Mori's done a slew of interviews to promote the release of volume 42. I've summarized the most relevant excerpts below.
The continuation and its progress
-The new chapter is the final chapter for the series. [Da Vinci]
-"It won't take 10 years" to complete the story. [Mainichi]
-Mori has heard about the final sequence of the story "dozens of times" from Miura, and presumably knows what part Guts' companions should play in it. [Da Vinci]
The decision to start the project
-Mori admits to a selfish desire of wanting to be involved in Berserk's conclusion, saying it helped him deal with his grief. [Yahoo News]
-A "memo" containing some details about future developments was found after Miura passed away. (but had no information about the ending) [Oricon]
-Akira Shimada, Berserk's original editor and now a higher up at Hakusensha, was involved in the original plan of getting Mori to produce a short book with illustrations to recap the ending of the story. [Da Vinci]
-Mori seems to have been reluctant to draw illustrations himself even for the "mook" project he considered before they decided to do a direct continuation to the manga. (The current system with the assistants may have been a way out of sorts for him.) [Yahoo News]
-Mori seems convinced that the final sequence of events Miura had planned can only be properly told in manga form. [Yahoo News]
-Mori reiterates that he was astonished that the assistants managed to complete episode 364. [Yahoo News]
-Someone continuing another mangaka's work is a rare occurrence, and it's implied that Mori's long-lasting friendship and deep bond with Miura was a deciding factor in allowing this continuation for Young Animal's editorial board. [Mainichi]
Working with Studio Gaga
-When the continuation project started, Mori had a meeting with the assistants that lasted 3 to 4 hours where he told them what he knew. Since then, he's been exchanging messages with Kurosaki, who leads the staff. He gives advice on the storyboards, but the final work is up to Studio Gaga. [Digital Asahi]
-Mori told the assistants about what he knew of the story partly so that it wouldn't be lost if he died himself. [Da Vinci]
-Once a month, Mori meets with Studio Gaga's staff to discuss several episodes at once. He double checks what he had heard from Miura with YA's editorial department, and decides on how the story will progress based on their feedback. Kurosaki is the one who draws the storyboards, which Mori then checks to see if they are close enough to what he thinks Miura envisioned. After that the staff takes care of everything else. [Yahoo News]
-Mori does ask the staff to rework parts of the episodes to reflect Miura's style more when necessary. [Yahoo News]
-On his working relationship with Studio Gaga staff: he explains the content of an episode during a meeting, and when he sees the storyboards, he'll ask them to show a scene from a specific angle or to change the placement of Guts to better match Miura's drawing habits, that sort of thing. After that he's not involved. He insists that he puts nothing from himself in it, only conveying what he knows from Miura to the staff. He thinks they then do a great job of "making it into Berserk". [Da Vinci]
-They considered training a generative AI model with a large number of scenes drawn by Miura to help create drafts, but it wasn't viable so they're doing it the "traditional" way. [Yahoo News]
-Mori says Kurosaki and Sugimoto are the "pillars" of Studio Gaga, and believes they have the talent to become top-notch mangaka after they finish Berserk. [Yahoo News]
-Mori says his role is just to explain the story, so he doesn't have much to do. [Mainichi]
-"My burden isn't that great since I only supervise." [Yahoo News]
Reception of the continuation
-Regarding feedback, Hakusensha and Mori have received "a variety of opinions", including negative ones from readers who say they won't read this "fake Berserk". They highlight positive opinions, including from "overseas fans" who are happy the series has restarted. [Yahoo News]
-Mori says even he has mixed feelings about continuing the manga with uninterrupted volume numbering. (as opposed to doing a separate thing) [Yahoo News]
-He says it's natural that some people will be in favor and some against the project, and that it's impossible to satisfy all fans. But he hopes that even fans who dislike the continuation will cherish the 41 volumes that Miura created. [Yahoo News]
-Mori says there are many things he wants to say to Miura. Regarding the continuation, it boils down to "I did what I could." [Yahoo News]
-Mori has been conflicted about the continuation, thinking that maybe they shouldn't be doing this since Miura isn't here anymore, before declaring he'll just pass on Miura's words. [Digital Asahi]
-Mori believes that continuing another mangaka's work shouldn't be done, as "a manga belongs to its creator". However as a mangaka he also knows the pain of a story ending prematurely, before it has been fully told. [Mainichi]
-Mori felt he had no choice but to push for this project because he was the only one who knew the ending, even though under normal circumstances there shouldn't be a Berserk without Miura. [Da Vinci]
Mori's other projects
-Mori's current manga "Taiga of Genesis" was originally called "Alpha Seven" and had a completely different story. Miura was the one who gave him the current title and suggested he do a time travel story back to prehistoric times. Mori redid the pitch in 3 days with that feedback. [Da Vinci]
-Mori wanted to do D. Diver because Miura had consulted with him on its creation, and afterwards he will draw "Mori-chan Ken-chan", as Miura had wished. [Da Vinci]
Miscellaneous
-The reporter remarks that Mori always pronounces Miura's name with the wrong intonation in Japanese, which Mori can't really explain. Because the reporter says he pronounces it like you would for a Lamborghini Miura, Mori recounts that Miura was a fast runner in school, had great physical strength and "horse power". [Da Vinci]
-Mori goes over how him and Miura used to convey scenes to each other (same thing he describes in the afterword to volume 42). [Da Vinci]
