Berserk, 1-38

by Kentaro Miura

His name is Guts, the Black Swordsman, a feared warrior spoken of only in whispers. Bearer of a gigantic sword, an iron hand, and the scars of countless battles and tortures, his flesh is also indelibly marked with The Brand, an unholy symbol that draws the forces of darkness to him and dooms him as their sacrifice. But Guts won't take his fate lying down; he'll cut a crimson swath of carnage through the ranks of the damned - and anyone else foolish enough to oppose him! Accompanied by Puck the Elf, more an annoyance than a companion, Guts relentlessly follows a dark, bloodstained path that leads only to death...or vengeance.

Genres: Manga, Horror, Fantasy, Comics

8387 pages, Unknown Binding

About the author

Kentarou Miura (三浦建太郎) was born in Chiba City, Chiba Prefecture, Japan, in 1966. He is left-handed. In 1976, at the early age of 10, Miura made his first Manga, entitled "Miuranger", that was published for his classmates in a school publication; the manga ended up spanning 40 volumes. In 1977, Miura created his second manga called Ken e no michi (剣への道 The Way to the Sword), using Indian ink for the first time. When he was in middle school in 1979, Miura's drawing techniques improved greatly as he started using professional drawing techniques. His first dōjinshi was published, with the help of friends, in a magazine in 1982.

That same year, in 1982, Miura enrolled in an artistic curriculum in high school, where he and his classmates started publishing their works in school booklets, as well as having his first dōjinshi published in a fan-produced magazine. In 1985, Miura applied for the entrance examination of an art college in Nihon University. He submitted Futanabi for examination and was granted admission. This project was later nominated Best New Author work in Weekly Shōnen Magazine. Another Miura manga Noa was published in Weekly Shōnen Magazine the very same year. Due to a disagreement with one of the editors, the manga was stalled and eventually dropped altogether. This is approximately where Miura's career hit a slump.

In 1988, Miura bounced back with a 48-page manga known as Berserk Prototype, as an introduction to the current Berserk fantasy world. It went on to win Miura a prize from the Comi Manga School. In 1989, after receiving a doctorate degree, Kentarou started a project titled King of Wolves (王狼, ōrō?) based on a script by Buronson, writer of Hokuto no Ken. It was published in the monthly Japanese Animal House magazine in issues 5 and 7 of that year.

In 1990, a sequel is made to Ourou entitled Ourou Den (王狼伝 ōrō den, The Legend of the Wolf King) that was published as a prequel to the original in Young Animal Magazine. In the same year, the 10th issue of Animal House witnesses the first volume of the solo project Berserk was released with a relatively limited success. Miura again collaborated with Buronson on manga titled Japan, that was published in Young Animal House from the 1st issue to the 8th of 1992, and was later released as a stand-alone tankōbon. Miura's fame grew after Berserk was serialized in Young Animal in 1992 with the release of "The Golden Age" story arc and the huge success of his masterpiece made of him one of the most prominent contemporary mangakas. At this time Miura dedicates himself solely to be working on Berserk. He has indicated, however, that he intends to publish more manga in the future.

In 1997, Miura supervised the production of 25 anime episodes of Berserk that aired in the same year on NTV. Various art books and supplemental materials by Miura based on Berserk are also released. In 1999, Miura made minor contributions to the Dreamcast video game Sword of the Berserk: Guts' Rage. 2004 saw the release of yet another video game adaptation entitled Berserk Millennium Falcon Arc: Chapter of the Record of the Holy Demon War.

Since that time, the Berserk manga has spanned 34 tankōbon with no end in sight. The series has also spawned a whole host of merchandise, both official and fan-made, ranging from statues, action figures to key rings, video games, and a trading card game. In 2002, Kentarou Miura received the second place in the Osamu Tezuka Culture Award of Excellence for Berserk.[1]

Miura provided the design for the Vocaloid Kamui Gakupo, whose voice is taken from the Japanese singer and actor, Gackt.

Miura passed away on May 6, 2021 at 2:48 p.m. due to acute aortic dissection.

