An empire prepares for war against Griffith—yet they hold his sworn adversary, Guts, prisoner in chains…and worse is that Guts is a prisoner within himself! The epic dark fantasy manga continues with Miura’s longtime assistants Studio Gaga, under the supervision of his closest friend, Kouji Mori.Having escaped the horrific devastation of Elf Island only to be boarded by unknown raiders, the crew of the Seahorse find that they have intruded into the territorial waters of the vast Kushan Empire!Sunk into his own personal darkness, Guts hardly seems to care as the Kushan lead him away in chains, even as Roderick, Farnese, Serpico, Morda, Isidro, Schierke and the other survivors are taken in as refugees. But they find no steady ground on shore either…for a grand council of the Kushan tribes is assembling to debate plans for war—against Falconia and its fearsome, matchless ruler Griffith, the Hawk of Light!The politics of the council are dangerous, but more dangerous still is that the Hawk’s power is already among them, striking through murderous sorcery. In this critical moment, Guts’ companions can’t rely on him to help…and in fact, is he to blame…?Extra content includes a double-sided, full color illustrated fold out, an afterword by Kouji Mori, and a bonus comic strip about Kentaro Miura!For mature audiences.
Contributors: (W) Kentaro Miura (A) Studio Gaga (CT) Kouji Mori; Duane Johnson
Kentaro Miura created his first manga, Miuranger, at age 10, drawing the series for an audience of his classmates; by high school he had moved into Japan’s dynamic self-publishing (doujinshi) scene. Futanabi, a manga Miura had submitted for admission to art school, was nominated for Best New Author Work in Kodansha’s Weekly Shonen Magazine (today the home of Blue Lock and Rent-A-Girlfriend). In 1989, Miura began the dark fantasy manga series Berserk, his life’s work, with the Japanese publisher Hakusensha. Adapted into three anime TV series and a series of films, Berserk has sold approximately 70 million copies worldwide. Miura-sensei passed away suddenly in 2021 at the age of 54, leaving a legacy of epic storytelling, and a readership that only continues to grow.Studio Gaga is the team of assistants with whom Kentaro Miura worked to create Berserk; the studio currently consists of Kurosaki, Akio Miyaji, Nobuhiro Hirai, Naohide Nagashima, Hideaki Sugimoto, Shunki Fujimoto, and Takumi Yamamoto. With the passing of Miura-sensei in 2021, Studio Gaga is carrying on the story and art of the Berserk saga under the supervision of Kouji Mori. In a 2023 interview with major Japanese newspaper The Asahi Shimbun, Mori remarked that while he gives advice on drafts during the process of making Berserk, the final drawings are the work of Studio Gaga. “Kurosaki, the chief of Studio Gaga, has extraordinary drawing skill, as does the rest of their staff. I believe that after they complete Berserk, they will become famous in the manga world.”Kouji Mori was best friends and an artistic collaborator with Kentaro Miura since they met at age 15 as aspiring manga creators; in high school the pair even attempted to break into the industry together, with a co-authored manga submitted to Weekly Shonen Sunday magazine. Mori’s first major manga work made its debut in 2000, the 18-volume Holyland, later adapted into live-action TV shows in both Japan and Korea. In a 2016 interview published by Crunchyroll, Miura commented that the Guts/Griffith dynamic of Berserk was inspired by his relationship with Mori, “but sometimes I would be Guts, and sometimes I would be Griffith.” Following Miura’s passing in 2021, Mori remarked to The Asahi Shimbun that he would supervise the continuation of Berserk based upon his remembered conversations with Miura on his plans for the manga’s future direction: “I tried to recall every detail to tell the story. And I am only doing episodes Miura told me about. In terms of dialogue, I am only telling the story as Miura related it to me. Naturally, it will be incomplete. But I think I can tell the story almost in the way that Miura wanted.”