Writing Miura

Walter

Administrator
Staff member
Puella thank you so much for taking time out of your own busy schedule to translate this for us. But now you can see the fruits of your labor in translating the interview! :guts:

I'll quote what I think is most significant here, or what stuck out the most to me as :isidro:

puella said:
I’m transferring you Miura Kentarou's answers to your questions.
Take special note here that in many of the answers, he responds "I" or "for me", which implies that Miura himself gave us these responses, and they weren't an interpretation of the editor. I was worried for a bit with our babelfish translation seeming like he got them from a previous interview or something. Good to know he took time to respond as personally as was feasible.

I’d say it’s been 3-4 years, though it’s not been clearly decided.
I actually flubbed the question here, since I end up asking two different things. I meant to ask how much time has passed since Lost Children, during which we saw the last time shift, and Guts was 21. But what I think he ended up responding to was "how long since the Golden Age ended," which we already know has been at least 2 years (1 between Golden Age and Black Swordsman and 1 between that and Lost Children). So, 3-4 years would mean that it's 1-2 years more than we thought. Still, some time has clearly passed, and that's all i was trying to get at.

“Falcon” or “Hawk”, both mean [鷹] in Japanese. In some dictionaries, “Falcon ” is translated as [隼(はやぶさ)] but there’s almost no difference. I used "Falcon" from the great name of the “Millennium Falcon" ship in Star Wars.
This answer seems inconclusive to me. We already knew Taka could mean Falcon and Hawk, and I even mentioned that in the question. But in this answer, he does seem to lean more toward Falcon, but I'm not sure we can definitively say that it's "always" been Falcon. Hmm...

I think we are at about 60-70%. However, I myself don’t know anything for sure when it comes to the future.
:isidro: I can't believe we got an answer on this one. It's amazing.

Anyway, let's reason this out to get a vague prediction of Berserk's future. Let's split the difference and say it's 65 percent through. That would mean the series would be complete at around volume 55 or so. Assuming that Miura gets back on a more consistent schedule like earlier in the 2000s, he'd produce enough work for 2 volumes a year, with ~21 more until it's end. All of that is to say Berserk COULD be completed by 2020. But, as he says, it's not set in stone.

Or to put it another way, SKnet's life x2 :badbone:

No, I don’t [plan to make more art books]
That is really too bad... there's so much gorgeous material I'd like to have in a good bound edition. But I imagine these things take time to work on.

No specific part was especially difficult or regrettable to me.
Admittedly, this was kind of a throwaway question, but I was hoping he would elaborate more if I touched on something sensitive, like if one portion was especially difficult, we'd get some insight into why.

I don’t remember when I talked about my future plans after Berserk, but there's no doubt I’ll work on something else once it's over.
Amazing, a future after Berserk. So, I suppose by that time, SkullKnight.net will have to transmogrify into something else? Or maybe it will be for another generation of fans. Ah, so much to ponder with this thing... :sad:

Yes, I feel a sense of achievement, since my work has been appreciated more and more over time in society.
Besides, I can’t think of living any other life.
That's great, I had always hoped he hadn't regretted his life and the sacrifices he's clearly made to achieve his vision for Berserk, especially since it has affected his health and social life. It's good to know he's content with everything in spite of what others would perceive as impediments to a normal life.

I start working at 2:00 PM and I finish at 7:00 AM. Of course, the time I spend eating is included. I work 15-16 hours everyday, without holidays.
I hope this revelation will shut everyone up that complains when Miura opts to take a break. I seriously might get violent if I hear it after this ...

It’s because I wanted Berserk's world to be revealed just that far, not any more than that. The appearance of god in the manga conclusively determines its range. I thought that might limit the freedom of the story development.
So it's finally official: it limited the storyline options too much. We'd assembled that information ourselves, but it was pulled from such ancient interviews (~1996) that there was no telling it's accuracy. And he doesn't know if The Idea of Evil will be back... how haunting. :idea:

It’s possible.
Argh, I'd prefer he just say it's an impossibility at this point. Now the SEAZON 2?!?! threads will continue until we're all dead.

I’ve forwaded all his answers to you, though it took a little time.
It only took 3 weeks, I mean, I expected this would take MONTHS. So bravo on your expediency!

