[DB] 2020년 미우라 켄타로 베르세르크 인터뷰 THE ARTWORK OF BERSERK interview (recorded November 2020)

 

베르세르크 아트북 수록 인터뷰 The Artwork of Berserk interview

베르세르크 30주년 기념, 미우라 켄타로 인터뷰

 

미우라 켄타로는 2021년 5월 급성 대동맥 박리로 세상을 떠났다. 이 인터뷰는 그의 30여년 간의 삶을 반영한 대화로서 그가 떠나기 전해의 가을 이루어졌다. 그의 작가로서의 긍정적인 태도를 전하기 위해서 당시 인터뷰를 그대로 게재한다.

 

연재 30년

- 베르세르크 30주년을 기념하면서 당신의 소감이 궁금합니다

미우라 : 솔직히 말하면 베르세르크를 그린지 30년이 지난 지금도 특별히 달라진건 없습니다. 뒤돌아보면, 일적인 부분 보다는 환경의 변화 때문에 30년을 인식하게 됩니다. 작업실을 여러번 옮겨다녔기 때문에 시간의 흐름을 감각하게 되네요. 정규 연재라면 한 작품이 끝난 후 휴식기가 있고, 휴식기를 가진 후 다음 연재가 시작되는 식으로 인생을 살았겠죠. 하지만 제 경우 베르세르크를 30년 동안 같은 속도로 그려왔기 때문에 기념일이라도 달라진게 없는것 처럼 느껴집니다 (웃음).

 

- 이사가 시간의 흐름을 상징하는군요. 이사는 연재를 계속하다보니 작업실이 켜저서 그럴까요?

미우라 : 그것도 한가지 원인이지만 주된 목적은 마음을 가다듬기 위해서 입니다. 저는 좀처럼 여행 할 시간적 여유가 없었기 때문에 여행보다는 지역을 즐기기 위해서 거주지를 옮기곤 합니다. 10년 주기로 이사를 했는데 이제는 정착하고 싶은 마음도 있습니다.

 

- 데뷔 때 베르세르크가 이 정도로 대작이 될 줄 아셨나요?

미우라 : 아니요, 어떤 거장 만화가도 30년간 지속되는 연작을 꿈 꾸긴 어렵다고 생각합니다. 사실 젊었을 때에도 어떤 종류의 만화가가 되고 싶다던지 미래에 대한 비전은 없었어요. 그리고 지금도 데뷔 직전의 젊은 아티스트들과 다를게 없습니다. 항상 눈 앞에 있는 일을 해나갈 뿐 30년이 지났어도 같은 마음입니다. 일에 대해서 큰 변화는 없습니다. 다만 작업은 익숙해졌죠.

 

- 그 말씀은 만화가로서 더 많은 작품을 하고 싶다는 뜻 일까요?

미우라 : 일을 더 늘리기 보다는 다른 영역으로 미끄러져 들어가는 느낌입니다. 사실 저는 더 많이 그릴수록 손이 느려지고 덜 그릴 수 있습니다. 제가 가진 표현의 폭이 넒어지면, 더 많은 것들을 그릴 수 있게 되서, 원고를 쓰는데 더 많은 시간이 필요합니다. 하나의 파이를 두고 누가 더 많은 조각을 가져가나 경쟁하는것 같습니다 (웃음). 예전에는 그림은 못그려도 초안은 빨랐습니다. 생각이 고갈되기 전까지 그리는것을 멈추지 않았죠. 하지만 계속 그리다보면 그림 솜씨가 발전하고, 그렇게 표현할 수 있는 능력을 갖게되면, 자연스럽게 점점 신경 쓰고 싶은 것들이 늘어나서 지나치게 몰입하다보면.. 지옥의 문이 열리죠 (웃음). 특히 디지털 전환 후 더욱 심해졌습니다. 

 

- 디지털 전환 후 그림이나 생각에 변화가 있었나요?