The continuation and its progress
-The new chapter is the final chapter for the series. [Da Vinci]
-"It won't take 10 years" to complete the story. [Mainichi]
-Mori has heard about the final sequence of the story "dozens of times" from Miura, and presumably knows what part Guts' companions should play in it. [Da Vinci]
The decision to start the project
-Mori admits to a selfish desire of wanting to be involved in Berserk's conclusion, saying it helped him deal with his grief. [Yahoo News]
-A "memo" containing some details about future developments was found after Miura passed away. (but had no information about the ending) [Oricon]
-Akira Shimada, Berserk's original editor and now a higher up at Hakusensha, was involved in the original plan of getting Mori to produce a short book with illustrations to recap the ending of the story. [Da Vinci]
-Mori seems to have been reluctant to draw illustrations himself even for the "mook" project he considered before they decided to do a direct continuation to the manga. (The current system with the assistants may have been a way out of sorts for him.) [Yahoo News]
-Mori seems convinced that the final sequence of events Miura had planned can only be properly told in manga form. [Yahoo News]
-Mori reiterates that he was astonished that the assistants managed to complete episode 364. [Yahoo News]
-Someone continuing another mangaka's work is a rare occurrence, and it's implied that Mori's long-lasting friendship and deep bond with Miura was a deciding factor in allowing this continuation for Young Animal's editorial board. [Mainichi]
Working with Studio Gaga
-When the continuation project started, Mori had a meeting with the assistants that lasted 3 to 4 hours where he told them what he knew. Since then, he's been exchanging messages with Kurosaki, who leads the staff. He gives advice on the storyboards, but the final work is up to Studio Gaga. [Digital Asahi]
-Mori told the assistants about what he knew of the story partly so that it wouldn't be lost if he died himself. [Da Vinci]
-Once a month, Mori meets with Studio Gaga's staff to discuss several episodes at once. He double checks what he had heard from Miura with YA's editorial department, and decides on how the story will progress based on their feedback. Kurosaki is the one who draws the storyboards, which Mori then checks to see if they are close enough to what he thinks Miura envisioned. After that the staff takes care of everything else. [Yahoo News]
-Mori does ask the staff to rework parts of the episodes to reflect Miura's style more when necessary. [Yahoo News]
-On his working relationship with Studio Gaga staff: he explains the content of an episode during a meeting, and when he sees the storyboards, he'll ask them to show a scene from a specific angle or to change the placement of Guts to better match Miura's drawing habits, that sort of thing. After that he's not involved. He insists that he puts nothing from himself in it, only conveying what he knows from Miura to the staff. He thinks they then do a great job of "making it into Berserk". [Da Vinci]
-They considered training a generative AI model with a large number of scenes drawn by Miura to help create drafts, but it wasn't viable so they're doing it the "traditional" way. [Yahoo News]
-Mori says Kurosaki and Sugimoto are the "pillars" of Studio Gaga, and believes they have the talent to become top-notch mangaka after they finish Berserk. [Yahoo News]
-Mori says his role is just to explain the story, so he doesn't have much to do. [Mainichi]
-"My burden isn't that great since I only supervise." [Yahoo News]
Reception of the continuation
-Regarding feedback, Hakusensha and Mori have received "a variety of opinions", including negative ones from readers who say they won't read this "fake Berserk". They highlight positive opinions, including from "overseas fans" who are happy the series has restarted. [Yahoo News]
-Mori says even he has mixed feelings about continuing the manga with uninterrupted volume numbering. (as opposed to doing a separate thing) [Yahoo News]
-He says it's natural that some people will be in favor and some against the project, and that it's impossible to satisfy all fans. But he hopes that even fans who dislike the continuation will cherish the 41 volumes that Miura created. [Yahoo News]
-Mori says there are many things he wants to say to Miura. Regarding the continuation, it boils down to "I did what I could." [Yahoo News]
-Mori has been conflicted about the continuation, thinking that maybe they shouldn't be doing this since Miura isn't here anymore, before declaring he'll just pass on Miura's words. [Digital Asahi]
-Mori believes that continuing another mangaka's work shouldn't be done, as "a manga belongs to its creator". However as a mangaka he also knows the pain of a story ending prematurely, before it has been fully told. [Mainichi]
-Mori felt he had no choice but to push for this project because he was the only one who knew the ending, even though under normal circumstances there shouldn't be a Berserk without Miura. [Da Vinci]
Mori's other projects
-Mori's current manga "Taiga of Genesis" was originally called "Alpha Seven" and had a completely different story. Miura was the one who gave him the current title and suggested he do a time travel story back to prehistoric times. Mori redid the pitch in 3 days with that feedback. [Da Vinci]
-Mori wanted to do D. Diver because Miura had consulted with him on its creation, and afterwards he will draw "Mori-chan Ken-chan", as Miura had wished. [Da Vinci]
Miscellaneous
-The reporter remarks that Mori always pronounces Miura's name with the wrong intonation in Japanese, which Mori can't really explain. Because the reporter says he pronounces it like you would for a Lamborghini Miura, Mori recounts that Miura was a fast runner in school, had great physical strength and "horse power". [Da Vinci]
-Mori goes over how him and Miura used to convey scenes to each other (same thing he describes in the afterword to volume 42). [Da Vinci]
