“Berserk”: the last volume of the manga signed Kentaro Miura finally published before a sequel by a new author

The quest of Guts, lone warrior hunted by demonic forces, manga hero Berserk began in 1989. But following the death of Kentaro Miura in May 2021, at age 54, fans were doubly in mourning. Beyond the sadness caused by the death of the author, they thought they would never know the end of this cult manga. There is no doubt that they were therefore impatiently awaiting the release of volume 41, Wednesday July 6, to discover the last chapters from the hand of the Japanese master. The first 40 volumes total more than 50 million copies sold worldwide.

With Berserk, the mangaka has gone to the end of all his obsessions by mixing violence, romance and sex, in this medieval world where witchcraft has its place and where it is also a question of religion, heretics, demons. The graphic inspirations of Kentaro Miura, whose very detailed and dark drawings are immediately recognizable, come from the world of Hieronymus Bosch and HR Giger, from the engravings of the 19th century, in particular those of Gustave Doré but also from Anglo-Saxon cinema ( Alien, Hellraiser) or European folklore (elves, trolls).

This volume 41 is not the end of this great dark fantasy saga but Kentaro Miura’s last contribution to Bersek, the mangaka not having been able to complete his work. This is an opportunity to admire once again his magnificent drawings, his sense of cutting, the composition of the scenes, or the dialogues. A handover between two authors. At the end of June 2022 the manga returned to Japan in the magazine Young Animal thanks to Kentaro Miura’s assistants gathered within Studio Gaga.

In France, the sequel to the adventures of Guts is published on Wednesday by Glénat, with a first print run of 80,000 copies. It is Koji Mori, friend of the author and designer of manga (Suicide Island, Genesis) who will take care of the continuation of Berserk. If he can do it it’s because Kentaro Miura has told new stories and new episodes to him, his team and his editor. The continuity of a series after the death of its author is very rare in Japan. In an announcement on Twitter at the beginning of June, Koji Mori wanted to be reassuring vis-à-vis the fans: “I try to render the story in the most detailed way possible, and only the episodes told by the author will be published. I will not add anything to it”.

The first chapter of the cover was finally received with great enthusiasm during its pre-publication on June 24, 2022. This volume 41 is one of the calmest and most serene volumes of the entire series. It ends on the island of Elf Helm where for the first time Guts finds peace.

For this volume 41, Glénat has chosen to publish two versions: a standard and a collector. The latter consists of the manga in large cardboard format, enriched with an ex-libris and a metallic plate. This collector’s version is a “posthumous sign of respect” to the ambition of the author, explains the publisher.



We would love to say thanks to the author of this short article for this awesome material

“Berserk”: the last volume of the manga signed Kentaro Miura finally published before a sequel by a new author


Check out our social media accounts along with other related pageshttps://nimblespirit.com/related-pages/