Artwork of Berserk interview - Page 3 (part 2)

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Interviewer: How do you work on dividing panels for your manuscripts or on the composition of your drawings? Especially, Guts' actions are divided in a way that gives them an incredible impact.

Miura: I'm not especially conscious of that, since I draw as I feel. When I was in university, I used to join the martial arts practice of MORI Kouji-kun (author of "Holy Land" and "Suicide island"). Catching (his blows) with mitts, I learned as well. For example, to throw a punch, (he said,) "step forward", "shift to a rotary motion with your hips", "channel it into your arm", "hit as if you're throwing (something) out, it becomes a straight". "That's how you should move your body" ; he taught me kindly and carefully. So, maybe I learned a bit about the sense of physicality. (1)

The way Guts wields his sword is an application of that. First, I draw his foot stepping forward, exerting strength on it, and his feet sliding. And then I draw his hips rotating and him swinging the sword. Since I put the consistency that I’ve mastered with my body in the panels, there are many scenes where he steps on the ground.

Interviewer: That creates depictions where we can feel the force and weight, I see.

Miura: Another factor is my own experience in my youth. In the Shōwa era when we were children, there were biker gangs and juvenile delinquents (2) out in the world, dangerous places on the street. Even a child who lived an ordinary life got harassed by somebody. (For us), getting intimidated physically was a real experience. "Berserk" is a manga that I started to draw in that era and it cherishes this kind of thing. So I think I still keep the sense of physicality of those days.

On the other hand, it seems like violence is reduced in today’s fantasy manga. Maybe they have shifted to the sense of moving game avatars, changing from my time. And, since it's the sense of physicality of avatars, even a depiction where a girl with a delicate appearance wields a huge weapon while flying around is accepted. Of course, this is not about which is better between the past or present, but about a change of the times. And the interesting thing is that it's only in Japan. The reason why foreign characters are still muscular (3) these days is maybe because there are still many places with bad public order. In this specific regard, maybe "Berserk" is more attuned to global standards. *laughs*


Note 1: What he means by "sense of physicality" is a sense for how the body works and moves.
Note 2: He uses the word "Yankee", which means "juvenile delinquent" in this context.
Note 3: He uses an onomatopoeia for "muscular".