Reviews

[Fatima Alqassab · Rating 5 out of 5]

Berserk a dark fantasy manga written and illustrated by Kenturo Miura. It's quite an old manga that has been released in 1989 and still ongoing.

It's about a black swordman "Guts", with a gigantic sword, iron hand and a brand that attracts evil specters and demons forcess to him. His fate has been marked and death follows him. A journey filled up with hatred and vengeance has been started.
______________

Besides legends and wars the manga embodied fear, betrayal and vengeance, love and hate, life and death, strength and weakness, desires and fantasies, fate, faith, greediness and humanity.
______________

This series got plenty of praise.
Although it wasn't my type of reading from the beginning; since it contains lots of violence and gore, I forced myself to read it; cause I was curious about all the fuss it made. I couldn't enjoy the first chapters, they didn't encourage me and tbh I stopped reading it two times while ago. Then things began to be interesting, the story get deeper and deeper. Everything were began to be clear little by little and the Golden Age arc was really great!!. I liked the development of the characters throught the manga.

What was really amazing in the manga and the coolest thing about it was the DRAWINGS and the artwork is really really crazy awesome. I would like to just set and enjoy watching it. How dark it is it, how detailed, unbelievable Art. However, some of the drawimgs were disgusting ... "the demons".
For me the artwork was the best thing ever in this manga.

Note:
This review dose not contain any spoilers.
The manga is Seinen, it contains violence and inappropriate scenes.

______________

Some quotes:

-"People are shallow things, if anyone has been a bit more than they do, they're jealous and if one has less, they look down on her. A small difference makes them angry and hateful, sadly it's especially true for those like us who have nothing".

- "The more I feel scared, the more I feel alive, the more blood I cough up, the more I know it's warm. I'm scared but it means I want to live!"

- "If you desire one thing for so long, it's a given that you'll miss other things along the way. That's how it is... that's life."
_Godo

- "Humans are weak, we die easily, but no matter how weak we are, even if we're being chopped to bits or stabbed to death, we still want to live".

-"A dream can be a funny thing, it can be appear to be a courageous challenge. but it also can be thought as a cowardly escapism".

- "Listen, why not run away? From war, from hatred. The things about hatred it's the place where people who can't look sorrow in the eye without wavering run off to. Even more than a bloodrusted sword, vengeance is something you sock and sharpen in blood, you sink the blade called your heart deep into blood in order to fix the nicks called sorrow. The more you sharpen, the more it rusts, so you aharpen it again.. In the end all that's left is a pile of rust and scarps".

[Hamza Sarfraz · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Hate is a place, where a man who can’t stand sadness goes.”

The creator of Berserk has passed away. Kentaro Miura is no more with us. Unfortunately, we’ll never get to see the conclusion to this iconic story that he so carefully crafted for more than three decades. But what Kentaro Miura has left behind in his magnum opus is a legacy that will keep on giving for those who need it, long after his demise.

Berserk is many things. For some, it is this incredibly cool, action-packed, adrenaline-inducing entertainment content. For others, it is a violent dark fantasy that raised the bar for other creators and ended up massively influencing the aesthetics and narratives of modern-day fantasy in novels, manga, videogames, anime, and even board games. It was after all a genre-defining work with unmatchable artwork. For me, as someone who first consumed this work as a young teenager, what makes Berserk so amazing is the heart-breaking narrative it weaved and the powerful feelings and lessons that it left us with.

Berserk has been called the reverse-Macbeth more than once. Our POV protagonist is essentially Macduff. But while the tragic Shakespearean quality becomes evident as you go through the story, Berserk was so much more too. Foremost, it was an extended lesson on coping with pain and trauma. Miura created a world so dark and bleak that it made other fantasy settings including ASOIAF feel like petty tea parties. There is devastating war, calamities, incessant political intrigue, societal unraveling. There is cosmic horror, monsters, unforgiving deities, and an unending apocalypse. There is the worst of humanity laid bare on the pages. Miura looked at the cynicism of the modern world and decided that he was going to create a work set in a medieval setting that embodies all of it.

