Gigantomakhia—new 6-part scifi miniseries by Miura

[Walter]

Gigantomakhia is Kentarou Miura's new 6-part miniseries, set in a world 100 million years in the future.

The title is a Greek phrase meaning Battle of Giants. It refers to the mythical war between the gods of Olympus and rebelling giants. For a much more rich exploration of Gigantomachia across the ages, check here.

According to an ad in the Nov. 8 issue of Young Animal, Gigantomakhia will run for 6 issues, likely ending in February 2014, with Berserk set to resume afterward.

The first episode will be 44 pages, with one color page.

We'll know a lot more about the series once we get closer to its release, so stay tuned here!


UPDATES:

Confirmation came this morning from 2ch that Gigantomakhia will begin its 6-issue run in the Nov. 22 issue of Young Animal, which makes the release schedule the following:

Issue 1: Nov. 22
Issue 2: Dec. 13
Issue 3: Dec. 27
Issue 4: Jan. 10
Issue 5: Jan. 24
Issue 6: Feb. 14 <3

With Berserk to resume afterward, possibly the Feb. 28 issue.

 

[jackson_hurley]

I'd rather like it being a kind of reset story of humanity vs a sci-fi with robots. (I'm listening to the podcast right now and wanted to set my opinion, back to it now)

Do you guys think (thinking back to what I just heard in the podcast) the Miura worked on that mini during not only in the last break but also in the other ones? Might be a story he was already slowly working on in the past say 2 years?!

 

[Walter]

I'd rather like it being a kind of reset story of humanity vs a sci-fi with robots.

It doesn't necessarily have to be one or the other. There could be both elements. Hypothetically, a super advanced civilization whose technology is only accessible to a select few (gods), while the rest of the world is stuck in a desolate condition. And while I know what you mean, it'll be a science-fiction story by definition, being set 100 million years in the future.

Do you guys think (thinking back to what I just heard in the podcast) the Miura worked on that mini during not only in the last break but also in the other ones? Might be a story he was already slowly working on in the past say 2 years?!

Who can say for sure? My hunch is that he started it during the hiatus, but it may have been an idea he's had for a while. Now that I think about it, maybe he stumbled onto something that sparked his interest while researching material for the climax of Berserk.

 

[Hanma_Baki]

Re: Gigantomakhia—new 6-part scifi miniseries by Miura

Great skullcast, you guys Cool timing btw, I was actually just about to rewatch MoS. But man! I cant describe how psyched I am for Gigantomakhia, just the title itself sounds so powerful (love Walters japanese pronounciation there ) yes, almost more psyched than for Berserk at this point, cause I really believe this will ignite his full creativeness for it in the future. And so thrilling with this greek mythology, a concept truly worthy of an artist such as Miura (granted there ARE artists like Miura out there )

 

[Th3Branded0ne]

It's good news to know Miura is doing something else berserk. Evenif it's just 6 issues it might just be the start of a new series. With all these months of no berserk , I think we might see several issues (4 to 5 my guess) until there's another pause . Who knows , let's enjoy this for now .

 

[Aazealh]

Evenif it's just 6 issues it might just be the start of a new series.

Well that's the thing, it's just 6 issues. It's a short story. It'll be published in a row until the end and then Berserk's publication will resume.

 

[Walter]

Confirmation came this morning from 2ch that Gigantomakhia will begin its 6-issue run in the Nov. 22 issue of Young Animal, which makes the release schedule the following:

Issue 1: Nov. 22
Issue 2: Dec. 13
Issue 3: Dec. 27
Issue 4: Jan. 10
Issue 5: Jan. 24
Issue 6: Feb. 14 <3

With Berserk to resume afterward, possibly the Feb. 28 issue.

