Berserk is a manga series written and illustrated by Kentaro Miura.
Set in a medieval Europe-inspired fantasy world, the story centers on the characters
of Guts, an orphaned mercenary, and Griffith, the leader of a mercenary band called the
Band of the Hawk.
Themes of isolation, camaraderie, and the question of whether humanity is fundamentally
good or evil pervade the story, as it explores both the best and worst of human nature.
Both the manga and anime are noted for their heavy violence.
Miura premiered a prototype of Berserk in 1988.
The first volume of the manga was published on November 26, 1990 by Hakusensha in its
Jets Comics collection.
In 1992, after the publication of three more volumes, Berserk began serialization in Young
Animal.
The series was adapted into a twenty-five episode anime series covering the series'
first story arc by Oriental Light and Magic from October 7, 1997 to March 31, 1998.
A series of films were released, beginning with Berserk Golden Age Arc I: The Egg of
the King on February 4, 2012, as part of an effort to adapt the entire manga series.
Plot
Guts, is a wandering warrior who hunts demon like creatures called Apostles, humans who
have made a deal with a group of archdemons known as "The God Hand" that in exchange for
their wish they must sacrifice someone or something close to them.
Guts once was the member of a renowned mercenary unit known as "Band of the Hawk".
After his troubled childhood under his adopted father, Guts is recruited to the Hawks by
their charismatic leader Griffith.
Griffith, Guts and their mercenary group play a pivotal role in ending the long war that
has ravaged the country of Midland.
Griffith however, in his ambition to become a ruler, seduces the King's daughter, leading
to him being imprisoned and horribly tortured until being rescued by his comrades.
With his body horribly mutilated, Griffith sacrifices his friends and mercenary group
to the God Hand to continue his dream in a demonic ritual from which only Guts and his
lover Casca, survived.
After being separated from Casca, who lost her memories after the ritual, Guts starts
hunting down the Apostles in search for revenge against Griffith, reuniting with Casca just
in time to rescue her from being burned as a witch.
While Guts and Casca travel to the Elf country of Elfhelm in search for a safe haven, accompanied
a group of companions they befriended during their travels, a revived Griffith reforms
the Band of Hawk and leads the fight against invading forces from the east, eventually
establishing his rule over Midland and founding a new, massive capital, Falconia, where the
humans take refuge from the ever increasing attacks of demons, unaware that their leader
is actually one of them.
Historical references Guts' iron arm, in his original character
concept, is very similar to Götz von Berlichingen's iron arm, which is kept in the Nürnberg Museum.
Berlichigen was a German knight and leader of a band of mercenary soldiers, with a reputation
as a Robin Hood figure.
In 1504, his right arm was struck off by enemy cannon fire and a prosthetic iron arm was
developed to replace it.
Miura stated in an interview that he created Guts independently and did not learn about
von Berlichingen until after several volumes of the manga had been published.
Manga
Miura first premiered Berserk in 1988 with a 48-page prototype, which won a prize at
the Comi Manga School he was enrolled in at the time.
On November 26, 1990, the first volume of the manga was published by Hakusensha in its
Jets Comics collection.
Three more volumes appeared until Berserk was serialized by Young Animal in 1992 and
new chapters are still being released in the biweekly magazine.
Bound volumes are still published biannually in Japan by Hakusensha; as of March 2013,
37 tankōbon of the manga have been published in Japan.
The manga has published on an irregular schedule since late 2006.
In North America and the United Kingdom, the manga is translated and co-published between
Dark Horse Comics and Digital Manga Publishing, which has released 37 volumes so far, the
first on October 22, 2003.
The series has also been published in Mexico by Grupo Editorial Vid, in France by Samourai
Editions, Dynamic Visions and Glénat, in Spain by MangaLine Ediciones, in the Netherlands
by Glénat, in South Korea by Dai Won, and in Italy, Germany, and Brazil by Panini Comics.
Adaptations Anime
Produced by OLM, the 25-episode TV anime 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, many 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, all of which were made with the approval of series creator Kentarō
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.
Music Susumu Hirasawa composed the soundtracks for
both the anime and video games, 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.
The opening theme is "TELL ME WHY" by PENPALS, the ending theme is "Waiting so long" by Silver
Fins, and the "next episode theme" is "BERSERK -Forces-" by Susumu Hirasawa.
Film series
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 intended to adapt
the entire manga series.
The first two films, Berserk Golden Age Arc I: The Egg of the King and Berserk Golden
Age Arc II: The Battle for Doldrey, were released in Japan in February and June 2012.
Berserk: Golden Age Arc III: The Advent was released on February 1, 2013 in Japan.
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.
Video games Two video games based on Berserk have been
released: Sword of the Berserk: Guts' Rage and Berserk Millennium Falcon Arc: Chapter
of the Record of the Holy Demon War.
The former takes place during the Hawk of the Millennium Empire arc and was released
in America before the manga or anime, while the latter is set between volumes 22 and 27.
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.
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.
Reception As of June 2013, the manga has sold 24 million
volumes in Japan and 7 million overseas.
The manga has won the Award for Excellence at the sixth installment of Tezuka Osamu Cultural
Prize in 2002.
References
External links
(Japanese) Berserk official page (Japanese) Berserk Films official site
Digital Manga Publishing page for Berserk Art of War - Official Berserk merchandise
Berserk at Anime News Network's Encyclopedia Berserk at Anime News Network's Encyclopedia
Berserk at the Internet Movie Database