It’s very rare for Miura to answer this kind of questions. It would be good if you could think of it as his service for foreign fans like you. And also please keep in mind we can’t tell you things for sure about future developments that haven’t been scripted yet.
I tried my best to make the questions fair, and not to ask about unscripted events. I'm without words in my honor at being chosen for such a special reply. It's a day I'll remember for the rest of my life, and is so far the greatest achievement of the community here.
 

Th3Branded0ne

I'll be back.
No doubt one of the greatest event on SK.net history's. Congratulations for making this possible Walter,Puella and if I am missing people that haven't been mentioned. Thank you for doing this and letting us be part of such great news. Now, there is no reason to bitch and moan about episodes. Once again thanks for your hard work and time you have put on this.
 
um...
I myself don’t know if the Idea of Evil will show up again in the manga or not.
do I understand this correctly that it is possible for the whole "Griffith->Femto->Griffith" theme to have another explanation that can even contradict to the "Idea of Evil" concept (since it was not present in the volume), meaning that its better to just forget about episode 83 and expect something new instead of IoE ;) ?
 

Walter

Administrator
Staff member
Danat said:
um...do I understand this correctly that it is possible for the whole "Griffith->Femto->Griffith" theme to have another explanation that can even contradict to the "Idea of Evil" concept (since it was not present in the volume), meaning that its better to just forget about episode 83 and expect something new instead of IoE ;) ?
Something new? Maybe ... but I really don't think so. He's just keeping his story possibilities open.

I don't see this as Miura washing his hands of The Idea of Evil forever, because we've already seen a glimpse of it at the end of Episode 82, independent of the lost episode. There's also Flora's allusion to it in volume 24, when discussing the layers of the world "... and perhaps even deeper still... [there's another force at work]" and the three-part episode in volume 20: Shadow of Idea.

Anyway, the conversation between Griffith and the Idea of Evil isn't essential to understanding his transformation as a God Hand member, if that's what you're driving at.  In the future, I think Miura could simply leave out specific references to the Idea of Evil and get along fine.
 
@Walter
Don't forget that we've already seen the Idea of Evil at the end of Episode 82 as well
oh yeah, you're right ;). but without 83 we dont know what he sees there, Griffith just says "God?...", soo as you said...
It just keeps the possibilities open for how it will be portrayed in the future.
which is good enough for me ;). it was kinda pessimistic autmosphere when you _know_ that its God (which can control fate and such) versus Guts, meaning that Guts cannot really do much to spoil his plans.

anyway, thanks for clearing this up.
 

Walter

Administrator
Staff member
Danat said:
it was kinda pessimistic atmosphere when you _know_ that its God (which can control fate and such) versus Guts, meaning that Guts cannot really do much to spoil his plans.
Well, there's no "fate" in Berserk, there is causality -- a sequence of events influenced by a higher power.

And truly I mean no offense, but I think you've stated a pretty naive view regarding Guts' effect on causality. There have been several moments in the series where the plans of a higher power went slightly off-kilter because of Guts' or the Skull Knight's intervention.

The point I'm trying to make is that Miura has always left room for the determined human will to overcome incalculable odds. That's like the spirit of the series (and the moral learned from our letter request of Miura :SK: ). For example, as Flora said, humans always have a choice for what path they take, they aren't truly governed by causality. Most people just simply go with the flow, and few swim against it.

Future posts on this will be split and merged elsewhere. Let's try to stay on topic here gang. Me included...
 

Aazealh

Administrator
Staff member
Walter said:
This answer seems inconclusive to me. We already knew Taka could mean Falcon and Hawk, and I even mentioned that in the question. But in this answer, he does seem to lean more toward Falcon, but I'm not sure we can definitively say that it's "always" been Falcon. Hmm...

Well yeah, it's like I always said: he never cared. However, since he's been using "falcon" for a while (Millennium Falcon, Falconia), and regardless of why he's doing it... I'll go with "falcon".

Walter said:
Anyway, let's reason this out to get a vague prediction of Berserk's future. Let's split the difference and say it's 65 percent through. That would mean the series would be complete at around volume 55 or so. Assuming that Miura gets back on a more consistent schedule like earlier in the 2000s, he'd produce enough work for 2 volumes a year, with ~21 more until it's end. All of that is to say Berserk COULD be completed by 2020. But, as he says, it's not set in stone.

Honestly, considering how things went with the Golden Age arc (was supposed to be a simple flashback, ended up going from volume 3 to volume 14), I'm not too worried. :carcus:

Walter said:
That is really too bad... there's so much gorgeous material I'd like to have in a good bound edition. But I imagine these things take time to work on.

