Berserk Deluxe Edition Volume 13

Berserk Deluxe Edition #13

by Kentaro Miura, Duane Johnson (Translator)

The Game of Thrones of adult fantasy/horror manga roars toward the finish line, collecting Berserk volumes 37–39 in the original oversized serialization format and with updated translations and three fold-out color posters.

Guts the Black Swordsman and company reach the island of Skellig in hopes than Elven magic can heal the afflicted mind of Casca, but first they must face the island’s terrifying magical defenses. If they can pass through and reach Elfhelm, the Flower Storm Monarch of the Elves can perform the ritual that might free Casca. But failure will mean their long, perilous journey will have been for nothing!
 
Collects Berserk Volume 37, 38, and 39.

Genres: Manga, Fantasy, Horror, Comics, Graphic Novels, Fiction, Dark Fantasy

624 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2023

About the author

Kentarou Miura (三浦建太郎) was born in Chiba City, Chiba Prefecture, Japan, in 1966. He is left-handed. In 1976, at the early age of 10, Miura made his first Manga, entitled "Miuranger", that was published for his classmates in a school publication; the manga ended up spanning 40 volumes. In 1977, Miura created his second manga called Ken e no michi (剣への道 The Way to the Sword), using Indian ink for the first time. When he was in middle school in 1979, Miura's drawing techniques improved greatly as he started using professional drawing techniques. His first dōjinshi was published, with the help of friends, in a magazine in 1982.

That same year, in 1982, Miura enrolled in an artistic curriculum in high school, where he and his classmates started publishing their works in school booklets, as well as having his first dōjinshi published in a fan-produced magazine. In 1985, Miura applied for the entrance examination of an art college in Nihon University. He submitted Futanabi for examination and was granted admission. This project was later nominated Best New Author work in Weekly Shōnen Magazine. Another Miura manga Noa was published in Weekly Shōnen Magazine the very same year. Due to a disagreement with one of the editors, the manga was stalled and eventually dropped altogether. This is approximately where Miura's career hit a slump.

In 1988, Miura bounced back with a 48-page manga known as Berserk Prototype, as an introduction to the current Berserk fantasy world. It went on to win Miura a prize from the Comi Manga School. In 1989, after receiving a doctorate degree, Kentarou started a project titled King of Wolves (王狼, ōrō?) based on a script by Buronson, writer of Hokuto no Ken. It was published in the monthly Japanese Animal House magazine in issues 5 and 7 of that year.

In 1990, a sequel is made to Ourou entitled Ourou Den (王狼伝 ōrō den, The Legend of the Wolf King) that was published as a prequel to the original in Young Animal Magazine. In the same year, the 10th issue of Animal House witnesses the first volume of the solo project Berserk was released with a relatively limited success. Miura again collaborated with Buronson on manga titled Japan, that was published in Young Animal House from the 1st issue to the 8th of 1992, and was later released as a stand-alone tankōbon. Miura's fame grew after Berserk was serialized in Young Animal in 1992 with the release of "The Golden Age" story arc and the huge success of his masterpiece made of him one of the most prominent contemporary mangakas. At this time Miura dedicates himself solely to be working on Berserk. He has indicated, however, that he intends to publish more manga in the future.

In 1997, Miura supervised the production of 25 anime episodes of Berserk that aired in the same year on NTV. Various art books and supplemental materials by Miura based on Berserk are also released. In 1999, Miura made minor contributions to the Dreamcast video game Sword of the Berserk: Guts' Rage. 2004 saw the release of yet another video game adaptation entitled Berserk Millennium Falcon Arc: Chapter of the Record of the Holy Demon War.

Since that time, the Berserk manga has spanned 34 tankōbon with no end in sight. The series has also spawned a whole host of merchandise, both official and fan-made, ranging from statues, action figures to key rings, video games, and a trading card game. In 2002, Kentarou Miura received the second place in the Osamu Tezuka Culture Award of Excellence for Berserk.[1]

Miura provided the design for the Vocaloid Kamui Gakupo, whose voice is taken from the Japanese singer and actor, Gackt.

Miura passed away on May 6, 2021 at 2:48 p.m. due to acute aortic dissection.

Reviews

[aleksandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25/5

The way Kentarō Miura showed Casca’s dreamspace-

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎

[hotsake (André Troesch) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Berserk is back on track. Unfortunately, this happened just before Miura's untimely passing.

