Line #9 Trivia/Berserk


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5	* BuryYourArt: Chapter 83 was famously printed only in the original magazine run and not reproduced in tankoubon volume 13. This was done at Miura's request on the grounds that he decided in hindsight that the chapter defined TheVerse's cosmology too much, and would limit his creative freedom going forward. Despite that, nothing that he wrote afterward ever actually contradicted what was revealed there.
6	* CashCowFranchise: ''Berserk'' has made it a long way for what many used to consider a niche DarkFantasy {{seinen}} franchise: the manga was published from 1990, and by the time of Miura's death in 2021 it had reached 41 volumes worth of material, and had some 50 million volumes in circulation. Adaptations include ''Anime/Berserk1997'' by Creator/OLMIncorporated; two video game adaptations by Yuke's, ''VideoGame/SwordOfTheBerserkGutsRage'' (Dreamcast, 1999) and ''VideoGame/BerserkMillenniumFalconHenSeimaSenkiNoSho'' ([=PS2=], 2004); The ''Anime/BerserkTheGoldenAgeArc'' theatrical anime film trilogy (2012-2013) by Creator/Studio4C, which produced [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/guts_and_griffith_selling_fast_food.jpg this]] amusing fast food cross-promotion; ''Anime/Berserk2016'', a TV anime by GEMBA and Millepensee which picks up after the movies; the video game ''VideoGame/BerserkAndTheBandOfTheHawk'' (Fall 2016) developed by Omega Force; a light novel, ''The Flame Dragon Knight''; and an Official Guide Book. Fans can spend hundreds of dollars on high quality figurines of Guts, Griffith, or Casca, and all of the animated versions are available in deluxe UsefulNotes/BluRay box sets. Japanese fans can also buy ''Berserk'' keychains, pillows, and even underwear!
7	* ColbertBump: Some shows with more of a mainstream Western fanbase have helped ''Berserk'' to get noticed:
8	** LetsPlay/PewDiePie introduced ''Berserk'' to some of his large fanbase by praising it (specifically ''Anime/Berserk1997'' and the manga) on his show.
9	** Some learned about ''Berserk'' from the episodes of ''WebAnimation/DeathBattle'' pitting series protagonist Guts up against Nightmare from the ''VideoGame/SoulSeries'' and Dimitri from ''VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses''.
10	** Guts and ''Anime/Berserk1997'' were featured on ''WebVideo/ManAtArms''.
11	** Lots of people were introduced to ''Berserk'' purely by WordOfMouth from hearing ''VideoGame/DarkSouls'' fans talking about it so much.
12	* CowboyBebopAtHisComputer: At the time of Miura's death, Spanish newspaper ''El Mundo'' published an [[https://www.elmundo.es/cultura/comic/2021/05/20/60a602f521efa0c70d8b4616.html article]] about him, which included a brief synopsis of ''Berserk''. Oddly enough, however, the journalist seems to have got ''Berserk'' and ''Manga/FistOfTheNorthStar'' mixed up in his memory, because his synopsis claims its story is that of "Guts, a lonely warrior pursued by dark forces who seeks to avenge his old master."
13	* DemandOverload: The news of Kentaro Miura's [[DiedDuringProduction untimely death]] caused volumes of the deluxe hardcover edition of the manga [[https://comicbook.com/anime/news/berserk-kentaro-miura-death-manga-sold-out-amazon/?fbclid=IwAR01qkmtjRMatB4Nk_IwcpB54Ay67wfcFvk69wSXoyO9_3I1DKh78NDG7uA to sell out on Amazon]], thanks to a massive influx of new fans curious of the work he has left behind.
14	* DiedDuringProduction: Kentaro Miura suffered a fatal aortic dissection on May 6th, 2021, which left the manga's future uncertain. The September 10th, 2021, issue of ''Young Animal'' magazine featured Episode 364, completed by Miura's assistants from the last manuscript he was working on when he died. This episode was accompanied by an official statement from the Editorial Department of YA magazine, saying there was unfortunately no information to share about the future of ''Berserk'' at that date. On June 7, 2022, it was confirmed that the manga would continue, with Miura's friend Kouji Mori doing the writing and Miura's assistants doing the illustrating.