This might give the impression Berserk is an edgy story about angry people. Certainly, the violent aesthetics of our protagonist Guts — a morally questionable man wielding a giant sword that he uses to take down monsters all across the land — can often satisfy the craving for good old-fashioned badassery. This is pretty much in line with a lot of pop culture produced in the late 90s/early 2000s. But cynicism and hatred (and all this action) were not the driving force for the narrative as much as they were the set-up for something else. Because what Miura wanted to demonstrate was the feasibility of hope, in the face of overwhelming tragedy. And the difference between fighting hard for revenge versus something else. He wanted to show how amidst all that has happened, something meaningful can still be built. Though thematically he may well be similar to countless other storytellers, not many can match his skill, execution, and his consistency in pursuing a narrative arc.

It would be quite a task to explore every theme and motif that Miura hid in this saga. Also, some elements of the story particularly with regards to the treatment of some of its characters, do not hold up well in retrospect. Those flaws are very much there in Berserk. But we’ll leave that discussion for another day. For now, let’s just note down one key aspect of Berserk that really captures the key message Miura was trying to convey. No one embodies it better than the protagonist of his story, Guts. First of all, the most salient observation about Guts is that, by most storytelling conventions, he shouldn’t be the protagonist or even the POV character for us. He is after all a character you’ll struggle to empathize with from the get-go. Heck, for the first three volumes of the manga, you’d almost think that in this already scary world, he is the biggest horror himself. When I initially read the manga, I kept thinking that the story had opened with the introduction to one of our main villains and that the hero of this story will appear soon to take him down. Because Guts seemed like the Other, a demonish being, instead of a likable character whose story I wanted to follow. But no new character appeared to take him down and soon I had to accept that this scary and morally ambiguous brutish man is the hero of the story. However, over the course of the narrative as the background and the world were unveiled slowly, I began to see Guts for what he was. I could recognize how the world he is fighting against is what created a character like him.

Sometimes, Berserk can feel like trauma porn. All characters go through extreme and unbearable struggles. Perhaps none more so than Guts. Born and raised in the most horrific circumstances possible, Guts is a character constantly fighting against a reality that is never on his side. What makes it more tragic though is that he isn’t necessarily cursed (until later in the story) and there is no higher being who has chosen this fate for him. Because if that was the case, he could at least know how to deal with it. There is no fate. His tragedy is just the result of the random and inexplicable cruelty of the universe. He doesn’t hold enough importance to be destined for anything. He has to create it himself. In that, he isn’t much different from us in our reality. The story is essentially him fighting it out against a world that is getting increasingly unpredictable and harsh.

The question though is that why is Guts the protagonist of Berserk. Why are we being asked to consume the story through his eyes? Why are we privy to his internal world, out of all the people? I mean there are many other fascinating characters who could serve as insightful windows into this world. But here is where Miura’s genius lay. He chose this character to be our guide to the story because through him we can learn the lessons embodied in it. And as we get to live inside Gut’s head, the layers upon layers of his character are revealed to us.

I won’t give away any spoilers. But just to give you an idea, Berserk is essentially a narrative about a violent and overpowered man aka Guts single-handedly battling it out against monsters who have intruded upon this world as a result of the arrogant ambition of a few men and wicked deities. The story begins with Guts slaying them with as much ferocity and violence as the monsters themselves were going to inflict on humans. Then the story shifts back to an earlier period where a young, already battle-hardened Guts joins a group of mercenaries who are fighting for one country in their hundred-year war with another. The world of his youth is just about as vicious as any medieval setting can be. There is political intrigue, dangerous ambitions, and a general disregard for the weak. It all then escalates as Guts gradually watches this reality crumble even further with the rise of the supernatural forces, each more terrifying than the last. He experiences a betrayal that has ramifications for not just him, but those he had gradually come to love. The journey after that features his refusal to accept this reality and fighting fire with fire.

However, the fight itself was not the key point of Berserk. Sure, the battles were equal parts exciting and scary, but the internality of Guts mattered more. Miura knew that the world he had built needed a powerful but introspective protagonist who can battle not just what is in the physical reality, but also in the mental reality that lives inside him.

