Kentarou Miura has passed away

[Calvinos]

What a strange feeling. Thinking back about the 17 years since discovering the Berserk animation. By the time I was only 12 but god, I already liked it so much. The quality level of narration was so high, each character had such a deep crystallized personality and the music made me instantly enter this dark world. Since this point, I read all the available books many times during all the passing years. Each new chapter was met with a deep joy of understanding more where the great mind of Mr Miura wanted to guide us. Each new chapter was met with speculation on the different paths Guts could take. The perfection of the work was at every page, every details of any drawing. The passing chapters made me realized I would never be able to foresee what was coming in the series. And I didn't even want to consider the idea that Miura could pass away for the next 15 years at least. He was supposed to get to the end of the story. We had to know. It had to be this way. How could any other scenario make sense?
It made me once more realized one can never predict the coming events.

Mr Miura was probably one of the greatest mind of our time. One of the most dedicated man to the perfection of his work. It should inspire all of us to create something greater than us. To give a legacy that the world will watch with pride and honour. Goodbye Master.

 

[Psymont]

Im in shock... mid 50s is young by todays standards (says the 40 something). Been a massive fan since the late 90s. I remember printing out translations from a friends computer to read along with the manga. I had never done that before or since for any other manga. Something about the art style, setting, well everything just drew me in and I had to know what it was all about. It was worth every tree I killed and it has been an incredible journey through over 20 years. Was sitting at my desk at work when I found out about his passing and started crying. Had to tell people my wife's grandmother died so I did not look like a complete lunatic. Despite the otherworldly dark nature of Berserk as a whole, there was so much to relate to and the impact this tale has had on my life is immeasurable. I truly thank him for taking me on this journey with him and wish him all the best on his next journey...

 

[DANGERDOOOOM]

I keep coming back here in disbelief. What a tragic loss.

I started reading Berserk since early 2009 and it became the only manga series I set out to buy all books andthe 90s television series.

My first tattoo was Guts’ brand on the back of my neck, the same placement as his.

His art and way of story telling influenced me in many ways and kept me pushing on day to day, awaiting the next chapter release.

I don’t know the future of Berserk and I’m hesitant on whether or not his assistants should continue without him. I’m sure Miura had a plan for an unfortunate situation like this, which is something we as a community will have to respect. Good or bad.

Thank you for giving me hours and hours of entertainment and rereads through all of your works. We will miss you more than you could imagine.

Rest In Peace

 

[King Crimson]

its hard for me to come to terms and waking up to this devastating news. His stories helped me through very tough times, including the loss of my mother, I've since moved away from these forums but always read every new release, 17 years and no regrets. I've never been more emotionally and mentally connected to a protagonist or story like I have with Guts, Berserk or the author, Miura sensei. The loss hits harder than most. I will always love his contribution to my adolescence, my life and the genre. May you rest is peace.

 

[turkitage]

You forever changed my life and, of course, others. Rest in Peace.

 

[ModalEternal]

I really appreciated the skype call last night, everything felt so overwhelming and confusing but listening to everyone talk things out helped a lot with coming to terms with everything. I can't say much that hasn't already been said, but Berserk has changed my life and how I perceive stories and art in ways I still can't put into words just yet. Thank you to everyone here on the forum for all of the discussion and passion and love for the series, it always made me really happy knowing that there was such a large group of people who were impacted by Miura's writing the same way I was. I know Miura was absolutely grateful for everyone here and having such a passionate fanbase too. I do wish I could articulate everything going through my head a bit more right now but I'm so grateful for everything Miura created and that I was fortunate enough to be around to see it. There will never be another creative as powerful as him for me. Even if the series is over, I can take solace in knowing that this site will continue on no matter what and I'll always appreciate everything everyone does here. I hope you all take care of yourselves for now and forever. Thank you Miura, I hope wherever you are now you can see this thread and see how much everyone here loves you and everything you did for us.

 

[guuuuuuuuts]

It has been so great to grow up with this series! I love Berserk and am forever inspired by Kentaro. He keeps me reading. We should live and die for our dreams.

I hope future interpretations of his work will do it the justice it deserves.

 

[bruhaha69]

Not much to say that hasn't already been said. I just want you all to know, I share this grief you're feeling right now. I can't think of another storyteller or artist who has had as much an impact on me. What other mangaka could put out (sometimes) only a couple updates a year and still keep you hanging tight without frustration? I was NEVER let down by a release and always knew it would be worth the wait. Especially recently, it just felt like we were being spoiled with amazing developments. Very hard to come to terms with this. A great loss for all

 

[BiQ_]

I don't think I still fully believe this to be true, even if I know it to be. Such an abrupt way it happened. RIP.

