Hara influenced Miura to develop his art style. Ranpo by Masatoshi Uchizaki served him as a reference for his backgrounds. Pygmalio by Shinji Wada and The Snow Queen inspired Guts' sword size by mixing the characters' swords of both series. Miura has also commented about the influence of shōjo manga on Berserk. Particularly, he has mentioned that the anime adaptations of The Rose of Versailles and Aim for the Ace!, both directed by Osamu Dezaki, influenced him to read The Rose of Versailles manga, and the work of Keiko Takemiya as well.
Berserk is known for its frequent and often extended hiatuses, which date back to late 2006. After a 10-month hiatus from September 2014, the manga came back in July 2015, and until December 2015, it was published monthly before returning to an irregular schedule. It was published monthly from June to September 2016, before entering another hiatus. The manga resumed from March to June 2017, and then from December 2017, it was published on a regular basis until May 2018, and nearly three months after, a new chapter was published in August before entering an 8-month hiatus. Two new chapters were published in April and August 2019. The manga resumed in April 2020.

Themes

Berserk explores a wide range of themes and topics. Free will and destiny are discussed within the series. Human resilience is a recurring theme, with many characters coming from horrible backgrounds, constantly struggling against an unjust world. Guts struggles with destiny itself, and is constantly resisting the pull of predetermination. Griffith also embodies this idea of resilience, by chasing his dream of ruling his own kingdom, despite his lowborn origins, as well the free will, by his own decision to sacrifice the Band of the Hawk in order to achieve his dream.
The series also explores human nature and morality, as characters struggle between becoming good human beings or falling into madness and evil. Guts, at the beginning of the story, is presented as an antihero who does not care about killing, and is indifferent to people who aid him. Guts does not act in accordance with definitions of right and wrong, he operates within a gray area, and does not attempt to be heroic or protect the innocent. However, as the story progresses, it is shown that he is in fact a person who is deeply conflicted internally. His tragic and traumatic past, unfolded in the "Golden Age arc", proves that Guts is a much more complex character. Anne Lauenroth of Anime News Network, wrote that Griffith is "not evil at all", but "arrogant and brutally realistic about human nature". The suppression of his own human nature would initiate his demise as the Hawk and the rise of Femto.
Friendship, comradery and human relations are other explored themes. As a child, Guts tried to build some level of friendship with his mercenary group, but due to his traumatic experience with them, he lost trust in people. Through the time he was with Griffith and the rest of the Band of the Hawk, Guts formed bonds, friendships, animosities, and co-dependencies, maturing as well as individual. Miura has stated he based the Band of the Hawk on his own high school friend relationship experience. Jacob Chapman of Anime News Network, wrote that through their friendship, Gut's ambitions were elevated and Griffith's were lowered, allowing both of them to consider a new future for the first time, one where they fought side-by-side as equals and died on the battlefield, but they reject this future out of their own personal fears, as Guts did not think he was "good enough" for a happy future and Griffith was terrified of his lofty dream crumbling into something more mundane. Miura has also stated that the story of fight between Guts and Griffith speaks about their change after having built their personalities.
The Golden Age arc has been compared to a Greek tragedy. According to Lauenroth, Griffith's hamartia lies in how he compartmentalizes his feelings of guilt and shame that would get in the way of his dream, and how he deals to repress them. His inner dialogue in his second duel with Guts; "If I can't have him, I don't care", marks the Golden Age arc peripeteia. When Guts comes running to rescue him, Griffith reaches his moment of anagnorisis, with his thought: "You're the only one... who made me forget my dream", initiating thus the Eclipse.
Betrayal and revenge are major themes in the series. Guts suffered his first betrayal when Gambino sold Guts' body to another soldier for a few coins. He would eventually take revenge against the soldier, killing him on the battlefield and he later would kill Gambino as well. Guts is in a quest for revenge after his comrades were betrayed by Griffith and sacrificed by the God Hand. This desire for vengeance has been his main reason of survival.
Religion has been also touched in the series, mainly through the characters of Mozgus and Farnese. Miura has stated that he created Mozgus based on the concept of rigid personality to create a fanatic religious character with no flexibility. Farnese is presented as the figurehead of the Holy Iron Chain Knights, inquisitors tasked with burning heretics and witches at the stake. After her encounter with Guts, she finds it increasingly difficult to resolve her faith with the atrocities she has become party to, as Guts, inversely, takes action against something he disagrees with. Guts denounces the very idea of prayer, claiming that the act of clasping hands only prevents people from realizing what they desire through their own means. Afer the battle between Guts and Mozgus, Farnese rejects her faith, as she realizes how blind she obeyed the rigidity of her beliefs.

Media

Manga

The manga started its serialization in Hakusensha's Monthly Animal House in October 1989. On November 26, 1990, the first tankōbon volume of the manga was published by Hakusensha under its Jets Comics imprint. In 1992, Monthly Animal House was renamed Young Animal, and new chapters are still being irregularly released in the bimonthly magazine. In June 2016, Hakusensha's Jets Comics imprint was renamed Young Animal Comics, and the first 37 volumes of Berserk were re-published with new cover arts. As of September 2018, 40 volumes have been published.
In North America, Dark Horse Comics, in conjunction with Digital Manga Publishing, announced the license of the manga in 2003. The first volume was published on October 22, 2003. As of September 25, 2019, the 40 current volumes have been published. In September 2018, Dark Horse Comics announced a "deluxe edition" of the Berserk manga, featuring hard covers and larger prints, with the first volume, which collects the original 3 volumes, being released on February 27, 2019. As of June 24, 2020, five volumes have been published.

