Berserk: The Flame Dragon Knight novel

I don't mind the existence of this thing as much as a lot of others seem to. I'm personally not interested in reading the back story of every one of the main apostles within the manga, I'd kind of prefer that stuff be off to the side and only consumed if/when you choose to do so. That said, if this thing is as polarizing as it sounds (sacrifices offering themselves up? What?) then that'll be very annoying. I'm eagerly awaiting a more thorough summary once those capable have the chance to put the time into this thing.
 

Walter

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volatilecurry said:
I'm personally not interested in reading the back story of every one of the main apostles within the manga, I'd kind of prefer that stuff be off to the side and only consumed if/when you choose to do so.

I'm eagerly awaiting a more thorough summary once those capable have the chance to put the time into this thing.

I'm not really sure what to make of your opinion. You seem to want to know about the origins of the apostles, but just not in the manga? Why...? Have they been obtrusive to you in the past? I think that Miura's kind of a master at compressed storytelling when he puts his mind, using just a few panels (Rochine), a few pages at most (Count, Ganishka) to convey what could have been volumes of information. There's no reason he can't, and won't still, do that in the manga moving forward.

If I'm playing devil's advocate, maybe your concern is that as the story propels forward, with so many apostles still on the stage, the story would be slowed down by a series of flashbacks, so that they'd be executed in a perfunctory manner. Well, I'd just say I don't think there's precedence to have that concern, given how the backstories have been laid out in the past. I think Miura is going to space out his big fights in keeping with these characters. Novels or not, killing Locus, Grunbeld and Rakshas in the span of a handful of episodes in some cataclysmic fight wouldn't be very satisfying, I don't think.
 

Griffith

With the streak of a tear, Like morning dew
Yeah, it's the other way around; I wouldn't want manga material outsourced to third party books, but its not like Miura was going to bog down the manga with novels worth of character biographies anyway (at least not these chatacters =). The best case for something like this is that it's superfluous, supplemental, and we weren't going to get it in the manga anyway, or at least not in such detail. The scary thing about Grunbeld is he's a "live" character and we didn't know if/when/how we would get his backstory or how this affects that. Did Miura already have something in mind? Did he give the author bullet points to follow and final approval because he would be employing those facts at the appropriate point in the manga? Are these then "spoilers," or conversely, are we expected to know it? Would Miura have done more or less on it in the manga if not for the book? How else could the existence of the book influence the manga? It just raises a lot of questions. A book on Wyald: The Enjoyment & Excitement Knight on the other hand, would be more easily embraced for a number of reasons. =)
 

jackson_hurley

even the horses are cut in half!
Griffith said:
The scary thing about Grunbeld is he's a "live" character and we didn't know if/when/how we would get his backstory or how this affects that.

A book on Wyald: The Enjoyment & Excitement Knight on the other hand, would be more easily embraced for a number of reasons. =)

Can't argue with that logic.
 

Aazealh

Administrator
Staff member
Demon Knight said:
I would really love to know the story of Zodd

And that's how you would want to read it? In a fucking novel written by some random guy? What a dismal thought.
 

Griffith

With the streak of a tear, Like morning dew
Just wait until this happens:

"Established! Established! Skull Knight's character has been established. ♪ ヽ(´ ▽ `)/ "

:magni:

The most riveting part of the book ordeal might be watching Aaz walk this tight rope while occasionally shaking his fists in rage. For his sake, I hope the book isn't too demeaning to the source material. Maybe Miura really did hand over story points the guy had to follow like the new Star Wars EU books. Berserk is just getting too big for us purist types.
 
Griffith said:
Maybe Miura really did hand over story points the guy had to follow

This is the really big question to me, are these actually Miura's concepts or is this just Makoto Fukami fan-fiction. At least if this is just a novelized version of Miura's story we can take the basic facts seriously. I really wish we had a way of knowing for sure.
 
Out of curiosity, has anyone found a fan translation online? I'd love to actually read the story--i've only seen 11 out of the 167 pages
 

Walter

Administrator
Staff member
NCHaskew said:
Out of curiosity, has anyone found a fan translation online? I'd love to actually read the story--i've only seen 11 out of the 167 pages

A fan translation of the novel would be pirating the novel. You're just going to have to wait for an official release, or satisfy yourself with the summaries.
 
