Volume 43

[Walter]

Hakusensha may view Berserk having an ending (any ending) as more marketable in the long-run than an incomplete series, regardless of sales. In my opinion that's a pretty myopic perspective, given the fairly recent implosion everyone saw with Game of Thrones' final season.

 

[Aazealh]

So you think that it would take something really "big" to happen for them to actually change something? Like VERY low sales or the rising discontent for the story's prosecution? Or is everything gonna be the same until the end?

I think it would take a negative reaction so big that news outlets talked about it for them to consider doing anything that would require a public statement. Either that or actually losing money on the endeavor. However I do think declining sales as well as clear and persistent criticism could drive them to end it earlier rather than later. Not to cut it short, but rather to make sure it doesn't drag on (which it has indubitably been).

In my opinion that's a pretty myopic perspective, given the fairly recent example of property implosion everyone saw with Game of Thrones' final season.

I agree completely. If they shit the bed too badly, the bitterness that will come out of the fans who kept their hopes up until the end will smack them so hard in the face they won't even understand what's happening.

 

[Beelzebud]

That's not the point though. It's about the trajectory of the sales for the new volumes and the message that sends concerning the readers' reception of the Continuation.

I know it's not the original point of our conversation, just sharing my opinion of what should be their reasoning to continuing this nonsense.

Hakusensha may view Berserk having an ending (any ending) as more marketable in the long-run than an incomplete series, regardless of sales.

This! As long as it put money on their pockets

In my opinion that's a pretty myopic perspective, given the fairly recent implosion everyone saw with Game of Thrones' final season.

I see Berserk future to be similar to the one of Shingeki no Kyojin. Until the last chapter everyone was hoping, but with the final it imploded.

 

[Vitris]

I see Berserk future to be similar to the one of Shingeki no Kyojin. Until the last chapter everyone was hoping, but with the final it imploded.

AoT didn't implode though? The ending might have been divisive, sure, but it's still a very highly praised manga in its entirety. There's also the fact that the anime still had a ton of hype for the final season, even after the manga's ending. It doesn't even compare to what we have seen in the continuation, which is two full volumes of butchered characters and worlbuilding, and will only get worse by the end.

 

[mathstruggler]

So you think that it would take something really "big" to happen for them to actually change something? Like VERY low sales or the rising discontent for the story's prosecution? Or is everything gonna be the same until the end?

It would take the continuation harming the manga's reputation to the point where sales of the legacy volumes decline as well. Which may very well be something that happens when it reaches the ending, and it turns out to be terrible and is panned.

 

[Beelzebud]

AoT didn't implode though?

Yes it did, I'm talking about this

The ending might have been divisive, sure, but it's still a very highly praised manga in its entirety.

As Berserk will ever be! The only difference is that it's easier for us to separate where it started to go down. While with AoT being fully finished by Isayama it was a more homogeneous story, but the ending is really controversial, even if I believe it's still an amazing manga overall.

It doesn't even compare to what we have seen in the continuation, which is two full volumes of butchered characters and worlbuilding, and will only get worse by the end.

That's exactly what I mentioned above, it's easier to point where it started. And for us we know that all of this is not canon anymore, and what make most os us wanting it to end is the disrespect of keeping calling this Berserk.

It's not the same situation sure, I said that I predict the general fandom to react similarly when it reach it's end, because it'll obviously not be good, and people are still obviously hoping that it will(I talk about general public).
Different reasons for a similar symptom, kinda comparable.

But that's already out of the scope of this thread

 

[MiyamotoPuck]

So Volume 43 came out in France today. I went out and bought it but it's really only out of habit, as I don't feel like supporting the Continuation anymore. I got gifted two illustrations with it so here's a picture for the curious ones, along with the usual mini-posters inside it.
Besides that, nothing worth mentioning.





There is also a collector's edition available, but my willingness to give my money to Glénat (the French editor) and the Continuation team still has its limits

 

[Aazealh]

So Volume 43 came out in France today. I went out and bought it but it's really only out of habit, as I don't feel like supporting the Continuation anymore. I got gifted two illustrations with it so here's a picture for the curious ones, along with the usual mini-posters inside it.

Man, those illustrations look cheaply printed. Are they as crappy as they look?

There is also a collector's edition available, but my willingness to give my money to Glénat (the French editor) and the Continuation team still has its limits

I get you as far as not supporting the Continuation goes, that's the biggest message one can send. That being said, this reproduction of the shikishi Miura drew for Glénat is far and away the most valuable thing a collector's edition could have. Like I said when it was announced, it even feels unfair of them to "force" the hand of die-hard fans who would want to have it.

