Hangout Berserk General Discussion Thread

[Txapeldun]

I don't care when he releases his material if he schedules his comeback. The uncertainty of the next chapter is what kills me.

 

[xi0]

Exactly. If a manga like SnK can have 40 pages or something, but comes out once a month, I think we'd all benefit from Berserk becoming a monthly manga.He can still take breaks if he wants, but if he were to release a chapter, it would have like 40 or 50 pages, instead of just 19 pages. I really feel cheated right now because it simply isn't worth it to wait all this time for just 19 pages. Also Berserk has been out for more than 20 years, it's about time we get a conclusion.If we don't rush him, Miura will never finish it, and prolly die before that happens.

I don't really see the logic to this, honestly. He doesn't do 40-50 pages in a month now, so why would he start? Young Animal is a bi-weekly magazine, and it's rare for Berserk to be in both issues a month, so there's no point to them deciding to change anything like that.

How are we going to rush him? lol

 

[Doraku]

Assuming even the ones who employ him and his own editor could not rush him, I do not see how us could ask him to work faster

 

[Notice me Escanor senpai]

I don't really see the logic to this, honestly. He doesn't do 40-50 pages in a month now, so why would he start? Young Animal is a bi-weekly magazine, and it's rare for Berserk to be in both issues a month, so there's no point to them deciding to change anything like that.

How are we going to rush him? lol

I'm saying he should switch to a monthly schedule, instead of having Berserk come out in two issues, like it is supposed to be. He could still take breaks, but when the series resumes, we would have 30 or 40 pages instead of 19, which is the usual amount when Berserk come out in two issues. A lot of authors change their schedule all the time, and editors are fine with it. Right now he's taking more breaks and randomly, which only adds to the feeling of frustration, because the story isn't advancing a lot. If his breaks were less random, and let's say he could make more pages, I think it would be interesting, even if he takes as much breaks as before.
The problem here is that the publishers will let him do as he pleases, because Berserk is popular, and at every volume release it's a hit. As long as Berserk sells well, they won't do anything about it, which I think is wrong because that shows they don't care about their readers. And right now I doubt there will be a volume this year, because there isn't enough material to make one.Sure the year is far from being over, but in comparison in before Miura used to release 2 volumes per year, now we're down to one, who knows maybe this year we won't have a volume. Maybe then the publishers will have to pressure him to work more.
Well I didn't expect people to be ok with all this, things are worse than before, and I'm not even sure if it's worth it to read Berserk anymore. Between Griffith and his utopia(which I hope will turn out to be a dystopia) and Guts who still hasn't reached Elfhelm and is relying on a bunch of kids, it just doesn't do it for me .I guess I just want to see the end that's all.

 

[Josef]

I don't care when he releases his material if he schedules his comeback. The uncertainty of the next chapter is what kills me.

Thats the teaser, "til next time" is worst tho. But well this is now a trademark of Berserk, not even knowing when the next chapter is out ... just knowing it's soon.

Also Miura has build up his status as an author to the point where no complaints from anywhere can touch him, it's just like some big names in art, for example in my country, they are a NAME, a big name in art and no one can boss them around, truly a man by himself, kind of like a BARD, safe to say Miura is the BARD OF THE MANGA WORLD.

 

[xi0]

I'm saying he should switch to a monthly schedule, instead of having Berserk come out in two issues, like it is supposed to be. He could still take breaks, but when the series resumes, we would have 30 or 40 pages instead of 19, which is the usual amount when Berserk come out in two issues. A lot of authors change their schedule all the time, and editors are fine with it. Right now he's taking more breaks and randomly, which only adds to the feeling of frustration, because the story isn't advancing a lot. If his breaks were less random, and let's say he could make more pages, I think it would be interesting, even if he takes as much breaks as before.
The problem here is that the publishers will let him do as he pleases, because Berserk is popular, and at every volume release it's a hit. As long as Berserk sells well, they won't do anything about it, which I think is wrong because that shows they don't care about their readers. And right now I doubt there will be a volume this year, because there isn't enough material to make one.Sure the year is far from being over, but in comparison in before Miura used to release 2 volumes per year, now we're down to one, who knows maybe this year we won't have a volume. Maybe then the publishers will have to pressure him to work more.
Well I didn't expect people to be ok with all this, things are worse than before, and I'm not even sure if it's worth it to read Berserk anymore. Between Griffith and his utopia(which I hope will turn out to be a dystopia) and Guts who still hasn't reached Elfhelm and is relying on a bunch of kids, it just doesn't do it for me .I guess I just want to see the end that's all.