Guts is the ideal character for this purpose. For all the violence that he uses against the monsters, our protagonist still possesses a strict moral code that guides his actions. Guts goes out of his way throughout the story to protect the weak and the helpless. Oftentimes, for many people, he emerges as the sole barrier against a world that is ready to destroy them. What he seeks for himself is simple. He wants a moment of sigh, a family, a home. His anger against the monsters is not borne out of some inherently violent nature. It is a reaction to watching these monsters take away every opportunity he has had at building something meaningful. This profound sadness keeps on spilling out as we get to listen to his thoughts. And he is quite a thinker. His many moments of solitude are filled with haunting regrets, longings, hopes, and painful reminders of everything denied to him. His internal monologues show us a flawed and tired human who at the end of the day still possesses kindness and space for tender emotions. A person trying all he can to make sense of the world and seeking to find some meaning in it, just as something to build upon.

This ‘meaning’ that Guts (and by extension the reader) is looking for is exactly what Miura wanted to show. Because as the story moved forward over the numerous chapters, it became clear that Miura had no interest in indulging in trauma for the sake of trauma. His setting was not designed to be bleak just because it seemed cool. Right from the get-go, he had set up the narrative to lead us to the point where we can see the faint but certain indications of a better reality amidst the chaos.

That’s not to say that suddenly things become rosy. Not at all. But gradually, almost painstakingly, we witness Guts and other characters emerge from the confusion of the world to find their own grounding in it. They learn how to slowly accept and share the universal values of trust and kindness. They come to find love for themselves and for each other, a love that is earned and forged through constant trials. They come to terms with the grief that engulfs their lives and start making peace with it. Their hatred towards themselves and each other is replaced with something much more fruitful and sustainable. Bit by bit, they realize that no matter how hard and unforgiving the universe is, they can rebuild for each other a better place. A place that isn’t as violent and harsh and inhospitable. And finally, having lived through the consequences of others’ arrogant ambitions, they recognize the value of understanding your grounding in this world.

It is a tragedy that Miura never got to show us the eventual destination he had planned for his characters. He had set up the journey, he had worked on their growth, but he could not show us the payoff he had hinted at. But that is okay. Even if his story is incomplete, even if we never saw Guts and other characters finally find their home and their peace, we know that they will eventually get there. After all, their creator had spent three decades nurturing them.

Even with an unfinished story, Miura left behind a haunting, entertaining, and powerful missive on grief, tragedy, trauma, and the human desire to eventually face it head-on. If you start reading Berserk right now, you will find yourself immersed in an amazing saga that may well speak to you in ways you never expected. Its lack of a conclusion has no effect whatsoever on the impact it will leave on you. That is Kentaro Miura’s genius at play.

May he rest in eternal peace.

This review was initially published at https://hamzasar.medium.com/berserk-a....

[Drew Canole · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nearly 9000 pages of Manga across 41 volumes (I added up 8724 but that includes covers and back matter). The first volume came out in 1989.

All written and drawn by Kentaro Mirua. But with some very great and unsung work by the team at Studio Gaga (and perhaps others).

I thought the artwork from the beginning was quite strong, but it ramps ups to a 10 and then an 11 in the volumes in the 30/40s. Some of the detail in the smallest panel was just insane, like they took a two-page spread and minimized it until it fit into a 1-inch panel.

I wrote little reviews/summaries for each of the volumes as I read it. Not too much to add to that. It's certainly one of the strongest mangas I've read, especially narrowed down to the fantasy/action genre. I'd put it up there with Lone Wolf and Cub.

Miura passed away with the work unfinished. His friend is directing the series now with Studio Gaga artists doing the heavy-lifting. I've read the pages they've published to date and honestly I do think they'll do a great job. I'm hoping they wrap the series up though instead of introducing more elements.

[Hussain Ali · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best fantasy manga i ever read

[Lyx Robinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

One day I will write an epic essay about this manga, but that's not today.

[Afifah Mim · Rating 5 out of 5]

A thought provoking "Unforgettable Manga Journey".
My Best read Manga till now.
Maybe even 'more than Best'; - Period.

