They misspelled Berserk Prototype and ComiComi Manga School prize. And as far as i remembered, "Noa" was published in a special edition of Weekly Shounen Magazine called Fresh.
Dark Horse Releases "Deluxe" Berserk Edition
- Thread starter Sareth
- Start date
It is annoying... But I guess I have to...
That's right, Noa was published in "Fresh Magazine". It also wasn't canceled: it was a one shot, like Futatabi (note the correct spelling, not "futanabi" like they wrote). Both were published in 1985. The Berserk Prototype was Miura's graduation project from university and was published in 1988 in Monthly ComiComi after being one of the winners of the magazine's 7th Manga School contest.
This is what got him the opportunity to work with Buronson on Ourou, which headlined Monthly Animal House's launch in 1989 (AH was the magazine that replaced Monthly ComiComi). It also got Berserk serialized, which made its proper debut 5 months after Animal House launched. This shows how appreciated Miura was from the beginning.
Saying Berserk launched "to little fanfare" is rather untrue given that Hakusensha published a special issue of Animal House just before it debuted that featured Ourou and the Berserk Prototype (with several color illustrations) as a way to promote Miura's work. Unlike what Dark Horse says, Berserk did begin in Monthly Animal House, not in Young Animal. It's easy to tell since episode #1 of Berserk is in the middle of volume 5.
Berserk was popular enough in the early years that its first volume got several reprints before Young Animal succeeded to Monthly Animal House in 1992. And they valued Miura enough that they asked him again to produce a manga with Buronson to headline YA's launch. Berserk's popularity did keep growing with the Golden Age, and the 1997 animation accelerated things even more. In 1999, with volume 16 out, the series passed 10 million volumes sold.
Berserk has currently sold over 50 million volumes, not 40. The details of Miura supervising the 1997 series and the Dreamcast game are correct but feel weirdly out of place and incomplete given that he did many other things as well... Lastly, it's worth noting that Gigantomaxia was created for Young Animal's 20th anniversary and that Dur-An-Ki headlined (for the third time in Miura's career) the launch of a new magazine: Young Animal Zero.
Thanks for being so insightful and for bearing with me again.
I had no clue that Miura was considered so highly from the get go and that he was asked to produce works for the magazine's own lauch events and anniversaries. It really changes my perspective on his relation with Monthly Animal House / Young Animal... He wasn't just an author hosted on a random magazine like many other mangakas, but his contribution was really seminal for them.
This also further reassures me for the future that Berserk won't be treated by Young Animal like yet another product hosted on their magazine to exploit for money, but that they'll (hopefully) pay Kentaro Miura due respect and treat it carefully as they shared in the comment at the end of episode 364.
I had no clue that Miura was considered so highly from the get go and that he was asked to produce works for the magazine's own lauch events and anniversaries. It really changes my perspective on his relation with Monthly Animal House / Young Animal... He wasn't just an author hosted on a random magazine like many other mangakas, but his contribution was really seminal for them.
This also further reassures me for the future that Berserk won't be treated by Young Animal like yet another product hosted on their magazine to exploit for money, but that they'll (hopefully) pay Kentaro Miura due respect and treat it carefully as they shared in the comment at the end of episode 364.
Griffith
With the streak of a tear, Like morning dew
Question: I'm considering giving in and getting the deluxe editions (I already sold out and read Miura-less Berserk anyway, what's a few mistakes in the English edition? =), but to the issues mentioned throughout this thread and others, are there more desirable printings or reprintings where more graphic or translation errors have been fixed? Conversely, paper or print quality ever go down subsequently with reissues? Basically, should I always go for the newest, go for older ones in some cases, or does it even matter and are there even multiple printings and differences at all, or are the differences strictly between the standard and deluxe editions? Please advise. Thanks.
I've seen two different printings of Deluxe Vol 1, and both had the same issues. As far as I know, they haven't been resolved. Even if they were, it'd basically be impossible to know which printing you were buying, as in stores they are sealed with plastic.
I genuinely think these are fine editions if you don't already own Berserk in volume format. But if these will be TRIPLICATES for you, I don't think it's worthwhile.
Griffith
With the streak of a tear, Like morning dew
Yeah... that's another issue, I've been looking around so there's no evidence on the Amazon account. =)
I'd like to get 1-10 for a cool $300, but the eBay prices are ridiculous though, like people trying to sell bundles at a 150% markup of the current Amazon prices, and that doesn't even support the series, so not a lot of motivation for me to jump unless I'm saving enough to buy a new crib or something. Hopefully I don't wait until they go out of print and suddenly those prices are market value.