Walter said:
A fan translation of the novel would be pirating the novel. You're just going to have to wait for an official release, or satisfy yourself with the summaries.

That's fair--though a funny thing to hear from someone on a site where people discuss the latest chapters--whereas official release-wise, we're just now getting Volume 38.
Regardless, what do you folks think the odds are of us getting an official release in the US? Light novels seem kind of uncommon here. I don't think Dark Horse has ever done one. Then again, Berserk is apparently their top-seller, so I could see it going either way.
 

Aazealh

Administrator
Staff member
NCHaskew said:
That's fair--though a funny thing to hear from someone on a site where people discuss the latest chapters--whereas official release-wise, we're just now getting Volume 38.

We actually buy the issues of Young Animal in which Berserk's episodes are prepublished. We have a step by step guide on how to do it, too. What's not funny though is some random dude coming over and asking us to translate a book for him, and then getting pissy when we don't.
 
Aazealh said:
We actually buy the issues of Young Animal in which Berserk's episodes are prepublished. We have a step by step guide on how to do it, too. What's not funny though is some random dude coming over and asking us to translate a book for him, and then getting pissy when we don't.

I apologize if I seemed pissy--I legitimately thought it was an odd thing to hear on the internet. I was unaware that Young Animal did English publications since it looks like it's a local thing. Now that I know, I'd be interested in investing because, like all of you, I love Berserk and want to support the release. If we never get an English release of this book, I imagine I'll invest in the Japanese release, but it would be nice to actual know the story.
 

Aazealh

Administrator
Staff member
NCHaskew said:
I apologize if I seemed pissy--I legitimately thought it was an odd thing to hear on the internet.

Yeah I can hear that, however we've always promoted the idea that people should support the author of a work if they're going to call themselves fans of it.

NCHaskew said:
I was unaware that Young Animal did English publications since it looks like it's a local thing.

It doesn't, it's in Japanese. We do our own translations on the side as a way to allow discussion (and also because other translations aren't very accurate). It's not perfect, but it works.

NCHaskew said:
If we never get an English release of this book, I imagine I'll invest in the Japanese release, but it would be nice to actual know the story.

That's understandable. No idea whether it will come out stateside or not, but I'm sure an exhaustive summary will emerge eventually (I personally don't have time for it right now, nor much interest). A member called Gordol already posted some information a few days ago.
 
Well, that's awesome! This site is even better than I had hoped. I'm too used to younger anime forums, where everyone's like "go to this manga site!" Glad to see there's one where people actually promote official releases--especially for Berserk.

Oh, and don't get me wrong, I expect the Grunbeld novel to be average at best, but I'm annoyingly a completionist xD I played through Sword of the Berserk to get the full story.
 

Oburi

All praise Grail
NCHaskew said:
Oh, and don't get me wrong, I expect the Grunbeld novel to be average at best, but I'm annoyingly a completionist xD I played through Sword of the Berserk to get the full story.

It's not like it was a bad game. It was pretty awesome for it's time.

Funny I played Sword of the Berserk when first came out in the states in 2000. Technically that was my introduction to Berserk. I didn't watch the 97 anime until a few years later and for some reason didn't connect the two until a few more years later when I started the manga.
 

Aazealh

Administrator
Staff member
NCHaskew said:
Oh, and don't get me wrong, I expect the Grunbeld novel to be average at best, but I'm annoyingly a completionist xD I played through Sword of the Berserk to get the full story.

Hah, I have three versions of the DC game: Japanese edition, US edition and UK edition (the one I originally played). Like Oburi said, it was actually a great game when it came out, had top notch production value. As far as I'm concerned it is the best merchandise Berserk has ever got, and I'd much prefer to get a remake of it than another Musou turd.
 

