What a loss. My heart goes out to his family and friends. And the millions around the world who cherished his work. Rest in peace 三浦 建太郎 (Kentaro Miura).
https://twitter.com/berserk_project/status/1395212918040391680
Berserk was one of my favorite stories ever. In any medium. Miura has been, not just an inspiration--it's so much deeper and more basic than that. I've never stopped enjoying his work as a fan plain and simple. Miura's stories always take me to other worlds. I already miss him 
I feel totally comfortable saying that I think Berserk is one of the best stories of all time. It checks every box I can think of. It's full of drama, intrigue, triumph, betrayal, sex, violence, magic all wrapped in a very human heart. It covers the full spectrum of human emotion
I think for a lot of people (myself included), Berserk was the comic that grew up with us. Most of us probably started reading it too young anyway haha. But even as I got older than Guts himself, I kept cheering him on. As I grew, he did too.
I remember the exact moment Berserk hooked me. I was pulled in by the spectacle. The hulking hero and his ridiculous blade just dicing bad guys up.
But what really compelled me was the surprising vulnerability of the hero, Guts. It wasn't forced. It felt really really really genuine.
When he's trying to get some rest, but specters are drawn to his brand. That imagery, the thematic richness of it alone was amazing. But then they start taunting him. "Your body is ours. Your blood. Your bones." Pretty standard spooky stuff. But they go deeper.
"Your anger. Your sadness. Your pain. Even your fear. Everything is ours." This went so much deeper than just the body or "soul." They were taunting him by laying claim to his TRAUMA. This little bit of dialog cut me DEEP.
The Brand of Sacrifice (生贄の焼印) is not just a really cool fantasy concept. It's one of the best metaphors in literature. Most of us carry some wound that has never properly closed. Berserk deftly captures what it feels like to live with that in a larger than life way.
The Brand of Sacrifice (生贄の焼印) is the mark of trauma. A wound that bleeds when the demons who caused it are near. I think most of us have experienced this one way or another. That worst moment of your life that you never got any closure over.
I think that's why Berserk speaks so deeply to so many, above so many other superficially similar revenge stories. Berserk is about owning your own trauma. The ups and downs of it.
And I believe Berserk was very very much inching towards the theme of letting go of your trauma. Dealing with it in a more healthy way. Actually closing that wound for good. I was never one of those fans that went "Berserk isn't dark anymore boo hoo!" I WANTED Guts to get better!
It hurts so much to think we'll never get to see Miura finish this story. I know I'm being selfish, but I just need to let that out.
There are lots of stories about heroes brooding over revenge. They tend to glorify it. Monologues with the dark hero standing triumphantly over a majestic landscape and the like. But Guts. Guts can't even get a good night's sleep.
Berserk is full of incredible moments of humanity. Miura had such a great understanding of the human psyche and all the ways you can fuck it up. But also the ways it can heal.
And I haven't even touched on all of Miura's amazing work outside of Berserk. My god. He was a master of the craft of comics.
RIP Kentaro Miura. Thank you for the lifetime of amazing stories. I hope you're getting some very well deserved rest wherever you are.
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