 

[SpaceKingScot]

Rest in peace to the legend, there will never, EVER another story like Berserk, or another artist like Miura, which can capture the hearts and minds of this many for this long. Manga lost a titan, and it will never, ever be the same. It's my hope that he goes down as one of the greatest authors, not just of our time, but of all time. Beyond the impressive sales, the large fandom, or the astounding critical success, at the center of it all was a beating heart, filled to the brink with passion. Which was laid out on every single page, every single chapter, and every volume. The dedication alone is what cements him as such to me personally.

I wanna thank the mods for approving me to post in a timely manner. I've never posted here before, but I am familiar with this website. I've been visiting here once in a while with no account on and off for a few years, just as a means of seeing what other people had to say about this series I loved. But enough lurking, I'm gonna use this account and actually be social for once.

I got the news about 20 minutes after the tweet was dropped. It was a very mundane evening with friends, we were busy discussing anime "hot takes" when the initial Twitter post was sent to me. The one who shared it with me was apologetic because they knew how much Berserk meant to me. I had sung the highest praises of Miura's magnum opus to all of my peers thousand and thousands of times. On my part, it was instantaneous, the disbelief. My first instinct was to check the legitimacy of the information in whatever ways I could and then this website. It took a while to set in. I was devastated. I cried for what was honestly something like a straight hour. I'm not one to get choked up about the passing of famous individuals, but this hurt me personally. It was almost like losing a friend, or family, although I'd never presumed to know Miura.

I feel like I was one of the few fans (apart from those on this site) who were generally okay with the long waits. Hearing the horror stories of overwork that other authors such as Togashi of Hunter x Hunter fame...well it made me feel that it was the correct course of action to take as much time as possible. It also allowed me as an individual to grow older with Berserk as time had gone on. I started my Berserk journey when I was in high school in 2014; which I recognize is a pitiful timespan compared to the epic stories some of you have to share, but today i'm a grown man with my own family. My life has changed tremendously since I started with this series. On some level, it was my hope to see Berserk continue till I too was grey. It wasn't ever about the revenge, the hatred, or the battles with the epic forces of darkness. It was the journey I loved. A journey I felt that if even only spiritually, I was walking with too.

Gut's journey of overcoming adversity, overcoming trauma, holding onto one's humanity, redemption, and healing will resonate throughout the ages, long past this time. That's what will make Miura a legend. To paraphrase the work of Oda of One Piece fame, a man does not die when he is lost to us, it's only when he's forgotten that he truly dies. Miura and his work will never be forgotten, so while we say goodbye physically, he lives on forever in the memories of those he touched through his work. Once again, rest in peace. King.

 

[Eru]

I am really thankful for Miura and his work. I am not a long time fan like probably many around here, my Journey with Berserk started in 2014.
I was in a really bad place mentally: depressed and suicidal. When i first read Berserk, i thought this would be so much loved because Guts is a badass. But as i kept reading i was just blown away because even among so many Manga i read, nothing was like it. These characters and their desires felt so relateable and real. While i was reading the Manga i realized a Change in me. I lost my own way and dream for a long time, thanks to Berserk i came back to pursuing it. (I want to be a Mangaka like Miura Sensei one day)

Also thanks for accepting my registration on this site. I am a long time lurker, i listen to every skullcast and like to read through the discussions around here :).

 

[SanJiyeon]

Thank you for everything, I have no words to express the gratitude i have towards this series and its legendary creator Miura. Rest in peace!

 

[DarkAdin]

Read the news this morning, now at night I still feel in denial. This moment was certainly going to come, but it was so sudden, the man had so much still to give to the world. At least I would have loved to see him pursue artistic goals past Berserk once it was finished and see him pursue big new projects.

Today felt very strange. I followed Berserk since highschool when a friend introduced me to it and soon we both started to feel a very deep sense of dedication to the series, because somehow back then we already knew that it was on its very own league, up there in the pantheon of masterpieces among masterpieces, those works that when we first read them, they change us forever.

Thank you Miura for everything that you gave us through your drawings and your superb sense of narrative over the years. A very hard worker and an absolute master of his craft, you managed to gather so many people together thanks to your excellent work.

May you rest in peace, and live in legend forever.

For all those who are up to it, Puella and I are thinking about organizing a campaign to send notes and flowers to Hakusensha to honor Miura sensei after his passing. I'm waiting to see if they give specific instructions but otherwise I'll make a thread with details on what to send and where.

Absolutely!

 

[Mammon]

Such a terrible news... it's hard to process all of this, to put my thoughts in order...

I started reading Berserk around 2007, and it very quickly became my favorite work of fiction. I was a teenager at the time, and not a particularly happy one.
Berserk has helped me a lot through some of the darkest times of my life, without Mr Miura I'm not sure I would have made it.

