One of the best-selling manga of all-time, Berserk, is publishing its much anticipated vol. 41, collecting the final chapters from series creator Kentaro Miura, who tragically passed away this year.
Berserk began serializing in 1989, ongoing for many years with several hiatuses. Kentaro Miura passed away this year from acute aortic dissection, having created what many fans hail as the best manga of all time, even if it sadly remains unfinished. The story is a dark fantasy that centers on Guts and Griffith, mercenaries who begin as allies, but become enemies with differing goals who cause and struggle against numerous horrific events within a demon-filled world. The series had previously undergone a hiatus and was abruptly cut short before the story could be concluded, with a further chapter to be released (assumed to be from Miura) before an uncertain future.
According to a report from Anime News Network, Hakusensha - the publisher of Young Animal (the magazine Berserk is serialized in) - has provided a release date for Berserk Volume 41. It will release in December with two different versions. While one is a standard edition, the other will be a deluxe edition that includes canvas art and a drama CD. The drama CD will adapt "Awakening" from Chapter 354. This CD brings back the cast from the anime, as neither of two anime adaptations of the series covered this major turning point within the series. With the first series airing from 1997 to 1998 and the second from 2016 to 2017, this chapter had not yet been written. Now it will finally come to life.
Guts’ story in the previous chapter of Berserk left off on another potential turning point, and since May fans have been wondering what will become of the series. This forty-first volume has been a long time in coming since Volume 40 was published back in 2018 in Japan and in 2019 in North America. On Friday, September 10, Hakusensha will also be publishing the eighteenth issue of Young Animal this year. It will feature Chapter 364, which is speculated to be the last chapter Miura wrote. The issue will be a memorial, commemorating Miura's work through series posters and a booklet titled "Messages to Kentaro Miura."
Berserk is a beloved story full of horrors and hardships, which has taught its readers to endure, like its heroes have. The series seemed far from completion and poised to take a new turn, which may never come to fruition in the way it was initially intended. Regardless of whether the next chapter is the story's unexpected end, Berserk will live on with its fans. While the series may yet continue in new hands, Berserk Volume 41 will be the final compilation of Kentaro Miura's work on his masterwork series, coming December 24.
Source: Anime News Network