There's really no point to that. The magazine's release schedule is different than Berserk's. Berserk has no schedule. The length of chapters is probably made to his preference, and so a set amount can be in a volume (I think it's 8 or 9). So instead of us getting 8-9 chapters within a year, we'd get 4-5. What's the difference, honestly?

Plus, there are enough monthly series that aren't "monthly" length. How often a series comes out doesn't always mean a series is a set length.

Everyone wants to see the end, you're not alone. I just think most fans have kind of learned to live with how it is, because nothing is changing that.

 

[Necron]

Yeah It's pretty powerful, and it would take him a whole day to finish it. I read somewhere that he works 16 hours a day. I'm not sure if it's true but if it is then he must be very exhausted. Thankfully he has assistants called Studio Gaga, and they can do the inking or sometimes draw some panels, but the spreads are definitely his work because of the amount of detail in them.His work reminds me of Gustave Doré, a french illustrator and engraver.Miura's drawing have all these lines and complex shading, it almost feels like the product of engraving and not just a drawing.

Sorry for the late reply, I kind of got of track with Berserk after catching up.
And I definately can see why he'd remind you of that artist (thanks for introducing me to that one by the way, his work is really impressive and since I'm a sucker for black and white traditional art, this is a great source of inspiration).

 

[Notice me Escanor senpai]

Oh no worries. And I'm glad that you got to know of Gustave Dore.He's a great artist.

 

[Josef]

Well thats the general technique Miura uses: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Printmaking

Or implies to use, other famous authors that have been into printmaking I can see them in Miuras work.

 

[Notice me Escanor senpai]

Miura does those lines by hand, it's definitely not the result of printmaking, but he emulates that effect. In a way it's more difficult than printmaking. I can't imagine how much time it takes him to make a double spread, prolly a day or two. He's a masochist lol.

 

[gnut]

the mind blowing thing would be...if it only took him mere minutes to do it

i believe it's more writing inspiration/continuity that holds him back at times...not so much the art

 

[Josef]

Well Gantz art was too spectacular and it was CG, but if Miura can "imitate" the effects that printmaking makes, that is on a different level. On the other hand he uses some comedy with Puck that reminds me of regular anime comedy with the face faults, face faults were generally only for Puck but more often it was seen in Guts and other characters. He basically covers every unique thing in his own way.

---------- Post added at 09:03 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:02 PM ----------

the mind blowing thing would be...if it only took him mere minutes to do it

i believe it's more writing inspiration/continuity that holds him back at times...not so much the art

He goes all out in the art, the story I would say he gives enough for some progress to keep us wanting another chapter.

 

[gnut]

yeah i agree...his art is outstanding.....
my point was that it may take him as long as a sketch artist to do some of the most detailed pages.which i know is really just a joke but wouldn't it be ironic XD

what i mean by the story is,he may have "writers block"...after 25yrs or so(who knows).i just believe he doesn't want to f#$k it up....
keeping the plotholes minimal and really keeping true to what has been outlined from the beginning

 

[Notice me Escanor senpai]

the mind blowing thing would be...if it only took him mere minutes to do it

i believe it's more writing inspiration/continuity that holds him back at times...not so much the art

