After a six-month hiatus, the late Kentaro Miura's Berserk manga is set to return. The dark fantasy manga, which has seen multiple breaks since the passing of its creator Kentaro Miura in 2021, will return with two chapters in 2024.
Via Berserk's Young Animal magazine, it was revealed that Berserk Chapter 377 will be released on Friday, October 25th. It will be followed by Chapter 378 on Friday, November 8, 2024.
"The long-awaited latest chapter will be published in two consecutive issues!!" the teaser for the series' return reads. "Guts is captured in the land of Kushan, and his brand tingles...!?"
Written and illustrated by Kentaro Miura, Berserk is set in a dark fantasy world and follows a lone swordsman named Guts as he seeks revenge on Griffith, a mercenary leader who betrayed him and sacrificed his comrades to become a powerful demonic being. The long-running series premiered in 1989, but has hit a bit of a standstill since the passing of Miura in May 2021.
Miura's final chapter of the manga was published posthumously in September 0221 with the series returning in June 2022 under the supervision of Miura's childhood friend and fellow manga artist Kouji Mori. The series actually faced some uncertainty following Miura's death, but ultimately Mori decided to continue it using plans and thoughts that were relayed to him by Miura himself. He has also used memorandums and character designs that had been left behind.
As the only person who knows the ending of Berserk as Miura intended, Mori promised, "I will only write the episodes that Miura talked to me about. I will not flesh it out. I will not write episodes that I don't remember clearly. I will only write the lines and stories that Miura described to me."
In a 2023 interview, Mori expressed the challenges of continuing Berserk without his longtime friend. Despite his doubts, he told Asahi, "I thought maybe I could do it. I thought Miura would be angry that I didn't do anything, so I made the decision."
While fans are eagerly awaiting the return of the Berserk manga, there's been a bit of drama on the animation side of things. There have already been multiple anime adaptations of the manga released in the past, but there's been a bit of drama surrounding the fan-made projects currently in development.
Studio Gaga, the publisher and copyright holder of the Berserk manga, recently took to social media and issued a stern statement confirming that Studio Eclypse does not have authorization to produce its fan-made film adaptation. This led to fear that the highly anticipated project would be canceled, but just last week Studio Eclypse took to social media to confirm they are working to establish communication with the IP holders and are "working to get a chance" to adapt The Black Swordsman storyline.