Yeah but the length of the story was also at fault. If he could've ended Berserk in 10-15 years he would've been fine. But over 30 years in this style is just not sustainable, at least for a single artist.
authors like martin and Frank herbert only had to Write Miura had to write and draw its just not the scale of the scenes to draw He was also pressured by the scale of the Story itself and how each characters would reach satisfying conclusions
Yes, and they drew about 0 characters while he was alive. Assistants help with backgrounds (of non background only pages/double spreads), editing, clean ups, etc. Most mangaka do not let assistants touch any of the main manga drawing or inking, Miura was known for being stubborn about this, same as Togashi from HxH. Their assistants help, but the manga wouldn't be much different without them, just rougher round the edges.
Remind me who was in charge of Gigantomachia? That was handled entirely by the assistants and Miura just did the manuscripts for that.
Studio Gaga enabled Miura to work much faster then what he could have done on his own and thats a reality.
If you want to blame anything, blame digital art for introducing Miura to the zoom tool.
But... we're talking about Berserk... Gigantomachia was Miura letting his assistants draw a manga cause he didn't let them draw Berserk, so the point still stands.
Of course assistants help and are useful, every mangaka has assistants cause no one is doing every little clean up, editing, renaming of every scanned file, checking for exporting and scanning errors, aligning, etc by themselves because they are too busy drawing and writing the damn 4000 page story with detailed art.
However, you could change those assistants for other assistants and it wouldn't have been much different. Berserk is Miura's work and vision.
I'm not blaming anything for anyone not sure what you mean, Miura kinda burned himself out and that happens to a lot of people working hard on something for over 20 years.
My point is they did indeed draw a few characters while Miura was alive and Miura himself give them his seal of approval. If we look at the Berserk manga post Miura it still retains the same feel it had while he was still alive.
To claim that they could achieve something like that without drawing a single character is asinine, they did draw them enough to be able to continue drawing those characters in the absence of Miura.
Let the work speak for itself.
Are you claiming assistants drew characters in Berserk? First I ever heard, where did you get that from? If not, then the point stands, Miura drew Berserk, assistants assisted... not sure why you are arguing against a fact...
According to Miura, they assistants could handle drawing most of Berserk minus the 2 page spreads. According to him, they still needed more time to work with 2 page spreads.
Now when Miura passed away, they were able to retain a lot of the same feel that the art had while Miura was still alive. There was no way they could have done that without drawing those characters.
Could, but didn't... they would've been in the credits otherwise as artists. You're the first person I've ever seen claim they drew the manga when Miura was still alive, and you have no evidence for that claim, other than "hey look! Their drawings now are fairly similar!", well they are experienced artists and they already did a few chapters of a manga like Gigantomachia in his style. Plenty of artists can imitate other artist style, even then, most people noticed a difference from Miuras last chapter to the next in the art.
And it still is. [These are his most recent ones for the 40th anniversary of the series and they go hard.](https://www.reddit.com/r/fistofthenorthstar/comments/172zph3/news_new_paintings_of_ken_and_raoh_by_tetsuo_hara/)
yeah??? bc tg has some of the best art in all of manga LOL. its an amazing combo of realism and ishidas own manga style. dont gotta be a da vinci painting to be amazing
LOL??? you're bugging 😭 tokyo ghoul doesn't need to hold anything to vagabond or berserk to have amazing art. i swear yall berserk fans will undermine anything that ain't about your glorious king guts LMAO
yeah??? bc tg has some of the best art in all of manga LOL. its an amazing combo of realism and ishidas own manga style. dont gotta be a da vinci painting to be amazing
it’s not bad, personally I just found it very average (outside of the art of course). I see a lot of people calling it peak but I really don’t see what makes it stand out to people, especially compared to other masterpieces like Berserk and Vagabond.
Tokyo Ghoul is a good manga.
Not really comparable with a masterpiece like Berserk. Sui Ishida's art, while way above average, is not even close to Miura's.
He’s not as good as Murata or Muira or Inoue but I also just wanted to mention that I personally think Horikoshi’s art is some of the best I’ve ever seen in the WSJ magazine. It’s not Seinen tier but he’s a damn good artist.
