Berserk

After what may seem like an interminable wait for many manga aficionados, Dark Horse acquired the rights to a seminal epic which many thought would not see the light of day in an English translation form. The artist, Kentaro Miura. The work, Berserk.
This is going to be a difficult one to review, because, at the moment, there is only one volume out in the English form. Miura has been writing Berserk since 1989, and it currently numbers 24 volumes, plus there was an anime released in 1998, which covers the first two story arcs. How much do I let you into? Well, scenario-wise I can say this. Looking at the first volume it seems like we are in a medieval world where sword and sorcery rule, with evil depraved spirits haunting Guts, our protagonist, demons and elves wandering the earth, and unbelievable amounts of violence. But, as the story continues in the following volumes, we find out things were not always this way (apart from the unbelievable amounts of violence). The second arc deals with a flashback to earlier times, where we gradually see how the forces of darkness began to inhabit this world, and Guts' place in the shape of things.
Drawings wise, Miura has definite influences. Tetsuo Hara (Fist of the North Star) can be read as the major one, with the characters faces and physiques echoing Ken and Shin from that manga series, which is not a bad thing. Miura possesses a great way of framing and the ability to strike an image into your mind. For a start, you won't be able to forget the first couple of frames due to the startling introduction to our main character. What he does suffer from is unnecessary cluttering of the frame in the battle sequences, which means it takes a few seconds for the image to sink in and realise who's limb has gone flying where. This does act as a counterpoint to the extreme violence portrayed though, meaning that the reader doesn't feel shock, but gradually has a feeling of uneasiness creep over them as they understand what just occurred. It's an interesting effect, and it works, but the question remains in my mind whether Miura is talented enough an artist to do this intentionally. Sometimes it seems that way, at other times it seems like he's trying too hard. Overall though, the level of work is of a high standard, and the tempo of the characters is shown skilfully.
The starting leaves the reader off-balance, being thrown into a conflict where you don't know what is going on. Gradually the pieces fall into place. The first volume will leave you with more questions unanswered than resolved, but as the story continues you'll begin to see the characters motivations, what has driven them to the point where human life no longer matters, the point where revenge is the only thing that keeps them going. To say the story is dark is an understatement, with the depths of man's ability to inflict misery on others and on themselves shown in its full blood-drenched glory. The levels of violence are extreme with ample sword-fodder provided for our characters, and more than a touch of the sadistic thrown in to boot. The story itself is two-dimensional but the saving grace is the amount of work Miura has put into building the characters. As the series progresses this becomes more evident. It's a good structure. Revenge is primal, so lets keep the story stripped down, raw, but the characters inhabiting this world? Miura would show the story behind Guts tying his boots in a certain way if it added to our understanding.
Berserk will mean different things for different readers. For some it will be one of the best works they have read, others will absolutely hate it. It is a work that gets better the more you think about it. The way Miura at least tries to counterpoint everything makes this a really influential and, I would say, experimental piece. It's hard to think that about something that seems to be played for shock value at many points, and is, at face value, a middle-ages swordfest. But is you look deeper you'll find a very dark and twisted look at human nature. Berserk is very disturbing due to its primal energy and raw emotions, but understand some of Berserk, and you can understand something about man's self-destructive nature. For everyone who doesn't like analysing, there's nothing cooler than some geezer being chopped in half with a big sword. Well, that's what I think anyway.
'Berserk' was first published in 1989 in Japan. Dark Horse and Digital Manga started publishing an English translation in 2003. It's currently standing at 24 volumes with only one released. Dark Horse & Digital Manga are planning to publish the first three volumes, and will gauge demand before publishing the rest. The second volume is out early next year.
8/10