미우라 : 디지털 기술은 일을 편리하게 만들지만, 다른 면에서는 너무 많이 그리는 경향을 조장해서 반대로 더 많은 시간을 소비하게 만듭니다. 예를 들어, 디테일한 장면은 눈에 피로감을 주기 때문에 Liquid Tab으로 사이즈를 키워서 작업했어요. 그런데 그리고나서 보니 원고의 작은 컷이라는걸 깨달았습니다 (웃음). 실제 크기로 되돌리면 그림은 매우 세밀하지만 그것을 기초 삼아 그려야 했기 때문에 전반적인 작업 속도가 느려집니다. 저는 기술에 영향을 많이 받습니다. 디지털 작업은 수정 작업이 쉬워서 매우 편리합니다. 하지만 제 성격 때문에 함정에 빠지게 됩니다.

 

- 지난 그림들을 돌이켜보며 성장이나 변화를 체감하시나요?

미우라 : 그림에 한정하면 이제는 원하는대로 정확하게 표현할 수 있지만.. 글쎄요, 바뀐건 크게 없니다. 제 경우 초안을 완성한 후 1-2주 동안은 "해냈다. 잘그렸어!"라며 성취감을 느끼지만 그 후 서서히 감정이 옅어집니다. 독자들에게 무례하게 굴려는 의도는 아니지만, 과거의 원고는 과거의 것이고 그 이후에는 돌아보지 않습니다.

 

- 바로바로 다음 작업에 몰두하시는군요?

미우라 : 안타깝지만 제가 만든 것을 즐길 여유가 없습니다. 과거 작업은 현재 작업을 위한 레퍼런스로 찾아볼 뿐 자주 읽지 않습니다. 제 작업에 대한 반성은 베르세르크의 연재가 끝난 후 몇 년은 지나야 가능할 것 같습니다.

 

- 주제를 바꿔보죠. 베르세르크 전시회를 위해서 어떤 일들을 하셨나요?

미우라 : 도면 관리 및 선택은 전적으로 스태프에게 일임 했습니다. 다만 빼놓은 그림은 한점도 없으니 전시회의 퀄리티는 보장할 수 있습니다. 개인적으로 전시회라니 좀 쑥스럽지만요.. (웃음) 한가지 요청은 있었습니다. 만화가는 컬러 보다는 주로 흑백 원고로 작업하기 때문에 그 부분을 전시회에 반영하면 좋겠다고요. 전시회 관람객 분들께서는 책에서 볼 수 없는 원고의 다른 면모인 디테일과 흰색 수정 부분 등을 감상해 주셨으면 합니다.

 

- 다른 작가들의 전시회에도 가본적 있습니까?

미우라 : 얼마전 치카 우미노(Chika Umino)의 작품전을 보러 갔습니다. 더 많은 전시회를 찾고 싶지만 시간이 부족하네요.. 그녀(치카 우미노)의 전시회는 사려깊고 감동적인 원고들을 볼 수 있어서 좋았습니다. 부드럽고 푹신한 그녀의 성격이 잘 드러나는 그림들이었죠. 행사장에 모인 팬들의 분위기도 좋았습니다.

 

- 베르세르크 전시회도 기대하는 사람들이 많습니다

미우라 : 30년 동안 이 일을 해오면서 독자들과 소통하는 기회를 만들지 못해 죄송합니다. 잡지 초기에는 에디터분이 팬들과 만나는 저녁 식사 자리도 마련해 주셨는데 그때 팬레터를 자주 보내주신 독자분 십여명과 아프리카 식당에서 만났던 기억이 납니다.

 

 디지털 그림은 생각과 원고를 변화시킨다

- 컬러 원고는 어떻게 구상하고 어떤 과정을 거칩니까?

미우라 : 그다지 극적이지 않습니다. 만화용 컬러 원고는 특성상 책이나 잡지의 표지에 사용되는 일러스트이기 때문에 제약이 있습니다. 제목과 로고 때문에 사용 가능한 공간이 한정되고, 단행본의 경우 서점에서 눈에 잘 띄어야 합니다.

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영어 원문

THE ARTWORK OF BERSERK interview (recorded November 2020)

30th anniversary of Berserk, Interview with Kentaro Miura

Kentaro Miura passed away in May 2021 due to acute aortic dissection. This interview was made in the fall of the year before his passing, in which Miura sensei reflected on the past 30 years of his life. In order to convey the positive attitude he always had toward writing, we have chosen to publish the interview as it was recorded at the time of his death.

30 years passed before I knew it.

