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Berserk Creator Reveals He Based Band of the Hawk on High School Friendship

posted on by Jennifer Sherman

Berserk manga creator Kentarou Miura spoke at the "Hakusensha Sokujitsu Debut Manga Shō" (Hakusensha Same-Day Debut Manga Awards) event on Sunday. Members of the editorial departments of Hakusensha's various manga magazines attended to review and critique manuscripts that aspiring manga creators brought to the event. The appearance marked Miura's first speech of this kind, and his topic was "guide for people who don't know where to start their work."

Miura's manga runs Hakusensha's Young Animal magazine, and he brought in his own personal experiences in his speech to attendees. He said, "Projecting your own personal relationships into a work is important. Because something that really happened is strong, it has persuasive power."

He also said that many otaku view their own lives an unimportant and boring, and that is the reason they turn to manga. However, he continued, "But if you think you're going to eat through manga, you have to bring in the reality that you want to cut loose. As far as my real personal experience, the story of the Band of the Hawk is based on a high school friend relationship I had." Miura believes that putting in the story of the Band of the Hawk was what allowed him to capture fans.

In addition, Miura spoke about the various ways to think about ideas for manga. For characterization, he discussed using extreme personality traits described with keywords to create characters that stand out. He used the concept of a rigid personality to develop the Berserk antagonist Mozgus, who is a religious fanatic with no flexibility. Miura also suggested making a character's appearance before delving into deeper characterization.

He also spoke about story in manga. Miura said, "There's something called a 'mold' in the world of manga. What's excellent is recycled over and over." For example, he described a "captain-type" story where a main character who is an expert in a certain area is asked to join a pitiful club that is on the verge of being disbanded. Characters grow and develop as they deal with personal trauma through club activities. Miura cited Girls und Panzer and Saki as examples of that mold. He believes the concept of molds can be helpful in developing manga, especially for people just starting out as creators.

The Berserk manga is on hiatus until "around winter." Miura launched the manga in 1989, and the series is known for its frequent and often extended hiatuses. Hakusensha published the manga's 39th compiled volume and the first novel in the Berserk franchise, Berserk: Flame Dragon Knight, on June 23.

The final episode of the new Berserk anime ended with a "The Story Continues..." message in June.

Source: Comic Natalie


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