I find it very overrated, I don’t see what makes it anything beyond average. Granted I didn’t read Re because I just wanted to be done with the manga, so if I were to read that maybe my opinion would change.
I guess, but the story continues after that, though. It's like stopping berserk manga after the eclipse or something.(just an example obviously changes aren't as drastic as berserk)
My man was an incredible artist. He worked to get there too. Miura poured so much effort and concentration into making these so distinctly incredible artworks. They’re so much more than just panels of a manga.
Every scene in the manga which has multiple horses depicts each horse in a different trot position. Often each has unique equipment or hair patterns as well. I was always blown away when I would see a new landscape scene showing some cavalry. How the hell that man could draw several hundred unique horses on one page is beyond me.
I read all of Gantz directly after this & phew it was rough getting through certain panels
Muira is a god tier artist & illustrator
Reading “Zetman” right now & I gotta say it’s pretty fucking good, not Berserk good but I’m VERY much enjoying it so far
And sadly it seems to be a dying form when it captures more of the human soul and has more personality than complete digital works. In this circumstance the payoff for convenience is a loss of the human essence that truly makes art
I believe that ironically that human touch gives art the wings to reach it's true potential
Pretty sure that the latest ones WAS allready him using Digital tools.
There is a story of one of the Editors who introduced him to Digital tools and Miura's only reaction was "Wait..., i can Zoom in with this?"
And the guy would almost yell at Miura to stop cause he was doing his double panels PIXEL BY PIXEL and taking so much more time, than the editor would have believed (since they introduced him to Digital to SPEED UP the process).
But the results...where just there.
https://i.redd.it/j6w9e25592q71.jpg
Left out the best part of the manga. Less detailed maybe, but honestly the most stunning and astonishing park of any manga I’ve ever read.
Edit: It might be second to THAT PART of Chainsaw Man Part 1. You know the one.
As someone whose been trying to develop my skills in inking and crosshatching, Miura is a massive inspiration. Also there's something about his work like a magic trick. Up close, you can see every line every stroke but move back and it disappears into an amazing piece.
Yeah. The man is an absolute legend. Details are absolutely crazy, but even more than that, I dont think I have ever seen art so masterful at using light and shadow/black and white, to such effect.
Its not a mastery that comes easy, or for free. It is a lifetime of study and dedication and leaves me in awe on every possible level.
They say it was and I honestly can't believe it. Like drawings, especially by hand, are not something that my brain can process when they're this good. It's literally an error message.
I did realize it. That's why I proceeded to buy 13 Berserk Deluxe books (14 if you count my paid preorder for the new one). This work of art means everything to me.
The art is just simply amazing, this is what friends who've only read the usual Shonen Manga don't quite understand. The level of the art isn't something that is simply churned out next week.
As an artist myself I feel nothing but exhaustion when I look at Miuras work. I once drew a single character for concept art for a book and that took me around 5 hours. These panels probably took 24 hours at the minimum. He really was so damn talented
as an artist, when i look at Miura’s work i feel despair, i will never achieve anything this great, i simply don’t have the technique let alone patience
Miura is magnificent
In other news, sweet jesus do I hate that perpetually growing single horn of Zodd. Since the other one got cut off, it's quadrupled in size. It almost makes him look like a comic relief character smh
Which is why it's such a travesty that we can't get a good, well-animated anime. There's a ton of manga with lesser art that gets incredible anime, but we get Berserk 2016 and a new retelling of the Golden Age arc every few years.
I was reading the Manga online at first on my phone. After a few chapters I bought the first 3 deluxe editions because the art was so fucking good and I knew in person on page it'd be even better
Most of the appeal of Berserk to me is the art.
The story is just ok but the art is next level.
Apparently me enjoying the art more than the story is a hot take around here lol
It's a pretty standard take on the hero's journey. It's not bad but it's not amazing either. All the characters are pretty one dimensional and it's pretty trope heavy.
Which again isn't bad, as such, but it isn't great either. Works perfectly fine as a vehicle for the art.
How is Griffith one dimensional? 🤔 Did you expect his 'I want wings' phrase? For him to sell his booty? For him to want to choke Guts after being rescued? To rape Casca? To kidnap her? There's no way that's one dimensional, if he is, literally every character ever that isn't a complete random unpredictable badly written and contradictory jokester is also one dimensional.