Yeah man, that blows big time. We're going to have to lobby this through. :rakshas:

Walter said:
Amazing, a future after Berserk. So, I suppose by that time, SkullKnight.net will have to transmogrify into something else? Or maybe it will be for another generation of fans. Ah, so much to ponder with this thing... :sad:

Sci-Fi. :SK: And we could just get rid of that shameful Vagabond Inn, replacing it with whatever new masterpiece Miura will work on afterwards. Only the true believers will remain! :SK:

Walter said:
I hope this revelation will shut everyone up that complains when Miura opts to take a break. I seriously might get violent if I hear it after this ...

Well to be honest, it's not like we didn't already know that...

Aazealh said:
the usual schedule to draw the episodes is just 2 weeks, with an average of 16 hours of work a day for at least 6 days a week from what I've read.

:badbone:

Walter said:
It only took 3 weeks, I mean, I expected this would take MONTHS. So bravo on your expediency!

Yeah man, honestly I myself was quite surprised at how quick it was. A real lesson in humility.

Danat said:
um...do I understand this correctly that it is possible for the whole "Griffith->Femto->Griffith" theme to have another explanation that can even ontradict to the "Idea of Evil" concept

No, you don't understand this correctly. And it's not really the thread to be talking about it either.

Danat said:
@Walteroh yeah, you're right ;). but without 83 we dont know what he sees there, Griffith just says "God?..."

Yeah, so we know what he sees there: God.
 
I was hoping a good story would come out of Question #5 but all in all good show. It's been a while since things have been this excited about berserk.
 

Oburi

All praise Grail
Indeed this is a great achievement in Skullknight.net history. Big thanks to Walter and everyone else involved. My favorite answer was that Berserk is 60% to 70% complete. I'm surprised he even answered that one, and I wasn't sure if I wanted to know the answer to begin with. But that's the best answer I could have hoped for. So the story is a little more than halfway done, and like Aaz pointed out, who knows how many volumes that could turn into.

Again, bravo to everyone involved, Walter, Aazealh, Puella! Great Work!!!
 

Griffith

With the streak of a tear, Like morning dew

Thank you, puella! Also, the biggest thanks to Walter, and, I can't believe I'm saying this, to Miura, of course! Wow, I'm sorry, I just can't resist quoting and responding to Kentarou Miura on skullknight.net myself! Part of me actually wants to write these addressing him in the first person, but I'll spare you. :guts:

puella said:
Q1: To the readers, Guts as a character has grown tremendously in the past few years, but how much time has elapsed in the Berserk world since the end of the Golden Age arc in Volume 14? (i.e. Lost Children - Millennium Falcon)

I’d say it’s been 3-4 years, though it’s not been clearly decided.

Like Walter noted, re-reading the question and answer there's doubt as to whether he meant the end of Golden Age or the end of Lost Children. I agree with Wally it's probably the former, after all, we haven't had any defined time breaks since then for so many years to have passed, but 1-2 makes sense over the course of events we've witnessed.

puella said:
Q2: Regarding the kanji "Taka," do you intend that to be Falcon or Hawk? Was there ever a conscious change in its usage, such as after Griffith's reincarnation, or has it always been "falcon" to you?

“Falcon” or “Hawk”, both mean [鷹] in Japanese. In some dictionaries, “Falcon ” is translated as [隼(はやぶさ)] but there’s almost no difference. I used "Falcon" from the great name of the “Millennium Falcon" ship in Star Wars.

I guess it's always been falcon. I know Hawk was official on merch and stuff, but I think this really could come down to it just being our language barrier, like, we see the difference, and he doesn't, and it's as though we're asking him which word he means among exact synonyms, "Did you mean gray, or grey!?"

puella said:
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.

This is fantastic, I think it's kind of where we thought we were, or it felt like the story was, but great to hear it from the man himself nonetheless. This would be nice too since that's about the exact amount of space I have on my little Berserk bookshelf. =)

puella said:
Q4: It's been years since the last art book release. There may now be enough content for 2-3 additional books. Do you plan to release any more based on your sketches and paintings?

No, I don’t.