 

[IncantatioN]

Thanks for that piece of info, Walter! It would definitely make a good Valentine's present to buy all those issues for a significant other, with/ without the excuse for buying it for one's self

 

[jackson_hurley]

It doesn't necessarily have to be one or the other. There could be both elements. Hypothetically, a super advanced civilization whose technology is only accessible to a select few (gods), while the rest of the world is stuck in a desolate condition. And while I know what you mean, it'll be a science-fiction story by definition, being set 100 million years in the future.

yes yes of course, but as much as I like sci-fi with technology etc, the idea/concept of something sci-fi with advance "organic" technology sounds pretty interesting. Makes me think of the movie "The Fountain" and your discussion about the bubbles.

and thx for the schedule info! very much appreciated.

 

[Rhombaad]

Confirmation came this morning from 2ch that Gigantomakhia will begin its 6-issue run in the Nov. 22 issue of Young Animal, which makes the release schedule the following:

Issue 1: Nov. 22
Issue 2: Dec. 13
Issue 3: Dec. 27
Issue 4: Jan. 10
Issue 5: Jan. 24
Issue 6: Feb. 14 <3

With Berserk to resume afterward, possibly the Feb. 28 issue.

Nice!

 

[uhu]

Oh, the first issue will be on my birthday! <3

That's a really good theme to go with Miura's style, I think. But, I'm curious, is common for authors to be allowed to halt their main work to try something else? Or is it something that only very respected authors get to do? I am personally very happy that he has that opportunity, after so many years doing Berserk, guess that trying something new must be refreshing.

Thanks for the information Walter!

 

[Grail]

Oh, the first issue will be on my birthday! <3

Happy early birthday!

But, I'm curious, is common for authors to be allowed to halt their main work to try something else? Or is it something that only very respected authors get to do?

I'm going to go ahead and guess that Miura has a bit of wiggle room due to Berserk being such a big seller for Young Animal. I doubt that there's much they can do to keep him from doing what he wants (sorry, my speculation is showing ). To answer the other part of your question, I don't think that manga authors do this sort of thing very often, but working on two series at once isn't unheard of. Gigantomakhia is an interesting case to me due to its length.

 

[Aazealh]

I'm going to go ahead and guess that Miura has a bit of wiggle room due to Berserk being such a big seller for Young Animal. I doubt that there's much they can do to keep him from doing what he wants

You're right. Like with most things, successful authors can pretty much do whatever they want, while less successful ones are bound by contractual obligations and don't have much say in what goes on.

 

[Walter]

But, I'm curious, is common for authors to be allowed to halt their main work to try something else?

Takehiko Inoue, Vagabond and Slam Dunk's creator, works on multiple projects at once pretty regularly (primarily Vagabond and REAL). Of course, I don't think he's ever formally put Vagabond on hiatus expressly to work on other series, but fans of his know that he's prone to extended breaks as a result of, in his own words, feeling overworked or unmotivated.

 

[RaffoBaffo]

The preview of the next Ya is out, now is 100% official:

http://www.younganimal.com/magazine/next.html

 

[jackalj]

Is there any new information? Since now we have the entire cover, might be some new text?

Really excited to find out more about Miura's new project, and ofcourse after that more Berserk. ^^

 

[Walter]

Is there any new information? Since now we have the entire cover, might be some new text?

Doesn't look like we see much more text than before, actually. Only thing I noticed was ORIGINAL on the far right, and unless I'm mistaken, it underscores that this is Miura's first original work in 20 years. I'll look at it and try to nail down some of the kanji when I have time later today.

Edit: here's the transcribed text

【ベルセルク〗の三浦建太郎、20余年ぶりのORIGINAL完全新作!!
渾身の筆力が描き出す1億年後の世界!!
6回連続短期集中連戴
新連載巻頭カラー
44p(ages)
三浦建太郎
ギガントマキア

And here's my rough translation (not a professional...):

Berserk creator Kentarou Miura's first original series in 20 years.
Set in a world 100 million years in the future.
A 6 part series with consecutive releases.
And an introduction with color page.
44 page issue.
Kentarou Miura's "GIGANTOMAKHIA."

Also, for what it's worth, my Young Animal just arrived this morning, and there's nothing else related to the new series in there at all. Just the 2-page ad. Few more weeks til 11/22!

