A Legendary Dark Fantasy Manga Gets a Rare 2026 Update

6 days ago 17

After a long period of uncertainty, Berserk fans finally have something to hold on to with a recent update confirming that the long-running manga is moving forward with renewed momentum in 2026. The update comes from Kouji Mori, who has taken over the series since the death of its original creator, Kentaro Miura, in 2021. According to Mori, the team at Studio Gaga is preparing to continue Berserk with full effort this year, which signals a rare level of consistency that the series has not maintained in recent years.

According to CBR, Mori also confirmed that he will not personally draw the series’ central figure, Guts, given the immense difficulty of recreating the original author’s style. He praised Miura’s apprentices for carrying forward the visual identity that has made Berserk so iconic. The manga was first published in 1989 and has spanned 43 volumes, with the latest volume released in Japan in August 2025. However, its history has always been shaped by extended hiatuses and irregular release patterns.

Beyond the manga, Berserk has received multiple anime adaptations, including the widely acclaimed 1997 TV series, the Golden Age Arc film trilogy released between 2012 and 2013, which was later re-edited into a television format in 2022, and another adaptation that ran from 2016 to 2017, which received mixed reception. Since then, no new anime adaptations have been announced, which makes the latest update all the more meaningful for longtime fans of the franchise. An exact release date for Berserk Volume 44 has not been announced yet.

Koji Mori Has Been Honest About the Series’ Limitations

After taking over the manga following Miura’s death, Mori has always been honest about the realities of continuing the original author’s legacy. Miura actually voiced his feelings in a message included with Volume 42, which was the first installment of the manga to be released without Miura’s involvement. Mori acknowledged that the series would inevitably change and warned the readers that Berserk might always feel “imperfect” without its creator. Instead of framing this as a temporary hurdle, Mori positioned the challenge as an unavoidable consequence of loss. He empathized with the fans, noting that they might struggle to accept the change because he was experiencing those very feelings himself.

Mori went on to explain that the decision to continue the manga was driven by the team’s obligation to Miura and the story he was in the middle of telling. Mori, a close friend and longtime creative confidant of the late author, stressed that abandoning the series would have been a greater betrayal than attempting to complete it, even if it could never fully replicate his vision. He emphasized that many of the story’s remaining beats had been discussed repeatedly over the years, allowing the current team to follow Miura’s intentions with greater clarity than wouldotherwise be possible.

All anime adaptations of Berserk are available to stream on Crunchyroll. Stay tuned to Collider for more updates.