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Learning Japanese with Berserk: Sovereign of the Flower Storm

花吹雪く王, or "sovereign of the flower storm" in English, is the title of Danan, the ruler of the elves. It is an interesting phrase in more than one ways. In Japanese, 花吹雪 (HANAFUBUKI) is an expression that refers specifically to heavily falling cherry blossoms. Japan is renowned throughout the world for its cherry blossom season (in Spring). It's composed of the words 花 (HANA), meaning flower, and 吹雪 (FUBUKI), which by itself refers to a snow storm.

花吹雪 (HANAFU...

Berserk and Japanese humor

Japanese humor is famously "weird", but it also means Japanese people are good at parodying Berserk in mostly tasteful and funny ways. Here are a few examples of parodies from Japan gathered over the years, sometimes just posted on oekaki or shared randomly.

- The title image is of course a reference to volume 18's cover, but with Pokemon.

- The second image reimagines the beherit as a stereotypical cute girl character.

- This is followed by a couple of Doraemon references...

Interview between Miura and Persona's developers (Part 2)

This interview is now accessible to Bronze patrons. Thank you for your support!

Part 1 of this interview can be found here.

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Interviewer: It’s impressive that it was major.

Mr. Miura:
When I was young, for manga, there were only two conceptions: major and minor. In short, for major manga magazines, there were ...

Podcast: "Ask Us Anything"

Here is the replay of our "Ask Us Anything" session. Thanks to those of you who sent in questions, and especially to Jason and Benoist for being with us live.

Ask Us Anything live on Skype! Starting in 15 minutes!

The "Ask Us Anything" session is about to start! Only 15 minutes to go! Walter and Aazealh will be on call to answer any questions, with Puella nearby as well so we can quiz her and relay her answers.

To participate, you've got to download Skype. I think it's possible to use it in a browser too.

The link for the session is: 2021-09-19 16:46:40 +0000 UTC View Post

2004 Sci-Fi concept art

After Miura passed away, the Great Berserk Exhibition added a space at the venue that features a reproduction of his desk, a video message he had recorded (originally only meant to be broadcast once, for a select group on the opening night), tribute artwork from other mangaka,  and 12 color illustrations from an animation project he had secretly been working on with his friends.

We've already made a post about the giant robot animation project, on which we unfortunately have very l...

Translation of episode 364

It's taken a little while (it's my fault too, long week), but the translation of episode 364 is available. It's been posted on skullknight.net as usual but I'm also sharing it here in case that's convenient for some of you.

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Fantasia arc
Chapter of the Elf Island
Tears of morning dew

Page 01

Guts: You…

Guts: Why (are you) here.…

Guts...

Choose the best date for the "Ask Me Anything" session

Here are four choices of dates for the Ask Me Anything session we're planning. It's going to last for as long as there are questions/discussions pretty much (well I mean, not for three hours).

It will take place on a group Skype call which Walter will host. All that's needed to participate is a free Skype account. Why not Discord you say? Because we're very old people over here. Count yourselves lucky rotary phones aren't involved.

Anyway, you'll be able to ask questions on the ca...

A giant robot animation project was being led by Miura

I'm quickly sharing some information about the area of the exhibition where they set up a reproduction of Miura's workspace.

Apparently you can see 12 color illustrations from Miura on the desk, produced as part of a giant robot animation project. The animation planning studio was called "Metabaron" (no doubt a nod to the Jodorowsky/Gimenez graphic novel series) and that was set up around Miura, who loved the giant robot genre. Chica Umino, Kouji Mori and Takashi Hoshi were also in...

Pictures of the Great Berserk Exhibition #2

Here are some more pictures of the Great Berserk Exhibition that I believe are complementary to the previous post. Direct photos of the art is not allowed for most of the exhibition but one of our recon operatives snapped a few regardless. 🤫

As a great man once said: ミンナニ　ナイショダヨ   (It's a secret to everybody)

Preview: "The Artwork of Berserk" artbook

This artbook has been released as a companion to the exhibition and reproduces the artwork that is being exposed there. I'm sharing these pictures from an online seller because the official preview that was given of it didn't really do justice to its size or sturdiness. As the above images show, it looks quite comprehensive and is of top quality.