15	* ExtremelyLengthyCreation: Miura spent some 30 years producing ''Berserk'' as his all-consuming passion, and died before he was able to finish it.
16	* FanCommunityNicknames: Berserkers; also occasionally used are Apostle Spawn, The Godfans and The Fans Of The Hawk (the latter two in reference to, respectively, the Godhand and the Band of the Hawk.)
17	* FountainOfExpies:
18	** ''Berserk'' and its characters have been a significant influence on Japanese fiction, inspiring many a hardcore, brooding badass who takes after the original hundred-man slayer.
19	** Guts is pretty much the ur-NinetiesAntiHero for Japanese media, so he's got quite a few expies running around in other works. Caim from ''VideoGame/{{Drakengard}}'', Artorias from ''VideoGame/DarkSouls'', and Arngrim from ''VideoGame/ValkyrieProfile'' are just some of the most blatant examples. Other really notable examples include [[VideoGame/{{Nier}} Father Nier]], [[VideoGame/SoulSeries Siegfried]], Literature/GoblinSlayer, and seemingly half the bosses in the ''VideoGame/DarkSouls'' series.
20	*** Davion from ''WesternAnimation/DOTADragonsBlood'' has armor, wields a Dragonslayer Sword, Has a burning hatred of dragons, and has a SuperpoweredEvilSide in the form of Slyrak. He even spends his childhood in a military setting, similar to Guts' own.
21	*** Fairy Knight Gawain from ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder'': A giant of a (wo)man: check. Associated with black dogs: check. A Main/SuperPoweredEvilSide: check. Armoured knight: white but check. Favors brute force: check. Main/BFS: check. Literally fated to die a violent death: check.
22	** ''VideoGame/DragonsDogma'''s Mercedes Marten: expert swordswoman, leader among her men, badass attitude, dusky complexion... almost sounds like Casca. There's also a Schierke-expy in Selene, a girl-witch who lives in the enchanted woods under the tutelage of an old grandmother figure whose hut is also guarded by rock monsters, and a Zodd-expy in Daimon, a powerful winged demon.
23	** Verm, the protagonist of ''VideoGame/SmallSaga'', pretty much ''is'' Guts in a [[LighterAndSofter dangerous, but less harsh and dire]] world. In which he's [[MouseWorld a mouse]]. From the cloak and handwraps and {{BFS}} (in his case, [[GiantsKnifeHumansGreatsword a human's switchblade]]) that makes other characters wonder how he can even lift it, to making a LifeOrLimbDecision and severing a part of his body with a broken sword, losing an eye that he just keeps closed, being an InstantExpert with a prosthetic, being bitter and full of rage, striving to take revenge on "gods" who are far ''far'' [[HumansAreCthulhu above him in ability]], being rather terse and stoic [[BloodKnight except in battle]]... He also says a lot of Guts lines, including "As long as I was swinging my sword at a foe, I didn't have to think". There's a shot of him [[https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3089642080 riding an owl]] while holding the Titan Cleaver that's a clear visual reference to Guts riding on Zodd's back. Verm's dark period is not nearly as pronounced or sinister as the Black Swordsman's of course, but he eventually learns the same kind of lesson about doing better with friends and allies and becomes weary of the struggle. Because the Yellow God, and humans in general, aren't ''Griffith'', [[spoiler: he's actually able to abandon his quest when he sees himself reflected in the Yellow God's eyes and sees what the search for {{Revenge}} has cost him, and allows himself to realize that he'll never really be able to avenge his brother.]]
24	----> '''Verm:''' "Can guts and teamwork kill a god?"
25	* GodNeverSaidThat:
26	** There were pervasive rumors that writing ''Berserk'' gave Miura repeated {{Creator Breakdown}}s which required him to take long hiatuses to recover, but there is no official evidence that this is true.
