Auturgist said:That's marketing. Neither Duane nor I wrote that, but I think we both know why it's there. You know about BERSERK already, and you're going to describe it more accurately to your friends when they ask about manga. A summary like that is meant to entice the lowest common denominator with a promise of bloody, action-packed storytelling, so that someone who isn't interested in the more intellectual elements of BERSERK will still pick it up and buy it without prompting from friends who know about the series already.
I know, being intelligent can be a real burden because you have to tolerate not only the stupid people, but the world of marketing that panders to them. (I say that sarcastically, but it's the truth, and I do feel your pain.)
Think about it like this:
The lowest common denominator NEEDS those kinds of summaries to be enticed to take an interest (and ultimately purchase) the series.
The more intelligent readers (you, me, most of the people posting here) are assumed to be smart enough to know why they are there, and ignore them because they have no bearing on the actual content inside the book.
Dark Horse needs money from both the lowest common denominator and the more intellectual readers if they are to make enough to continue publishing the series.
Since there are more of the lowest common denominator than intellectual readers, Dark Horse has to pander to them while hoping the intellectual readers can forgive the flagrant English logo and gratuitous summary on the back cover.
Now you're confusing me, by saying that Dark Horse includes those childish title description on the back of the each American release, just so it can appeal to more mainstream audience (if that's what you mean by the "lowest common denominator"). But what makes you think that DH is gonna attract more buyers by doing so. On a little side note, I've been reading manga titles published by DH, for over 8 years. And throughout this whole time, Berserk is the very first title that they're treating like that. In my opinion, the English version of Berserk needs no such title descriptions. It's an adult manga, and not a children's genre. Hell, those Shonen Jump that Viz releases, not even they contain such dumb-ass, and apalling book descriptions on the back, like the English version of Berserk does. Want a proof?
Here's a liitle comparison between the book descriptions that appeared on the back of the fifth volume of the Dark Horse's release of Berserk, and the one that was on the back of the third volume of Beet the Vandel Buster, published by Viz under the Shonen Jump label. Before I proceed, keep in mind that while Berserk is rated "18+", Beet the Vandel Buster is rated "All ages."
The title description taken from the back of the Berserk, vol 5:
"Created by Kentarou Miura, Berserk is maniacal manga to the max - relentless, harrowing, and gruesomely funny - and the inspiration for the popular anime series. If you're looking for graphic fiction tied up with a pretty, pink bow, you'd better run for the hills - because Berserk will show you what you can do with that bow!!"
Now, let's look at Beet the Vandel Buster:
"It's the century of Darkness and monsters, known as Vandels, rule the world. The only force that can fight them are the warriors known as Vandel Busters. Whena group of Busters are killed ina battle, they pass on their magic Saiga weapons to Beet, making him the strongest buster ever. He won't just fight the Vandels. Beet wants to destroy them and finally end the Century of Darkness."
As you can see, a manga that's being targeted towards children, actually has a much more intelligent and not mention coherent sounding title description, than Berserk, a title that's being targeted for the adult audience. That's definately not something that Dark Horse should be proud of.