Final Thoughts On Miura's Passing

Struggle Onwards...

Kobe Bryant's sudden passing made every basketball fan cry like a baby. Although his NBA career had ended already, we were all waiting to see Kobe continue on and expand his genius outside of the court. That hope was cut short and in a split second, we all remembered that our heroes can die. At least we had the comforting notion that we saw Kobe play in his prime, and we saw his glorious retirement; we got to witness the beginning and end of a colossal giant. However, Kentaro Miura's sudden passing leaves us longing for more, for so much more.

You see, Miura's passing firstly hits in the sense that the world has lost one of the greatest literary writers of this era, and of course perhaps the greatest comic drawer/graphic novel drawer that has ever lived. But Miura's passing secondly hits on a deeper level.

Guts, the main character of Berserk, Miura's manga, is the type of protagonist who was born out of disdain, (both from his parents and the world), one who conquered enemies, befriended them and lost them before his very eyes on multiple occasions; Guts is quite literally a medieval superman. The greatest lesson from Guts' journey is that no matter what, you struggle onwards, and in a way, seeing Guts' perseverance, you can't help but feel like no matter how bad or how well things turn out to be in life, you must keep looking forward, you will survive; to me,that's what Berserk is, an allegory of survival against all odds.

The art and the stories these great mangakas devote their entire lives to are like river channels, channels that transport the hope and fearlessness that we lack in the hopes that they can manifest in this two dimensional world. Guts is a superman, he was our superman, and as long as he kept writing and drawing, Miura himself was our superman too.

It is impossible to read or watch even a fraction of any Berserk content and not see the blood, sweat and tears Miura poured into this series. Every broken moment of pain (and regret?) that we see Guts go through, they are true moments, real moments of vulnerability where Miura managed to transplant his inner-most earnest feelings onto sheet and paper. In giving so much of himself into Berserk, we were able to know Miura just as much as we related to Guts. In a way, Guts was Miura's superhero too, Guts was a creation of Miura but he also serves as a mirror to Miura.

Upon reflecting on his sudden passing, my first instinct was "oh no", we won't ever get to read the ending of Berserk, which Miura announced two years ago was approaching its end. Miura isn't a legend only because of his creative genius, but rather, he is respected because Berserk is one of the pioneering mangas, one of those who changed the genre forever. Alongside Devilman, Berserk was one of the mangas that created the borderline between a shounen and a seinen manga, i.e. comics targeting adolescent boys, and comics targeting young adults. Starting in 1989, Berserk is one of the longest running mangas as well, and in the 21st century you can't help but see its influence in video games, newer mangas and newer animes; for example, Castlevenia's anime aesthetic was directly inspired by Miura's style, as stated by Warren Ellis many times, (and stated again even after Miura's passing).

Now a few days after the announcement of his passing, I'm able to realize that we were able to witness Berserk's ending, we were able to witness the end of Miura's great work. In the international adoration of Miura's work, in the tens and tens of mangas and video games that were inspired by Miura, he truly lives on forever, and we can wave off his soul with a warm goodbye and an eternal thank you, because his work is done, it's time for us to take on the mantle and carry on the inspiration he gave us for 32 years.

Growing up, I was not the biggest Berserk fan myself, the anime community pitted my favourite manga Vagabond against Miura's work all the time. They both competed for the title of "greatest artwork" in the community, and so I spent this whole time not giving Miura his flowers. It is bittersweet typing this, because the fun lightheartedness of the anime community is what makes the space so fun. But after decades of trolling Miura for taking long breaks during his production time, well, it's been amazing to see the community grow from this behaviour. Just like in the NBA community for the last 2 decades, if you were a Kobe fan then you were automatically a Lebron James hater, and vice verse, however in Kobe's death we saw the fans overcome this silly dichotomy. In Miura's passing, I saw the community gather around each other and rise above the stupid jokes. Miura in his death found a way to unite the community once more, like he united millions of people with his incredible series. Miura, who had always showed so much love and respect for his peers, in his death managed to spread grace and understanding over the likes of Togashi (Hunter x Hunter, Yu Yu Hakusho) and Inoue (Vagabon, Slam Dunk) by reminding the fans that if their mangaka are taking a break, it's because they need it and deserve it.

There's not much more to say, I hope Berserk fans are reeling in the greatness of Kentaro Miura, none were like him and none will be like him. If you have the time, buy the first volume of Berserk, it's worth it. Until next time Miura, struggle onwards for all of eternity.