Thursday, May 20, 2021

Food For Thought/Thought For Food No. 20: Kentaro Miura R.I.P.


I find myself......conflicted with today's post. As many of you know on May the 6th of this year, iconic manga creator Kentaro Miura passed away at age 54 due to an acute aortic dissection (Read here for details). Mr. Miura was the creator of the critically acclaimed series Berserk, as well as a few others. Much like the death of Osamu Tezuka in 1989, the void created by Mr. Miura's passing is scarring, and will most likely never be healed.

The reason I find myself conflicted with this is that....I'm not a Berserk fan. Never was, and I probably never will be. I think the manga (And by extension the anime) is far too bleak, far too mean, far too nihilistic & cynical, and far too morally grey for it's own good. I get that Dark Fantasy is a genre & that people like it, and that life isn't all sunshine & rainbows (It's not all grey skies & storms either), but there's a fine line between Dark Fantasy and just plain dark. So while I certainly feel sympathy for Mr. Miura and his family in addition to the numerous fans he has, I don't feel much because he was never my thing.

On the other hand, I also have nothing but respect for Kentaro Miura! As much as I'm not a fan of Berserk, I cannot deny the power & legacy it managed to obtain. I cannot deny that he can create a world that just grabs your attention, and never let's go unless it wants too. Hell, it's because of Mr. Miura's mastery of Dark Fantasy that inspired Hidetaka Miyazaki to create Demon's Souls, Bloodborne, the Dark Souls trilogy, Sekiro, and by extension the "Souls-Like" genre of RPGs. He made something I don't like, but I none the less tip my hat at just how influential this titan of Manga is. So, I salute you, Mr. Kentaro Miura. May the heavens above be impressed with your creativity & work!

And that was my two cents on the passing Mr. Kentaro Miura. Though he was never my cup of tea, I cannot take away any enjoyment or delight that others make have gotten from his work. Well, come back Monday for the conclusion to the 3rd ever Compilation Month. See you then!




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I wonder how well Mr. Miura would be able to kill this guy?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPlWnCE4Edo&t=29s

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