I'd like to get 1-10 for a cool $300, but the eBay prices are ridiculous though, like people trying to sell bundles at a 150% markup of the current Amazon prices, and that doesn't even support the series, so not a lot of motivation for me to jump unless I'm saving enough to buy a new crib or something. Hopefully I don't wait until they go out of print and suddenly those prices are market value.
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I will advise that there has been a recent change in the Brand of Sacrifice in the latest volume (Deluxe Vol. 10): Previous to this latest release, the brand has appeared to have a more "carved out" look on the faux leather cover, appearing pressed down to an almost flat look, but with Vol. 10 it seems to have a much more shallow look to it. I've added a photo to better illustrate my point. From what I can tell, this was something recognized in a decent amount of copies, and it's unclear if the brand will look like this moving forward or with any reprints. Volumes 1-9 all look like the copy on the left, Vol. 10 appearing on the right.
I just bought vols 8 and 9, which cover possibly my favorite part of the story (vols 22-27).
They did fix what I think is the worst Dark Horse line ever, which occurs during Guts thoughts over the winter journey: "And my license to touch her with tenderness expires". Fucking yuck. Now it's "My leeway to deal with her gently expires". Slightly better.
They also acknowledge Miura's passing at the end of the volumes, so it's a recent printing, if not the first one.
They did fix what I think is the worst Dark Horse line ever, which occurs during Guts thoughts over the winter journey: "And my license to touch her with tenderness expires". Fucking yuck. Now it's "My leeway to deal with her gently expires". Slightly better.
They also acknowledge Miura's passing at the end of the volumes, so it's a recent printing, if not the first one.
I have the Berserk deluxe books I got from Amazon, but I have to ask, has anyone else here had problems with them missing page numbers, or are page numbers generally not included in manga releases? Cause sometimes its hard for me to know which page I'm on when I'm reading the deluxe books so I wonder if I just got a bad print :<
Dark Knight
I’ll gnaw right through your arteries!
That might just be how it is. I don’t have the deluxe volumes, but do I have all the standard volumes and they all have “missing” page numbers as well.
I see, thank you. It's a little annoying when I want to direct other folks to a specific page though t-t
Griffith
With the streak of a tear, Like morning dew
Well, I don't know if they made any other changes or corrections with this edition, but my volume 1 is definitely a more recent printing because Miura's little bio mentions his death like the later volumes.
It also has an anomaly on the very last page of story that bothers me: it's glossy because the very next page has the color covers... they couldn't just start that a page later or add a blank before the glossy covers? It both makes it stick out like a sore thumb and makes me think what could have been if they'd all been glossy (I don't mind actually because it's not glossy in any of its original publications). It's a page of Donovan grabbing Guts to rape him to boot (but they couldn't print the actual color pages in color =).
Anyway, was this how it was always formatted and they're kind of stuck with it or did it actually get shifted to be this way by other pages being added?
It also has an anomaly on the very last page of story that bothers me: it's glossy because the very next page has the color covers... they couldn't just start that a page later or add a blank before the glossy covers? It both makes it stick out like a sore thumb and makes me think what could have been if they'd all been glossy (I don't mind actually because it's not glossy in any of its original publications). It's a page of Donovan grabbing Guts to rape him to boot (but they couldn't print the actual color pages in color =).
Anyway, was this how it was always formatted and they're kind of stuck with it or did it actually get shifted to be this way by other pages being added?
That's always how it's been, I have the first print of volume 1 and it's the same. It happens again in volume 4, where it ends on a two-page spread of Skull Knight and Zodd facing down, and Skull Knight's half is glossy and Zodd's isn't.
Griffith
With the streak of a tear, Like morning dew
Wow, I'm truly perplexed by the process here, like why would you do this intentionally when you could just have the next page be black or just plain blank with the first glossy cover adjacent, and if you're just dumping the volumes in with the index pages and character bios (which do change to add pertinent information be fair) that's... also weirdly uncontrolled.
I guess what I'm saying is I wouldn't do this unless it was by accident of the covers directly following a story page with no original buffer present (this likely couldn't happen in later volumes), but even if it did turn out that way this is precisely what you exert a little editorial or formatting control over.
Oh well, I don't really care because I wasn't under the impression this were going to be the objectively ideal editions by any means anyway (just best for me because of the size, language and improvements to the original localization), and compared to art, printing, and translation errors this is really a minor thing.