It's being sold for 3,850 yen ($35), at the exhibition only for the moment. Of course, some people have been reselling copies online for three...

Schedule for future translations + AMA session

Hi everybody,

Puella is hard at work on translating episode 364 despite the strong emotions it brings, which I'm sure are shared by all of us. It will be posted on Skullknight.net in the relevant section as per usual. We will also be releasing a podcast about episode 364 late this Sunday.

Afterwards, Puella will endeavor to translate the messages Miura sensei's friends wrote and drew in the "Messages to Kentarou Miura" booklet. This means that the...

Pictures of the Great Berserk Exhibition

Hi again!

In addition to the release of episode 364, this week is special as it is the opening of the Great Berserk Exhibition, the first solo art exhibition of Miura sensei. Its opening is actually taking place on Friday, but select Japanese media outlets were allowed early access (yes, we tried to get in and were turned down).

Here are some high resolution pictures extracted from mantan-web.jp and oricon.co.jp (in higher quality than what they actually show on their own websites...

The commemorative issue of Young Animal

Hi folks!

This is a special week as we're gearing up for episode 364 in that commemorative issue of Young Animal. We will do our best as always to provide a high quality translation for it by this week-end. It can be done thanks to your support, which Puella deeply appreciates. Please forgive the limited activity in the meantime.

To hold you over, here are pictures of YA issue #18, which I encourage you to order if you haven't already. In addition to episode 364, it includes 29 co...

Learning Japanese with Berserk: The Boy under the Moonlight

We first see the new shape of Guts and Casca's son in volume 28, while they're on the beach. The title of that episode (#238), is 月下の少年 (GEKKA NO SHOUNEN), which translates to "the boy under the moonlight".

Since the boy remains nameless to this day, that's how we came to refer to him. The construction of that phrase is simple: 少年 (SHOUNEN) means "boy". 月下 (GEKKA) refers to being illuminated by moonlight. の (NO) connects the two.

Rather topical, what with episo...

A new artbook will be sold at the Berserk Exhibition

A new artbook will be available at the Big Berserk Exhibition, regrouping the artwork exposed there as well as the cover art for all 40 volumes. It was announced on Twitter by the official account for the exhibition. 

Its title will be "The Artwork of Berserk". It will also contain a new interview with Kentarou Miura. Price is 3850 yen (about $35). It will likely b...

Would you guys be interested in an "Ask Me Anything" session?

These things are popular nowadays, so I was wondering if there might be some interest from you folks. Would you like to shoot questions to Puella, Walter or myself (Aazealh) and if so, what about? You can even write examples of questions in the comments if you want.

Midland's old name

In volume 10, as they descend below the Tower of Rebirth, Charlotte tells Guts, Casca, Pippin and Judo about the building's history and Midland's past. Near the end of that tale, she explains that the name "Midland" (ミッドランド) comes from how the capital city of Gaizeric's empire was called in ancient times: 国の中央の地.

This translates as: "Land in the center of the country".

Why do I bring this up? Well, you guessed it, Dark Horse messed up that translation. They...

Interview between Miura and Persona's developers (Part 1)

This post is now accessible to Bronze patrons. Thank you for your support!

Message from Puella:

Hi folks,

I've started translating this interview with enthusiasm, realizing again how lucky and happy we were during those days when Miura sensei was with us. Tracing the path of his artwork gives me comfort. I hope you can also be comforted like I do by learning a bit about his knowledge, intelligence, humor, passion and even his personality. With this, I propos...

The Beherit Apostle and the Demon Child

Here is something that may be relevant with the release of episode 364.

At the end of volume 20, the "egg of the perfect world" stumbles upon the demon child as he climbs the tower. A chance encounter, but one that bears heavy consequences. His last words to the child as he swallows him are poetic and imbued with meaning.

