Young Animal has uploaded a new web page to the Berserk portal site, listing a date of October 9 and proclaiming “The new beginning.” Alongside a graphic of protagonist Guts, there are also panels taken from across the series’ 30-year run – speculation is rife, but what could it possibly mean?
First of all, let’s figure out what it probably doesn’t mean. Contrary to what fans might want, it probably wouldn’t really make much sense for Young Animal to declare a “new beginning” for Berserk when it comes to coming out of hiatus as the series has been featured in the magazine fairly regularly over the past couple of months.
Alongside Duranki in Young Animal Zero, Miura has published two separate chapters of Berserk in April and July of this year – combined together with two chapters last year, the series has been slowly but surely coming back to life.
Of course, what this “new beginning” could mean is that Berserk is returning to a more regular publication schedule, along the lines of what it maintained when it first started all the way back in 1989.
Yet, the problems compounding Berserk’s production still remain. As Miura explained in an interview last year, the high level of detail necessitated by this current arc means that he is all but forced to miss chapters to produce something that he is satisfied with. Even though the end of that arc and the story in general is undoubtedly in sight, Miura’s high standards mean that even a shift away from Elfheim probably wouldn’t lead to a return to normal publication.
So, what does a “new beginning” actually mean for Berserk? I’m of the opinion that it might be a little more literal than may first seem. Judging from the selection of panels from across the series’ history, as well as recent activity in the west, I’m willing to bet that we are looking at some sort of new edition for the Berserk manga – much like the “deluxe” versions that Dark Horse are putting out right now in English.
That may be pretty disappointing if you were expecting more from a “new beginning” for Berserk, but hopefully this article has tempered your expectations somewhat.
What do you think about this upcoming Berserk announcement? What could “The new beginning” possibly mean? We’ll just have to wait until October 9 to find out.