One of the things that has always caught my attention in the world of manga is the desire for anonymity that the vast majority of authors have. We all know the work of great artists like Gege Akutami or Tatsuki Fujimoto, but we still don’t know what they physically look like because They are usually not seen in public or in photographs. And with him author of Berserk something similar happened.
When talking about Kentaro Miura, I think all fans have in mind this black and white image from a few decades ago in which he was seen smiling while working in his office. As far as I know that was the only picture we had of him, but luckily recently an interview recorded at the end of 2020 has been revealed (on the occasion of an exhibition of his work) in which he ends up the sensei can be seen answering questions from fans while showing his face. Below I offer you the most fascinating statements of the sensei (thanks to the video of @FrostiFusionZ_)
The most interesting phrases from the interview with Kentaro Miura
- Miura believed that there were several kinds of fans of his worksome were his age and some were much younger, but what was clear to him was that I considered them all as friends/nakamas who accompanied him for more than 30 years.
- He also confirmed that when designing Berserk It was heavily influenced by various 80s mangaso if readers like the “old style” of Guts’ story, the author recommended that they take a look at other works from the 80s and 70s
- Despite the fact that his star manga was born more than 30 years ago, It always seemed to Miura that everything happened in the blink of an eye. and that he had never planned to work there for so long. She just developed it at her own pace and when she wanted to make it she had already been with her for three decades
- Many of you will remember the soundtrack of berserk first anime, especially the mythical “Gut’s Theme”, right? Well it turns out it was Kentaro Miura himself who asked composer Susumu Hirasawa to participate in the seriessince he always considered himself a fan of his music and thought it would fit perfectly with the dark fantasy world he created
- With the advent of new technologies Miura ditched analog and went digital to elaborate Berserk, although he confessed that on certain occasions he drew with a pencil because he thought he could go faster (even if it meant challenging himself)
- How long is there until the end of Berserk?: Miura said in the interview that, in 2020, he thought his work was between 60% and 80% complete. He foresaw that very soon Griffith and Guts would come face to face and more information about the Skull Knight’s past would be revealed, and after that the story would take a big turn to a new stage (Guts party grand voyage saga is over)
- And the interview ends with Master Miura assuring that he will continue to work hard on Berserk and that we continue to support him
a bittersweet feeling
That this video ended up being revealed is something very positive, because thanks to it we can get an idea of what Kentaro Miura looked like, the kind of expressions he made, his voice and the kind of feelings that he conveys by expressing himself. However any fan will be truly sorry to hear what he calls us comrades or to see how enthusiastically he assured that he will continue to work hard until the end of Berserk. This all came to an end months later when he died of cardiac arrest. Rest in peace, professor.