However, Dark Horse appears to have bungled it by misidentifying the subject of the sentence and applying the wrong object to the verb dream (there is none).&nbs...

Podcast #07: What are we up to?

Since we just released two special podcasts to discuss the news about episode 364, we figured we would do something different for this month's Patreon podcast. That's why you'll hear us talk a bit about ourselves and what we're reading/watching/playing outside of Berserk. Hope you like it!

Want more of the podcast? Click here for the public episodes.

Podcast: Discussing the episode 364 preview

Following the leak of the official announcement of episode 364, which includes snippets from the episode, Walter and Aazealh recorded a quick podcast to discuss the magnitude of this release and speculation on what might happen in it.

You can listen to it directly on Patreon, and here's also an outside link to the file if needed.

As a reminder, that episode will come out on September 10. For...

Episode 364 official announcement

Here is the official flyer advertising the release of episode 364, which will be accompanied by a poster and a booklet containing messages to Miura. It will be released on September 10th, in Young Animal #18.

If you want to read discussions on it, you can head to the Skullknight.net forum.

The Great Wave of the Astral World

In volume 34, Femto accomplishes a key part of the God Hand's plans when he splits Ganishka open, provoking a huge explosion that unleashes a giant wave of light that washes over the whole world. The result is a new world called Fantasia, a fusion of the astral and corporeal worlds. 

In episode 308, Schierke refers to it as a "wind" (風 in between quotation marks) for lack of a better word. But in volume 39 (episode 344), we learn what the Great Gurus of Skellig have been calling ...

Podcast: Reaction to episode 364's announcement

Walter and Aazealh quickly go over the leak (100% reliable) concerning episode 364's release, which will take place in Young Animal #18, released on September 10th.

The release is timed to coincide with the Big Berserk Exhibition and will include a poster and a booklet with "Messages to Kentarou Miura".

Find the link here 

Episode 364 will be released on September 10th

Hakusensha just announced that episode #364 of Berserk will be published in Young Animal #18 on September 10th.

In the same issue will be:
-A poster with the best scenes of the manga.
-A booklet titled "Messages to KENTAROU MIURA"

This is likely to be the last episode that will be published, at least with Miura's direct input.

The thread on skullknigh...

Learning Japanese with Berserk: Struggler

Many Berserk fans have taken to heart the iconic nickname the Skull Knight gives Guts in volume 9: "struggler". In Japanese, he uses an uncommon word: 踠く者 (MOGAKUMONO).

踠く (MOGAKU) is a verb that means "to struggle, to writhe, to make desperate efforts". Miura uses the original kanji for it, which is considered outdated in modern Japanese. 者 (MONO) is a noun that indicates a person. As a suffix, it is modified by the verb to produce the word "struggler".

Guts in a 2D fighting game (M.U.G.E.N)

M.U.G.E.N is a free 2D fighting game engine that was created in 1999 and was popular during the 2000s. It allowed anyone sufficiently motivated to create any kind of fighter and that resulted in many hundreds if not thousands of characters being available. It didn't make for a very balanced experience, but it certainly was fun.

As one would expect, someone eventually made a Guts fighter, and this video was made to demonstrate his abilities.

Miura's new year card for 2000

Kentarou Miura used to send new year cards to his friends and acquaintances as well as to some of the fans who wrote to him. They always featured special illustrations to commemorate the coming year, often related to the Chinese Zodiac.

This is a rare look at one of the earliest such cards we know of. It was made for 2000, which was the year of the dragon in the Chinese Zodiac. That's why it features Puck disguised as Bruce Lee, since the martial artist was famously nicknamed after the ...

Learning Japanese with Berserk: Apostle

The monsters Guts fights against have a peculiar denomination: apostles. Like the 12 apostles from the Bible? Well, yes. 

In Japanese, the word is 使徒, pronounced しと (SHITO). It first appears in volume 1, as Guts faces off against the nameless Snake Apostle.

It is not a word that is commonly used to designate disciples or followers and was likely chosen by Miura specifically for its religious connotation, which makes sense in relation to the God Hand.

Not...