Like many here, my first tattoo as a young one was nothing fancy, just the brand. A simple brand...
Not very creative, but I suppose that for lots of us, it represented everything Berserk was teaching us: with a quick glance at that mark, I was reminded that life is a struggle, but it's worth fighting through the tough times.
That symbol kept us strong.

Over the years I've been getting more and more Berserk related tattoos (the only ink I have that is not, is a small homage to JRR Tolkien), and I'm currently in the process of designing a new one with a wonderful artist.
I'll have to make some adjustments now, though...


I created my Skullknight account in 2009, after a good year and 1/2 spent lurking on the forum, reading every thread that peaked my interest. And you people managed to answer all the questions I had, before I could even ask them.

I didn't post here much, mostly because every time a new episode would come out, the usual crew
(Walter, Aazealh, Griffith, puella, Death may Die, Cyrus Jong, CNC, Gobolatula, Oburi, Nightcrawler, Kompozinaut, IncantatioN, Rhoombad, Vampire_Hunter_Bob, Uriel, Proj2501, ApostleBob, jackson_hurley, RaffoBaffo, Lithrael, and all the others I'm forgetting, and that I already know I'll be beating myself up over forgetting )
would have already processed everything for me.
So all I had to do was open my beak, let the good regurgitated stuff slide right in, and pretend that I'd figured it all by myself.


Skullknight has been such a great companion these last 13 years, thanks a lot to the moderation team for keeping this site clean, untouched by the mean-spirited "Berserk/Miura memes" (you know the type...) and the more ridiculous, baseless "fan theories" that clog all the others platforms dedicated to this manga.
Thank you, thank you so much...
(sidenote: When I started to follow this forum, I remember being surprised at the number of French speaking members!
As a frenchie, it was a pretty nice feeling. Salut les amis!)

When it comes to the manga, even if we will never read the ending now, at least we got to see Casca being brought back to sanity.
We have at least completed that part of our journey, and now I suppose we'll forever stay in limbo, on that beautiful Elfhelm ...
I guess that there could be worst places to be stuck at, than at the peaceful oasis before the final, most dangerous trip of all.



Stay strong my brothers and sisters (coloring made by our very own Lithrael).

Rest in Peace, Kentaro Miura.
You made the world a better place for so many of us...

 

[Cronus]

When I saw the 'SKNet Test' from Skype on my phone buzzing last night I thought someone had hacked the account.
But the buzzing went on and so I figured I should answer it. I was playing Days Gone trying to unwind.

As soon as I saw Walter's face on camera and the list of people in the group, I feel like I knew something terrible had happened to the community but simply wasn't prepared for it.

What a gut-punch. I'm barely coherent today here at work.

His work was a roller coaster. Intense, sad, awe-inspiring, light, loving, thought-provoking, reflective, and funny.

We touched on a lot of the memories around discovering Berserk in the 20 year anniversary podcast episode so I won't type them out here. The sheer outpouring of love and respect from all parts of the world shows how Miura's work was a monument of artistic integrity, vision, and inspiration.

To me Berserk was the 'leaping fish that breached the water's surface' in this way. Look at the community it built here and around the world, and where those threads eventually landed. All of our lives are richer for being present in this time and place with Miura in it.

Rest In Peace, Miura-sensei.

 

[Aazealh]

The many messages in this thread have been heartwarming, and it almost dulled the pain to see many old timers come back to express their sadness. So, thank you everyone for sharing your feelings. I've been holding out on posting my own thoughts partly because I don't know if I can articulate them well.

I won't try to be eloquent or take it in stride with philosophical words. This fucking sucks. Like many others, I've been following Berserk for close to 20 years. I can't even know the extent to which it shaped who I am. I met my wife thanks to Berserk, and I found many of my dearest friends on this very forum. Like Walter, it's fair to say I've dedicated a good chunk of my life to this series. I regret none of it.

Throughout my life, Berserk has been like an anchor, always there, even when months went by without new material. I didn't mind, because I knew Miura-sensei was hard at work and that I could count on him to create the best story ever told. I am eternally thankful to him for giving us SO MUCH over these past 30+ years. Over 40 volumes of Berserk (plus the amazing Gigantomakhia). And yet I wanted more. Ten, twenty more volumes, and then other series, other stories.

It's true, Berserk is already great as it is. Not just great, it's the best story ever told in any medium. It has made my standards so high that nothing else will reach them. It's unequalled, and I'm convinced it will never be matched in the future. But I also know that each additional episode would have made it even greater. So I won't pretend I'm fine with the way things are, because I'm not and I don't think I ever truly will be. This is the depth of the loss I am feeling, that of a peerless genius whose disappearance lessens mankind as a whole.

