Paltheos
Member
I can't even begin to imagine how devastated the fans, especially those who may have been managing to follow the saga for 30 years in total, are right now. Just trying to think of the presence this story has had on so many and influenced so much is staggering in its scope. I certainly can't say I've followed any particular story crafted to such an extent for such a long period of time. Certainly not one to the level of quality it took to draw the sheer amount of detail in those images.
One can get a bit philosophical thinking about the various outcomes. Even if Miura had somehow managed to plan for this and leave behind detailed notes and outlines for how to end it in the event of this happening, it still would never be the same. Creative works are often driven by what happens in the moment, how the creator feels, and all. And of course just the vision needed to execute them to one's planning and design. That simply cannot be replicated even with the best blueprint available.
Since '06 on the manga and a few years earlier than that with the TV series. I can't believe he's dead. I can't believe we won't find out what happened. It's launched all sorts of thoughts in my head - among them, "What authors of long-running series would I (not) be hit hard by dieing... and why?" Miura was not at the bottom of that list, for a host of reasons that I was able to come up. Meme as people have about Berserk it was still going, which can't be said for some other long series which have gone years without a release (Togashi, GRRM), and I was still following it when new chapters came out. I don't even think Berserk's been that good for the past
That's what makes Berserk sting so much. Take Hunter x Hunter - Well, hey Togashi's just drawing scribbles now and hasn't even released those in 2 years, but allot of the stories are self-contained and an adaptation of his work told a largely complete and compelling tale. Or A Song of Ice and Fire - Yeah obviously GRRM doesn't care anymore it's been more than a decade, but we got a TV series (with a shitty ending) and not so much of immediate interest was happening that's terribly impressive that I won't get over it.
Kind of a morbid topic but when I was thinking about the subject, I concluded that if there's one person that I would be similarly if not more devastated from dieing, it would be Eiichiro Oda. Yeah some astute fans have derived a theory so brilliant I am legitimately convinced it's the ending and I'm actually angry I read it, but not seeing One Piece through to the end is... I don't even know. I can't even process how I would feel.
Man, this sucks. I'd been joking that Miura had been sandbagging on where to go next with the story because he didn't know where to take it, but nobody wanted it to end like this. I'm sorry, Miura. Rest in peace.