When Japanese manga (Japanese comic books) artist Kentaro Miura died in May 2021 at the age of 54, he left behind some unfinished business: his Berserk, a masterful manga.

Yet to the surprise of many, Young Animal, the comic book publisher that serialized Berserk, announced that the series will continue to be written up with the supervision of manga artist Kouki Mori, who was also a close friend of Miura.

Mori revealed that through discussions before Miura's time of death his knowledge of how Miura was going to end the story, and is planning to bring Berserk to the conclusion that Miura intended, along with his old assistants.

Berserk is a dark fantasy manga whose setting is in a brutal medieval-inspired universe - which counts as Miura's most famous work, launching in 1989. The comic series influenced several fiction works on a wide scale; even video games such as Dark Souls, Bloodborne and Final Fantasy, and manga works such as Demon Slayer, Castlevania and Vagabond. 

"I think people with good intuitions would realize by now that I know the story for Berserk up to the very end," explained Mori, in a statement.

"Still, I cannot say that I can draw it because I know it. That is because only the genius Kentaro Miura can write a masterpiece like Berserk.

"However, a great responsibility has fallen on me."

To our readershttps://t.co/XzJk3Wzra8#BERSERK #ベルセルク pic.twitter.com/czA3UMmTDw

— ベルセルク公式ツイッター (@berserk_project) June 7, 2022

Miura's former assistants reached out to Mori, who hoped to finish the final chapters left behind by Miura, to which Mori agreed to help. Mori then reached out to Young Animal, securing everyone's support and approval to continue Miura's legacy.

"I have a message and promise to everyone," Mori continued. "I will recall the details as much as possible and tell the story. Also, I will only write the episodes that Miura talked to me about. I will not flesh it out. I will not write episodes that I don't remember clearly. I will only write the lines and stories that Miura described to me. Of course it will not be perfect. Still, I think I can almost tell the story that Miura wanted to tell."

Young Animal weighed in on the matter, calling it "although imperfect," the ordeal is the "best way" to bring the Berserk which the original writer envisioned to life. 

"We believe that Berserk has touched the hearts of many fans, and Mr. Miura would be happy to know that his thoughts have had a great influence on people's lives and work," said Young Animal. "We hope that everyone will continue to have the same connection with Berserk in the chapters to come."

The continuation of the manga will start on June 24, and it will be published by Young Animal.