The Strangely Similar Fates of Guin Saga and Berserk

Walter

Administrator
Staff member
Around the time that Berserk's continuation was announced, I was curious about what happened with Guin Saga after the death of its author, Kaoru Kurimoto. For those who don't know, Guin Saga was listed by Miura as one of the major influences on the fantasy world he made in Berserk. He contributed art for Guin Saga in the past, and he shared a long interview with Kurimoto in 2004.

Guin Saga is a heroic fantasy series of novels that follows a powerful swordsman named Guin who awoke with amnesia and a leopard mask attached to his head by magic. He encounters the twin princess and prince of a kingdom that was suddenly overthrown. Their adventures together are in part about restoring them to their rightful place on the throne and ultimately restoring balance to a fragmented world.

With 147 books, it's the longest-running work by a single writer in the world. It was originally written by Kaoru Kurimoto, from 1979 until her death in 2009 after suffering from pancreatic cancer. At its height, seven books would come out each year. That's 2,400 pages—per year. Kurimoto had always said she planned for the story to be within 100 volumes. But even having reached 130 volumes, many mysteries for the main characters remained, and now her story continues under a different author.

In its heydey, Guin Saga was hugely successful. It not only inspired Miura but also led to anime and manga adaptations. I also thought it was interesting that around the same time that Yoshitaka Amano was getting international recognition for his work on Final Fantasy's character designs, he was also creating novel covers for Guin Saga (he did #20–56). Here's a few:

guin_20.png
guin_32.png
guin_44.png



The first five novels were localized in English by Vertical in a translation from Alexander O. Smith, which is nice. And you can still find them these days. But after their release in 2007, Vertical never released the rest, and likely never will.

The fate of these two creators, and their series, has ended up strangely similar:
  • Guin Saga was a fantasy novel series that ran for 30 years, created by Kaoru Kurimoto from 1979 until her death in 2009 due to pancreatic cancer (age 56).
  • Berserk was a fantasy manga series that ran for 32 years, created by Kentarou Miura from 1989 until his death in 2021 due to acute aortic dissection (age 54).
  • These were two Japanese creators telling a long-running story using Western fantasy conventions.
  • Both series are continuing beyond the deaths of their creators.
Facing Death Differently
Of course, Kurimoto and Miura faced very different realities in terms of how they passed on their legacies.

Kurimoto died eventually from pancreatic cancer, but she had time to prepare after her diagnosis—either to conclude her story in the time she had left, or plan for its eventual conclusion under someone else's pen. In the end, she produced enough manuscripts for 4.5 books, all of which were released posthumously by the end of 2009. Some other stories based on her notes were also published, but exhausted by 2012. Currently, the series in the hands of unrelated writers. And now, 17 books since her death, the series seems no closer to a conclusion, with fans wondering about its ultimate fate, book by book.

Miura's death was sudden and without warning. And though he had no time to prepare anything, Miura had planned a definitive end for Berserk, according to his friend, Kouji Mori, and the story had been proceeding in accordance with that initial plan all along. And now, Berserk's legacy is in the hands of Mori.

It made me wonder—What happens to a long-running series from the mind of one person when they die, but it keeps going? I knew that Guin Saga was still being published, but I didn't know how closely these new books hewed to Kurimoto's original vision. I became especially curious about how that went, now that Berserk was being placed in new hands.

Did that go well for the series and its fans?
Did they keep the title the same, or give it a subtitle?
Has it been well received?
Are fans on board?
Or is it merely publishing fodder with a recognizable brand?

To answer some of these questions, here's the result of some research—a brief history of Guin Saga since Kurimoto's death.

2009
When Kurimoto died, she had struggled with pancreatic cancer for years. She had some time to tidy up her series, but it remained unfinished. At the time of her death, exactly half of her final book (#130) was completed and released as-is. Also included was commentary from Kurimoto's widower, S-F Magazine editor Kiyoshi Imaoka, who said his wife had wished the series to be continued.

2011-2012
A quarterly magazine, Guin Saga World, published gaiden-format stories featuring some of Kurimoto's remaining manuscripts. These are effectively the final authoritative sequels for the series, and they were written by Saori Kumi and Osamu Makino, two female sci-fi/fantasy novelists who also worked for the same publisher (Hayakawa). By the release of the fifth issue, a post-script note from Imaoka (widower) said there were no remaining details for the rest of the story.

And yet...

2013
A sequel novel series was announced, picking up at #131 with two authors—Yū Godai (五代 ゆう) and Yume Yoino (宵野ゆめ). Despite Guin Saga World's different naming convention to continue Kurimoto's remaining manuscripts, this new sequel series was marketed as "Guin・Saga 131" precisely like the 130 that came before it.

2017
Godai and Yoino had alternated writing each book. But starting with #141, Godai became the sole author.

2020
After 17 volumes in seven years, #147 marks the last time we've seen a Guin Saga book in two years. This is noteworthy because the traditional pace is several volumes each year.

Reception from Fans
Having not read more than the first five books myself, I'm not a reliable source for the quality of the continuation. So I turned to Amazon Japan, where I read hundreds of fan comments (Google Translated). Serendipitously, they often addressed the precise thing I was looking for—what they liked or didn't like about the new series contrasted with the original.