 

[uhu]

Happy early birthday! I'm going to go ahead and guess that Miura has a bit of wiggle room due to Berserk being such a big seller for Young Animal. I doubt that there's much they can do to keep him from doing what he wants (sorry, my speculation is showing ). To answer the other part of your question, I don't think that manga authors do this sort of thing very often, but working on two series at once isn't unheard of. Gigantomakhia is an interesting case to me due to its length.

Thanks! I couldn't be luckier :]

So this new work kind of confirms Miura's "status", right? It makes me very happy that he is that much respected. It annoys me every time I see someone bitch about the waiting and breaks, like the guy owes something to anyone or that he is lazy... because he hasn't been doing that masterpiece for the last 20 years, right.

Anyway, thanks for the translation Walter! His last work was Japan in 1992 and his style improved a lot, will be awesome to see it in another story.

 

[Walter]

It annoys me every time I see someone bitch about the waiting and breaks, like the guy owes something to anyone or that he is lazy...

The loudest bunch are also the worst "fans" of the series. Most don't even purchase the manga..

Anyway, thanks for the translation Walter! His last work was Japan in 1992 and his style improved a lot, will be awesome to see it in another story.

Technically Japan was a co-creation. He did the art for it, and it was written by Buronson, who he also collaborated with for Orou and Orou-den. So in my opinion this really is Miura's first fully ORIGINAL work since Berserk started. And like others have said, I never thought I'd see such a thing before the distant end of Berserk, decades from now. So it's very exciting.

 

[jackson_hurley]

It is exciting indeed! do you think, at some point, that it'll bring new fans ton the series. Meaning hey guy Berserk's creator is lunching a new mini serie : boom, lots of curious new readers buy it and then they go try berserk?!

It'd be great if that's the case. I for one am really anticipating the new serie.

 

[Aazealh]

do you think, at some point, that it'll bring new fans ton the series. Meaning hey guy Berserk's creator is lunching a new mini serie : boom, lots of curious new readers buy it and then they go try berserk?!

That doesn't seem very likely, at least on a large scale.

 

[Dar_Klink]

Re: Gigantomakhia—new 6-part scifi miniseries by Miura

The Berserk Project Twitter tweeted this:

ベルセルク公式ツイッター ‏@berserk_project 24m

[拡散希望] 11月22日に発売されるヤングアニマル23号にて、オリジナル完全新作「ギガントマキア」が、短期集中連載でスタート！！　２３号から６号連続合計２０２ページ掲載です！！　http://mantan-web.jp/2013/11/08/20131107dog00m200054000c.html …　よろしくお願いします！！

Which Google Translates to :

[Diffusion hope] on Young Animal No. 23 to be released on November 22, original completely new "Gigantomakia" is, start with short-term intensive series! ! It is the No. 6 consecutive total 202 page (s) from No. 23! ! thank you http://mantan-web.jp/2013/11/08/20131107dog00m200054000c.html ...! !

So unless it's getting too mangled there means it's going to be 202 pages overall. That's enough for a volume isn't it?

 

[Walter]

So unless it's getting too mangled there means it's going to be 202 pages overall. That's enough for a volume isn't it?

Ah, it's the one part I skipped over when I transcribed the ad. I thought it was describing the size of the YA it would be included with. Indeed, 202 pages is the size of a very small Berserk volume (smallest one ever was Vol 23 at 220 pages).

 

[uhu]

So, since it's a complete story and long enough to fill a small volume, there is a bigger chance that it will be published outside Japan, right? At least in English, I mean. Or, actually, it probably depends on how well it's received by the public = sells.

 

[Walter]

So, since it's a complete story and long enough to fill a small volume, there is a bigger chance that it will be published outside Japan, right? At least in English, I mean. Or, actually, it probably depends on how well it's received by the public = sells.

Having it published in a volume form would definitely be the first step. But it's too soon to tell. Though Dark Horse has been pretty good about releasing his other works here in the USA (Japan and King of Wolves). So I'd say it's possible, probably even likely given that they'll have nothing else to publish for a while.

Update:
The Japanese news site Natalie.mu recently posted this image of the ad SANS text. Awesome! One step closer to the real thing...