[alexis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unfortunately a lot of the character momentum is lost during the final fantasia fairy arc, and the very obvious transition into digital screentones/compositing in volume 39 is pretty distracting, with what seems like three different inkers suddenly on each page. The broken doll and penis monster imagery feel almost cringeworthily clumsy in their sudden heavy-handedness, and the series’ deepening exploration of the subtle strength of femininity(?? jesus christ I wish I had a different way to frame that) starts to kind of tritely plateau when girls keep going “omg I love you just like a sister or my mom <3” or “omg you look soooo pretty”. Casca’s dress transformation scene in particular felt spit-takingly silly and anti-climactic, but who knows, maybe that’ll be another one of those things I think about for two weeks and then decide is genius, actually.

And then, of course, Kentaro Miura tragically passed away in 2021 at the age of 54, partway through the completion of volume 41.

There’s nothing new to say about Berserk at this point, but it’s genuinely shocking how much of a cliffhanger the series manages to end on, and especially haunting how little emotional wrap-up or insight there will ever be on both Casca and Griffith’s characters. This is, of course, absolutely meaningless next to the loss of a brilliant artist whose early death was very likely caused, at least in part, due to overwork - but I still expected to finish the series with a slightly clearer understanding of whether or not Griffith is……evil???? I guess??? But like. You know. What can you really do about it. I’m sure there was some made up fantasy reason waiting around the corner about how actually he had to impregnate Casca for plot reasons so she’d have the demon baby or whatever. Idk. It doesn’t really matter.

Despite my criticisms of the series as a whole- the first Guardians of Desire arc is an edgy, nihilistic slog; the sexual violence and in particular one graphic rape scene make it basically unreadable for a lot of people; there’s a clear attempt to navigate the awkward self-conscious transition of adolescence that’s never given time to fully land, meaning there’s a really stupid drawing of the 12yo girl character tripping and falling over naked that I never fully recovered from- despite all these, it’s impossible not to talk about Berserk as a masterpiece. It feels like an actual privilege to witness Miura grow as both a writer and an artist over almost three decades. I’ve never read anything like it, and don’t know if I ever will again.

[The Inked Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

This man passing away too soon is one of the greatest tragedies of the 21st century. Period.

[Juraj · Rating 4 out of 5]

Vol. 39 is amazing, some of the best art so far with story finally moving on but Vol. 37 and 38 were dragging. I get showing off the capital and progressing Rickert's story but I don't think another bloody flashback to Guts's past was necessary. If this pacing and release schedule keeps up we might see the end in around 2150. Fingers crossed science can stop aging and cancer in our lifetime...

[Victor The Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

Vol. 37 - With the help of the sirens and the piercing power of the berserker armor, Guts is able to defeat the sea god but it also puts him in extremely painful distress. After his recovery, we get a look at his earlier years and we see a large satyr-like warrior and a peaceful village with a magical tree.

Vol. 38 - We see Rickert and his crew getting a deeper look inside Falconia where there is plenty of surprises and frights, while later Guts and company have arrived on Elf Island and quickly come across some traps.

Vol. 39 - After fighting some traps upon arriving on Elf Island, Guts and his party has found a mage village where meet witches, elves and their elegant ruler who helps Schierke and Farnese into entering Casca’s dreams to find the fragments and some surprises deep inside her mind.

A (100%/Outstanding)

[Eva · Rating 5 out of 5]

6/5 stars for the entire series 🫡

[Sandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Full thoughts and review here: https://youtu.be/uIG2lf56ztg

[Bingus Boingus · Rating 5 out of 5]

God damn what an emotional rollercoaster, that last volume really got me, now the wait for November begins so I can finish this, and then an even longer wait for the series conclusion.

[Tyrell ⚔️ · Rating 5 out of 5]

“He Has Submerged His Humanity & Transformed Himself Into A Greater Monster.”

[Sam · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite sections of the story. The conclusion of the Sea God arc, Guts' flashbacks, Rickert going to Falconia and the gang arriving at Elfheim + Casca's mindscape. It's all gorgeous and I'm super bummed that I'm about to reach the end.

[Ali Haji · Rating 5 out of 5]

This volume was jam packed with fantastic storylines and scenes which I will try to list below:

Spoilers below:


-Young Guts being taken as a prisoner and that cool guy called Martino who managed to quickly gain Gut’s trust only to remind him of a lesson taught to him by his father Gambino.

