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Artwork of Berserk interview - Page 4 part 3

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Page 1: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 2023-03-12 23:19:19 +0000 UTC View Post

Going to the Berserk exhibition in Sapporo

As you guys know, Grail, Gobolatula, Walter and I went to see the Great Berserk Exhibition in Sapporo, capital of Hokkaido, the northernmost island of Japan. Why this city? Because it was the first showing of the exhibition after the Japanese government finally reopened its borders. We went in January 2023, so it was the heart of winter there, and temperatures ranged from -5 °C to -10 °C duri...

Bonus card included with German volume 41

Skullknight.net member Benoît recently registered only to spread the word that a rare illustration of Guts was included with the German version of volume 41, published by Panini. Of course I was intrigued and promptly ordered a co...

Artwork of Berserk interview - Page 4 part 2

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Page 1: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 2023-02-24 18:52:03 +0000 UTC View Post

Artwork of Berserk interview - Page 4 part 1

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Page 1: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 2023-02-12 21:07:23 +0000 UTC View Post

YA showing off international editions of Berserk

In February 1997, Young Animal published a little showcase of various international editions of Berserk. Taiwan and Hong Kong are featured, as well as Spain, Thailand, France and Italy. It would be six more years until Dark Horse picked it up for release in the USA!

Fun drawing from a doujinshi cover

When we visited the Berserk exhibition earlier this month, we saw an original drawing (or more likely a copy of it) Miura had made for the cover of a doujinshi he released with his friends in late 2004. This reminded me that I had never posted that cover, so here it is.

The one displayed in the exhibition is in black and white, but the actual cover is colored as you can see. As reminder, ...

Podcast: The Great Berserk Exhibition, day 4

Grail, Gobolatula, Walter and Aazealh recently flew to the northernmost island of Japan – Hokkaidō – to attend the first installment of the Great Berserk Exhibition taking place since Japan reopened its border to foreign tourists.

This podcast was recorded on our last day at the exhibition. These will be posted publicly on S...

Podcast: The Great Berserk Exhibition, day 3

Grail, Gobolatula, Walter and Aazealh recently flew to the northernmost island of Japan – Hokkaidō – to attend the first installment of the Great Berserk Exhibition taking place since Japan reopened its border to foreign tourists.

This podcast was recorded after our third day at the exhibition! These will be posted publicly on 2023-01-24 13:15:32 +0000 UTC View Post

Podcast: The Great Berserk Exhibition, day 2

Grail, Gobolatula, Walter and Aazealh recently flew to the northernmost island of Japan – Hokkaidō – to attend the first installment of the Great Berserk Exhibition taking place since Japan reopened its border to foreign tourists.

This podcast was recorded after our second visit to the exhibition! These will be posted publicly on 2023-01-23 13:00:05 +0000 UTC View Post

Podcast: The Great Berserk Exhibition, day 1

Grail, Gobolatula, Walter and Aazealh recently flew to the northernmost island of Japan – Hokkaidō – to attend the first installment of the Great Berserk Exhibition taking place since Japan reopened its border to foreign tourists.

We went there four times, and recorded a podcast after each day to document our thoughts. These will be posted publicly on Skullknight.net along with writt...

Learning Japanese with Berserk: Hydra

After Norse mythology, Greek mythology! In episode 356, other than the word Jötunn for giants, we learn about the word for "hydra" from Raban. One such creature had first been seen in episode 305, but not been named. Miura uses the kanji 多頭蛇 for it, alongside the furigana ヒドラ (HIDORA). The ...

What sacrificial ceremonies are actually called in Berserk

The sacrificial ceremonies of the God Hand aren't without a name.

While we usually just refer to it as "the apostle ceremony", Void uses a specific name when the Count gets his second chance in volume 3: 降魔の儀, pronounced こうま の ぎ (KOUMA NO GI). Notably, Miura added furigana to specify the pronunciation (KOUMA and not GOUMA) and therefore the meaning of it (unrelated to bu...

Artwork of Berserk interview - Page 2 (part 3)

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Learning Japanese with Berserk: Jötunn

Episode 356's title is 巨人 (normally pronounced きょじん, "KYOJIN"), which means "giants". Miura added the furigana ヨトゥン to indicate that it should be pronounced "YOTUN". It it a reference to Norse mythology, which features a type of beings called Jötunn (plural: Jötnar). As was often the case, while Miura applies a mythological name to give some color to Berserk's world, there...