RaffoBaffo

Ex-Newser of the late Berserk Chronicles
19748587_10203523065634474_6575685329691793303_n.jpg
 
Walter said:
I'm not really sure what to make of your opinion. You seem to want to know about the origins of the apostles, but just not in the manga? Why...? Have they been obtrusive to you in the past? I think that Miura's kind of a master at compressed storytelling when he puts his mind, using just a few panels (Rochine), a few pages at most (Count, Ganishka) to convey what could have been volumes of information. There's no reason he can't, and won't still, do that in the manga moving forward.

If I'm playing devil's advocate, maybe your concern is that as the story propels forward, with so many apostles still on the stage, the story would be slowed down by a series of flashbacks, so that they'd be executed in a perfunctory manner. Well, I'd just say I don't think there's precedence to have that concern, given how the backstories have been laid out in the past. I think Miura is going to space out his big fights in keeping with these characters. Novels or not, killing Locus, Grunbeld and Rakshas in the span of a handful of episodes in some cataclysmic fight wouldn't be very satisfying, I don't think.

Maybe I should have elaborated a bit more in my original post. Back stories haven't been obtrusive in the past and while I agree that the "back story gauntlet" that you describe in your second paragraph would be less than desirable, I don't think Miura is going to disappoint us now. He has yet to disappoint me on just about anything as of yet.

What I meant to say is; the length of the novel and amount of detail that (I assume, having not read it) it goes into are beyond the scope of what I'd like to see in the manga for most characters. For Skull Knight or Isidro or someone vital to the cast, I'll gladly take an entire episode (or two or three?!) dedicated to them -- if Miura has that much to say about them, that is. But I do not want to see that much for Grunbeld, Locus, Irvine, etc. A brief flashback of a few pages or even just a couple of text bubbles that explain where they come from is enough for most of them in my opinion. From there, if you want more, I think a novel or a one-shot about the character that stands beside the manga is appropriate. American comics do this all the time and it's not an issue there. This isn't all that typical in manga but I personally don't have a problem with the practice in general.

What I do take issue with is if said side material contradicts the source material or if it opens up plot holes that the source material doesn't address. If Miura gave the author of the novel an outline of what the story is about, and then checked it for consistency (or at least had someone check it for him) then this shouldn't be an issue. I don't know if that's the case with this novel, and based on the summary provided above, I'm a bit worried that the author had more free reign than we might like... But again, I'll wait until have a more detailed summary before jumping to conclusions.

The ideal scenario may lie somewhere in between -- with the manga giving us the vital bits of the back story and then letting the character really shine in their own stand alone tale that goes beyond the scope of what should have been included in the manga. Think "The History of Trunks" from Dragon Ball Z. Trunks was a main character for a rather long story arc (often separated into two arcs, actually) and was massively influential to the story of that time. His back story was elaborated on within the original series, but he was given even more back story in his own standalone movie. Similarly, "Bardock - Father of Goku" was a standalone movie that gave a full back story on a character that wasn't originally mentioned in the manga, but was later referenced briefly after the success of the movie. Maybe Berserk would benefit most from a scenario like one of these.

All that being said, I echo the concern that others have had about merchandising the series too much at the expense of the manga. If Skull Knight's story isn't explained in the manga at all (beyond the little bits we have so far) and is instead sold as a standalone novel or something written by a third party, then I wouldn't be too happy and I think the manga would suffer as a result of it.
 

Walter

Administrator
Staff member
volatilecurry said:
What I meant to say is; the length of the novel and amount of detail that (I assume, having not read it) it goes into are beyond the scope of what I'd like to see in the manga for most characters.

Well, we were never going to get that amount of detail, because that's not how Miura writes. And even though the format of a novel affords more room to develop that story, I don't personally care what someone other than Miura has to say about that world. Even if this does bear the official license, it will never amount to more than a novelty, excuse the pun.

For Skull Knight or Isidro or someone vital to the cast, I'll gladly take an entire episode (or two or three?!) dedicated to them -- if Miura has that much to say about them, that is. But I do not want to see that much for Grunbeld, Locus, Irvine, etc. A brief flashback of a few pages or even just a couple of text bubbles that explain where they come from is enough for most of them in my opinion.