27	** Tying into the above, many people are under the impression that Miura put off working on Berserk due to him becoming addicted to ''VideoGame/TheIdolmaster''. This is a very large extrapolation of comments made by Miura about him playing the games and commenting on internet videos of it with friends.
28	** Actually involving another series, but which is so frequently cited by ''Berserk'' fans that it deserves mention: ''VideoGame/DarkSouls'' creator Hidetaka Miyazaki has cited ''Berserk'' as an influence on the ''Dark Souls'' video game series in several interviews. In [[https://www.pcgames.de/Dark-Souls-3-Spiel-55615/Specials/Hidetaka-Miyazaki-im-Gamescom-Interview-1167759/ this interview]], he acknowledged he is a ''Berserk'' fan and that it has greatly influenced the series since the first game. In [[http://skullknight.net/images/darksouls_berserk1.jpg another interview]] he gives a {{Shout Out}}, noting that when Art Designer Masanori Waragai showed him his Catarina armor design, he felt reminded of Bazuso from ''Berserk'' and thought that old design was appropriate for Siegmeyer's character concept. He also said that the greatsword arts and playstyle in ''VideoGame/DarkSoulsIII'' were inspired by Guts. However, {{fanon}} sometimes exaggerates it, with some fans of both ''Berserk'' and the ''Souls'' games suggesting that ''Berserk'' was ''the'' primary inspiration of ''Souls''. Miyazaki didn't cite it as the primary inspiration, but mentioned it among other sources of inspiration, including other manga such as ''Manga/SaintSeiya'', ''Franchise/{{Devilman}}'', and ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'', as well as his collection of {{Tabletop RPG}}s and FantasyLiterature, the earlier Creator/FromSoftware game series ''VideoGame/KingsField'', and the ''Literature/FightingFantasy'' gamebooks.
29	* InspirationForTheWork: Series creator Kentaro Miura cited the Middle Ages, ''Franchise/{{Hellraiser}}'', ''Literature/TheNameOfTheRose'', Creator/TheBrothersGrimm, ''Manga/ViolenceJack'', ''Literature/GuinSaga'' and other Western and Japanese works as the influences behind ''Berserk''.
30	* LateExportForYou:
31	** Despite being in publication for over a decade, the manga wasn't given an official English translation until 2003 to concede with the release of the dubbed version of the [[Anime/Berserk1997 1997 anime adaptation]].
32	** Likewise, the ''Berserk'' manga arrived in Europe in the mid to late 1990s with translations in French, Italian, European Spanish and German.
33	** Latin America only got the manga translated in their region until the 2010s and a Latin American Spanish dubbed version of any of the animated adaptations was done at 2022, beginning with ''Anime/BerserkTheGoldenAgeArc'' films.
34	* MissingEpisode: One chapter of the manga ([[spoiler:where during his transformation into a Godhand, Griffith meets the Idea of Evil (A.K.A {{God}}) who explains its origins and its goals]]) that should have been in volume 13 was supposedly pulled by Miura because he felt that it revealed too much about the setting at the time; it was later released as supplemental material.
35	* TheOtherDarrin: See Trivia/BerserkTheGoldenAgeArc Trivia for how they got new Japanese voice actors for ''all'' of the characters who had been in ''Anime/Berserk1997''.
36	* OutlivedItsCreator: On June 7, 2022, over a year after Kentaro Miura's death, it was announced that the series is to be continued with Kouji Mori as writer/supervisor and Miura's assistants as the artists.
37	* PosthumousCollaboration: While the manga was put on hold for a year after Miura's death, in 2022 it was announced that it would still continue, with Kouji Mori as the writer/supervisor and Miura's assistants as the illustrators.
38	* ReferencedBy: See the [[ReferencedBy/{{Berserk}} Referenced By]] page.
39	* RoleReprise: While the voice cast for the Japanese anime was [[TheOtherDarrin Darrin'd]] out, the main cast of the English dub returned. VocalEvolution ensues as Creator/MarcDiraison, Kevin T. Collins, and Creator/CarrieKeranen, the respective voice actors of Guts, Griffith, and Casca, have gotten at least a decade's worth of additional voice acting experience under their belt.
