Cone's Reviews

It saddens me, that as I write this, the world has found out about Kentaro Miura's untimely death.

Miura was a master. His artwork was detailed to the bone. His stories dug depths in human experience. His influence over modern fantasy cannot be overstated. There's nothing I can say about such a monumental manga-ka that that hasn't been said already.

All I can offer is my own personal experience with 𝘉𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘬, while being as spoiler free as possible: My first experiences are rooted in playing Dark Souls and Dark Souls III for the first time over 5 years ago. I had never heard of 𝘉𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘬, or even seen it. But I had stepped into these worlds that had been directly influenced by it. After a friend had shown me Berserk and it's influence over Dark Souls, I of course took it upon myself to make a Guts build. Although, I still had never read the manga. I swore I would, but never did.

That is until this year. Prompted by a global snooze on social interaction, I had more time than ever to revisit my backlog of manga that I've been meaning to read. The first on that list was Berserk.

I quickly realized that Berserk was a tome, that may be because I picked up the deluxe hardcover editions. Berserk's pages were dark, gritty, and all around depressing at times. The spreads were full of gruesome violence, wasted landscapes, and horrors of humanity. Kingdoms torn apart, merciless murder, unspeakable monsters, and corrupt politicians: These are the sorts of things that set the back drop for Berserk, not even mentioning the story of Guts. When I opened the pages to Berserk, I truly felt like I had uncovered some long forgotten story about a lone warrior in a cruel world.

And why did such a story keep me hooked, especially in times of such global darkness?

It was Guts.

Nothing about Gut's story is happy, from the outset. He grows up alone and those he thinks he can trust, betray him. The only thing that keeps him going is his sword: His only solace, the only thing he can trust. He seems to dig into a deeper trench every day, but he persists. Even though he comes close to it, he never gives up on his journey. For a long time, he doesn't really know where he's going, but he goes anyways.

To me, at it's core, this is what Berserk is about. The persistence of the human spirit and digging oneself out of the worst of circumstances.

Despite the dark world around him, Guts faces it's challenges. He comes off as uncaring, disconnected, and brutal, but also shows flashes of kindness, growth, and light.

Guts is by no means a perfect character. He gets joy from killing and seems like his moral compass is tilted at the worst of times. But this is part of Miura's genius, the growth that he bestows upon Guts. Guts could continue his violence senselessly for momentary joy, but it is oft followed by immense pain. In these moments, all Guts remembers is how much he wants to be happy. At times, he does get that happiness. This is another key theme to Berserk's structure, flashes of light in total darkness and humor in a sea of sadness.

Berserk remains ever poignant, having a presence that is timeless. I think everyone could learn something from Guts, and his persistence towards his dream.

I wish I could do Berserk better justice, but I haven't yet read all of Berserk (I am only half way through as of writing this). But even in it's first half, it's had a tremendous impact on how I view my everyday life. I will be a fan for years of Berserk to come, and I hope you all will be too.

Overall rating: Masterpiece

"𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘸 𝘮𝘺 𝘴𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯, 𝘰𝘳 𝘣𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮. 𝘍𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘰𝘯, 𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘮𝘺 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘣𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦𝘴." - Guts, 𝘉𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘬 vol. 1.

First things first: I want to clarify that I have typically always strayed away from sports manga. The genre seemed generic to me and I am usually drawn towards more something with more fantasy or sci-fi elements. That being said, I did not find Ping Pong generic at all. In fact, what drew me into reading Ping Pong in the first place was its art style. I flipped through a few pages a few months back and was taken aback. The characters seemed loosely drawn, the landscapes were abstract, yet the pages felt so alive. In the loose lines of the characters there is a great amount of detail. I had never considered the intensity of a ping pong match until I had this visualization in mind.

          Among the emotions portrayed by characters in Ping Pong, tragedy is among them. One chapter that stood out to me against the rest in Volume One was “Butterfly Joe”. Here, Tsukimoto and his Coach Joe are playing match against each other, and Matsumoto gives a look into the past of Joe. Joe, like Tsukimoto, is pitted against his best friend in their ping pong skills. Even though these characters have close relationships, they are put toe to toe in the name of the game and are at constant odds with one another. The tragedy arises, will you win no matter what, even if it means putting your friend out of a career? What do you value more, your friendships or your own security?

These are the kinds of questions that come to mind in Ping Pong, and it creates very tense and heartfelt moments among the characters as they grapple with their pasts as well as trying to be the best ping pong players they can be. Ping Pong is a sports manga, but it portrays an often-forgotten side of sports: the psychological. It is evident in its exploration of characters and the limits they are pushed to. Matsumoto has crafted the perfect sports manga in my eyes, one that can draw in sports fans and outsiders as well. Do not let this manga pass you by, as I am sure it will be remembered as one of the greats.