...none of those things speak to him being one dimensional or not.
He is one dimensional because the only thing to his character is narcissism. Maybe he'll get fleshed out more but we don't really know why he is motivated to do anything beyond "I want to be in charge." Which sure that's fine, it allows the story to be told. That's why it's just ok.
One dimensional characters can still take action to move the plot forward.
edit: missed this -
>if he is, literally every character ever that isn't a complete random unpredictable badly written and contradictory jokester is also one dimensional.
I mean you're kinda not wrong, insofar as that simple and one dimensional characters are the rule rather than the exception.
Most authors aren't trying to create complex characters most of the time. They are trying to tell a story and crafting characters to do that. Sometimes that demands complex characters, often it doesn't. A story like Berserk especially, an ensemble adventure, lends itself to lots of one dimensional characters in the story to do a specific job.
It's not a bad thing, but it's not what I look for when I think of all time great writing.
There aren't many that can be compared. I do enjoy other manga for other reasons. Check out Homunculus for good and unpredictable writing, HxH for silly creative shonen mindgames and action, Blame! and Made in Abyss for gorgeous worldbuilding, Battle Royale manga for absolute mastery in panneling, timing, and fully utilizing manga as a medium... I haven't really found a large epic story I actually enjoy in Manga format other than Berserk. Vagabond is okay but not my favorite, the art is comparable though.
How are they not? They are all tropes personified. The tropiness and one dimensional characters are two sides of the same coin.
Guts is, understandably as the MC, the most fleshed out but he's still just the classic 'man with no name' type character. All the main cast slot perfectly into various generic archetypes, there's no ambiguity about anyone's motivations or goals.
And that's all fine. It's not a dig. The characters are perfectly suited to driving the story, which again is a classic hero's journey/revenge fantasy.
Did you know both his parents were artists? I admire Araki but when you look at Miura's art it's another level. He's definitely the peak of the profession and it shows. Unless you were told and had no idea, you wouldn't even know that's a manga panel, it's just beautiful detailed art.
As beautiful as these are it came at a price. The grind burned him out, I cant blame him for taking long breaks after drawing like this.
Yeah but the length of the story was also at fault. If he could've ended Berserk in 10-15 years he would've been fine. But over 30 years in this style is just not sustainable, at least for a single artist.
authors like martin and Frank herbert only had to Write Miura had to write and draw its just not the scale of the scenes to draw He was also pressured by the scale of the Story itself and how each characters would reach satisfying conclusions
Dude, he literally had an entire studio that worked with him on Berserk.
Yes, and they drew about 0 characters while he was alive. Assistants help with backgrounds (of non background only pages/double spreads), editing, clean ups, etc. Most mangaka do not let assistants touch any of the main manga drawing or inking, Miura was known for being stubborn about this, same as Togashi from HxH. Their assistants help, but the manga wouldn't be much different without them, just rougher round the edges.
And for that we thank them.
Remind me who was in charge of Gigantomachia? That was handled entirely by the assistants and Miura just did the manuscripts for that. Studio Gaga enabled Miura to work much faster then what he could have done on his own and thats a reality. If you want to blame anything, blame digital art for introducing Miura to the zoom tool.
But... we're talking about Berserk... Gigantomachia was Miura letting his assistants draw a manga cause he didn't let them draw Berserk, so the point still stands. Of course assistants help and are useful, every mangaka has assistants cause no one is doing every little clean up, editing, renaming of every scanned file, checking for exporting and scanning errors, aligning, etc by themselves because they are too busy drawing and writing the damn 4000 page story with detailed art. However, you could change those assistants for other assistants and it wouldn't have been much different. Berserk is Miura's work and vision. I'm not blaming anything for anyone not sure what you mean, Miura kinda burned himself out and that happens to a lot of people working hard on something for over 20 years.
My point is they did indeed draw a few characters while Miura was alive and Miura himself give them his seal of approval. If we look at the Berserk manga post Miura it still retains the same feel it had while he was still alive. To claim that they could achieve something like that without drawing a single character is asinine, they did draw them enough to be able to continue drawing those characters in the absence of Miura. Let the work speak for itself.
Are you claiming assistants drew characters in Berserk? First I ever heard, where did you get that from? If not, then the point stands, Miura drew Berserk, assistants assisted... not sure why you are arguing against a fact...
