Young Animal has announced that Berserk would continue serialization under Kouji Mori, despite the passing of its creator Kentaro Miura last year.

In a lengthy statement, they said that Miura’s friend and close confidant Kouji Mori would be taking over the project, based on the ideas Miura himself had told him about the direction of Berserk.

“We were reluctant to end his story without sharing [the ideas] with his fans”, Young Animal said. “Our hope is for everyone to read the last episode that we have put together, until the very last frame”.

They’ve said that they will finish the Fantasia Island arc, which ended abruptly following Miura’s passing, as well as continue with a whole new arc penned by Mori.

“From the next issue, we will first publish six chapters until the end of “Fantasia Arc/Elf Island Chapter”. After this, we will start a new arc”, they said.

“Credits after the resumption will be “Original work by Kentaro Miura, Manga by Studio Gaga, Supervised by Kouji Mori,” and the numbering of the manga books will continue in order”.

In an accompanying statement, Mori vowed that he wouldn’t usurp the iconic fantasy manga- instead merely recounting only details Miura himself had described to him.

“I have a message and promise to everyone. I will recall the details as much as possible and tell the story”, he says. “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”.

Miura’s death was a huge blow to the manga world- the man had created one of the most iconic fantasy manga of all time, and fans paid tribute in various ways be it vigils in Final Fantasy XIV or the high-profile Dai Berserk Ten exhibition, which had his blessing.