Update 35 - Berserk

As a general rule, I’m not interested in manga or anime. I find the art style loses something in translation with me- it often seems childish or silly to me. I have a couple exceptions to my general rule though- and the most prominent exception is Berserk by Kentaro Miura. Berserk is a dark fantasy epic following a man named Guts with a big fuck-off sword called the Dragon Slayer. There’s more to it, but that’s the general rule.

Miura passed away a couple years ago, and I was sad to hear it. I only got into Berserk because Miura was friends with a man named Hidetaka Miyazaki, who directed a game called Dark Souls, which is a dark fantasy game that’s one of my all time favorites. Upon learning about the art inspirations that Berserk leant to Dark Souls, I read up on the story of the Manga.

This past Christmas I got the first Hardcover volume of Berserk. I’m into Volume 4 now. There are 15 out currently, collections of the smaller chapter volumes- an omnibus collection. And I have to say it’s one of the most pleasant sit-down-and-reads I’ve had in a long time. Miura’s ability to convey movement on the page, and his huge double page spreads reminiscent of Hieronymus Bosch. I’ll find myself staring at the artwork for stupid amounts of time, just marveling at the inking and detail.

It’s got me to appreciate manga as a medium. Like western comic books, it’s not a medium I want to work in, but I love that it can convey certain stories in a way different from other mediums. Like games, like novels, like films and paintings- manga is just another medium of art. And it’s silly of me to have dismissed it so broadly. I’m not going to be reading too many more, but I can’t recommend Berserk enough.