- Berserk celebrated its 30th anniversary. What are your thoughts on this?
Miura: Frankly speaking, I feel that 30 years have passed since I started drawing Berserk without any change. Looking back, I am only conscious of the 30 years because of the changes in my environment rather than in my work. I have moved studios several times, so I can feel the passage of time through the accumulation of these changes. If this were a regular serialized work, there would be a break after one series, a rest period, then the start of the next series, and so on, and my life would change along with it. In my case, however, I have been drawing Berserk at the same pace for 30 years, so nothing has changed even though it is the anniversary of the series (laughs).

- I see that you use moving as a symbol of the passage of time. Is it because you have outgrown your studio as you continue to serialize your work?
Miura: That's one thing, but the main purpose is to change my mind. I don't have time to travel in the first place, so I change my place of residence once in a while to enjoy the area instead of traveling. I move every 10 years, but I would like to settle down soon.

- When you made your debut, did you expect Berserk to grow to this level?
Miura: No, I think it is difficult to even for a manga god to have a vision of a series that will continue to run for 30 years. In fact, even when I was young, I did not have such a vision of "this is the kind of manga artist I want to be in the future. Even now, I may have the same outlook as a young artist just before his or her debut. I always continued to do the work that was right in front of me, and perhaps that is why I feel the same way now as I did 30 years ago. There has been no major change in my feelings or stance toward my work, but I think I have gotten used to it.

- Does this mean that you can do more as a manga artist?
Miura: Rather than getting more work, I feel like it's sliding into different areas. In fact, the more I am able to draw, the slower my hand becomes and the less I am able to draw. When the range of expression I have expands, I am able to draw more and more, so it takes more time for me to write a manuscript. It's like I'm competing for a piece of the pie, where one side gets more and the other side gets less. (laughs) I couldn't draw well in the past, but I was fast at drafting. I never stopped drawing until I could not come up with any more visions. However, if you keep on drawing, you will naturally get better at it, so I gradually became concerned about it, and when I went too far... the lid of hell would open up (laughs). This was especially true after I went digital.

- Have you changed the way you draw or think since you switched to digital?
Miura: Although digital technology is convenient and has made things easier, it also encourages my tendency to draw too much, which, as I mentioned, has made it more time-consuming to do the opposite. For example, a detailed screen is bad for the eyes, so I try to draw in a larger size with the liquid tab. Then I end up drawing in the enlarged size and I would realize that it was a small frame in the original manuscript (laughs). When I return to the actual size, the picture is very detailed, but I have to redraw it again, so I use that as a basis for drawing it a second time, and that ends up slowing me down. I am very much influenced by technology. Digital technology is indeed very convenient because you can paint and erase in one action. However, I can't help myself from falling into the hole because of my nature.

- Looking back on your past drawings, do you feel that you have grown or changed in any way?
Miura: As for drawing, I am now able to draw exactly as I want... Well, maybe not quite. Maybe things haven't changed after all. In my case, I feel a sense of accomplishment for about one to two weeks after I finish a draft, saying, "I did it, I drew well!" After that, it fades away. I don't mean to be rude to the readers, but the manuscripts I draw become things of the past, and I don't look back on them much after.

- So you immediately turn your attention to what you draw next.
Miura: It's an unfortunate business, I can't enjoy what I create. I look back at the books as reference material for my writing, but I don't read through them often. I probably won't be able to reflect on my work until many years after the serialization of Berserk is finished.

- By the way, do you have any requests for the Great Berserk Exhibition?
Miura: The management and selection of drawings are entirely up to my staff. However, I can assure you that not a single drawing has been skimped on, so I can guarantee the quality of the exhibition. As for myself, I would be embarrassed to hold an exhibition, but ... (laughs). I have one request: since manga artists are mainly engaged in the business of black-and-white manuscripts rather than color, I would like to see the black-and-white manuscripts that I usually draw the most exhibited as much as possible. I would like visitors to enjoy the details of the raw manuscripts, the white corrections, and other aspects of the manuscripts that cannot be seen in the book.

- Do you go to exhibitions of other artists?
Miura: A while ago, I went to an exhibition of Chika Umino's works. I have been wanting to go to more exhibitions, but I have not been able to find the time... I was lucky enough to be able to go to her exhibition, where I was able to see her original manuscripts, which were very moving and thoughtful. Her drawings are soft and fluffy, and her personality really comes through. The wide range of fans who gathered at the event was also very enthusiastic.