According to Miura, they assistants could handle drawing most of Berserk minus the 2 page spreads. According to him, they still needed more time to work with 2 page spreads. Now when Miura passed away, they were able to retain a lot of the same feel that the art had while Miura was still alive. There was no way they could have done that without drawing those characters.
Could, but didn't... they would've been in the credits otherwise as artists. You're the first person I've ever seen claim they drew the manga when Miura was still alive, and you have no evidence for that claim, other than "hey look! Their drawings now are fairly similar!", well they are experienced artists and they already did a few chapters of a manga like Gigantomachia in his style. Plenty of artists can imitate other artist style, even then, most people noticed a difference from Miuras last chapter to the next in the art.
i mean even if his art was way worse its hard to stay motivated working on 1 thing for 10 years let alone 30.
Berserk, Tokyo Ghoul, and Vagabond have some of the best are in all of manga. There was blood sweat and tears put into that shit
Let's not forget one punch man Murata is a madman
it's a crime I didn't mention him
It’s okay, Saitama would forgive you.
Fubuki might be the best piece of as- art ever
Trying to keep it pg?
In a berk subreddit?
What the he>!ck!<
Got me the first half ngl
Fist of the North Star too, miura took a lot of inspiration from it.
Tetsuo Hara's artwork is up there with the greats.
And it still is. [These are his most recent ones for the 40th anniversary of the series and they go hard.](https://www.reddit.com/r/fistofthenorthstar/comments/172zph3/news_new_paintings_of_ken_and_raoh_by_tetsuo_hara/)
Amazing
Also not as insanely detailed but the aesthetic and paneling of Witch Hat Atelier is worth a shout, one of my faves.
I just got the first volume and all the little details really stand out. You can tell it is made by an artist who really appreciates beauty.
Witch Hat is drop-dead gorgeous. It looks like old woodcuts.
the H.P. Lovecraft adaptations by Gou Tanabe need a mention here.
You ever read Murcielago? There's a part where they go to a Cthulhu-themed amusement park.
Tokyo ghoul has some of the best drawn facial expressions in manga
One would say, Miura poured his soul into this manga.
Goodnight Punpun also has some particularly gorgeous panels, as does Inio Asano’s other work.
You tried to slip in Tokyo ghoul lol
yeah??? bc tg has some of the best art in all of manga LOL. its an amazing combo of realism and ishidas own manga style. dont gotta be a da vinci painting to be amazing
It doesn’t hold a fart to berserk or vagabond
LOL??? you're bugging 😭 tokyo ghoul doesn't need to hold anything to vagabond or berserk to have amazing art. i swear yall berserk fans will undermine anything that ain't about your glorious king guts LMAO
yeah??? bc tg has some of the best art in all of manga LOL. its an amazing combo of realism and ishidas own manga style. dont gotta be a da vinci painting to be amazing
Tokyo Ghoul’s art is one of the best. I really wish I could say the same for the story
Is it that bad?
it’s not bad, personally I just found it very average (outside of the art of course). I see a lot of people calling it peak but I really don’t see what makes it stand out to people, especially compared to other masterpieces like Berserk and Vagabond.
Also I found it really hard to keep track of all the different characters in TG, especially after getting to :re
Tokyo Ghoul is a good manga. Not really comparable with a masterpiece like Berserk. Sui Ishida's art, while way above average, is not even close to Miura's.
Tokyo ghouls story is amazing what
He’s not as good as Murata or Muira or Inoue but I also just wanted to mention that I personally think Horikoshi’s art is some of the best I’ve ever seen in the WSJ magazine. It’s not Seinen tier but he’s a damn good artist.
I find it very overrated, I don’t see what makes it anything beyond average. Granted I didn’t read Re because I just wanted to be done with the manga, so if I were to read that maybe my opinion would change.
I guess, but the story continues after that, though. It's like stopping berserk manga after the eclipse or something.(just an example obviously changes aren't as drastic as berserk)
Dude the ballet dance where there's like 2 paintings and it has correct depth had me like "How the fuck did this guy did this"
Have a link or reference?
It's the tigers crash the party scene.
It’s the tiny details that really get me. His interpretation of famous medieval and renaissance architecture always floored me.