Thanks Kentaro Miura, Rest easy.

[Lira]

4.75

This was too big to be called a series. Massive, thick, heavy, and far too rough. Indeed, it was like a slab of raw paper brick.

[Israfiel Valhorn · Rating 5 out of 5]

CAREFUL, SPOILERS FOR THE GOLDEN AGE ARC AND THE MILLENIUM FALCON ARC

I first read Berserk at fourteen years old, I had low self-esteem, and a pessimistic view on life. To me, making efforts was just another pain that you had to get through. After a while, of course, I began questioning the seemingly endless loop of pain and boredom I had found myself stuck in. Why was I trying so hard to succeed? To make friends? It is not a rule, written anywhere in the universe, that everyone is going to be happy. Some people are bound to suffer, and die in the saddest way possible. So why? That's what Berserk taught me.
The story is fairly simple: it is all tied to destiny and free will. The main protagonists of the Golden Age Arc, which is one of the best stories ever told by man, have both struggled in their life. On the one hand, there is Guts, a war-machine, mad-dog character, who was raped, beaten and betrayed before he was even ten years old, with no apparent drive other than survival. On the other, there is Griffith, born in the poorest district of his city, with no parents and no future, but absolutely driven to attain his goal to be the leader of the greatest kingdom on Earth. They become friends, and things happen. Simple, right?
Well, no. Because they are only men in a world of monsters, in a rapidly changing political climate and attempting to free themselves from master puppeteers. Throughout the manga, it is very clear that men have no actual free will, for the God Hand watches and schemes. The Behelit, a powerful artefact, is the embodiement of the impending doom that follows in a man's path towards achieving his dream. “While many can pursue their dreams in solitude, other dreams are like great storms blowing hundreds, even thousands of dreams apart in their wake. Dreams breathe life into men and can cage them in suffering. Men live and die by their dreams. But long after they have been abandoned they still smolder deep in men’s hearts. Some see nothing more than life and death. They are dead, for they have no dreams.”
The world of Berserk is bleak, to say the least, and it is only by giving it meaning that a man can survive. Dreams are the only things distinguising animals and the God Hand. But how does that compute with free will and destiny? Well, there's the Behelit on the one hand, which is the perfect embodiement of Griffith's drive to achieve his dream - as well as inescapable fate that leads to glory and power - and there's Guts' big fat sword on the other, embodying a more existentialist drive that recognizes nothing but survival - and the absence of fate, or rather a miserable one. It all comes together beautifully at the end of the first major story arc, the Golden Age, and although I will not spoil it for you, I can say this: the ending is a masterpiece.
Of course, the genius of Berserk's themes and characterization doesn't stop there. Casca, who is in love with Griffith, helps Guts regain some of the warmth he lost when his father figure sold his virginity to an adult. She is a warrior, with a heart of gold, but constantly taken down for being a woman. At the beginning of the Golden Age, she even has to sleep next to a wounded Guts because, and I quote, it is "the woman's duty to warm the man". I particularly appreciate this trio of characters. Griffith is entirely devoted to his dream, which gives him an aura of divine majesty in the gloomy life-and-death world of Berserk, but most of his interactions with Guts are surprisingly cold, despite his smiling. He comes to love his friend, but acts rashly and it costs him his dream. Guts has no dream of his own, but as Griffith leads him to battle again and again, he seemingly finds his own path in life, which causes Griffith's downfall. Casca is cold, even colder than Griffith and Guts, but she is entirely devoted to the man who once saved her. As she learns more and more about Guts, it becomes obvious that her feelings for the leader of the Band of the Hawk can never be returned, and she begins to build an identity of her own along with Guts. Griffith, in inspiring people, causes his own demise in more ways than one: his feelings for Guts cause him to act rashly and lose sight of his dream, he inspires Guts into rising to his level in gaining a dream of his own, and his cold treatment of Casca greatly accelerates this process.
There is also the matter of dealing with your pain, beautifully encapsulated in the Lost Children Arc, which sees an army of "elves" attack a human village - a very rare occurence, for elves are known for the peaceful nature and kind-hearted attitude. Guts is still dealing with his past, the child he protects is as well, and so was Griffith. In fact, all the characters in the story have to learn, at one point or another, how to deal with their pain. Griffith failed to do so, as he sacrificed his dream to run away from the pain of losing his friend, and then ran away some more in sacrificing them instead of growing as a person. Guts is evidently growing into a warm, kind-hearted and wise warrior, as he deals with his trauma and lets people in. In his case, the tragedy lies somewhere else, but we'll see that later on.
In the Millenium Falcon Arc, Guts' stuck between the fire and the frying pan. As he makes friends and lets go of his obsession, his strength decreases, which pushes him to give in to the all-consuming power of the Berserker Armor. In growing as a person, he loses his power as a warrior. In growing, he loses. To me, although the arc is less thematically coherent than the Golden Age Arc, it is one of the bleakest, most horrifying arc in all of Berserk. Guts has to face an all-powerful Griffith, and his inevitable rebirth, as Berserk's version of Jesus Christ comes back to Earth to bring forth an era of peace and prosperity. It is absolute genius, with especially a game-breaking story arc, that feels less like a story, and more like a myth: the birth of the Falcon of Darkness, and the creation of His mighty kingdom, populated with regular people seeking light, and monsters like the world has never seen (Griffith, aka the Egomaniac Bird, being first among them).
There are many, many more themes to Berserk, but I won't write a dissertation on it... Yet. Berserk is an intricate and multi-layered story, with some of the greatest characters in all of literature (Griffith and Guts, for instance), and has inspired quite a few artists in the world, thanks to its writing and drawing style by Kentaro Miura.
It is a masterpiece and a must-read to all those who think manga can't be art.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had a dream.
Under the full moon,
I was a child embraced by nostalgic warmth.
But when I wake from the dream,
Only a vague sense of longing remains.
That, too, will soon disappear.
With a single tear
Like morning dew.