- I know that the visitors are also looking forward to the Great Berserk Exhibition.
Miura: I am sorry that we have not had these kinds of opportunities to engage with our readers for the nearly 30 years that I have been doing this. In the very early days of the magazine, the editor in charge at the time organized a dinner event for us to meet our fans. I met with more than a dozen readers at an African restaurant, who had sent me many fan letters.

Digital drawing changes writing and thinking.

- How do you come up with your color manuscripts and what is your process?
Miura: It is not that dramatic. The nature of color illustrations for manga is that they are used for book covers and magazine covers, so there is a limit to what can be drawn. The space available is surprisingly limited because of the logo and title, and in the case of a volume, the illustration has to be eye-catching in the bookstore. So I end up filling up most of the screen with characters. Many manga artists try to draw the main characters of the book as large as possible. I have always liked the oil painting style of Frank Frazetta and Noriyoshi Ohrai, so my coloring style is in the same vein as their drawings. In the beginning, I used oil paints, but they dried very slowly, so I painted on canvas by base coating with oil-based paint, and then painted with semi-transparent Liquitex. However, if I tried to create subtle gradations with this method, it would take a long time to paint over and over again. In other words, it was difficult to create skin tones for children and girls and was not suitable for cute characters. I ended up creating drawings of characters with a strong sense of power, like Guts. Nowadays, I can say that this is part of my taste.

- Most of the pre-digital colors are painted on canvas, but there are a few watercolors.
Miura: Watercolors are much simpler than oil paintings. I just make lines like croquis and color them in with watercolors. I don't have a favorite medium, but since my favorite drawings are oil paintings, I guess it was inevitable that I ended up with canvas and oil paintings. Now, I have shifted to digital color, which allows me to achieve gradations and other effects as I wish. With canvas, it takes me a day just to do the undercoat (laughs), but with digital, I can start painting in one shot after deciding on a color. On the other hand, hand-painting sometimes improves by chance in the process of painting. With digital, you control everything, but on the other hand, you lose some of the flavor.

- So you are saying that it is difficult to create something outside of one's own imagination in the digital world.  
Miura: Analog is about how to take advantage of coincidence, and this was also true for the penning of black-and-white manuscripts. In digital, everything is under control, so it becomes a bit stiff.

- What was your impression when you started digital drawing?
Miura: In the beginning, we were in a panic. However, the transition to using digital colors was easy, and the advantages were great. Gradations were easy to work with, and color work became faster because of more effective corrections. The manga manuscripts have both positive and negative effects ... in fact, I think they are slower now (laughs). However, this depends on the content of the series, so I can't say for sure. As I mentioned earlier with color, digital allows me to get closer to my image with precision, but I lose touch of the live painting or the feeling of the raw manuscript. However, it is a bit difficult to go back to hand-drawing. Digital has many advantages, and in terms of handing off the work to an assistant, it is perfect. In some respects, I would have preferred analog drawing, but when I think about the division of labor in my work, I prefer digital.

- Have there been any changes in the nature of your drawings since going digital?
Miura: I can now write faster and have a lot of material to work with, so I can work on backgrounds and scenery. These are things I like to spend more time on, but I didn't have that time when I was drawing by hand. I need digital technology to do the drawings I have been doing recently, such as the landscapes and fairies of the fairy island. In the past, I used to collect photographic materials, but it took a lot of time and effort because I could not draw them as they were. In the end, whether digital or hand-drawn is better is up to the viewer's preference.　What I think is the problem now is how to capture the vigor of the old days of painting over with a thick coat of paint in a digital format. Digital lines are so smooth that it is difficult to get the feel of rough brush strokes. Maybe I just don't know the tools (laughs).

- I guess it's very different when it comes to the "feel of the brush”.
Miura: A brush really does change its expression from moment to moment, and can be either exciting or frustrating. The same is true of nibs. Some nibs are quickly broken, while others last for a long time. Anyway, encounters are random, and we have no control over them. Even among the set of nibs I bought, there are some that are hit or miss. Digital nibs always produce a flat line, but there is no such thing as the "ultimate round pen," which is a rare occurrence. Even with brushes, there are brushes that have just the right amount of split in them to suit one's habits. Such an ultimate item that occurs by chance does not appear with digital.

