Kentaro Miura never held back when it came to contributing to Berserk. Every character and every piece of artwork that constitutes the manga holds a part of him. Inspiration makes artwork better. As a writer, it becomes important to understand each and every character not as a combination of words and images but as a person.
A hero and a villain are both the creations of the same mind. Whether it be through inspiration or understanding, an artist, especially a writer, can think both as an antagonist and as a protagonist. Miura has some of the most complex people in his manga, so it is only safe to assume that his own thinking process was filled with complexities. More than that, so were his surroundings.
Kentaro Miura Found Violence in Envy
In an interview with Yukari Fujimoto (via Mangabrog) Kentaro Miura talked about channeling his inner Guts and Griffith. He had discovered at an early age that he had an affinity for art, especially drawing. When making two complex characters like the antagonist and protagonist, there comes a certain level of understanding and proper inspiration. While many characters were inspired by his own friend group but that group was devoid of a Griffith and Guts.
I was head and shoulders above everyone in terms of drawing, but at the same time, I looked up to the guy who used to act as the leader. He was very much like Griffith in terms of ability: he was the type who put his money where his mouth was, and he even had a bit of that touch-of-the-divine feel to him. In terms of violence, though, I’d say he was very much like Guts.
Having so much in his environment to grasp from, filtering out the best came through one person. Being great at what he already does, Miura found another person to look up to. So much so that the author even compared the man to both Griffith and Guts, stating that while his abilities were like the antagonist, his violence matched the tones of his protagonist.
This man drew manga with Miura on a regular basis, but not before getting into fights right before. He had a job, the personality, the money, and the bravery the Berserk author could only dream of having. Seeing that much talent in one being, Miura too started working harder on his drawing skills.
Griffith Born of Longing
The violent nature Kentaro Miura used to compare to Guts’ own turned out to be a result of envy. He would get into violent fits to make up for the fact that Miura was a better artist than him. This gradually made him quit drawing manga altogether. He went down a path of great success nonetheless but his driving force was to make everyone else envious of him as he was of Miura.
So then in university he gave up becoming a manga artist, and he decides he’ll do things that the rest of us will be jealous of — sleep with a hundred girls, get hired into a first-rate company, that sort of thing. And he manages to pull it off.
Then he becomes an illustrator, and starts pulling in tens of millions of yen a year while he’s still in his twenties. But it’s still manga that he wants to do, so in the end he throws it all away and starts from square one in the manga industry.
The world is a twisted, dark place. People have something on their minds and something else on their faces. They speak words of kindness but might not always hold intentions as such. This man who inspired Miura earned bounds of money as an illustrator, got the girls, the fame and so much more. However, that was never enough.
Humans are complex creatures. Their minds and streams of consciousness split into many different forms and thoughts. Such is the beauty of the human mind. So what would a man who has everything find missing? The joy he felt while drawing manga.
The complexity of human nature is what makes it so beautiful. Dividing a man’s conflicting thoughts into two characters who were just as complex as him. Kentaro Miura’s own perspective made his manga better in ways that could easily have anyone left flabbergasted.