This is an odd negatory, you'd think it would be something like his answer to the last question. Maybe the art books are more personal and involved for him where another anime is more the licensing/business side of things handled by the companies. I'd still think that business side of his work would be pushing for more art books though, considering how fantastic his work is it would sell itself and the series. I guess one should keep in mind that he has been releasing stand alone artwork though, just not in a collected volume.

puella said:
Q5: What portion of the story was the most difficult in terms of making hard decisions about where to take the direction of the series? Any regrets?

No specific part was especially difficult or regrettable to me.

To bad he didn't have more to say here, even if the question doesn't directly apply to his experience. Maybe this is where we should have asked about the Apostle Guts is screwing on page 1 and Casca's boots in volume 23? =)

puella said:
Q6: You've talked of post-Berserk projects in the past. Do you still expect to do it, or will you be enjoying retirement after having spent so long working on Berserk?

I don’t remember when I talked about my future plans after Berserk, but there's no doubt I’ll work on something else once it's over.

I'm looking forward to it, though I'd have been satisfied with just a hint about his future interests, because I'm really looking forward to it because it means I'll get to see Berserk in it's entirety.

puella said:
Q7: Do you feel a sense of achievement at what you've accomplished over all those years? Was it worth the sacrifices to your life and health it has required?

Yes, I feel a sense of achievement, since my work has been appreciated more and more over time in society.

Besides, I can’t think of living any other life.

This is affirming to hear, I'm glad we're not holding Miura against his will.

puella said:
Q8: Could you describe an average day in your studio? How many hours each day do you work?

I start working at 2:00 PM and I finish at 7:00 AM. Of course, the time I spend eating is included. I work 15-16 hours everyday, without holidays.

Awesome, he's a fellow night owl. I'm always amazed by the crazy hours highly creative people like him keep while remaining productive, or being more productive because of them. For instance, that not unlike my sleep schedule, except I'm certainly not constantly working during those waking hours, haha. Also, like Walter said, and Aaz has pointed out before, we can put the complaints about the release schedule to rest. I think people have taken the extremely high level of artwork in the series for granted.

puella said:
Q9: Can we have some more details on why Episode 83 was left out of the collected volume? Do you consider the events in the episode to be canon? Can we expect to see or hear from the Idea of Evil again before the end of the series?

It’s because I wanted Berserk's world to be revealed just that far, not any more than that. The appearance of god in the manga conclusively determines its range. I thought that might limit the freedom of the story development.

I myself don’t know if the Idea of Evil will show up again in the manga or not.

I think it's interesting that he confirmed Idea not just as a god, but just god at the time (at least of man), as many already interpreted it. I wonder how much that has changed, if at all, with the deeper introduction of magic and appearance of other highly powerful astral beings. I wonder if that's exactly why Miura took Idea out of the forefront and literally into the shadows, for the freedom to do those things, or if it wouldn't matter. To put it simply, Idea was intended to be god, but is it still?

puella said:
Q10: Rumors of a second season, or new animation of Berserk have been persistent since the first animation's conclusion. These have all been proven false, in time. But to be perfectly sure, are there plans for a continuation of the animation?

It’s possible.

SEASON 2 CONFIRMED! :troll:

That was fun, and again, a red letter day in skullknight.net history, just huge. I feel stuck between trying not to overstate it (as the above image clearly demonstrates my restraint =), while not being able to truly express how significant it is without sounding silly... I think the only way to understand is to think back to the beginnings of this place. To imagine something like this then was either unthinkable or thought to be naive or just a fantasy. Amazing. The closing from Mr. Shimada was also very nice, especially acknowledging the rarity of Miura answering such questions and it being a special favor to his foreign, and in this case, Western audience. Essentially, a special favor to skullknight.net! =)
 

Aazealh

Administrator
Staff member
Griffith said:
This is an odd negatory, you'd think it would be something like his answer to the last question. Maybe the art books are more personal and involved for him where another anime is more the licensing/business side of things handled by the companies. I'd still think that business side of his work would be pushing for more art books though, considering how fantastic his work is it would sell itself and the series. I guess one should keep in mind that he has been releasing stand alone artwork though, just not in a collected volume.

