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Like most fantasy manga, Berserk borrows elements from various historical periods to create its unique look and feel. Kentaro Miura wasn’t worried about making the manga feel accurate to a specific part of European history. This was because it allowed him to include things like Guts’ cannon arm alongside the swords and mounted combat the series is known for. Did he feel bad about mangling European history in Berserk? No, because he’d watched Westerners do the same to Japanese history for years.

During an interview in the 1997 Berserk Illustrations File, Kentaro Miura was asked about the varying levels of technology present in Berserk. “At first, I had various thoughts,” he explained. “There are rough things in the very early Middle Ages, but brilliant things like the Palace of Versailles are far after that. In the end, I created one age that looked like it spanned from the early Middle Ages to the end of the Middle Ages in Europe. For example, the ball in Midland is, I think, close to the end of it. But the story of the lord comes long before that time.”

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Historians might argue that it makes it unrealistic to have such different fashion styles and technology in the same setting, but Miura wasn’t worried. “So European readers might say, ‘What the hell is this?’ Well, I think the way foreigners see us, Japanese people, matches this case perfectly: “Hey! Ninjas!” It’s okay because I just drew my work to please Japanese people. I don’t have any strategy for the global market.”

In the end, it is worth remembering that Berserk doesn’t take place in the real world. It is a world with monsters and magic and demons running around constantly, so little things like Guts having a cannon arm aren’t something we should be worried about.

Each week, Popverse's resident anime expert Trent Cannon runs down the latest and, dare we say "greatest," in anime and manga in Popverse Jump. Some recent columns have included... 

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