Berserk vol. 42

Well, here we are.

Kentaro Miura, the mangaka of “Berserk,” passed away on May 6, 2021, due to acute aortic dissection.  While his health issues had been mentioned, but not discussed in any detail over the years, their impact on the frequency of his output was obvious to see for any long-time reader.  Yet it wasn’t until his passing that the reality of “Berserk” never being completed finally became absolute.  It was a crushing realization, softened only by the fact that this had been a long time coming for anyone paying attention over the years.

It’s likely due to the “long time coming” that we now have this latest volume to read.  Nothing has been said about whatever backroom discussions led to the series being resumed, and I can only speculate that there had been much discussion over the years between Miura, his assistants, his editor and other staff at publisher Hakusensha regarding the title’s future.  Discussions between the mangaka’s friend and fellow mangaka Kouji Mori too as he’s now credited with Supervision of this volume.

I’m sure there were also discussions regarding the commercial viability of continuing “Berserk” as well.  While I’m sure that vol. 42 was guaranteed to sell well out of morbid curiosity (if nothing else) the fanbase would revolt in short order if it looked like this continuation was going to be a clear step down compared to what had come before.  So the hope is that Mori, Studio Gaga, and everyone at Hakusensha talked and thought long and hard about whether or not they could deliver a proper continuation (and conclusion) of the series before they should.

After reading vol. 42, I’m left feeling that the results are good enough.  There’s always going to be that nagging feeling in the back of my head that something’s missing, and the occasional storytelling choice here bears that out.  That said, everything here feels like a proper continuation of things from vol. 41, which is an achievement in itself.

That’s because Mirua left off on a major cliffhanger where it was revealed that the long-haired child that had been following Guts and company around for a good long while now had actually been Griffith.  In what was likely a consequence of his rebirth into our world, he was forced to take the child’s form every full moon.  However, with Caska’s mind having finally been put back together, the member of the Godhand also known as Femto has finally decided to make his move.

This leads to the first half of this volume being filled with action as things go from bad, to worse, to near-apocalyptic for everyone who isn’t aligned with Griffith.  It’s also where Studio Gaga gets to show what they’re capable of without Mirua’s involvement.  As you’d expect and hope from them, they maintain an incredible amount of stylistic consistency from the previous volume.  It would take a trained eye (better than mine, I’ll admit) to really pick apart anything that’s missing here.

Studio Gaga does an admirable job of showing the upheaval that results from Griffith’s appearance and keeping the title’s violence restrained, except for a few gnarly moments to showcase the danger at hand.  It’s the dramatic moments that stuck with me, however.  Guts’ attempts to try and stop Griffth, only for them to be brushed off without a second thought, are shocking.  Yet it’s his anguish later in the volume that really drives things home while setting up the future direction for the series.  The brief showcase of Caska’s imprisonment in a gilded cage also makes an impression, as do the many fantastic visions of the supernatural as Schierke peers beyond the veil.

There’s a lot of stuff going on in this volume and it mostly leans on the visuals to sell it all.  That’s likely a smart choice since Studio Gaga has the most direct ties to Miura.  I don’t want to say that the dialogue here isn’t bad, it’s perfectly acceptable, but it doesn’t quite feel that what’s being said here adds a whole lot to the story the way it has in the past.  All of the necessary information to further the plot is communicated, and I can respect the efficiency in that.  It does leave this volume feeling like it has lost some of its character, however.

I also find myself agreeing with most of the storytelling decisions made here as well.  While it sucks to have Guts and company endure a major loss as the series resumes, it doesn’t drag on and gives the series a clearer sense of purpose by its end.  Griffith’s motivations remain as opaque as ever, though, and while I can understand the story reasons as to why he didn’t have to struggle, that doesn’t mean I enjoyed seeing it.  Still, that was better than the ultimate fate of Elfheim, which came off like a deck-clearing measure here.  I know that some of its featured characters really annoyed the series’ general audience, but I enjoyed them well enough to be disappointed with how they were written out here.

All things considered, there was enough that was done right here to keep me onboard with future volumes of “Berserk” from Studio Gaga and Mori.  The mangaka acknowledges in his afterword that this will be “Berserk” without Miura and will be imperfect as a result.  Mori also states that he couldn’t neglect the story that his friend was telling and that he hopes the audience will forgive him for that.  I’m inclined to agree, but if you’re the reader who was hoping for perfection from this continuation then you’re not going to find it here.  Vol. 42 is for fans like me who have sunk so much time and emotion into it who feel that the prospect of the series getting an ending is better than it having no ending at all.