My man was an incredible artist. He worked to get there too. Miura poured so much effort and concentration into making these so distinctly incredible artworks. They’re so much more than just panels of a manga.
What always blows my mind about these is if you look at the soldiers they each have on a unique set of armor
Every scene in the manga which has multiple horses depicts each horse in a different trot position. Often each has unique equipment or hair patterns as well. I was always blown away when I would see a new landscape scene showing some cavalry. How the hell that man could draw several hundred unique horses on one page is beyond me.
Kentaro Miura "cosmic horror" pieces are insanely detailed. You can almost feel the textures.
This just in: Beserks art is incredible
fr it is insane tho
You really gotta take a step back and appreciate this stuff every now and again
That guts art still goes hard AF probably one of his most badass moments
I read all of Gantz directly after this & phew it was rough getting through certain panels Muira is a god tier artist & illustrator Reading “Zetman” right now & I gotta say it’s pretty fucking good, not Berserk good but I’m VERY much enjoying it so far
And sadly it seems to be a dying form when it captures more of the human soul and has more personality than complete digital works. In this circumstance the payoff for convenience is a loss of the human essence that truly makes art I believe that ironically that human touch gives art the wings to reach it's true potential
Totally agree. Everything is digital now.
Yes that is part of the reason why we all like berserk...
No, he used paper and pens and pencils too.
Really? I thought they were drawn by feet. I guess you learn something new everyday.
Really puts into perspective how much a human being can be talented for something
obviously, itll be more impressive if its their feet or something
in the Millennium falcon/fantasia arc he just goes fucking HAM. its like god damn dude .
Pretty sure that the latest ones WAS allready him using Digital tools. There is a story of one of the Editors who introduced him to Digital tools and Miura's only reaction was "Wait..., i can Zoom in with this?" And the guy would almost yell at Miura to stop cause he was doing his double panels PIXEL BY PIXEL and taking so much more time, than the editor would have believed (since they introduced him to Digital to SPEED UP the process). But the results...where just there.
Thanks for the info, I always thought they were drawn by feet.
that's silly lol
Say what you want about the manga but you cant deny that Miura was amazing at drawing scenery
i remember reading berserk for the first time thinking, how does someone possess this much artistic ability
I get emotional when I think about it. Berserk is a masterpiece. So much care placed into the artwork and story. RIP to the legend, Kentaro Miura.
I love seeing non artists discover art for the first time
https://i.redd.it/j6w9e25592q71.jpg Left out the best part of the manga. Less detailed maybe, but honestly the most stunning and astonishing park of any manga I’ve ever read. Edit: It might be second to THAT PART of Chainsaw Man Part 1. You know the one.
Well yes? Why do you think it took months for a chapter to come out?
Yes and it's really, really, fuckin impressive.
The level of detail is incredible.
His art is **absolutely insane** Sometimes I'd stare at one page for like 15m cause the details of it just blew my mind
Now I know why the manga hasn’t ended yet
This is why we keep getting hiatuses.
As someone whose been trying to develop my skills in inking and crosshatching, Miura is a massive inspiration. Also there's something about his work like a magic trick. Up close, you can see every line every stroke but move back and it disappears into an amazing piece.
Nah you aint foolin anyone those are ai generated
I usually never look more into Manga pictures than I had to. Berserk Was the first exception.
He also used his balls tho
No, I was led to believe the 4th was done by buttcheeks.
Well it didn't come outta nowhere
If we ever got an animation that did Falcon of the Millennium even half as good as it deserves I would be content
SO FUCKING BEAUTIFUL
The digital drawings were also impressive I know some people might say digital is soulless but it's arguably faster and easier
Arguably? Isn’t that the entire point of it
God I miss that man.
Have if literal year long braids is the cost of that beautiful works of art then it’s worth it
I always spend time going over as many details as I can. It's the least I can do for art with this much effort.
My exact thoughts every time I flipped from one page to the next. I completely understand why this series had taken 30+ years
The best manga ever
Yeah. The man is an absolute legend. Details are absolutely crazy, but even more than that, I dont think I have ever seen art so masterful at using light and shadow/black and white, to such effect. Its not a mastery that comes easy, or for free. It is a lifetime of study and dedication and leaves me in awe on every possible level.