11/5

[Cameron Naramore · Rating 5 out of 5]

Touching and violent. Beautifully illustrated.

[Maksym Besarab · Rating 5 out of 5]

это было долгое, но незабываемое путешествие...

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

screaming crying throwing up

[Cillian Flood · Rating 4 out of 5]

I first became aware of Berserk many years ago. It sounded interesting and my research of it did lead to many spoilers, something I slightly regret. However I never actually attempted to read it, as I knew it was unfinished and that the story had long breaks between chapters. I didn't want to binge read something only to come to a halting stop at a cliff hanger. Things are different now, however. This is a review for the first 380 chapters of this manga written by it's original creator, Kentaro Miura. He has since passed away leaving some kind of conclusion to the story. However, it will continue. What that story will be like without him, we can only hope. For now however, there's a reason to read and to stop reading.

But what about the story itself? Was it worth the wait? I say yes, undoubtedly. It is a very strong narrative that manages to do grim dark right, something I wasn't even sure was possible. Guts is a character you can respect, love, sympathize and pity. He is strong and weak at the same time. He is damaged yet whole. And the artwork, my god the artwork is phenomenal. It's almost too good. Miura was such a perfectionist when it came to his visuals it made the story too much for one man to produce in one lifetime. Every time I begin to think he should have sacrificed quality for reasonable production he hits me with a new stunning piece.

Even though I read it all at once, for the sake of, I guess, authenticity, I kept checking the release dates for each chapter so I could see when each chapter was released. This left an overhanging shadow over it. I am very thankful I didn't have to wait half a dozen months between installments, but the mere notion of how long it's taken to tell the story comes with a strange feeling, even when living it vicariously. The style of publication and the length it took to take it, as well as the authors death part way through, have shaped the story beyond what is told in the pages. It seems unfair to judge a work for such a thing, yet I feel I can't help but do so.