- Next, I would like to ask you about your approach to storytelling and characters. Has the way you make manga changed over the past 30 years?
Miura: I think I have not changed. I give advice to my assistants, so I often think about "what I am doing," so I think I am getting better at systematizing and verbalizing my thoughts. However, there are also things I do unconsciously.

- Can you tell us just a little bit about your approach to manga?
Miura: It's a long story until Berserk is completed, so I'll use the most recent episodes as an example. The storyline is similar to that of an RPG, where Guts meets friends and together they aim for the destination until they reach the fairy island. When they go out to sea, they will find pirate ships, ghost ships, Kraken, mermaids, and all the other famous fantasy elements. We then created a framework within which the characters we had developed would operate. After the characters have been developed, we create them based on the framework of the story, but until then it is a process of trial and error. I think, "I'll make an episode to show this aspect of this character," or "This aspect will be emphasized if this character and this character are involved". When Guts is involved with Griffith, he looks up to his superior and challenges him, and as a result, his immaturity is emphasized. When he gets involved with Isidro and Schierke, he shows a more dependable side, as he is arguing with a child. The basic idea is "how do you want to show Guts?" and the characters are arranged accordingly. Now that the characters are all close to the main character, we can create a chain of characters to show this aspect of Isidro, and from there, new aspects of the character will emerge. I believe that if we express the characters through their relationships, the story will roll along nicely.

- What do you think about the composition of the frames and drawings in your manuscripts? Especially, the action of Guts is captured in a very powerful way.
Miura: I draw from my own senses, so I have no special awareness. When I was in college, I used to accompany Kouji Mori (known for “Holy Land” and "Suicide Island") to his martial arts practice. I would take Mori's mitts and learn from him as well. He would tell me that if I wanted to punch, I should step forward and use my feet to rotate my body, then transfer that rotation to my arms, and then throw my arms out to make a straight punch. Mori taught me in great detail how the body is supposed to move in this way. That may have helped me acquire a little sense of the body. The way Guts swings his sword is an application of this. First I'd draw the outstretched foot, then a standstill and then the slide of the foot. Then I'd draw his rotating hips and the swing of the sword. I put the same pattern that I learned with my own body into the panels, which is why there are so many scenes in which Guts is stepping on the ground.

- That's why you can feel the power and weight of the characters from the images.
Miura: Another factor is my own childhood experience. When we were children in the Showa period (1926-1989), there were motorcycle gangs and Yankees in the streets, and there were dangerous places, and even children could get beaten up by someone even if they lived a normal life. It was a very real experience to see something painful through your body. Berserk is a manga that I started drawing in that period, and because I value it, I think my physical senses from that time have remained. On the other hand, I have the impression that recent fantasy manga has less violence. Perhaps it has changed since our time, and we have moved on to the sensation of moving an avatar in a video game. Because of the physical sensation of avatars, it is acceptable to depict thin girls flying around and wielding huge weapons. Of course, this is not a question of which is better, the past or the present, but a change of the times. And interestingly, this is only true in Japan. The reason why characters in other countries are still muscular may be because many places are still unsafe. In that sense, Berserk may be a global standard.

- Certainly, Guts' heavy feeling action is unique compared to today's fantasy.
Miura: There are reasons why Guts' sword fight is different from other works. First of all, I was not familiar with western swordsmanship, so I thought about how to depict a black swordsman. If I made the sword fighter the enemy, the fight would become a sword fight, an exchange of techniques, and it would be beyond what I could depict with my knowledge and experience. So I decided to put the characters in a setting where swords are prominent, rather than in a sword fight. I made the enemies monsters and demons that could not be defeated with ordinary swords or fine techniques and fought them with a single swing of a huge sword. Since I did not have the qualities to draw with a lack of information, I decided to use the manga technique of placing strange things in strange places and creating charm through the sense of discomfort. This is the exact opposite of Mori, who is able to use his own fighting experience directly in his manga.

Fun but Painful, Armor of Guts.