We're back to a weird place again -- the presumption that the backstory Miura had originally planned for those characters would feel bloated. It's never been the case before, why would it be different moving forward? This novel exists purely for merchandising reasons. It's unlikely Grunbeld's story was ever going to be excessively long, because there's just no precedent for it. Ganiskha was a far more consequential character, and he got about a half episode. The beherit-apostle's origin was a bit longer, a full episode, give or take, but no complaints from fans for its length that I'm aware of.

From there, if you want more, I think a novel or a one-shot about the character that stands beside the manga is appropriate.

Maybe if it didn't spoil the reveal Miura was going to do eventually, at a natural place for the story. But this novel has already taken that possibility away. That's a pretty key factor in people's reception to this thing.

American comics do this all the time and it's not an issue there.

American comics are a different industry with a dramatically different (shittier) way of telling stories. The characters in US comics exist to serve as ageless, interminable banners for their brands, not to tell a story with a clear beginning and an ending. It's inconsequential what a side novel brings to the table, because those characters have their universes reset every 5 years after being passed between a handful of writers.

Also, light novels do exist for manga. They're not uncommon, and they seem to vary in degrees from controversial to benign.

What I do take issue with is if said side material contradicts the source material or if it opens up plot holes that the source material doesn't address. If Miura gave the author of the novel an outline of what the story is about, and then checked it for consistency (or at least had someone check it for him) then this shouldn't be an issue. I don't know if that's the case with this novel, and based on the summary provided above, I'm a bit worried that the author had more free reign than we might like... But again, I'll wait until have a more detailed summary before jumping to conclusions.

Miura has taken every opportunity to stand behind this thing, which is particularly striking knowing his lack of dedicated involvement in other recent projects. His name is on the cover, he provided original art (which is awesome), and he praised the "establishment of Grunbeld's story" in the recent YA comment. If he wasn't proud of it, or his involvement was minimal, we'd likely have gotten the simple "please buy the new Berserk thing!" comment that we often saw in relation to the movies.

That being said, we will likely never know the specifics of what transpired between he and the writer. I think there are some safe assumptions though. Miura has been very protective of Berserk, so I have a hard time believing he placed his entire trust in the writer to flesh out Grunbeld's story. He probably had pointers from Miura about the overall thrust. There's also a pretty safe bet about why this thing was created, and thus, how fans should weigh it in their minds. Given the recent animation, it would make sense if this novel was born as a merchandising ploy, using a character that had recently taken the spotlight.

What I can't reconcile throughout this whole thing is what Miura was thinking about the audience at large, the international fans, which he is keenly aware of. It sure seems like an irresponsible merchandising choice, made without much thought for how the overall story of Berserk is assimilated. There's zero guarantee we'll ever get the novel officially translated. So what are we to do, and how are we to treat this thing? It's an uncomfortable place to be for fans. The fact that we've gotten a hastily assembled summary has changed nothing in that regard, as we expected.

The ideal scenario may lie somewhere in between -- with the manga giving us the vital bits of the back story and then letting the character really shine in their own stand alone tale that goes beyond the scope of what should have been included in the manga.

Again, that sounds less problematic if the novel came out sometime after the origin story's reveal in the manga. That isn't what happened though, so the whole thing has a stigma attached to it.

Think "The History of Trunks" from Dragon Ball Z. Trunks was a main character for a rather long story arc (often separated into two arcs, actually) and was massively influential to the story of that time. His back story was elaborated on within the original series, but he was given even more back story in his own standalone movie. Similarly, "Bardock - Father of Goku" was a standalone movie that gave a full back story on a character that wasn't originally mentioned in the manga, but was later referenced briefly after the success of the movie. Maybe Berserk would benefit most from a scenario like one of these.

I don't think there's much to compare between Berserk and Dragon Ball Z.

If Skull Knight's story isn't explained in the manga at all (beyond the little bits we have so far) and is instead sold as a standalone novel or something written by a third party, then I wouldn't be too happy and I think the manga would suffer as a result of it.

Understatement of the millennium.
 