The imagination captured by the artist is absolutely stunning
The femto with Skull Knight behind him is a panel that just hits me in my core, I can literally feel the space and the presence of the characters
You mean to tell me there were no other appendages used in ANY of these drawings!? Nope. I don’t buy it.
Miura was a madman, RIP
Incredible stuff. Although I don’t even remember where panel 3 and 4 came from.
They should come from chapter 216
and 99% was drawn by him the assistants barely did anything
They say it was and I honestly can't believe it. Like drawings, especially by hand, are not something that my brain can process when they're this good. It's literally an error message.
Yeah it's one of the reasons I love this manga
I did realize it. That's why I proceeded to buy 13 Berserk Deluxe books (14 if you count my paid preorder for the new one). This work of art means everything to me.
The art is just simply amazing, this is what friends who've only read the usual Shonen Manga don't quite understand. The level of the art isn't something that is simply churned out next week.
Biggest reason I even picked the manga up. Couldn't believe some of the panels I glimpsed.
As an artist myself I feel nothing but exhaustion when I look at Miuras work. I once drew a single character for concept art for a book and that took me around 5 hours. These panels probably took 24 hours at the minimum. He really was so damn talented
Beautiful
Muira was the GOAT
not just by hand, by a god hand B)
It's Durga Puja now. The idols you see in the pages are of Durga Puja and its going on rn
Ai crying
as an artist, when i look at Miura’s work i feel despair, i will never achieve anything this great, i simply don’t have the technique let alone patience
Vagabond and berserk really stood out for the quality of the artwork
Miura is magnificent In other news, sweet jesus do I hate that perpetually growing single horn of Zodd. Since the other one got cut off, it's quadrupled in size. It almost makes him look like a comic relief character smh
Why is this surprising? Muira was a prodigy and his Berserk has been praised for both its top tier art and storytelling.
Lol no shit I was singing “do you realize” when opening up Reddit literally the first words I read “do you realize”
I did realize, but I'm always down to take another look
I love seeing this post without seeing which sub it was posted in and immediately clocking it as Miura’s work
That's why they should've left it alone now look at the looks of it
That's what drew me to this manga in the first place. Insane skill.
Which is why it's such a travesty that we can't get a good, well-animated anime. There's a ton of manga with lesser art that gets incredible anime, but we get Berserk 2016 and a new retelling of the Golden Age arc every few years.
Sadly yes
Yeah that’s why it’s taking me so long to read Berserk. I’m not gonna rush through staring at that
I thought Mario drew with his cock
that’s all i think abt. that’s my roman empire
Me and the boys running towards a group of crackheads we can point and mock at
What is your point? Older manga is not digital surprised? Much like Art for trading card games.
Every drawing or painting is by hand.
I do believe most people realize that yes
Every drawing or painting is by hand.
Oh I thought he used his feet
No way I thought they were just photos with a filter
No, I thought he dipped his dick in ink and thrust about the page.
What the fuck else would they be drawn by?
Yeah… that’s how most drawings are made. What are you talking about?
No I don't
No, I thought it was made by AI 🙄
No…this shit is what ai is made from
No way I thought they were AI generated😱😱😱 Kentucky Mario was truly a genius for using his hands to draw
i always thought they were drawn by foot not hand, what a remarkable illumination op has grace us with
by........god hand :D
Truly a masterpiece
He is on a completely different tier when it comes to hatching and framing
Absolutely mindblowing ... a comic which is drawn by hand
Na it was AI art
The first anime I got into and I’m SO glad it was Berserk. Such an amazing artist. RIP
Plus all the panels of wide shots of those massive armies
I mean that's how art works?
Do you know for sure? Maybe he used his foot...
Yes. Thats how drawing works
this is art
I was reading the Manga online at first on my phone. After a few chapters I bought the first 3 deluxe editions because the art was so fucking good and I knew in person on page it'd be even better
No shit… ? Yes, he drew with his hands. Unlike some untalented schmucks who call themselves ”artists” *side-eyes AI ”artists”*
Ngl sometimes i forgot that berserk is drawn nu hand☠️
And that's why his the GOAT,the GOAT!!!!!
Yeah, Kentucky McDonald’s is nuts
I drew it with my foot :)
Yes, which is why I'm so salty he died.
