The Japanese publisher Hakusensha announced today that Kentaro Miura’s Berserk will continue, despite the death of the creator last year (see “RIP Kengaro Miura”).
In a message published in multiple languages on the Hakusensha website, the editors of Young Animal, the magazine where Berserk was serialized, stated that Miura had spoken at length to his friend Kouji Mori about his plans for the series, and he also bounced ideas off his editors and assistants and left behind memos and draft character designs. “We were reluctant to end his story without sharing those with his fans,” the message said.
The series will resume in the next issue of Young Animal which will publish six chapters that will conclude the Fantasia Arc and then start a new story arc. The credits will read “Original work by Kentaro Miura, Manga by Studio Gaga [Miura’s studio], Supervised by Kouji Mori,” and the new volumes will continue to be numbered in the original sequence.
In an additional message, Mori stated that he had discussed the story with Miura and knew how it would end. He pledged to only write storylines that Miura had discussed with him and would not add anything of his own. The art will be done by Miura’s apprentices. Mori is a manga-ka and is known in Japan for his series Holyland, Destroy and Revolution, and Muhoutou, but his work has not been published in North America.
Berserk is published in English by Dark Horse, and the series has been its best selling print property for the past three years (see “Dark Horse’s Top Property for the Past Three Years Was a Manga”).
Source: ICV2