My general impression after reading a ton of these reviews is that there is no consensus. It is a mixed bag for fans. I would take everything with a hefty grain of salt, because you have to consider the kind of fan who would bother to leave a review. That being said, this new continuation seems to be great for a lot of readers who by their own admission, just want to see the story progressing (even though we're well beyond what Kurimoto left behind). But for others, the new writers haven't restored faith in the series. I've seen a lot of "back in Guin Saga's heyday" type of posts, referring to the run through the 80s-90s.

Here's a dump of some select comments, numbered from which book # I found them in, so you can gauge it for yourselves. I think Berserk fans will find a few things that resonate with them.

131:
I can't read the Guinsaga that was supposed to be written by Kaoru Kurimoto. However, a Guin Saga that I don't know about is about to be born.

It's easy to imagine the pressure of writing a sequel to the Guin Saga sequel is overwhelming. I can't help but compare him with Kaoru Kurimoto when he wrote Leopard's Head Mask, but I can't imagine Yuu Godai being more comfortable.
If the story so far cannot be inherited without discomfort, it will not be "Volume 131". I understand that there were such extraordinary hardships, but as a fan, it has become a sequel that is difficult to accept smoothly.

138:
There are a lot of detailed stories, and since they are written in a hurry, none of them are suspenseful, and there is no depth to the story.
It was very disappointing.

139:
To be honest, Guin Kurimoto also felt a little redundant in the second half, and I felt that I was reading it out of habit. Although there is development, I felt frustration as if I was going round and round in the same place.

140:
Four stars ⭐️ for the progression of the story. It may be different from Mr. Kurimoto's idea, but I'm looking forward to the conclusion of your story.

141:
You can read in peace. It's no longer the era of inertia. Still, I'm reading silently as if I'm paying money and buying a sense of security. There must be a lot of people who say they don't like it.

142:
The story is definitely progressing. However, I finished reading while thinking that it would be unfinished again at this pace, that there were too many stories at the same time, and that it would be better to focus on one and let the story progress. It's interesting, but the pace isn't as good as Kaoru Kurimoto's, so if I continue like this, I'll be traumatized by the unfinished second dance.

145:
Just like the old Guinsaga in its heyday, various stories progress simultaneously in various places at a good tempo, and the fun of intertwining various characters
is revived!

Such a place, such a place, such a person, such a person, the story progresses one after another at a good tempo. This is fun! It's a very good feeling that it's continued even after Mr. Kurimoto's death, so please read it!

146:
I have been reading from the beginning until now. I can't stop being excited, but I am grateful to the successor who continues to write.

147:
I don't feel uncomfortable even if the author is different, and I'm curious about the last, so I'll keep reading.
 

Aazealh

Administrator
Staff member
That's an interesting comparison, although I do think the circumstances are different for each author. Things would have no doubt been very different for Berserk if Miura had been afflicted with a "slow" disease like Kurimoto was...
 
Amazing post Walter, it's interesting how similar everything ended up with both authors and how we are currently experiencing the same things Guin saga fans dealt with, the Japanese fans seem to share the same grievances most people have with New Berserk. Guin saga was one of the first anime I ever saw alongside Juuni Kokuki and the Berserk anime, I could see enormous potential in it and at first I thought it was based on a manga series but found out I could never continue the story after the anime like I did with berserk because it was never published in English. It's such a bummer because the covers really got me excited it's like seeing berserk covers but not actually being able to read the volumes.
That's an interesting comparison, although I do think the circumstances are different for each author. Things would have no doubt been quite different for Berserk if Miura had been afflicted with a "slow" disease like Kurimoto was...
I honestly wonder what Miura would do if he knew about his condition, I think he would tell his fans which I'm sure Kurimoto did too, and I think he would have done absolutely everything he could to try and finish the series and then maybe hand it off to Mori and his assistants
 

Walter

Administrator
Staff member
at first I thought it was based on a manga series but found out I could never continue the story after the anime like I did with berserk because it was never published in English.
Well, you can get the first five books in English, with a good translation too. Fans regard that first section as being pretty damn good. I think it's... alright! :sweatdrop:

But unfortunately, even in 140+ books, the key mysteries swirling around Guin's state when he wakes up in the first book (like who affixed the leopard mask to him) were never resolved by Kurimoto, and remain a mystery. Still, some crazy shit did happen relating to Guin's origin. And if you don't care about spoilers for a series that you'll never finish, you may as well peruse the Japanese Wikipedia entry for Guin Saga characters for it to satiate your curiosity. (also check here for some more stuff about the Guin Saga world).

I honestly wonder what Miura would do if he knew about his condition, I think he would tell his fans which I'm sure Kurimoto did too, and I think he would have done absolutely everything he could to try and finish the series and then maybe hand it off to Mori and his assistants
Eh, it's not an idea I relish thinking about. Certainly, Berserk's story would have been different, and improved, from where we are now. And Miura himself would have had a more peaceful end to his life. But well... that's not reality.
 
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