40	* ScheduleSlip: When Miura was on a roll, chapters came out once a month and new tankobon volumes once or twice a year, but he was notorious for frequently putting the manga on hiatus, which delayed the release schedule by months. Most egregiously, he ended one hiatus to start another one just ''two months'' later. These breaks were [[http://berserk-confessions.tumblr.com/post/18084538410/i-have-a-lot-of-respect-for-kentaro-miura-after likely necessary]] to stave off [[CreatorBreakdown breakdowns]]. Still, just look at [[http://skullknight.net/images/eps.htm this chart]] for how much his releases slowed down after 2000.
41	* SeriesHiatus: Creator/KentaroMiura was about as infamous as Yoshihiro Togashi for his long breaks in the publishing of ''{{Manga/Berserk}}'', so much that the fact that Guts and his companions were on a boat for years in real time became a meme. There were all sorts of rumors as to why, but no one really knew the reason. Miura was more open about some of the reasons for the later hiatuses, [[https://www.otaquest.com/kentaro-miura-interview-duranki-berserk/ such as his struggle to transition into a fully digital workflow to make it easier to work on the series]], [[https://www.facebook.com/1813962368827954/posts/2886373004920213 as well as trying to pace himself so as to not compromise his health]]. And with his untimely death on May 6, 2021, followed by the publication of the last chapter he had a hand in on September 10 of that year, the series would be on permanent hiatus until June 7, 2022, when it [[https://twitter.com/berserk_project/status/1534023434174627840 was announced that the manga would continue under the supervision of Miura's long-time friend and collaborator Kouji Mori]].
42	* SimilarlyNamedWorks: This manga coincidentally shares its title with numerous unrelated works, such as a zombie novel by Tim Lebbon, a 1967 B horror movie with Joan Crawford, and a classic arcade game (spelled VideoGame/{{Berzerk}}).
43	* WhatCouldHaveBeen:
44	** Back when he was trying to think of a gimmick to make Guts stand out, Miura considered making him the only katana user in a medieval fantasy setting before ultimately hitting upon the idea of the Dragon Slayer.
45	** As mentioned on [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness previous]] pages, ''Berserk'' could have ended up being a particularly gory yet frequently lighthearted {{Shonen}} manga rather than the grim {{seinen}} story we're familiar with. In ''The Prototype'', Guts is a snarky vagabond on a quest [[YouKilledMyFather to avenge the death of his mother]] and possibly fight Varna. For more info, go to the ''The Prototype'' stub [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Characters/BerserkOther here.]]
46	* WordOfGod: Miura gave interviews in which he sometimes revealed his intention behind events that fans found to be open to interpretation:
47	** On the symbolism of Guts' {{BFS}}: "I think the big sword of Guts, the main character could be some kind of consequence to make readers feel extreme reality."
48	** On the significance of the Demon Child: "I made the one-eyed child show up to Guts in vol. 1 as a symbol of the 'weakness' which Guts hates. But I also think the child is connected to the image of Griffith (vol. 10-12) in my subconsciousness who lost the freedom of his body because of the horrible torture when he was still young. For this reason, I think I made a setup which the child played a role to accept his spirit when Griffith as a demon king got his new body (vol.21). The story gets much bigger because of this."
49	** On whether it's supposed to be the Band of the Hawk or Band of the Falcon: "“Falcon” or “Hawk”, both mean [鷹] in Japanese. In some dictionaries, “Falcon ” is translated as [隼(はやぶさ)] but there’s almost no difference. I used "Falcon" from the great name of the “Millennium Falcon" ship in Franchise/StarWars."
50	** On how much time had passed from the end of the Golden Age Arc to where the story was in 2009: "I’d say it’s been 3-4 years, though it’s not been clearly decided."
51	** Some of Miura's translated interviews include:
52	*** [[http://www.skullknight.net/forum/index.php?topic=14556.0 A December 1996 Interview]] published in the ''Berserk Illustrations File''.