Walter said:
Miura has taken every opportunity to stand behind this thing, particularly knowing his lack of dedicated involvement in other recent projects. His name is on the cover, he provided original art (which is awesome), and he praised the "establishment of Grunbeld's story" in the recent YA comment. If he wasn't proud of it, or his involvement was minimal, we'd likely have gotten the simple "please buy the new Berserk thing!" comment that we often saw in relation to the movies.

That being said, we will likely never know the specifics of what transpired between he and the writer. I think there are some safe assumptions though. Miura has been very protective of Berserk, so I have a hard time believing he placed his entire trust in the writer to flesh out Grunbeld's story. He probably had pointers from Miura about the overall thrust. There's also a pretty safe bet about why this thing was created, and thus, how fans should weigh it in their minds. Given the recent animation, it would make sense if this novel was born as a merchandising ploy, using a character that had recently taken the spotlight.

What I can't reconcile throughout this whole thing is what Miura was thinking about the audience at large, the international fans, which he is keenly aware of. It sure seems like an irresponsible merchandising choice, made without much thought for how the overall story of Berserk is assimilated. There's zero guarantee we'll ever get the novel officially translated. So what are we to do, and how are we to treat this thing? It's an uncomfortable place to be for fans. The fact that we've gotten a hastily assembled summary has changed nothing in that regard, as we expected.

There's no doubt in my mind that this thing is simply the "merchandising ploy" that you describe. I'd have a hard time believing it's something that Miura personally thought up and planned around. My question is how much of a say Miura has on such things. Could he have outright said "no" to something like this? Depending on the contract in question, at least in other industries, the author of the source material may have little to no say over something this whatsoever. But I don't know the nature of Miura's relationship with the rights holders.

My assumption with the recent anime itself is that he had little involvement in the choosing of the studio or the outcome of the product -- I'd guess that he agreed to have the series animated, signed some paperwork, and enjoyed whatever minimal involvement they allowed him while the suits handled the rest. But how far does something like his reach? Do they need to ask his permission to have light novels made? Or did they approach him and say "We're making this, what material do you have that we can use?", or something to that effect? This may be another thing that we'll simply never know the details of, but I think the answer to these questions is pretty important.

For example; if Miura's permission to make the light novel was required, then that means this project has his blessing up and down. He approved of it to begin with and regardless of how much involvement he had in making it, his stamp of approval is on it. But if his permission was not required and it was happening regardless of what he contributed, then that's a bit of a different story. Sure his name would be on the thing and his stamp of approval would be there, but that stamp of approval may be superficial. He could be totally unhappy about the existence of the thing and the end result, but is forced to put on a happy face and support it openly due to contractual obligations.

I'm just spitballing possible scenarios here. I'm very curious about how all this goes behind the scenes.
 

Walter

Administrator
Staff member
volatilecurry said:
There's no doubt in my mind that this thing is simply the "merchandising ploy" that you describe. I'd have a hard time believing it's something that Miura personally thought up and planned around. My question is how much of a say Miura has on such things. Could he have outright said "no" to something like this? Depending on the contract in question, at least in other industries, the author of the source material may have little to no say over something this whatsoever. But I don't know the nature of Miura's relationship with the rights holders.

We don't know, and likely never will, but I'll go back to what I said earlier: If it was something he didn't give two shits about, he likely wouldn't have contributed as much to it.

My assumption with the recent anime itself is that he had little involvement in the choosing of the studio or the outcome of the product -- I'd guess that he agreed to have the series animated, signed some paperwork, and enjoyed whatever minimal involvement they allowed him while the suits handled the rest.

I agree in part, but as written, it doesn't align with what we were told about how Studio 4C had to pitch their pilot to Miura, who had rejected other attempts over the years. There's no mention in that little anecdote about having to pitch it to Hakusensha. In that scenario, it's entirely possible that the publisher may have been interested in an animation, but wanted to get Miura's blessing before doing anything. After that point, his involvement is a bit nebulous.

For example; if Miura's permission to make the light novel was required, then that means this project has his blessing up and down.

That is the assumption that I'm going with.

He approved of it to begin with and regardless of how much involvement he had in making it, his stamp of approval is on it.

We don't need to surmise this — his illustrations and his name on the cover are a sufficient stamp of approval.
 
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