Japanese vs English Manga

Hey, I have just started up buying the Berserk Manga (only english volume 1 so far) and I was wondering which one do you prefer or would be good to get because I understand that Dark Horse is going pretty slow with releasing the english version and I dont want to spend a couple of years waiting on this when It is already released in Japanese. (Also I dont want to have half japanese half english collection either, If I do go for collecting the entire series I want it to be in just one set language)
 

Walter

Administrator
Staff member
I'd buy the English manga if I were you. I own the japanese volumes myself, but that's only because they're the source material. Dark Horse will make mistakes, for sure. The only "perfect" version of Berserk to me, lies in my head, after years of reading various and competing translations of the series.

As for not wanting to be waiting for the series for years, welcome to the club, dude. We'll all be here for at least another 5-20 more years. :guts:
 
Same here, but what I mean is I dont want to have months/years for volumes that are already released, sticking with the entire series is different and I'll be with it as many as it takes until the end.
 

Aazealh

Administrator
Staff member
The best would be to have both, or a split collection, but apparently you don't want that. I see the website link in your profile goes to a German site, well if you speak German you can always buy the German volumes, otherwise the Spanish and Italian edition are also in the 20+ volumes.

Other than these alternatives, the Japanese edition is really the best there is, the downside is the language barrier. Again, I'd recommend you to get the Japanese volumes from 13 up to 29 ($75 without shipping) and to wait for DH to slowly catch up, but that's assuming you don't mind having a heterogenous collection and/or doubles (which isn't the case from what you said).

Unfortunately there aren't a lot of options, it's up to you to take a decision depending on how much you like the series and want to invest in it.
 

Funkmasta Zeph

Finely made wine since 1840
Zelz said:
Same here, but what I mean is I dont want to have months/years for volumes that are already released, sticking with the entire series is different and I'll be with it as many as it takes until the end.

That depends on how you regard the GNs....

Do you see them as collectors items?
Do you want them soley to gaze at the art?
Then buy the Tankobans.

Do you really want to just grab Berserk off the shelf and read it?
Then buy the English release.

....Which isn't all that slow honestly, 4 volumes a year is pretty good. Usually english GN releases are 3 times a year.
 
l prefer the english, mainly because l can't read Japanese(l have cds how to learn, but l haven't started :schierke:) One thing l like better though, is the nice book jackets the jap versions have. l just got volume 10 today, l can't wait till' 13 is out.
 
Aazealh said:
The best would be to have both, or a split collection, but apparently you don't want that. I see the website link in your profile goes to a German site, well if you speak German you can always buy the German volumes, otherwise the Spanish and Italian edition are also in the 20+ volumes.

In Italy there are 3 versions of Berserk, any worst than other... :judo: Better the German or Spanish volumes.
 

Aazealh

Administrator
Staff member
avi said:
In Italy there are 3 versions of Berserk, any worst than other... :judo:

Haha yeah I know, from what I've heard the translation really isn't the best (same for all three I think, right?). Anyway, the German edition is also far from being perfect ("Kjaskar" instead of Casca, "Femuth" for Femto...), and I imagine the same applies to the Spanish one.

In the end, nothing beats the original. :guts:
 

Aazealh

Administrator
Staff member
Slightly Green said:
poor roberto.... :judo:

Don't underestimate him, I wouldn't be surprised if he outlived me. :badbone: By the way, you're not posting much these days Robby, you're busy?
 

Voyevoda

Breathe and Start
Aazealh said:
Again, I'd recommend you to get the Japanese volumes from 13 up to 29 ($75 without shipping)

May I ask you where that price is available? I've checked up on Sasugabooks, Nippon-export, Aclimatesolution and Animaxis among some, but they all seem to have very differing prices. If the answer to this turns out to be an obvious one then I must apologize for the lack of time I spent searching for it.
 

Aazealh

Administrator
Staff member
CaSan said:
May I ask you where that price is available?

http://www.amazon.co.jp

Other than that, Nippon-Export used to give discounts to customers buying in bulk, so if you handle it well you could get a good price there, and Acclimate Solution's strong point is the cheap shipping (so comparing the total price for each shop might be in their favor). But I recommend you to stick to Amazon anyway.
 

Voyevoda

Breathe and Start
Aazealh said:
http://www.amazon.co.jp

Other than that, Nippon-Export used to give discounts to customers buying in bulk, so if you handle it well you could get a good price there, and Acclimate Solution's strong point is the cheap shipping (so comparing the total price for each shop might be in their favor). But I recommend you to stick to Amazon anyway.

Thanks once again for the link and for the heads up on the other sites. I'll go with your recommendation and use Amazon.
 

CnC

Ad Oculos
great find on that price, zeph.

You have any experience as to how long it would take them to restock a volume?
 
Wow, DH really picked up the pace (or I just havent checked up on it) with the Berserk volumes. I only have 1-5, and it looks like there already up to 10.

Zelz, similar to you, I had this problem when I was about to start my Berserk manga collection. But after while I decided to just get the english version. Of course there will be translation errors, but thats what the internet is for -- to find translation errors and know what it is really supposto mean (like skullknight.net for example).

Maybe when I hit it big I'll buy the Japanese manga set just to look at the "pretty pictures".
 

Aazealh

Administrator
Staff member
Un_Colombiano said:
Wow, DH really picked up the pace (or I just havent checked up on it) with the Berserk volumes. I only have 1-5, and it looks like there already up to 10.

They're up to volume 11 actually, and the others will follow quickly:

DarthVenom said:
Volume 12 is still set to drop 7/12/06

and guess what....

Volume 13 is set to drop 9/27/06

Don't fall too much behind. :serpico:
 
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