- Next, please tell us about your daily writing schedule. I heard that during the Golden Age Arc you were working day and night in reverse.
Miura: The manuscript period is like that, but I usually draw the storyboard in about 2 days, even though I am fast with my storyboards, I am slow with my manuscripts... In the newly started Duruanki (Studio Gaga produced by Kentaro Miura), I create the character settings by drawing the storyboards by myself and hand carefully drawn preliminary sketches to my assistants, who pen them. I feel confident that I can do other serials after Berserk if I follow this method (laugh).

- What do you particularly enjoy drawing or are interested in drawing at the moment?
Miura: It is always hard work to make something enjoyable, isn't it? Drawing Guts is as fun as ever, but it is also Guts that take the most time, especially the berserker armor. And of course, I have to draw them all myself. In the  Berserk series that I am currently working on, there are very few areas that can be left to others. Buildings and so on can be left to assistants, but for soft things such as mountains and forests, not to mention people, the habits of the artist will always come out.

- How do you separate what you draw yourself and what is left to your assistants?
Miura: Basically, I give them the buildings with a clear outline. When it comes to mobs that have already appeared or the reappearing witch children in the case of the fairy island, there are cases where I draw a rough sketch and leave it to the assistants. If it is a small drawing that does not require much time, or if it is a special pose, I draw it myself. I don't want to spend a lot of time on preliminary drawings, so I start directly inking onto the storyboards, so there is no time to hand it over to the assistants. Once I have sorted out how to draw with Druanki, I may be able to change the way I work in the future.

- In another interview, you once said, "I can picture a 3D image in my mind, spin it around, and draw it from any angle". What kind of training did you have for this?
Miura: It is hard for me to say, but it may have been a special ability that I naturally had (laughs). I became aware of it in high school. Mori was the first person to say out loud, "That's weird," and at the time I thought, "Really?" There were many people around me who were good at drawing manga, but there were certainly not many who had the same way of perceiving three-dimensional objects. I was really good at making three-sided drawings of three-dimensional objects in technology class. So I don't feel that I studied it particularly hard. I think I had a good grasp of drawing and three-dimensional objects. In my case, I think my grasp of pictures and three-dimensional objects was good. On the other hand, the parameters of storytelling were poor, and I was aware of this, so I studied hard.

- Did you have any special motivation to study drawing?
Miura: As most manga artists who excel in drawing would probably tell you, they all draw because they love it, and they gradually become better at it. I always find myself drawing something on paper. I still do doodles, and when I see something interesting, I try to draw it through my own filter, wondering if I can use it in my own manga.

- I think that writers are conscious of "their own characteristics" when filtering their work. In your case, do you have something like that?
Miura: I am sure there are various things, but perhaps it is the construction of a line of reality to the light-novel-like unpredictability of the story. It is like we are trying to create something that could be childish, but we are trying to twist it in a way that the general public can see it. I think I am good at generalizing something maniacal that can only be understood by a certain type of fan into something that can be seen by a major audience. I myself am an otaku, but I also believe that my senses are close to those of ordinary people. The range of things that I can understand and like is probably the same as that of the general public. In other words, when I draw something, I go through a sifting process, so even if it is a niche subject matter, it will fit into a form that can be understood by ordinary people. I guess that's my distinctive characteristic.

Memorable drawings and stories.

- What drawings in this exhibition have left a particularly strong impression on you?
Miura: What immediately comes to mind is a page from Vol. 34, in which Guts' face peeks out from the berserker armor (P: 176). It may be because the image of "Guts in action in his berserker armor" had just taken root in my mind. It took me a lot of effort to create the berserker armor.

- The berserker armor became Guts' second major weapon after the dragon slayer, didn't it?
Miura: If manga is continued for a long time, there is bound to be inflation of characters and techniques, but this inflation needs to be controlled. In a weekly serialization, the manga may be drawn with a lot of momentum, and it may become difficult to keep up at the end. That is why I try to keep inflation as low as possible. In Berserk, there are two major inflationary events: the time when magic is introduced, and the time when the berserker armor is introduced. In both cases, the parts of Berserk that we have been focusing on until now are taken to the next stage. When magic appears, the worldview changes, and when Guts moves in an unusual manner in the berserker armor, he deviates one step from the "human physical senses" that we have been depicting until now. We have to be aware of this and create some inflation. The color paintings I just mentioned were done when I felt that the inflation had worked and I had a good response. The calendar drawings and card game drawings that I did with light colors are also memorable because they are different from my usual color drawings. I enjoyed being able to draw scenes of Guts and his friends in their everyday lives without being bound by the restrictions of a book, and for a while, I even drew light-colored pictures on the backs of the magazine's pinups. I wanted to draw travel scenes with these drawings because they are suited to depicting everyday scenes.