Plus, when they start publishing a faux-Berserk side by side with Miura's work in volume 14 it will be really awkward! Maybe we could write friend-of-the-site and SK.net member Chris Warner to see if they could stick the guidebook back there instead, ala the prototype in volume 14, and start fresh with Perserk in the next deluxe edition.
Unfortunately, I presume their publishing arrangement doesn't simply allow for that, but they could try! Hell, at some point they're going to need to plan how to format the final deluxe edition if the complete volumes aren't divisible by three. Maybe the last couple hundreds pages could just be glossy blanks.
I guess what I'm saying is I wouldn't do this unless it was by accident of the covers directly following a story page with no original buffer present (this likely couldn't happen in later volumes), but even if it did turn out that way this is precisely what you exert a little editorial or formatting control over.
Oh well, I don't really care because I wasn't under the impression this were going to be the objectively ideal editions by any means anyway (just best for me because of the size, language and improvements to the original localization), and compared to art, printing, and translation errors this is really a minor thing.
Plus, when they start publishing a faux-Berserk side by side with Miura's work in volume 14 it will be really awkward! Maybe we could write friend-of-the-site and SK.net member Chris Warner to see if they could stick the guidebook back there instead, ala the prototype in volume 14, and start fresh with Perserk in the next deluxe edition.
Unfortunately, I presume their publishing arrangement doesn't simply allow for that, but they could try! Hell, at some point they're going to need to plan how to format the final deluxe edition if the complete volumes aren't divisible by three. Maybe the last couple hundreds pages could just be glossy blanks.
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With their Hellsing ones, they just crammed four volumes into the last one.
Griffith
With the streak of a tear, Like morning dew
I figure it'll be that or some half-sized final edition that maddeningly doesn't match. =)
I'm more interested though in how they handle the transition from volume 41 to 42 in Deluxe Edition 14, if at all. They're not obligated to differenciate it any more than it may originally appear, and may even be obligated NOT to, so we'll see what the first Mori & Studio Gaga volume looks like, and if it will indeed distinguish itself, at least visually, from the previous volumes.
I don't know if someone already point It out, but keep in mind that Berserk Deluxe volume 5 (collecting regular volumes 13, 14 and 15), has the Berserk PROTOTYPE in the middle of it.
I just Hope that one day darkhorse will decide to publish the single volumes in the Deluxe format. Personaly I'm not a big fan of this "Omnibus" fashion... One of the cool things about Comics was that you could read them everywere, and not only on the top of a desk.
I just Hope that one day darkhorse will decide to publish the single volumes in the Deluxe format. Personaly I'm not a big fan of this "Omnibus" fashion... One of the cool things about Comics was that you could read them everywere, and not only on the top of a desk.
That's a great idea. But I've never gotten the impression that Dark Horse would do anything to defy convention with binding Berserk in an English edition, even if it were a good, natural addition.
Isn't that one-shot was released as a bonus in tankoubon version too?
Yes, the Prototype has always been in the regular volume, therefore its inclusion in the deluxe edition is completely natural.
Of course It Is.... But personaly i would have prefer for It to be moved at the end of the volume
Not sure Dark Horse can take that kind of decision themselves.
Griffith
With the streak of a tear, Like morning dew
It became clear pretty quickly that these aren't edited to be like extra large continuous volumes, they're three separate volumes collected into one book, and they're just going to dump that content in there exactly as it would appear in any individual volume. So, the glossaries in the front or any special appendix in the backs are going to appear in the middle of the volumes rather than all of that being at the beginning or end. The exception is the posters and covers, but then, like the hardcover in this case, those are merely part of the "packaging" of the volumes, separate from the "content" already.
Depending on the parameters of the publishing agreement I'm not sure they even could add anything that isn't the next volume's content or the usual info and ad pages if they wanted to (the guidebook for example); that all has to be negotiated and Dark Horse likely wasn't interested in bargaining for more than what they needed, and the feeling may be mutual. Honestly, I'm fine with them making no or as few editorial decisions as possible though, since I already don't trust or like the decisions they do have to make.
Depending on the parameters of the publishing agreement I'm not sure they even could add anything that isn't the next volume's content or the usual info and ad pages if they wanted to (the guidebook for example); that all has to be negotiated and Dark Horse likely wasn't interested in bargaining for more than what they needed, and the feeling may be mutual. Honestly, I'm fine with them making no or as few editorial decisions as possible though, since I already don't trust or like the decisions they do have to make.
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