#1: We have reason to believe that Berserk slowed down a lot more recently due to events in the story, so it's reasonable to assume the pace might pick up significantly.
That's a good point, the counter being that there's really no way to determine that what Miura has in the pipeline will take any less time. It doesn't seem like there's going to be a shortage of grand things to depict in Berserk, even relatively more mundane events such as life on the ship require an immense amount of detail. I think part of it is simply an evolution of Miura's style that makes drawing the episodes more time-consuming in general, the degree of difficulty and detail continues to rise, whether he's drawing something larger than life or something more common. The most recent episodes and monster attack for instance, the artwork is ridiculous on the ship, the monster, everything. It was basically just an action episode, but was presented with seemingly the same effort and detail as the confrontation with Ganishka and creation of Falconia. There's a larger overall trend here, take a look at Wally's updated episode release chart:
http://skullknight.net/images/eps.htmlThe most on this list by my quick count was 19 episodes in a year, and that was back in 2003. Since then, there's consistently been more breaks and less episodes, culminating in 2009, when only 8 episodes were released. While last year's low total was probably an aberration due to exactly what you're talking about in terms of story, it's still true that in the last 3 years, there hasn't been more than 11 episodes released in a year. No reason to assume Miura is suddenly going to return to the high teens now.
#2: Since this is the end of Vagabond, one might assume the author might take a bit longer to release episodes so he can take a bit more time making sure everything is absolutely perfect.
Not Inoue's style, not that he won't put in extra effort, but that his effort is hectic and face-paced, and his self-imposed deadline was to finish by the end of the year, which together could mean more production, not less. He did the entire Last Manga exhibition material in less than a month and that was for a museum showcase. Plus, if he does decide to take his time and go beyond this year, that's likely going to mean more episodes as well, and the longer Inoue takes, the more time is on Vagabond's side.
#3: Miura might be aware of this travesty and consciously make sure it doesn't occur. <---- MOST LIKELY SCENARIO
Ha, well, I think the most likely scenarios that sink Vagabond's chances are either Miura reverses the trend and puts out 15+ episodes again this year, which is plausible, or, maybe even more likely, Inoue does finish Vagabond this year, and in a relatively short amount of episodes. After all, if both series ended today, Vagabond would still be 20 behind; the burden to catch up is on Vagabond.
UPDATE: Perhaps Miura is making a push...
http://www.skullknight.net/forum/index.php?topic=11472.msg182465#msg182465That'll be 3 episodes before March. Your move, Inoue!
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