- Since Schierke and the others joined us, there has been an increase in the number of fun things to see on the road.
Miura: Gathering a group of friends and traveling together is the basis of fantasy entertainment. I started Berserk in 1989, and at that time, even ultra-violent works were acceptable. However, after such a long period of entertainment, people may have become tired of the violence, and they may not be able to endure it anymore. It is also becoming more difficult for me to read manga, maybe I am getting older (laughs).

- How do you get inspiration from other works, or "input" as you call it?
Miura: First of all, there are things that I look at as a hobby and things that I read as a necessary input for writing. For example, I am currently reading ancient materials for drawing Duranki, iron gun making, etc. I enjoy reading about these things. I don't know if it is an input, but lately, I have been reading a lot of light novels. I spend more time reading light novels than manga. As for videos, I still watch anime, and I tried to watch foreign dramas, but they are too long for me. Instead, I am rewatching some of my old favorites. Lone Wolf and Cub, Kogarashi Shimonjiro, Zatoichi, and others.

- Is there a reason why you read so many light novels?
Miura: I sometimes say, "I need to know what's going on with young people these days," but I just like it (laughs). There are many works that impress me, and I can read them quickly and easily, from the serious to the silly. I think it's amazing that you can make the reader enjoy reading just by the interaction of the characters. I can't write stories unless they are episodes or stories. ...I don't think anyone is looking for a conversational play (laughs).

- Do these outside influences have any impact on your manuscripts?
Miura: I don't think I'm influenced by light novels, rather, I'm influenced by works I've seen in the past. I think it is a mixture of various things rather than any one particular work. Also, I think that I love light novels because they share something in common with the works I used to like. Otherwise, Berserk might have developed into something that young people would not be able to follow at all.

- What episodes of Berserk have been particularly memorable for you?
Miura: I absolutely enjoyed the days of the Band of the Hawk, the process of bringing together the main characters we have now, and the RPG quest-like journey that followed... It was all fun. To put it another way, there is the Lost Children's Chapter. That story is in the series to remind readers of the basic form of the Black Swordsman to which Guts returns after the Band of the Hawk is over. Where the structure of the story is "the Black Swordsman comes and kills the monsters." The golden pattern of the Lost Children chapters is that Guts, who seems human at first, looks like a monster when he defeats the monster, and conversely, the monster looks like a human. The fact that we were able to depict this in a conscious manner left a lasting impression on me. That episode has not been animated yet, but as expected, it is ethically difficult to do... (laughs).

- There were various developments during the serialization, such as the anime adaptation you just mentioned. Were there any that left a particularly strong impression on you?
Miura: What sticks in my mind the most is when the manga became a hit when it was first made into an anime (Kenpu Denki Berserk in 1997) and I saw a stack of copies of the manga in a local bookstore. It felt somewhat fluffy and unreal. I think it is a truly lucky thing for a manga artist to have such an experience, and I will never forget it.

Fantasy unchanged since the 80's

- What are your future plans for Berserk?
Miura: The story of Berserk is at the point where the story begins to fold. Guts and Griffith will face off, and the God Hand will come out more and more. I know it has been a long time coming, but please look forward to it. We are also deciding on the landmarks for the future development. I am sure it will change in the future, but I have already planned the second half of the fairy island, so I will start from there.

- What are your current goals as an artist, and what other challenges do you want to take on besides Berserk?
Miura: After Berserk is over, that is... I am feeling a good response to Duranki, so my first step is to draw Duranki properly. Of course, there are many other genres I would like to draw. I am always inspired by fantasy and science fiction, which were the favorites of my generation, and I doodle during my breaks. Lately, I've been thinking about transforming robots and their transformation systems (laughs). I love the transformations of the 80's, when the parts of the robot were consistent with each other. I don't know if this can be applied to manga at all.