Nah it takes more time I'm sure. I tried once to draw one panel of Guts,it took me 2 or 3 days...But before Miura does all that shading he has to come up with the idea for the drawing first, and if he's not satisfied with the result he has to start all over again, so in the end even if he draws every day he still has to spend a lot of time on one page.
Sometimes I wish Miura would make less detailed artworks if it can somehow speed up his work. I liked it when his style was more mangaish(around the lost children arc). He still could make awesome panels with the awesome shading and inking, but I think he should cut back on the double spreads. They're beautiful but most of the time it just to show how grandiose things are. This chapter had many of them, too many for my taste, he could have had more pages for dialogues, but instead he focused on showing the great architecture. I know that sometimes it's necessary but It feels like he's obsessed with double pages lol.
Well one thing is for sure Miura is a perfectionist, and his style is top notch(only Inoue's artwork seems to come close). It's a real contrast with his debuts where let's face it his art sucked.

 

[gnut]

i think alot of you guys would love the art of Shigurui...

Spoiler

gorgeous art....

 

[xi0]

Well Gantz art was too spectacular and it was CG, but if Miura can "imitate" the effects that printmaking makes, that is on a different level. On the other hand he uses some comedy with Puck that reminds me of regular anime comedy with the face faults, face faults were generally only for Puck but more often it was seen in Guts and other characters. He basically covers every unique thing in his own way.

Spectacular in what sense? It was mostly CG, except for the characters

 

[Josef]

Spectacular in what sense? It was mostly CG, except for the characters

It was visually appealing, it had that same "omgepic" feeling I got from Berserk, ofc Oku used CG but that CG still looked good in my eyes, so it was visually appealing regardless if it was CG. Miura on the other hand has "god given" gifts to draw like this, the way I would make the comparison.

 

[xi0]

It was visually appealing, it had that same "omgepic" feeling I got from Berserk, ofc Oku used CG but that CG still looked good in my eyes, so it was visually appealing regardless if it was CG. Miura on the other hand has "god given" gifts to draw like this, the way I would make the comparison.

Hmm, maybe on some doublespreads it was similar. But, while I liked the art, I'm not going to deny that sometimes the CG made it feel sort of plastic or lifeless in some instances. Which isn't an uncommon criticism honestly.

 

[Josef]

Hmm, maybe on some doublespreads it was similar. But, while I liked the art, I'm not going to deny that sometimes the CG made it feel sort of plastic or lifeless in some instances. Which isn't an uncommon criticism honestly.

Yes, the "technological stuff" more so towards the end was where it was evident, some of the gruesome stuff in Osaka was the best art ever tho.

Also Miura might use black chalk or something for this art, or add coal to the drawing, the dark tones and the demons feel like charcoal.

 

[Necron]

Nah it takes more time I'm sure. I tried once to draw one panel of Guts,it took me 2 or 3 days...But before Miura does all that shading he has to come up with the idea for the drawing first, and if he's not satisfied with the result he has to start all over again, so in the end even if he draws every day he still has to spend a lot of time on one page.
Sometimes I wish Miura would make less detailed artworks if it can somehow speed up his work. I liked it when his style was more mangaish(around the lost children arc). He still could make awesome panels with the awesome shading and inking, but I think he should cut back on the double spreads. They're beautiful but most of the time it just to show how grandiose things are. This chapter had many of them, too many for my taste, he could have had more pages for dialogues, but instead he focused on showing the great architecture. I know that sometimes it's necessary but It feels like he's obsessed with double pages lol.
Well one thing is for sure Miura is a perfectionist, and his style is top notch(only Inoue's artwork seems to come close). It's a real contrast with his debuts where let's face it his art sucked.

This right here I can relate to so much. Drawing the outlines and the general motive is really the thing that takes the most concentration and tought. After that's done, shading is basically a form of meditation. Put on some good music and go.

However, I do have to agree that a number of the double spreads are definately unnecessairy (especially things like the architecture in Fantasia). At this point in time, every reader of the manga is in fact conviced that Miura can draw. Getting along with the story is more important. And it's not like he shouldn't draw double spreads at all, just tone it down a bit. That way they would also be more appreciated, because there'd be fewer of them.