-The flower fairy Chitch… man was she adorable and such a joy to see her interact with Guts in the prison cell, only for Guts to wake up the next day and find her gone… RIP Chitch

-We finally get to see Falconia, the only kingdom left in the new world and honestly it is magnanimous and magnificent

-Rickert is back and he slaps Griffith when the confrontation happens. Rickerts also goes on to fight that Rakska dude alongside that Kushan sand guy that refuses to leave the story

-Luca the brave prostitute is also back but I don’t care much for her

-The gang finally make their way to Elfheim

-I think this volume is also where the Sea god king is defeated with the help of Mermaids so they were cool to see

-The Fairy queen was cool and looked queenly to say the least

-Shierke and the blonde girl delved into Casca’s dream and damn what a sad and miserable place it is, with Guts being an injured dog dragging a coffin that houses a broken Casca :(

[Grayson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Took me a while to get through this because I'm just so bored. I just wanna know what happens to Casca and I'm so happy the last part of the manga is dedicated to that. Idc about Guts anymore give me background on Casca and Griffith only thank you

[Nienora · Rating 4 out of 5]

The most important thing that happened is that Griffit got slapped. Also Guts is a literal dog and if that isn't the most accurate representation, I don't know what is

The way Golden Company scenes bring me to tears every time should be studied

[Rachelle :) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Okay so we’re back I cried 8 times😵‍💫

I think that the baby arc with guts and chitch may be my favourite thing to come out of the whole series it was so devastating but effective and I think it confirmed a lot of what I already thought about him and also HORRIFICALLY MIRRORED HIS CURRENT SITUATION

I’m so glad to see my sweet casca get her time in the spotlight I truly hope that she gets to do whatever makes HER happy frfr

Oh my god I’m so scared

[annie · Rating 4 out of 5]

ngl i checked outta the plot a while ago but man the art is unmatched

[Darien Springer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This deluxe volume is the first in awhile where I felt genuinely invested for a good chunk of it. The resolution to the sea pirates arc doesn't really feel like anything, but the flashback about Guts that follows feels emotionally resonant in a way that the series hasn't since at least deluxe volume 8. Being reminded about some of the roots of Guts' pain, his body being treated as disposable, is heart-wrenching and his relationship with the flower fairy captures his sweetness even if it ends in bittersweet ambiguity. Will him taking the flower back to the field allow her to re-materialize there? I love how we might not ever know and have to just sit with that palpable sadness.

Rickert's dissonance as he makes his way through the seeming utopia of Falconia is another great example of early-Berserk's penchant for exploring complex questions about morality and identity (on a side note: I just have to point out the obvious that Falconia and its surrounding countryside has some of the best background design I have ever seen). Rickert wants to be mad, but he also sees that Griffith's new world seems to be a much better one than any of them have ever seen. Everything will likely fall apart before the end, but there is something so wonderfully unsatisfying about Rickert wanting to feel the satisfaction of slapping Griffith only to then immediately feel empty because Griffith seems to be, if even for his own ends, doing good. It can be difficult to not have an object with which we can take out our anger and have to just process all of our emotions amidst our emptiness.

The Elfheim and subsequent descent in to Casca's mind is where the series goes back to its late game shallowness and excess of silliness. The Puck king mini-plotline just isn't funny as the humor surrounding him is just way too random and I still wish he would go back to his old personality of being overly earnest, if a little frivolous sometimes. Elfheim, as usual, looks incredible and is full of creative, maximalist design. The Casca dreamscape arc, however, feels like one of those universally loathed clip show episodes where, instead of the story being continued, the audience gets a summary of the show to fill time. There is some solid melancholy, however, as Guts anxiously waits for her return, not knowing if she will even want to be around him once her memories return.

The Elfheim section is, like much of Berserk in its latter half, largely over-stuffed with two-dimensional characters with little to contribute. I hope that Miura and the writers that are tasked with the resolution of the series after his unfortunate passing can breathe some life back in to the characters. The poor guy probably just became burdened by the insane demands of his perfectionist art-style (seriously, as an aspiring graphic novelist myself, this is easily the best art in a comic I have ever seen) and the darkness of the series. It became increasingly lighter and less character-driven about halfway through which is just a shame since the first five deluxe volumes, if they had maintained the same quality through the whole series, made me feel like Berserk was going to become my favorite manga of all time.

[Žiga Primožič · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the last one so far, so I wanna write something. I'll try to shroud it in shadows, so I don't spoil much.

The whole Fantasia Arc is absolutely fantastic. It started amazingly, on par with The Eclipse, and so far it has just gotten better and better. Not completely sure yet, but it just might be my favorite one. At least the execution of the core idea is fascinating and it's the exact thing that was foreshadowed since basically the start of the series. It has managed to fulfill my expectations of the idea that was gorming in the back of my mind evers since Griffith's monologue to Guts about his "kingdom." It turns out it's a straight and honest answer, like this:
"How big will your kingdom be, Griffith?"
"Yes."

