Kentaro Miura, the creator of Berserk, had ambitions that extended beyond the dark fantasy manga that made him one of the most influential artists in the medium. Although Miura never completed Berserk before his death in 2021, an older interview reveals that he hoped to eventually create a historical manga.
Miura deliberately avoided making Berserk a straightforward historical story because he believed working within real-world history could limit his imagination. However, he did not reject historical manga entirely. Instead, he viewed it as something he wanted to explore later in his career, after developing his creative abilities through fantasy.
Why Miura Chose Fantasy Before Historical Manga
In an interview published in the Berserk Illustrations File, Miura explained that he was concerned historical storytelling could narrow his creative range while he was still developing as a young artist. The interview was later translated by Puella of the SkullKnight forum.
“Precisely speaking, it’s because I thought the range of my imagination might become narrow if I depended on history while I was still young,”
Miura explained.
He pointed to manga legends such as Mitsuteru Yokoyama and Shotaro Ishinomori as examples of creators whose careers demonstrated the value of developing their imaginations through different types of stories. Miura specifically referenced Yokoyama’s work on Tetsujin 28 and Babel II, as well as Ishinomori’s Cyborg 009.
For Miura, this was an important distinction. Rather than restricting himself to historical facts early in his career, he wanted to see how far his own imagination could take him.
That approach ultimately shaped Berserk, whose medieval-inspired setting contains extensive fantasy elements, supernatural creatures and mythology. Although the manga draws visual and thematic inspiration from European history, Miura was not interested in reproducing the real past with strict historical accuracy.
Miura Planned a Historical Manga for His Later Career
Despite choosing fantasy for Berserk, Miura made it clear that historical manga remained something he wanted to attempt. He believed the experience gained from creating Berserk could eventually prepare him for a very different kind of project.
“I want to work on these kinds of manga in my late career,”
Miura said.
That opportunity never arrived. Miura died in May 2021 at the age of 54, leaving Berserk unfinished. Following his death, the manga continued under the supervision of Kouji Mori and Studio Gaga, based on material and conversations Miura had left behind.
Miura’s comments therefore offer a look into a creative direction fans never got to see. After spending decades building the world of Berserk, the acclaimed manga creator had hoped to eventually turn his attention toward stories grounded more directly in history.