Novel

A novel adaptation, entitled Berserk: The Flame Dragon Knight, written by Makoto Fukami with illustrations by Kentaro Miura, was released on June 23, 2017. It is focused on the new Band of the Hawk's apostle Grunbeld.

Anime

First series (1997–1998)

Produced by Oriental Light and Magic and directed by Naohito Takahashi, the 25-episode anime television series adaptation Berserk: Kenpū Denki first aired from October 7, 1997 to March 31, 1998. The series begins with the Black Swordsman arc, continuing through the Golden Age arc. Though the manga storyline remains largely intact, several changes were made, with the modification or elimination of characters, some of the series' most violent and brutal scenes, and material that would have extended the storyline beyond the planned run of the anime series. Themes of friendship and ambition are more developed and emphasized than those of causality and the supernatural, each of which was made with the approval of Miura.
In Asia, Vap Video has released thirteen VHS and twelve VCD including two episodes each from 1998 to 1999 in Japan. The seven discs "DVD-BOX", using Audio-CD cases, was released in Japan in 2001, with the seven volumes being re-released later in individual DVD regular cases in 2003.

Film series (2012–2013)

In September 2010, a wraparound jacket band on volume 35 of the Berserk manga announced a new anime project, which was later revealed to be a series of films. The first two films, ' and ', were released in Japan in February and June 2012. was released on February 1, 2013 in Japan.
The first two movies are substantially a retelling of the 1997 TV series. The third movie features new footage beyond the TV series storyline based on the manga. The movies are primarily animated using CGI although rendered with a flat two-dimensional effect which matches the TV series visual style.
The voice cast features Hiroaki Iwanaga as Guts, Takahiro Sakurai as Griffith, and Toa Yukinari as Casca. The English voice cast features Marc Diraison as Guts, Kevin T. Collins as Griffith, and Carrie Keranen as Casca, all reprising their roles from the original anime.

Second series (2016–2017)

The Japanese magazine Young Animal announced on December 22, 2015 that a second televised anime adaptation of the Berserk manga would be produced and broadcast on Japanese television network WOWOW and MBS starting in July 2016. The first promotional video for the new series was revealed at NBC's winter Comiket, which featured Guts in his Black Swordsmen attire fighting off dozens of demonic skeletons with his characteristic sword Dragon Slayer. The new series was controversially primarily animated using CGI rather than the previous series' traditional animated style. It commences with the "Conviction" story arc, starting around chapter 115 of the manga, and introduces Puck, Isidro, Farnese and Serpico as characters. The second season, covering the "Falcon of the Millennium Empire" arc, began on April 7, 2017.

Music

participated in the soundtracks for all adaptations of the manga, using an eclectic selection of instruments. He received the offer to compose music for the series due to Miura being a fan of his works and listening to them while he works on Berserk, that also led to Miura almost never requesting a specific composition to Hirasawa. Hirasawa has said that Berserk does not feel like a self-restrained story, and that composing for the series is similar to the sensation of unlocking one of his inner restraints, leading to compositions on a "Berserk style". Hirasawa has made five songs with lyrics for the series, the last two of them were written in a language Hirasawa created by mixing elements of Thai, German and Latin together. Besides Hirasawa, the video games and film trilogy feature work by composers Masaya Imoto, Hiromi Murakami, Shinya Chikamori, Hiroshi Watanabe, Yasushi Hasegawa, Tomoyo Nishimoto and Shirō Sagisu; the anime and the film trilogy feature theme songs by Penpals, Silver Fins, AI and CHEMISTRY.

Video games

Two video games based on Berserk have been developed by Yuke's. The first game, ', was released for the Dreamcast in Japan by ASCII Corporation in late 1999. It was localized in western regions early the following year by Eidos Interactive. The second game, ', was published by Sammy Corporation exclusively in Japan on the PlayStation 2 in 2004. A Berserk-themed spinoff of Omega Force's Dynasty Warriors series, titled Berserk and the Band of the Hawk was released on October 27, 2016 in Japan, and later in the U.S. on February 21, 2017 for PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita and PC via Steam.

Other merchandise

In addition to video games and game guidebooks, Berserk has spurred on a range of different merchandise, from lighters to keyrings to Kubrick. Statues and action figures are produced by Art of War, Prime 1 Studio, and First4Figures. A Berserk trading card game was released by Konami in Japan. A figure of Guts was released by Max Factory in its Figma line in January 2012. Several other Max Factory Figma figures have been released; Guts in his Band of the Hawk attire, Guts in his berserker armor as well as Griffith, Femto, Casca and the Godhand.

Reception

As of July 2015, the manga had over 27 million copies in print in Japan and 8 million overseas. As of January 2016, the manga had over 40 million copies in circulation. In 2016, Berserk ranked 38th on the 17th "Book of the Year" list by Da Vinci magazine. Berserk volumes have topped Japanese manga charts, with volume 40 debuting as the best selling manga for the week of its release.
In September 2018, it was reported that Berserk is publisher Dark Horse Comics's best-selling product of all time with over 2 million copies sold.
The 1988 prototype chapter won 2nd place at the 7th ComiComis Manga-School prize. Berserk won the Tezuka Osamu Award for Excellence at the sixth installment of Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize in 2002.

Legacy

Berserk has inspired a number of video games, notably the Dynasty Warriors series and the Souls series.
Finnish heavy metal band Battle Beast have written songs about Berserk, including several on their 2013 self-titled album. When guitarist Anton Kabanen left Battle Beast in 2015, he formed Beast in Black and continues to write songs about the series. The deathcore band Brand of Sacrifice released the album God Hand in 2019. Both the band and album are hugely inspired by Berserk.