Ending the year with a "bang!"

What better way to celebrate the end of the year than with one of Miura-sensei's illustrations! This one is sadly very rare as it was only printed on a telephone card, and there aren't many going around. It's an homage to Akira, the legendary sci-fi manga by Katsuhiro Ōtomo, and the incident that destroyed Tokyo in that story.

Quite a fitting tribute for the end of the millennium! And of...

Learning Japanese with Berserk: Dwarf

We get a hint of dwarves or similar spirits in Berserk as early as volume 14, when the Skull Knight explains to Guts that elves (妖精) once dwelled in Godot's cave. But it's only at the end of volume 26, in episode 226, that Schierke drops the name when she explains how the Berserk's armor was created...

Artwork of Berserk interview - Page 2 (part 2)

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Podcast #23: Shizuya Wazarai's tribute to Miura

Walter and Aazealh give their thoughts on Wazarai's heartfelt tribute (Part 1 | Part 2) to his friend, on how it differs from Mori's and reveals what kind of a man Miura was.

Something I (Aaz) forgot to sa...

A look at Animal House #2, 1992

Here's another issue of "Monthly Animal House", the magazine that came before "Young Animal". This is the February 1992 issue, where the first segment of volume 5 was first published. I wanted to show the index page this time because it highlights the simple numbering system they used.

The title page of the manga itself goes with a relatively fancy subdivision name: 戦慄のヒーロー�...

Episode 371 translation

Fantasia arc
Elf island chapter
Light going out on a narrow dark night    [not sure about the first kanji, it's too small and blurry]


Page 1

Roderick : Open up!
Roderick: Guts!!

Schierke : Guts…

Page 3

Schierke: Memories of battles…...

Drinking the same tea that Miura once served to Nico Nicholson

Nico Nicholson told us in her tribute about the そば茶 (buckwheat tea) that Miura offered her when she visited his studio in 2010. Actually, even back then she had drawn him holding that tea during her ...

Learning Japanese with Berserk: Fantasia

Volume 34 ends with a bang: Ganishka explodes, unleashing the Great Wave of the Astral World. Once it's over, we see that the entire world has been profoundly transformed. That last episode of the volume is titled 幻造世界, with ファンタジア (FANTAJIA) as furigana to indicate how it should be ...

Artwork of Berserk interview - Page 2 (part 1)

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First part | Second part | Third part 2022-11-27 20:28:11 +0000 UTC View Post

Learning Japanese with Berserk: Piskie

Puck's an elf (エルフ), but not just that! In volume 24, Ivalera drops the "shocking" revelation that he's a Piskie, like her, a subcategory of elves that are related to the wind elementals. It's written ピ�...

Artwork of Berserk interview - Page 3 (part 3)

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Page 1: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 2022-11-20 23:40:42 +0000 UTC View Post

Podcast #22: The Splatter Platter 2

The Splatter Platter is back! Walter and Aazealh each choose three moments from Berserk and submit them to the other, who then has to give his thoughts on them without preparation. What will it be this time? Listen and find out!

Want more of the podcast? Click here for the public episodes. 2022-11-15 08:12:33 +0000 UTC View Post

Artwork of Berserk interview - Page 3 (part 2)

This post is now available to Silver & Bronze tiers.

Page 1: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 2022-11-13 21:32:26 +0000 UTC View Post

Evolution of Dark Horse sales of Berserk volumes

Dark Horse's CEO, Mike Richardson, revealed in an interview published on November 10, 2022 that they've sold almost five million copies of Berserk to date. That prompted me to compile all the numbers they've given over the years to track the sales progression.

Here is the result, which I am 2022-11-12 10:19:30 +0000 UTC View Post

Learning Japanese with Berserk: Wise Man

In volume 18, Farnese goes to the chapel at the top of the Tower of Condemnation to have a talk with Mozgus. He tells her a story about a sage, said to have been imprisoned there by Gaizeric in the distant past. The word used in Japanese is 賢者, pronounced けんじゃ (KENJA). In English, its meaning is that of a "wise person" or a "sage".

What has made its use in Berserk tantalizing ...