Every single character in this series carries so much weight and uniqueness, the story is unraveling through every picture, and everything is getting deeper and deeper. And I love the sad and real, brutal realism of it all. Nothing's too much, nor too ugly, nor too sensitive. It's just how I like to read and write my stories. A shadow of the eclipse over it all, gruesome and horrible things happening, with just a tiny speck of sunlight peering through the darkness. I just can't stop reading, or finding time to think about Berserk - sadly, I have to, at least pause the reading, since Part 14 seems at least a couple of years of.

But for this part (13.), I love how side characters get their own time to shine through that darkness, and the story just ebbs and flows slowly, until there comes a giant freaking wave to eradicate and reset everything, or uplift it into the sky, every once in a while. THE island is all I wanted it and more, the artistry in this book is so much more than I ever wanted and thought it would be, when compared to the start of the series... And it was already brutally beautiful then. Berserk is one of the only stories where I love its shock value, since it's extremely well foreshadowed and flows with the story so well.

But for the Corridor of Dreams... The nuance, the artistry, the metaphors, the three pages of memories, the ever-closing black sun, the raven-haired girl...
Gulp... 😐
Right into the feels 😞

Will be patiently waiting for vol. 14.

RIP Kentaro Miura 🫡🫡🫡

[juniorpalo · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think this is easily my favorite deluxe edition volume purely for the Rickert storyline but also all the double spreads of the city of Falconia. The jump from hand drawn to digital was a little jarring but you can still see just how far Miura has come since he started.

Fitting that I finished this and started the final deluxe edition (volume 14) on the 3rd year anniversary of his death. Forgive the cliche but Berserk will always hold a special place in my heart for getting me through a pretty dark time in my life. Seeing the black swordsman and his friends going through actual hell pushed me along because if they could do it, I could too. I know Guts will get his happy ending and it’s such a damn shame Miura isn’t here to finish it himself. 三浦先生、ありがとう、ほんとにありがとう

[lane · Rating 5 out of 5]

idk why i was too stupid to realize it when guts first picked up the berserker armor, but the flashback of the skull knight telling him that if he wanted to remain human then he needed to stop using it finally nailed it in my head. guts is going to become like the skull knight pls tell me it isn’t true💔💔

im so happy they finally made it to elfhelm and that casca is being looked at. it’s somewhat nice seeing them go through her memories to try and piece it back together, but maybe i just miss the early arcs in berserk back when they were younger. i imagine it’ll only get worse as they’re going to have to view casca’s memory of the eclipse😞

also thank u rickert for slapping griffith👆

i’m not ready for this to end

[Oskar · Rating 4 out of 5]

We start off the volume with Guts’ rather predictable defeat of the Sea God, followed by a short backstory interlude whose purpose wasn’t entirely clear to me. The Falconia plotline that follows is much more compelling, particularly Rickert’s meeting with Griffith and his subsequent makeshift alliance with the Kushan assassins, which adds an intriguing layer to the story. The arrival of Guts’ group on the island of elves felt a bit too slapstick at first, though I think the exploration of Casca’s dreams at the end has the potential to take the plot in a very interesting direction.

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the best volume of Berserk I've seen in a while. Every chapter was interesting to me. There are some truly beautiful spreads as well; several times I had to ask myself how many hours went into creating a particular page. It makes me sad to think the series is almost over just when it started getting good again.

[ComicNerdSam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty solid, not a lot amazing happening in this one though. I liked the short story with childhood Guts, and the Falconia stuff was interesting. I also don’t mind the art style shift, I think it makes everything look dynamic.

[Ailbhe · Rating 5 out of 5]

This series never misses and the last arc of the volume in paticular had me crying in da club

[Alan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Berserk has to be one of the most aesthetically pleasing and interesting comics of all time. The series is timeless, engaging, and insightful.

[Alex · Rating 5 out of 5]

Can't believe I'm almost finished this beast of a story. Amazing stuff. Good luck in the Corridor of Dreams, ladies

[Drew Rhine · Rating 4 out of 5]

there's interstitial bits where the content and writing feels like it takes a nose dive but it always comes right back into incredible stuff like Falconia, the Elf Island or Casca's dream.

[Joe · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Fantasia Arc has been one of my favorite arcs so far. Seeing Guts and all his friends grow together has been a blast. Excited to continue.

[Sam Perez · Rating 4 out of 5]

So sad this is coming to an end. Dream sequence has been cool.

[Michael D Jedlowski · Rating 5 out of 5]

Getting to the end of Miura's run on Berserk. Makes me a little sad, I admit. I will probably read the new Berserk when it's available however.