53	*** [[http://www.thespectrum.net/berserk_info_creator.shtml This]] interview from DVD 3 of ''Anime/Berserk1997''.
54	*** A [[https://mangabrog.wordpress.com/2015/12/14/berserk-artist-kentaro-miura-interview-i-actually-dont-think-i-could-let-such-a-long-grim-story-end-with-a-grim-ending/ September 2000 interview]] with Yukari Fujimoto, a writer/professor of gender studies and shojo manga, shortly before volume 20 came out.
55	*** [[http://www.skullknight.net/forum/index.php?PHPSESSID=8e21hk5n5u01nniecpn17bd1k2&topic=1293.0 An interview]] Miura did when he won the 2nd Osamu Tezuka Prize in 2002.
56	*** [[http://www.skullknight.net/forum/index.php?topic=1490.msg26646#msg26646 An interview]] he gave to Davide Castellazzzi, originally published in the Italian magazine Jappamondo n. 3 and reprinted in the issue n. 8 on "Scuola di Fumetto" February 2003.
57	*** A [[http://www.skullknight.net/forum/index.php?topic=9513.msg166308#msg166308 2009 letter]] responding to questions from the members of [=SkullKnight.net=].
58	*** Appearing [[http://www.mangahere.co/manga/challenging_the_manga_dojos/c001/ here]] in Nico Nicholson's ''Challenging the Manga Dojos''.
59	*** A 2016 discussion with Hakusensha President Kazuhiko Torishima, published in ''Young Animal''. First part translated [[http://www.crunchyroll.com/anime-feature/2016/08/12/feature-berserk-discussion-explores-kentar-miuras-roots here]].
60	*** The interview he gave for the ''Berserk Official Guide Book'': [[https://redd.it/5frs99 Part 1]] and [[https://redd.it/5frta8 Part 2]].
61	* WordOfSaintPaul:
62	** Miura once quoted Music/SusumuHirasawa as saying "I think Guts' sword [[PhallicWeapon represents a penis]] and the monsters destroyed by it represent women's genitalia."[[note]]From an interview when Miura got the 2nd Tezuka Osamu prize (2002)[[/note]]
63	** Kouji Mori has been officially given the position of Saint Paul with the ''Young Animal'' announcement one year after Miura's death. Because they were such close friends and colleagues, he was the only person with whom Miura shared the full extent of his ideas and plans for the end of ''Berserk''. Mori says that he will only be writing the episodes that he clearly remembers Miura describing to him. It won't be a perfect reconstruction, but he promises to do his best.
64	* WritingByTheSeatOfYourPants: Miura said he hadn't even come up with the Band of the Hawk when he drew Guts' confrontation with the Godhand in volume 3, and there were a lot of details that he made up as he went along but which fell into place later. In fact, it fits together so well that it's surprising to learn he didn't plan everything ahead in great detail. A prime example is that the creepy fetus Guts sees in the first three volumes wasn't originally supposed to be [[spoiler:Guts and Casca's child]], but Miura later realized that this would work really well and made it into an important RecurringCharacter. Another is that Casca and Guts getting together wasn't predetermined.[[note]]September 2000 Interview with Yukari Fujimoto[[/note]]
65	* WriteWhoYouKnow: The author partly based the core group of characters in the Band of the Hawk on five of his friends in high school, except for Casca since they didn't have a girl in the group. There was one friend, Mori Kouji (''Manga/SuicideIsland''), with whom he had a really complicated relationship, but rather than one of them being Guts and the other Griffith, it was like their roles were always switching back and forth.[[note]]Yukari Fujimoto, 2000[[/note]] He later based Isidro on the child of one of his assistants, who wasn't brave like Isidro but had a similar sense of immodest ambition and looked up to Miura the same way Isidro looks up to Guts, asking him, "What do I do to become like you, Miura-sensei? Tell me the easy way."[[note]]''Berserk Official Guide Book''[[/note]]

Context Trivia / Berserk