When Kentaro Miura orphaned Berserk, he unknowingly placed a huge responsibility on his childhood best friend, Kouji Mori. The burden of completing Berserk fell on Kouji Mori as he was the only one Kentaro had discussed the ending with.
Mori wholeheartedly dedicated himself to finishing off Berserk and the manga has already received several chapters. But are they as good as Miura’s work?
Kouji Mori Never Wanted to Replace Kentaro Miura for a Phony Berserk
When Kentaro Miura, the author of Berserk, passed away, his friend Kouji Mori took over his helm. Miura had discussed Berserk‘s ending at length with Mori, so it was only natural for Mori to take over the series and give fans the finale they deserve.
After Miura’s death, Mori appeared in an interview with Asashi and discussed what the author wanted the ending to be like. Mori then set up the best teaser possible for Berserk’s ending by stating:
It has a grand worldview, and there are various foreshadowings and all kinds of devices to close the story. This story exists for the final episode.
The biggest dilemma Mori had was regarding whether he should actually helm the manga. It was the lifelong work of his friend and it deserved a proper ending, yet he could not figure out how to take over his friend’s position.
According to Mori, Miura was a genius who possessed stellar drawing skills and worked towards the completion of his project. Thus, Mori considered it impossible to replace his beloved friend.
I wanted to present to the world the idea that my best friend had in his head, I didn’t want to create a mook book where I would add illustrations and tell Miura-kun how he was thinking. I just had to put something out there.
Ultimately, Mori’s strong sense of morality is what saved Berserk fans from a life of agony.
Berserk is No Longer the Same Without Kentaro Miura
Kouji Mori tried his level best to continue the Berserk manga after the former author’s death. But obviously, the transition is very difficult. Chapter 364 of Berserk was the last one helmed by Kentaro Miura and was published posthumously in September of 2021 after the mangaka’s death.
Mori has been continuously working on the manga, which had received 375+ chapters by the time this article was written. However, fans have pointed out some expected discrepancies between Miura’s work and Mori’s.
Fans are of the opinion that while Mori is doing his best, the manga no longer resembles the initial Berserk completely. According to readers, the problem is with pacing since Miura was too good at it, Mori can barely grasp the work of his friend.
Another fan pointed out that it is actually the paneling that makes it a bit confusing. The artwork is still very good and they hope that the writing improves as time goes by. Some other problems are that, characters no longer show emotions as well as before. However, Mori has previously admitted that his artwork is not as good as Kentaro’s. Thus, Mori is humble and fans are trying to be understanding of the man’s workload.
You can watch Berserk on Crunchyroll.