I've seen people say they expected it or such things, but I refuse that line of thinking. Miura-sensei planned to keep going for 20 more years, and he would have if it had not been for this rare, sudden affliction. To quote one of Void's most famous lines: "If it's a principle that fate transcends human intellect and makes playthings of humans... It's causality that humans confront fate with evil."

I feel particularly strongly today the ways in which fate transcends our intellects and makes playthings of us. Unfortunately, I have no evil power at my disposal to confront it. So I will muddle through as best I can, like Guts would. Thank you, Miura-sensei, for everything you gave us. I will cherish it for the rest of my life.

 

[DirtiestM]

When I heard the news this morning I was instantly struck with sadness and right now I can barely believe that this is true. I remember instantly falling in love with the series in 2014 when my college roommate insisted that I read Berserk because of how wonderful the art and story were. I remember finishing the series as quickly as possible and became addicted to the series wanting more and more. It's incredibly sad that man that gave this story to us all has passed away, I really can't imagine a day in the last 7 years or so where I haven't had a thought about Berserk. The larger than life characters and unique approach to archetypical themes created an intensely gripping and inspiring story that has yet to be reached by any other manga that I have read. I was persuaded by the forum to purchase the series volumes (which took a while due to shortages) and have read them four times now, each time learning something new and insightful about the series. I am eternally grateful for Miura's life work, it's so inspiring that someone would spend 30 years of their life devoted to one thing and had probably planned to spend the rest of his life finishing it until it was perfect. Every time someone close or meaningful dies a little piece of you seems to die too. I find that it is a good reminder to cherish life and to appreciate your loved ones because they aren't always going to be there. That bad news could easily be about your mother or father, or even you or me. Every second and moment counts.. Miura's family and friends have my condolences and I hope that everyone at SkullKnight.net is doing okay.

 

[Berserk155]

Rest in peace Master Miura.
Thank you

 

[Sendo]

I felt so out of it today. Throughout the day and still I feel sad. I couldn't talk to anyone at home nor at work about this news and grieve so that's one of the reasons I appreciate this forum very much even though I've always been a lurker for around 10 years.

This art that Miura created is truly something special. I felt that as a teenager and now as an adult I can understand it more. Berserk is the creation of a master in his craft. You can see the immense dedication and perfection page after page. Even if someone isn't into comics or manga one can still be in awe of the skill of an artist who loses himself in his craft. Miura was a champion in what he did. Undisputed.

I respect Miura for his art not only for his hard work but also for his honesty. He told the story the way he wanted to. Someone else could say it better than me.. but you know what I mean.

Perhaps I wasn't as invested in the story as many others here on this forum. It wasn't a daily reoccurring thing. I would forget about it. For a week or two. Sometimes a month. But then suddenly a thought appears, it always does. On a good day but mostly on less than good day I get this feeling of excitement and hope. Could there maybe perhaps be a new chapter out? And I really, really am going to miss that..

R.I.P. Kentaro Miura the storytelling champion.

 

[Aazealh]

For those wishing to make memorial pictures, instead of using the same old unflattering photo that was stolen from a '90s fanzine, here is an official picture of Miura, taken in December 2019, that was provided by Hakusensha to the Japanese press. Photo by Junichi Saji.

 

[UnkleV]

Pain and heartbreak. He struggles no more

 

[Sareth]

Woke up a couple minutes before my alarm this morning and picked up my phone to clean up the memes and spam that pop up over night on the Berserk subreddit. When I saw the news I felt like someone dropped a bowling ball on my stomach. Went to work and did my best to keep a straight face despite how tight my chest felt, though I cried a little bit during my breaks.

I got into Berserk 5 years ago this month, my first manga and it has been one of my favorite things since. It got me interested in exploring manga and learning the Japanese language. I had been entertaining the idea of making a fan letter when I had learned enough. So disappointed that Miura couldn’t see his life’s work to completion.

 

[Griffith]

For those wishing to make memorial pictures, instead of using the same old unflattering photo that was stolen from a '90s fanzine, here is an official picture of Miura, taken in 2019, that was provided by Hakusensha to the Japanese press.

He looked so young!

 

[Dingus42]

It’s so strange, I’ve got a very young family so I’ve never experienced the loss of someone close to me and always scoffed at the idea of grieving for someone you never knew personally but when I saw this news it knocked me flat. A whole day ahead of me and I haven’t done anything but sit and stare at a wall.
I can’t cry I just feel totally absent from reality, death genuinly wasn’t real for me until today as pathetic as that sounds considering the events of the last year.
Im very frightened for when this inevitably happens to someone close to me (an eventuality that I’d barely considered until today).
sorry to be so self indulgent I’ve never posted here before and might never again but my deepest sympathies go to everyone who has followed this great work and artist for years or even decades.

 

[Scorpio]

He looked so young!

I was going to say, he looks like he could still be in his 30s, or even 20s.
Ugh.