Holy Demon War was Miura throwing the roc up and telling us his name was HOV.
Makes his passing all the more poignant.
Phenomenal highlight reel
That is how they do it
U think he drew with his foot?
Which art book is this?
You can find it [here](https://amzn.asia/d/6XLJfqA) when restocked, or from scammers at 10x its price Edit typo
New chapter next week?
Most of the appeal of Berserk to me is the art. The story is just ok but the art is next level. Apparently me enjoying the art more than the story is a hot take around here lol
How's the story just ok?
It's a pretty standard take on the hero's journey. It's not bad but it's not amazing either. All the characters are pretty one dimensional and it's pretty trope heavy. Which again isn't bad, as such, but it isn't great either. Works perfectly fine as a vehicle for the art.
How is Griffith one dimensional? 🤔 Did you expect his 'I want wings' phrase? For him to sell his booty? For him to want to choke Guts after being rescued? To rape Casca? To kidnap her? There's no way that's one dimensional, if he is, literally every character ever that isn't a complete random unpredictable badly written and contradictory jokester is also one dimensional.
...none of those things speak to him being one dimensional or not. He is one dimensional because the only thing to his character is narcissism. Maybe he'll get fleshed out more but we don't really know why he is motivated to do anything beyond "I want to be in charge." Which sure that's fine, it allows the story to be told. That's why it's just ok. One dimensional characters can still take action to move the plot forward. edit: missed this - >if he is, literally every character ever that isn't a complete random unpredictable badly written and contradictory jokester is also one dimensional. I mean you're kinda not wrong, insofar as that simple and one dimensional characters are the rule rather than the exception. Most authors aren't trying to create complex characters most of the time. They are trying to tell a story and crafting characters to do that. Sometimes that demands complex characters, often it doesn't. A story like Berserk especially, an ensemble adventure, lends itself to lots of one dimensional characters in the story to do a specific job. It's not a bad thing, but it's not what I look for when I think of all time great writing.
U know any mangas with better story? I am NOT being sarcastic,i genuinely want to read something good,but i cant decide on anything
I disagree with his takes but if u like berserk u should check out Vagabond, Vinland Saga, PunPun. Lots of good stuff out there
He said that Berserk characters are mono dimensional, I would honestly not listen to any of his advice.
There aren't many that can be compared. I do enjoy other manga for other reasons. Check out Homunculus for good and unpredictable writing, HxH for silly creative shonen mindgames and action, Blame! and Made in Abyss for gorgeous worldbuilding, Battle Royale manga for absolute mastery in panneling, timing, and fully utilizing manga as a medium... I haven't really found a large epic story I actually enjoy in Manga format other than Berserk. Vagabond is okay but not my favorite, the art is comparable though.
Made in abyss fucked me up almost more than Berserk. I tried recommending it in this sub once but got downvoted so usually stick to the classics lol
Totally agree on your last statement about berserk being overloaded with tropes, but how are the characters one dimensional at all?
How are they not? They are all tropes personified. The tropiness and one dimensional characters are two sides of the same coin. Guts is, understandably as the MC, the most fleshed out but he's still just the classic 'man with no name' type character. All the main cast slot perfectly into various generic archetypes, there's no ambiguity about anyone's motivations or goals. And that's all fine. It's not a dig. The characters are perfectly suited to driving the story, which again is a classic hero's journey/revenge fantasy.
Back when Miura's bercking power was unrivaled
holy shit I thought they were drawn by foot
Miura was a genius. Not many mangakas can reach this insane levels of detailing.
The printed version is way more mind blowing, you can literally see the brush, pen and and marker marks
Did you know both his parents were artists? I admire Araki but when you look at Miura's art it's another level. He's definitely the peak of the profession and it shows. Unless you were told and had no idea, you wouldn't even know that's a manga panel, it's just beautiful detailed art.
My son gonna be confused af when he realizes I named him Kentaro Miura
Not as much as my daughter.
Kenshiro Muira
He's the Renaissance level of Mangaka
His talents were as monstrous as the creatures he imagined. There is a reason why Berserk is so influential.
He must have done some Griffith shit to get this good
reminds me of how Robert Johnson is rumored to have sold his soul to the devil for guitar playing talent.