But I also think it shows their desperation to boost the Continuation's flagging sales. They never bothered with stuff like this when it was still Miura drawing the volumes. By the way, I just saw what the faux-leather cover they did looks like and it's a lot more qualitative than what Dark Horse uses for its deluxe edition. Again, a shame they never bothered doing this for the real Berserk.

 

[MiyamotoPuck]

Man, those illustrations look cheaply printed. Are they as crappy as they look?

They actually look a bit better in real life than in my picture but yes, they're not that good either. To be fair I've seen worse for this kind of stuff, but I've also seen better. Especially regarding the Miura one which looks enlarged and a bit blurry, but that may be due to the source material. Nonetheless, they're just free promotional items in the end, so I'm not complaining about their quality.

I get you as far as not supporting the Continuation goes, that's the biggest message one can send. That being said, this reproduction of the shikishi Miura drew for Glénat is far and away the most valuable thing a collector's edition could have. Like I said when it was announced, it even feels unfair of them to "force" the hand of die-hard fans who would want to have it.

Agreed.

But I also think it shows their desperation to boost the Continuation's flagging sales. They never bothered with stuff like this when it was still Miura drawing the volumes. By the way, I just saw what the faux-leather cover they did looks like and it's a lot more qualitative than what Dark Horse uses for its deluxe edition. Again, a shame they never bothered doing this for the real Berserk.

Yes, they're most probably trying to milk it as much as they can now, same goes for their "Prestige edition" in my opinion. There is also a growing trend regarding collector's editions, at least in France, where almost any new "major" manga series get their own, most of them being basically packs of goodies instead on focusing on the book itself, but I'm getting off topic. I wish they'd rather invest more time in perfecting their translation for future prints in this case maybe, lol. I couldn't see the leather-like cover for 43 though, as they were all sealed in their cardboard box.

 

[Aazealh]

Especially regarding the Miura one which looks enlarged and a bit blurry, but that may be due to the source material.

Would have to be Glénat's source specifically, because I have a B2 poster and a high-end B4 lithography of this illustration and they both look great for what they are.

Yes, they're most probably trying to milk it as much as they can now, same goes for their "Prestige edition" in my opinion. There is also a growing trend regarding collector's editions, at least in France, where almost any new "major" manga series get their own, most of them being basically packs of goodies instead on focusing on the book itself, but I'm getting off topic. I wish they'd rather invest more time in perfecting their translation for future prints in this case maybe, lol. I couldn't see the leather-like cover for 43 though, as they were all sealed in their cardboard box.

Yeah I've never really paid much attention to their stuff but every time I check the dialogue I find terrible mistakes. They really ought to properly retranslate the work.

 

[mathstruggler]

So Volume 43 came out in France today. I went out and bought it but it's really only out of habit, as I don't feel like supporting the Continuation anymore. I got gifted two illustrations with it so here's a picture for the curious ones, along with the usual mini-posters inside it.
Besides that, nothing worth mentioning.

View attachment 584

View attachment 581 View attachment 582

There is also a collector's edition available, but my willingness to give my money to Glénat (the French editor) and the Continuation team still has its limits

View attachment 580

That first color illustration they did for the Continuation is so much better than any they've made since, could it have been drafted by Miura?

 

[Aazealh]

That first color illustration they did for the Continuation is so much better than any they've made since, could it have been drafted by Miura?

They traced it off Miura's older illustrations. Personally I really don't like it though.

Goes for the cover of volume 41 too:

 

[Sokolva]

AoT didn't implode though? The ending might have been divisive, sure, but it's still a very highly praised manga in its entirety. There's also the fact that the anime still had a ton of hype for the final season, even after the manga's ending. It doesn't even compare to what we have seen in the continuation, which is two full volumes of butchered characters and worlbuilding, and will only get worse by the end.

Yeah, agreed, its not comparable. AoT ended exactly as its creator wanted it to, and fans can critique and analyze whether they like that ending or not, but its within his style and what he was hinting at. This continuation is an aberration in so many ways from Miura's style and intention. I don't think this is inevitable either. They could have been a lot more careful about continuity at the very least, and hired a team to check for continuity issues in the writing since Mori doesn't know the subject matter well enough to spot it himself.

They traced it off Miura's older illustrations. Personally I really don't like it though.

Goes for the cover of volume 41 too:

Its crazy how much obvious it is with your overlay how much the expression leaves his eyes and face despite them tracing.