Well, long ago when the "Illustrations Files" artbook was being created, he did comment on how he didn't want to just make it a standard "Information Book" but instead wanted to truly make it worthwhile art-wise. This sort of concern and involvement might be part of the reason why nothing's planned at the moment. Still, I think a lobby's in order. :zodd:

Griffith said:
I think it's interesting that he confirmed Idea not just as a god, but just god at the time (at least of man), as many already interpreted it. I wonder how much that has changed, if at all, with the deeper introduction of magic and appearance of other highly powerful astral beings. I wonder if that's exactly why Miura took Idea out of the forefront and literally into the shadows, for the freedom to do those things, or if it wouldn't matter. To put it simply, Idea was intended to be god, but is it still?

Hmm well, from Flora's comments in volume 24, I would say that it is still God. =) But it's an enigmatic God, a being we (supposedly) know nothing about, instead of the precisely outlined and defined being of episode 83.
 
X

Xem

Guest
SkullKnight.Net - Official Fan Corner for Berserk

This site is deserving of such a title, indeed. And puella wins as the best bridge between this title and Miura himself. Thanks puellaaaaaaaaaaa!

About the answers,

I'm surprised and selfishly happy to say that I'm roughly the same age as Guts. I almost wish we could've just asked what Guts' birthday is officially in terms of our timeline, so I could boost my ego even more? Is it late January.... is it relative to 1984..... hmmm? :troll:

About the Falcon/Hawk thing... I'm just too fucking used to saying Hawk, I'm kinda pissed at myself for it but I can't help it. I'll try to make the switch, though I guess in the end it's really not all that important.

When I heard we're over halfway done with the story I honestly had mixed feelings... I don't want this story to ever end... I don't know what I'd do if it did, but at the same time I need to know how everything turns out. Worst case scenario: We get to follow a brand new story from the master! Either way I win and lose I suppose.

I found it a bit surprising that he got his sense of achievement from Berserk's success... usually I relate a sense of achievement with personal satisfaction about something, not the reponses, though I'm sure it's probably a combination of both. He did say, "Besides, I can’t think of living any other life.", that sounds like personal satisfaction to me.

About his work schedule all I can do is salute the boss here. Bravo sir, you are a mangaka warrior to the heart! Take a vacation some time, man, you deserve it.

The artbook response made me a bit of a sad panda, but nothing too serious. We have a plenty of extremely talented artists here who color a lot of his work, and that sort of fills the gap for me... I wish I would've thought to recommend sending him some of it to see his response. How cool would that have been? :carcus:

The Idea of Evil response was probably the most interesting for me.... I mean, wow, not really sure what to think of it at this point. Do we continue to discuss it as if ep. 83 is still valid? I'm starting to think not, but what else do we do? I hope he's got plans to fill this in, Berserk now seems more mysterious to me than it ever has before.

And finally, Berserk season 2? Ugggghhh... I really wish we'd get a definitive answer on this, or at least his opinion on the matter. I'll just cross my fingers and hope that he does have some idea of how he'd translate Berserk into another media that would be suitable for it. CGI like Advent Children (but better), maybe? Premium OVA's? My guess is we won't know the answer for a long, long time.

.................

What a badass for responding to us, and going through the trouble to talk in a simple way for us to understand. Long live Miura, long live SK.net!
 
Pure gold over here guys. Congratulations to SK.net for such an achievement, this place definitely remains as the best Berserk site on the internet (and maybe the only one who has recieved a reply from Kentarou Miura himself in the last years).

Gratz again guys :badbone:
 
Answers to question 3, 6, 9 and 10 made me go :isidro:

What a moment for any fanbase. Any fanbase, let alone from a creator from another country so far from us all being humble and kind enough answering the fan questions? Bet you guys feel really lucky. At first, I thought you were having us on for some late April Fool joke, but was I wrong. What else can be said, except, this would be a truly memorable moment for any fanbase, and of course it well and truly is.

Thank you, Walter, Aazealh and puella. You guys are now the best Berserk fans alive, know that and treasure it well. What a moment, wow.
 

Scorpio

Courtesy of Grail's doodling.
It's been said a million times now, but wow, what a monumental occasion! Skullknight.net- number one source for news and interviews on Berserk!
 

Walter

Administrator
Staff member
I'm already considering writing another letter thanking Miura and Shimada for the time they spent answering the questions. And Ive been racking my brain all day over what I could include as an _appropriate_ gift. I'm thinking emoticons will be involved somehow. I really want Miura to see them =).

If we could get Grovel's 9-year-old daughter to make another emoticon bookmark... that'd be the ticket!

PS: Otherwise I may just get one of you guys to learn to cross stitch for us :void:
 
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