- Adapted from Puella's translation.
This short comic appeared in YA#10. Nico Nicholson depicts an interview with Miura as a struggle between a master and an apprentice.
[Page 1][]
It was much too big to be called a pen. Massive, thick, heavy and far too rough... (parody of the Dragon Slayer text)
Nico-Guts
Koya-Puck
Miu-ffith
Koya: This time, we'll reveal the secret of the story behind Berserk, from the beginning of the manga up to the animation.
Nico: I've been reading the manga since I was a teenager, so I'm fully ready for it!
*shows that when she was a school girl, she was shocked by how the story goes in vol 13
Nico: It was animated and made into movies, and this is the second TV animation.
Nico: Miuffith established his own Falconia...
Nico: Miuffith, you're my enemy that I should destroy as a colleague
Miura: Hahahaha
Nico: I'm jealous of you!
*27 million volumes of Berserk have been sold so far
Miura: Ah, are you jealous of me? You're entrapped by evil spirits, Nico-san!
Miura: My whole body is devoted to this work, so this is the natural result...
Nico: A beherit!
Miura: I'm doing well.
Miura: You want to know the secret to Berserk's great allure? If your Dragon Slayer isn't just some kind of ornament, come at me!
[Page 2][]
Nico: A boxing move?
Miura: Actually, when you move your body, you show where the center of your balance is. This can be applied to the movement of Guts' sword.
Miura: I directly learned from Kouji Mori.
*Miura actually really got some boxing training from Kouji Mori.
Koya: I'm impressed, he draws even considering this kind of thing...!
Miura: It's not just about drawing.
Miura: the most important thing in Berserk is weight.
Miura: This manga started in the 1980s based on the 1980s taste/style. Hollywood movies in the 1980s that I watched as I grew up. There was no CGI, the actors themselves played the superhuman part (like in T2, RoboCop).
Koya: Even now, foreign movies are still being made according to the laws of physics. They're staying aware of what feels realistic. (Spiderman, Captain America, Iron Man are shown on the DVD covers)
Miura: The weight everybody feels in Berserk is influenced by this kind of live action films. They feel real.
Nico: I think the reason why Guts doesn't look "fake" is because it's based on live action.
Nico: Since you're already at it, how about you tell how Berserk was created?
Miura: Now you're obediently listening to me.
[Page 3][]
Miura: Berserk started from my desire to do a swordfighting story.
Miura: A manga that is thoroughly devoted to one genre. Only what is based on true knowledge and experience can be realistic.
Miura: In order to have it all (to be absolute).
*Two books are shown, a guide for beginners and Grappler Baki
*The year is 1988
Miura: I want to do a swordfighting story as an action manga, but I have neither knowledge nor experience in that domain...
Miura: I can't have it all (absolutely success) like that.
Miura: Neither tournament fights nor exchanges of skills/techniques. How can I create an attractive manga with real weapons? Instead of focusing on drawing the swordfight itself, if it's put in a context where it can feel realistic.
Miura: Then I got an idea.
Miura: I put the swordfighting story in a fantasy world.
Miura: I concentrated on "fighting against monsters with a sword" rather than on describing the swordfighting itself in detail, and I thought intently about weapons for fighting monsters and the swinging aspect.
Miura: And of the result was Guts wielding the Dragon Slayer. It was created.
*Guts: This weapon is great, Godot. It IS big.
*Godot: You bastard!
[Page 4][]
Nico & Koya: It's not a swordfighting story in a fantasy setting, it's fantasy story featuring a swordfighting theme
*They're completing each other's sentence
Miura: It's like Hollywood entertainment. "A small amount of deceit" is the most palpitating.
*"In short, realism coming from deceit"
Nico: How was the core concept of Guts made?
*Miura: The one who fights monsters with a sword and artificial arm, an all-black hero who's pursued > Black Dark Hero > Revenger
Miura: This is the image of the character that I conceived.
Miura: I drew carefully in the first three or four volumes "what action will a main character take when he's enraged and seeks revenge".
*I think his fury was well-conveyed at that time
*Now I realize I studied well the various ways a hero got furious
Miura: After that, to make the story more interesting, I decided to make the most powerful enemy...
Nico: Could it be...!
Miura: Griffith
Miura: A very charismatic enemy who can even transcend the main hero
*This herbal tea contains Camomile, Ginger, Marjoram, Hibiscus... (directly from the manga)
*He's the exact opposite of Guts: beautiful and white, shining... Oscar-like (from Rose of Versailles).
Miura: I started the Band of the Falcon and I reflected on the relationships that I myself experienced to create subcharacters. That's how "Berserk" was created.
*The Band of the Falcon is from my highschool friends.
*Farnese was created by hearing about women's state of mind from my friend Mori, who's quite popular with women.
*Serpico has a side that's like André from Rose of Versailles.
Nico: Ah, so the description was so close because it's based on real people.
*A fantasy that is infinitely close to reality
Koya: a fantasy that is drawn according to the laws of physics: a reality where we put a foot on the land.
*Is this the secret to Berserk's appeal/charm?
Miura: I think there aren't many Japanese animations that give us some "weight". I guess that's why my work is distinctive.
Nico: Since I learned this much of the secret, I can also draw Berserk!
*Lethal chestnut