Many manga fans believed that the Berserk manga would not coninute without the watchful eye of creator Kentaro Miura working on Guts’ tale. Luckily, following Miura’s passing, his dear friends Kouji Mori and the artists at Studio Gaga are looking to end the series with the notes, and discussions, from the legendary mangaka. In a new interview, the new writer on the series discusses working on Berserk and the difficult in attempting to bring it to an end.
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The current Berserk writer discussed receiving the news of Kentaro Miura’s passing, and the ultimate decision to continue the story of Guts, “I was worried. In fact, I myself was so stunned after the news of his death that I didn’t even get around to reading my own manga. Even though it hasn’t been working for several months, I knew that I had to publish the idea for Berserk somewhere, in the form of a novel or a book. At the time, I hadn’t considered the option of “resuming serialization of the manga” at all. However, Miura’s disciples at Studio Gaga, who had been serializing the series, said, ‘I’ll draw the manuscript of the last episode to the end, so I want you to see it.’ I thought it would be impossible, but in fact, the 364th chapter (published in Young Animal #18 in September 2021) was so complete that it was hard to tell which part was Miura’s work and which part was the work of his disciples. Desperate power sometimes miraculously improves people. We were asked if we could continue the series , and for the first time I had the feeling that we might be able to bring it to completion.”
The Ultimate Challenge of Ending Berserk
While Mori wouldn’t commit as to many more chapters Berserk has in its manga tank, the current writer did hint at the fact that he knows how much more story is left for the Band of the Hawk, “I can’t say for sure yet, but I already have an idea of how many years and how many books it will take to complete the project. Even so, when I try to draw it, there are still parts where the story doesn’t make sense. There, everyone speculates and discusses things while solidifying the original work.”
Mori then discusses how he will never be a replacement for his deceased friend, Kentaro Miura, “That’s really how it feels. However, even though it is deciphering it, it is extremely difficult. Sometimes people complain about me on Twitter. ‘Anyway, Mori wants to do whatever he wants with Berserk, so he’s adding to it later, right?’ Absolutely not possible. With my abilities, I would never be able to create or draw Berserk.”
