The 42nd volume of Berserk is the first volume of the manga created after Studio Gaga and Kouji Mori resumed it following Miura’s death in June 2022. This volume is also the first to be released by Dark Horse Comics in three years, since the 41st volume in November 2022. It’s important to note that the previous news about its release in September 2023 only applied to shipments in Japan. Dark Horse Comics is currently working on translating and releasing copies of the manga in America, with the planned release date set for March 2025 to provide closure for English-speaking fans of the series.
Warning: this will contain spoilers.
What to Know About Berserk
Support them here- https://www.paypal.com/donate?token=J-IRgZ3qiHkU-G1PkZWfgNZHZ8rsSC3vSn4g4um5BtyEaFXEpF4NzinAbpWDSIdZfz5sHf-Ct-0T0Ak8&locale.x=US
For starters, anyone who already knows the series Berserk should share the responsibility of letting any newcomers to Berserk know that this series is a masterpiece. It is a masterpiece in that it twists your emotions of joy, anger, excitement, nervousness, and horror. It will twist your guts and rip out your heart because it has violence, gore, death, nudity, invasive scenes, and demonic or, in general, horrific monsters, with the most beautiful character in the show getting turned into the leader of them.
Written and illustrated by Kentaro Miura in 1989, Berserk takes place in the medieval ages, following the story of Guts, a powerful man who sought out battles for survival and eventually lost a duel against a man named Griffith, who is the leader of a group called “The Band of The Hawk,” and has Guts join him. Griffith has dreams of becoming a king, and his second in command, Casca, is loyal to him after he saved her as a child. They fight for money and glory, and Griffith eventually gets closer to his goal after The Band of the Hawk wins a hundred-year war. The king of the land rewards them with noble titles.
Unfortunately, due to hearing about ambition, Guts leaves the band. Griffith tries to get him to stay, but he fails. Out of depression, he sleeps with the king’s daughter, and it all goes downhill from there in a very gruesome and devastating time skip. After Griffith sacrifices his team to become a god, the rest of the chapters in Berserk chapters are gut-wrenching and traumatic for the faint-hearted, so it’s best to proceed with caution. But the series did plan to have a bittersweet ending.
Kentaro Miura
Best known for his dark fantasy series, Berserk, and rewarded for excellence thanks to his masterpiece, he had created one of the best-selling manga series by 2023. Kentaro Miura was born on July 11th, 1966, and died on May 6th, 2021 at the age of 54, throughout his life, was an artist who had an immediate gift for creating manga, having made his first manga series, Miuranger, at ten years old with 40 volumes. He befriended his soon-to-be manga artist friend, Kouji Mori, in high school, and they made a Sci-Fi manga together! It was shot down, though.
By the time he was eighteen, he already had an idea of what would soon become the story, Berserk, eventually during the time of his early career, publishing a prototype of it in Hakusensha’s Monthly ComiComi competition, with 48 pages. It all went uphill from there when his work, Berserk, was then serialized with Hakusensha in 1989, following Berserk’s first 25-episode anime adaptation in 1997. Despite the frequent hiatus breaks, millions of copies were sold. He had many influences that impacted his work, such as Fist of the North Star, Hellraiser, and even Disney films, just to name a few.
His work of Berserk created inspirations for characters from other games, Dark Souls, Devil May Cry, and Cloud from Final Fantasy. It has even been cited as influencing other now-popular series such as Black Clover, Attack on Titan, Blue Exorcist, and more. On May 6th, 2021, Miura sadly died at the age of 54, thanks to acute aortic dissection, and his death was publicly announced fourteen days later. There was a private ceremony by his family, various manga artists gave their condolences, and many of the people, voice actors, composers, singers for the anime, and more who worked on the anime adaptations for Berserk paid tribute to him.
Kouji Mori
Kouji Mori and George Morikawa, friends and respected colleagues from his younger days, shared stories of their friendship with him.
Mori is known for his works Holyland and Jisatsutou, and from high school to his mangaka career, he stayed longtime friends with Miura. He was the one Miura contacted with his rough draft for a major climactic arc in Berserk. For several weeks, they became shut-ins together as he helped Miura to develop and finalize his work, hence how Mori knows so much about the series, and why he was trusted with finishing it.
On June 7th, 2022, as his longest friend and having been told of the plans and thoughts for Berserk by Miura himself, Hakusensha and Kouji Miura announced the continuation of Berserk, with the credits of the original work going to Kentaro Miura. Kouji Mori was the most trusted and dependable person to do it, not just because of the two artists’ history but also because he promised to be faithful and only use Miura’s plans, thoughts, ideas, and remaining work and not influence the remainder of the series with his ideas.
42nd Berserk Manga Volume
Dark Horse Comics is continuing the most amazing, violent, gut-wrenching, dark, and beloved manga one could ever read. The talented manga artist Kentaro Miura can rest in peace knowing his beloved work is in good hands with Studio Gaga and his childhood friend and fellow manga artist.
The volume is expected to have 192 pages, with the measurements of the book following the standard paperback size with the traditional bound-in poster. It is said to be following the ending of the 41st volume of Berserk, which contains the final chapters that Miura created. This information and more can be found on the Dark Horse website, along with other known sources for Anime.
For a short description to emotionally prepare the fans for the next new chapters of the volume, other articles will describe the volume as following the huge cliffhanger in chapter 364 where the moonlight boy revealed himself to be Griffith, obviously invoking a lot of emotions in poor Guts and traumatized Casca. His appearance provokes them and all of Elf Island, creates a rift, and pretty much brings out monsters from beneath the earth, causing Guts to flee the Island to survive, for whoever can manage to leave the Island. Great job as always, Griffith, doing something wrong as soon as you appear.
Conclusion
Finishing the manga is something that many wish for, especially with a manga series that not only had 60 million copies sold by 2023 and ended on the biggest cliffhanger of Guts and Casca’s child transforming into the one man who gave them nightmares but also had a tremendous impact on Manga, videogames, film, anime, and literature. Since Kouji Mori is the only one who knows of the intended ending Miura wanted, Mori promises to only write what he clearly remembers Miura having told him, using whatever else that Miura left behind in his unfinished work. The 42nd volume will be gut-wrenching, but it’ll be a great ride.
For More Great Content
Are you desiring top-tier content that covers everything? From thrilling sports and intoxicating entertainment news to gaming tips and professional betting advice, Total Apex covers it all. Delve into our no-fluff articles to stay ahead of the game with the latest sports action, uncover the hottest trends in entertainment, and get the latest scoops in the gaming industry that will take your experiences to the next level.
Finally, our betting advice will give you a decisive edge over the competition and increase your odds of beating the books. Whether you’re looking to stay updated or gain a competitive edge, Total Apex is your one-stop shop for all things compelling and relevant. Don’t forget we cover Fantasy Sports, too!
Check out all our sites: Total Apex Sports, Total Apex Fantasy Sports, Total Apex Entertainment, Total Apex Sports Bets, and Total Apex Gaming. Out of the ashes of obscurity will rise a beast. Always remember to Respect The Hustle! Follow us on Twitter/X @TotalApexSports to stay informed.
