With spectacular art and great storytelling, Kentaro Miura’s Berserk is in a league of its own. Every aspect of the manga has layers of detail to it, whether it’s the dynamic characters in question or the brutal sceneries. However, Berserk wasn’t always as polished or deep. The manga has undergone massive evolution over the years, especially with the art style.
Dedicated fans of the series are aware of the exact points in the manga where the art style went through defining changes which were there to last. Notably, a few years before his passing, the mangaka reached the peak of his art style.
The Evolution of Berserk’s Art
From the beginning itself, Miura got fans hooked to the series without holding back on the violence. But compared to the subsequent stages of the manga, the first arc was still weaker. As for the art style, it was great from the get-go. The story progressed with the world becoming more complex. Miura used it as an opportunity to embellish every panel with details, and the panels appeared much more defined and polished.
With so many details, there’s always a risk of the panels appearing somewhat cluttered, but it wasn’t the case with Berserk. Miura used different textures and more technical aspects to add more depth to the background as well the subjects in focus. Compared to the first few chapters, the shading becomes more intense after a hundred chapters.
The best way to analyze this difference is by looking at the characters and more complex panels. The characters appear much more handsome with elongated face structures and figures as compared to a more compact appearance in the initial stages. Finally around chapter 340, Miura switched to drawing digitally, bringing a final change to the visual aspect.
The Peak of Berserk
The transition from traditional to digital was initially difficult to follow. The manga became too smooth visually, as if glazed with a filter with the intention to beautify. The transition must have been challenging for Miura as well, after drawing traditionally for decades.
But as time passed and Miura became more comfortable drawing digitally, his signature style started to shine through. It was like a second awakening for the mangaka. Fans noticed the change and were fascinated with how Miura made 2D drawings look so dynamic.
Berserk’s artwork has always been amazing, but in my opinion it’s on a whole other level in Miura’s final three or so volumes. It’s genuinely crazy how he managed to make a flat 2D drawing look so 3D.
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The recent volumes, starting from volume 38 of the manga have been entirely digital. Even though the anime-manga community has a bias for traditional art over digital art, fans were awestruck by how Miura was able to retain his exceptional artistic essence in both.
Every discussion centered around Kentaro Miura is a testament to his genius, and its heartwarming to see that there are so many fans out there who recognize and appreciate it.
Berserk is available to read on the official Dark Horse Digital website.
