Berserk fans are well-versed in the dark and goth elements of the series, which makes Kentaro Miura’s magnum opus one of the best Seinen manga of all time. Death, torture, monsters, ghosts, etc. are all part of the series, and they not only make the series scary but also keep the narrative intriguing for the fans.
Miura’s love for horror and fantasy comes from a legend in the field: Tim Burton. The American director is famous all over the world for his horror movies. Burton inspired a lot of other directors and creators, and one of them was Miura. He might not be the reason behind the entire story of Berserk, but he certainly helped in forming its main element.
This was confessed by Miura in an interview, where he was talking about the birth of Berserk, the flow of the series, the characters, his inspiration, etc. He talked about how Wednesday’s director has mastered one particular skill from the horror industry, and Miura was inspired to do so too.
Kentaro Miura Wanted to Be Like Tim Burton
Yukari Fujimoto once interviewed Miura in the year 2000, and this interview was translated by mangabrog. During the interview, Miura revealed that he is inspired to be just like Tim Burton because the director has perfected the skill of portraying a sad but scary monster.
Miura stated:
Okay, so for better or for worse, monsters constantly appear in Berserk, and there’s an old trope that the reason monsters are violent is because they’re sad. People like Tim Burton have really nailed that sort of thing, the sad but scary, and it’s something I want to do, too.
He further revealed:
And then you look at modern Japan for sad and scary, and you’ve got people who turn to crime, or are on the verge of it, or are at least scared that they might turn to it. And that’s something that I want the reader to sympathize with.
According to Kentaro Miura, the modern Japanese “sad but scary” do not really originate from monsters but from normal people who become criminals or think about it because of the situation they are in or the problems they are facing in their lives. That is exactly what he wanted to include in Berserk and bring out the dark nature of the story.
Kentaro Miura Wanted People To Sympathize With Monsters from Berserk
While talking about the Egg Apostle from Berserk, Miura revealed that every individual has a fear within their mind about becoming evil and doing something bad. However, this fear forces people to think about themselves and exclude everything that is different.
Miura stated:
By the time you’re in high school I feel like everyone has this fear that they might do something bad someday or have something bad done to them. It’s something I still vaguely feel, even at this age. I think people these days tend to try to exclude anything that’s different from themselves.
The Egg Apostle was created for people who suffer from social confinement and shut themselves away from the general public.
These people are not able to speak for themselves in this “me” world and are usually left behind. Miura wanted to create a story that reminded them that there are such kinds of individuals in the world.
You can read the Berserk manga on Dark Horse.