- After 30 years as an artist, have your impressions of the manga world and its readers changed?
Miura: This is true not only for manga, but for Japan as a whole, and for the world as a whole. In such a situation, Berserk has lasted for 30 years... (laugh). So, there is something that I feel a little sad about. I entered this world because I admired artists who drew excessively in the 80's, such as Fist of the North Star (Tetsuo Hara) and Akira (Katsuhiro Otomo), but I have the impression that this line of work is now pretty much dead. While Mr. Hara has been active for a long time, it is difficult to find young artists who choose the same line of work. I may be able to do what I do because there are so few of us, but it is sad to be one of the last of the dinosaurs. However, young people see things differently than we do, and perhaps they want something more stylish in their manga.

- In this age of manga saturation, there is an emphasis on readability and ease of entry, isn't there?
Miura: For me, I always had the feeling that "a manga should be great, not easy to read!" I always had the feeling that the difficulty of reading manga was part of the charm of the work, and I have grown up as I am (laughs). However, I do not know how values will change in the future. I myself am not interested in so-called trends at all, which may simply change according to whether I like it or not.

- Has anything you like changed over the past 30 years?
Miura: Sometimes we like things that didn't exist in the past and were born recently. That's exactly what happened with the light novels. I've always liked them, and I'll always like them. I have gained more experience in life, so I can understand the emotions of the characters and understand the meaning of movies that I couldn't understand in the past. The core of my being has probably not changed. I like light novels now because I find in them the same elements that I liked in Rumiko Takahashi's works in the past. Of course, there were science fiction and fantasy novels in the 1980s as well. Since those early days, they have become softer and less rigid, and fantasy has become more familiar to us as we have become more familiar with school and reincarnation stories. There is less demand for heavy fantasy, or perhaps that is why today's readers are under more stress.

- It is true that the environment surrounding manga is very different today than it was in the 1980s.
Miura: When we were children, there were many hurdles in the way of gaining recognition for ourselves. Even if you drew a manga, unless you submitted it and won an award, there was little chance for it to be read by the public. Now that it is possible for individuals to publish their manga on the Internet, it is easier to be recognized by others, so there is a different kind of difficulty.

- What are your plans for the next 40th anniversary?
Miura: I want to stay healthy (laughs). Lately, I have been keenly aware that my body can no longer sustain the same lifestyle as when I was younger. I am taking much better care of my health than I used to, but even so, my physical strength has been declining. And when I do strength training and walking for my health, it cuts into my writing time. I am sorry that Berserk is running late because I can't do as much as I used to, but I am doing my best to make it last longer.

- The Great Berserk Exhibition is attracting a lot of attention from overseas fans. How do you feel about the fact that this is a fantasy work that is also enthusiastically received overseas?
Miura: I don't have much of an image of foreign readers in my mind, but I have wondered since the beginning if fantasy created by Japanese people would be accepted overseas. I still don't know if Japanese people enjoy the discomfort of a fake historical drama created by a foreigner, or if it can be accepted as a full-fledged fantasy. However, in order to make it accessible to as many people as possible, I used Disney's works as references when creating the worldview. I didn't set a specific country or time period, but rather a "once upon a time..." way of presenting the world. Another thing I was careful to do was to convey Guts' situation and actions as an anomaly in that world as well. I used Disney's fable storytelling style, which is common throughout the world, to create a stateless stage. On the other hand, I think that today, if we were to push out Japanese-style elements such as ninjas and samurai, it would be better received overseas. In the 30 years since then, there have been many Japanese works that have been appreciated overseas. I wonder what position Berserk holds among them. However, I strongly feel the passion of overseas fans, and I would like to continue to draw works that meet their expectations.

- Lastly, do you have a message for the visitors of the Great Berserk Exhibition?
Miura: Those of you who have been reading Berserk for a long time are my friends who have lived through the same times. Thank you very much for your long-time support. I look forward to working with you in the future. And to those of you who have returned to Berserk after leaving it for a while, I would like to say, Berserk has continued unchanged since those days. Welcome back. And to the young people who are newly interested in the manga, I would like to take the time to tell them that the manga of the 80's is great too! (laughs). Berserk started in 89, but I have been drawing it as a manga of the 80s, and I think of it as a kind of tale that has been growing since that time. I hope that this will be the start of a new trend and that you will reach out to the things that we were into.

 

출처 : https://berserk.fandom.com/wiki/Interviews