Berserk Creator Kentaro Miura Has Passed Away

The editorial department of Young Animal Comics announced today that Berserk manga artist and creator Kentaro Miura died from acute aortic dissection on May 6.

Originally debuting in 1989, Berserk went on to become one of the best-selling manga of all time and told the story of Guts, a wandering swordsman who inhabited a world of dark fantasy. Guts regularly battled against gods and monsters along the way, as the mercenary was obsessed with enacting revenge against his former brother-in-arms Griffith.

Notable for having a metal prosthetic hand, a towering presence, and his trademark gigantic sword, Miura's series has been seen as a major inspiration in the genre of fantasy, as well as iconic video games such as Final Fantasy VII, Dark Souls, and Bloodborne.

Since news of his death broke, numerous comic book publications, artists, and video game studios around the world have taken to social media to express their sorrow over Miura's passing.

In Final Fantasy XIV, the community even came together to pay tribute to Miura by creating an honor guard of dark knights in in Midgardsormr:

"Miura-sensei was a master artist and storyteller and we had the great privilege of publishing several of his finest works, including his masterpiece, Berserk," Dark Horse Comics, publisher of the manga in the US, tweeted. "He will be greatly missed. Our condolences go out to his family and loved ones."

Miura's legacy can still be seen in a range of Berserk material. In addition to almost 400 manga chapters that have mostly been collected into 40 tankobon graphic novels, Berserk was also adapted several times into anime, first in 1997 with a 26-episode run, and once again with The Golden Age Arc from 2012-2013 and another series that ran from 2016-2017.

Several video games also exist, but nothing comes close to the original manga, which is a collection of excellent storytelling and intricately detailed art.