Kentaro Miura died

[Deleted]

According to Morikawa's twitter...

[Mr. Kentaro Miura's death report]

Dr. Kentaro Miura, the author of "Berserk", passed away on May 6, 2021 due to acute aortic dissection. We would like to express our utmost respect and gratitude to Dr. Miura's painting work and pray for his soul.

May 20, 2021 Hakusensha Co., Ltd. Young Animal Editorial Department

Edit:

I should say...Muira was about the same age as Morikawa and a lot of other famous mangaka too...

Takehiko Inoue (Slam Dunk, Vagabond) - January 12, 1966
George Morikawa - January 17, 1966
Yoshihiro Togashi (Yu Yu Hasuko, Hunter X Hunter) - April 27, 1966
Kentaro Miura (Berserk) - July 11, 1966 to May 6, 2021
Masanori Morita (Rokudenashi Blues, Rookies) - December 22, 1966
Tooru Fujisawa (GTO) January 12, 1967

[K']

Devastating

RIP

[jedah]

Thanks. I was going to post this as well. Thread stickied.

Unbelievable, only 54 years old. The world lost him way too young.

Berserk was a masterpiece, and coincidentally I just re-watched the old 1997 anime, and it still rocks years later. Totally holds up as excellent storytelling with wonderful characters, amazing soundtrack, and atmosphere.

Strange that I had the impulse to watch Berserk again, and then this tragic news occurs.  I have been a huge fan for twenty years.

What else can be said? As I sit here at 2 AM on my phone trying to process this, words fail me. We’ve lost an icon and a one of a kind artist.

A great track from the 1997 anime to listen to while thinking about Miura's work:

[shenlong]

Goddamnit.

RIP Miura.

[bonaduce80]

I just found out in Reddit. I can't start processing it. Damnit, he was way too young too. I feel lost, not in the way as when you lose a loved one, but thinking the story won't ever had an end, how he brought lots of people from all over the world together with this pinnacle of dark fantasy and now he is... gone. Just when Guts and Casca got finally reunited too.

To be honest, it doesn't feel real. I have always wondered about when I grow old (hopefully) and die and all these serial pieces of entertainment will outlive me and won't ever know their endings. It never occurred to me it could actually happen the other way around.

[Deleted]

Kentaro's death was really sudden.  What scary is that is mainly due to high blood pressure and long term stress, which is pretty common with mangaka having to met deadline all the time. 

I posted this on reddit...

Miura worked on Morikawa's first series when he debut at Weekly Shoenen Magazine in 1986. It was called Kazuya Now, which was a soccer/football manga series that only last 2 volumes. On Morikawa twitter, he mentions a few pages that Miura help drawn on it when he worked as a special assistant at the time.'

Miura wasn't with Morikawa long. In a few interviews that Morikawa has done over the years, he talked about it a little.

(Using Google/DeepL)

Source - www.moae.jp/comic/howtobeamangaartist/18/1

Interviewer - Is it the same with manga? Can you tell at a glance whether an assistant will be successful or not?

Morikawa: I can tell. I can see that. I'm sorry, but I can tell just by drawing a little line. When I did my first weekly series at the age of 19, I asked for someone around my age to be my assistant, and an 18-year-old student from the Nihon University College of Art came. I gave him a sample of my work, and when he drew it, he was clearly better than me. What the heck! I thought. That was Kentaro Miura.

Interviewer - From "Berserk"!

Morikawa: Yeah. I could tell right away that he was different. Also, I had a kid who came to help me with "Ippo" draw the people in the audience. Normally, they draws all the panels in the same way, as if they were stamped with a stamp, but when Ippo punches, the faces of the audience also turn in that direction. I knew he couldn't stay here and be an assistant, so I gave him the money for the day and told him to go home. I told him to go home and draw his own manga. That was Masato Soda (whose representative works include "Capeta").

Interviewer - Whoa!

Morikawa: The later Kentaro Miura and Masato Soda (laughs). (laughs) I said the same thing to Miura and asked him to leave, but he said, "I'd like to talk to you." I thought, "I'd rather talk to you!" He was on his way home from college and had a sketchbook with him, so he showed it to me and he drew a picture that would become the forerunner of Berserk. He said, "I'm thinking of drawing this when I get stronger." About 15 years later, "Berserk" was born. I thought, "Wow, this guy is awesome!" I thought. I'm sorry to say this, but I can tell at once if someone has good taste.

Source - French Article

Interviewer - Kentaro Miura was one of your assistants. Berserk is completely different from Ippo's style, did you feel this darkness in him?

George Morikawa : When I started, I was 19 years old and I needed help. I didn't know how to do it, so I asked my publisher and they found me a young Kentaro Miura who came to help me temporarily to finish some drawings. He was an art student at the time. When he came, he had his portfolio under his arm, so I asked him to make a drawing to see how he was doing. I was immediately impressed, he drew much better than me. Curious, I couldn't resist asking him to show me his portfolio. And when he opened it I discovered a dark warrior with a gigantic sword. The Guts as we will discover him ten years later. It's a world he had in mind already when he was in college. And you could say that I was one of the first to see the character of Guts. And I was already very impressed by him at the time.

Then Morikawa sort of talks about it again on twitter.

where someone posted a "rough translation" to what Morikawa posted:

It should be noted that Berserk and Hajime no Ippo both debut in 1989. When Hajime no Ippo started, Morikawa had two failed series at that point where Hajime no Ippo was his last shot.  They both have sort of parallel careers with their series and their age about being the same. 

[dannythm]

RIP Miura, you left us way too young.

[ungora]

Very sad news, i pray he is at peace in Heaven.
Thanks for the amazing work in Berserk.

[donpawlo]

This absolutely doesn´t feel real.... actually Berserk next to HNI is one of teh most important works too me. Both inspired me at difficult times. It does feel really unreal. I am wondering of how Miura was aware of not ending his Masterpiece in his last moments. I mean it must have taken in a huge part of his live, beeing somehow his legacy. Rest in peace Miura I will pray for you.

[K']

Berserk will continue

[duke]

Jun 7, 2022 13:47:30 GMT K' said:

Berserk will continue

Wow. Also, not long ago Togashi made a tweet about Hunter x Hunter continuing too. (With at least 4 chapters.)

[shenlong]

Holy fucking shit.

[bonaduce80]

Godamnit. I am picturing a struggling Miura falling on his knees exhausted, unable to complete his piece for all his friends, colleagues (and fans!) carrying him over to the finish line.

It's not for us that this is happening but for a great artist who was taken away too soon. Bless them and bless Miura, wherever he is.

On a more humorous note, next chapter should start with Guts's prosthetic hand engraved in Griffiths's mug. Then he proceeds with a full 19 pages of oraora. The end.