Where are we at?

I want some opinions about the place we are in the story. Are we 60% to completion, more, or less? I always ponder when reading to the current episode, are we even close to the end or are we going to be in our mid 50s before berserks final arc comes to a close. I thought Miura stated he was around 60% some time ago.
 

Walter

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bandofthehawk (Salem) said:
I want some opinions about the place we are in the story. Are we 60% to completion, more, or less? I always ponder when reading to the current episode, are we even close to the end or are we going to be in our mid 50s before berserks final arc comes to a close. I thought Miura stated he was around 60% some time ago.

From the interview we did with him back in 2009:

Q3: Just before the launch of the Millennium Falcon arc, you were quoted as saying now you felt you were truly on the starting line of the series. Is that accurate? If that is the case, how far along are we in the story at this point?

I think we are at about 60-70%. However, I myself don’t know anything for sure when it comes to the future.

That's the most authoritative response you're going to get on this question. Our guesses aren't going to be better than that.
 

Walter

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bandofthehawk (Salem) said:
That's the one....so maybe 70-75ish%.

There actually haven't been too many milestones since his assessment in 2009. Since then we've had the Solitary Island stuff and Rickert's arrival in Falconia. But I think 70% might be pretty safe, yeah.
 

Walter

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bandofthehawk (Salem) said:
I would guess 50 volumes would be a safe bet.

Eh, I think that's rather low honestly. That's in less than 12 volumes (we're about halfway through 38 now).
 

Walter

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bandofthehawk (Salem) said:
I tried 65% at the time of that interview at the going rate of 10 episodes per volume and 50 volumes was close to the number I got, but it does seem short. Hope that made sense. :schnoz:

That's sound math, but I doubt Miura himself calculated it like that. It was probably more of a shoot from the hip kind of thing. Going at the rate Miura has been progressing the story, I just don't think everything can be wrapped up in 12 volumes. It's not a perfect analog, but consider that 12 volumes ago, Guts had just gotten the Berserk Armor.
 
On this subject of where we are, lets look at his age. Didn't Miura just turn 48? I believe he'll finish it, but I REALLY hope it isn't handed to someone else. We are getting what, 3-5 episodes a year now? Let's say that doesn't change and we get 5 a year. The low ball of 50 volumes (which I don't believe) Miura would be 75 or so assuming we go 12 more volumes. :magni:
 

Walter

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bandofthehawk (Salem) said:
On this subject of where we are, lets look at his age. Didn't Miura just turn 48? I believe he'll finish it, but I REALLY hope it isn't handed to someone else. We are getting what, 3-5 episodes a year now? Let's say that doesn't change and we get 5 a year. The low ball of 50 volumes (which I don't believe) Miura would be 75 or so assuming we go 12 more volumes. :magni:

Well, I don't have a crystal ball, but I don't think the current pace is how the rest of the series will go. Though I can see how it seems that way, since it's been a downward slide since 2006. But I think we're just in a particularly grueling moment as fans. Miura has often apologized for the current pace, and it seems to me that it's likely a direct result of all the big story changes that are ahead. He probably took some time to properly plan all the scenarios (and outcomes) that are just over the horizon.

And while I don't foresee a return to the prolific period of the '90s, I think one akin to the 2007 levels (~12 eps per year) is possible.
 
I became a fan in 2007 and obsessed by 2008. My experience has been through this slower stage. I can totally understand a few years here and there of thinking or just taking a break for that matter. Life happens. Btw, I love this site. The only people who I know who read fantasy are the like of forgotten realms, the dark tower series, wheel of time, and riftwar saga. I enjoy all of those, but nothing will ever trip my trigger like berserk.
 

Walter

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bandofthehawk (Salem) said:
Btw, I love this site.

Thanks! Despite the release pace being slower than ever, it's a really exciting time to be a fan of Berserk. Just like I lament not being a fan at the time of the Eclipse, experiencing that stuff as it came out, I'd hate to miss the material that's just around the corner for us, and experience that as a community issue by issue. On top of that, through the podcast and the level of discourse we've developed over the years, we've never had as much close analysis of the series as we do now.

The only people who I know who read fantasy are the like of forgotten realms, the dark tower series, wheel of time, and riftwar saga. I enjoy all of those, but nothing will ever trip my trigger like berserk.

With few exceptions, I don't really enjoy other fantasy series. Though I have read a few (among them Wheel of Time, Song of Ice and Fire, Dark Tower, Tolkien's books, Kingkiller), in my spare time I usually stick with scifi. Dune and Neuromancer stick out to me as some of my favorite genre books. Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell being the only fantasy book I regularly proselytize. Berserk is easily my favorite series though (obviously).
 
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