I also find the quality reduced as the series went on. Miura clearly had a strong grasp of how his world works and the mechanics of it, but in the beginning that is hidden in mystery. The more he explains it the more bogged down the story gets with technical explanations in a story that had once been very raw emotion. One plot point in particular, at the end of the Conviction Arc, made perfect sense to Miura when writing, and to a reader on retrospect, but for me, as a blind reader it felt unnecessary and out of left field (even though I knew it was coming, from spoilers). The story also took a turn towards the lighter and softer in tone. Which I wouldn't object to on principle, but it creates some discordance when the story itself is upping the stakes of horrific things happening while lowering the feeling of seriousness they entail.

All in all Berserk is a flawed tale, I find. Brilliant, but flawed enough that I couldn't give it five stars. But that in itself is a quintessentially Berserk place to be.

[Aydin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This manga will hit you with all the emotions. Happiness, sadness, betrayal, disgust, anger. You'll go through the 5 stages of grief and be filled with joy all within one story. I have to say I even shed a tear or two on some of the parts of this manga. A rich but dark fantasy story based around the main protagonist - Guts. It has themes of graphic nature, but I like that it doesn't hide away from this and it goes along with themes that would have been normal for its medieval setting.

Guts as a character grows on you more and more as you're slowly revealed more about his past. You watch him overcome his mental and physical struggles in a realistic way. This story contains friendships, love, sex, trust, gore, action, violence, revenge and more. Guts is a hero who looks like he's the villain. A guy who's been misunderstood and defamed. I'm sure a lot of people can relate, making him even more likeable. He doesn't accept the fate that's given to him. Only HE decides what happens in his future. His drive to NEVER give up, push through issues that seem impossible and fight enemies and come out on top, in a place where it looks certain he's going to die, gives you the motivation in real life to keep pushing. If Guts can, why cant you?

Overall, an amazing read and would completely recommend to people looking for a dark fantasy novel. You won't be able to put it down, and the story isn't even finished yet.

[Harry Cass · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my favourite manga and perhaps even my favourite piece of media of all time. If you are a fan of fantasy this is a must read. Masterful artwork the likes of which I have never seen before and a story that quickly finds its footing and develops an interesting a complicated main character in Guts. Combine this with great action and an immersive world and yeah you can't really do better than this. The earlier volumes in the Black Swordsman arc may put people off as it seems very edgy and needlessly glory but please try to stick with it until the Golden age arc which will re-contextualise everything and if after that you still don't think this is a masterpiece then fair enough. I don't have much to say about this apart from its great and go read it, then let me know what you think.

[Kenny Sweet · Rating 5 out of 5]

Virtually perfect series while still in production the hiatus brought on by the author's death has a very poetic end that I feel happy hanging my hat on for now. Very few series can hit as many notes as Berserk and never show gaping holes in the logic or continuity of the series. Especially those that span over 2 decades. One of the best character studies I've read, and for an artist there is a visual feast to study on as well. World building to adore, and plenty of humor, action, romance to engulf yourself in Berserk simply has something for everyone and sums more than it's parts.

[Jeremiah Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolutely outstanding work of fiction (I’d go as far as saying it’s the closest thing Japan has to the Homeric epics..). Miura is both a great storyteller and artist, and creates an illustrious but dark and grim world through his fantastically unique and detailed illustrations. The story is great as well, and in terms of themes, tropes, and ideas it really stands out amongst its peers. A definite must read for anyone, unless you’re squeamish.

[Lasha Khojanashvili · Rating 5 out of 5]

Magnum opus!

[Evan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wish I could do six stars

[Julia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had forgotten how brilliant this manga is...I'm so glad I decided to finish reading it. An incredible journey. Thank you Kentaro Miura, you'll never be forgotten.

[Cyril Gava Monk · Rating 5 out of 5]

My review will be short Berserk is probably the most amazing sorte I ever read. Guts journey is a most read.

[Azam Ch. · Rating 5 out of 5]

the art and aesthetic was amazinggggg, can see how it inspired the world of dark souls, berserk is a complete poggers experience.

[Aymen · Rating 5 out of 5]

My goodness, what a journey. A terrible, wonderful journey.

[Brett · Rating 5 out of 5]

A masterpiece in every respect. A true must read story, do not let the fact that its a manga stop you from reading this.