u/Okapi05

This post ended up being longer than expected, so if you just want a summary there is a TL;DR at the bottom!

For most of its run Miura inked Berserk traditionally using a G-pen, which for those who don’t know is a type of dip pen where the nib flexes, allowing for both thick and thin lines to be made depending on how much pressure is used. In his final three or so volumes (starting with Chapter 341 specifically) he switched to drawing digitally on a Wacom Cintiq Pro 32, a 32 inch 4K drawing tablet.

The switch to digital allowed Miura to add an extreme amount of detail to each and every panel because it was now possible to zoom in very closely which obviously you can’t do with paper. And when I say very closely, that madman was zooming in on individual pixels apparently lmao. Just look at how detailed Griffith’s armour is in the bottom right of the digital Zodd panel even though it is extremely small on the page!

I’d say the most noticeable change to the artstyle when he changed to digital though is just how much greyer everything looks. In manga the grey parts are actually tiny black dots called screentones which gives the illusion of it being grey, and traditionally they come in sheets which the artist sticks to the page and cuts to shape with a crafting knife. These sheets come as set levels of grey (so like 10%, 20%, etc.) and also gradients from one percentage to another, but this is quite limiting so Miura had to rely on his inkwork for most of the detail. However, when drawing digitally there are no such limitations and Miura was able to use a much fuller range of values, resulting in it looking more like a painting. Because of this his digital art tends to rely a lot more on the grey shading than the solid black inking, and this is purely a stylistic choice as his traditional style could be replicated digitally quite easily.

As for which style I prefer, I feel like I’m one of the few people that thinks Miura’s digital art is some of the best Berserk has ever looked, but there are things I prefer about his old style. I love how detailed his digital art is and could literally stare at it all day, but while the digital grey shading can look really cool, I do think that all of the solid black and more extensive use of hatching in his traditional art gave it a lot of charm and more gritty feeling.

I’d really liked to have seen a middle ground between the two styles, but unfortunately we will never get to see how Miura’s digital art would have continued to evolve. Interestingly though, while Studio Gaga’s art is still drawn digitally, they seem to be trying to emulate Miura’s traditional style much more than they are his digital style (as seen here in their drawings of the Berserker Armour and Zodd), and if I had to guess why it’s probably because there is significantly more of his traditional art to use as references.

TL;DR: Miura’s digital art is extremely detailed because he could zoom in. He also relied more on the grey shading than the solid black inking because he had the freedom to use a much greater range of values. Studio Gaga seem to be going for a middle ground between the two styles?

Let me know your thoughts on the two different artstyles and which one you prefer!

People (rightfully) always talk about the moment where Hild forgives Thorfinn, but this moment from a few chapters earlier perfectly sets up how she is beginning to let go of her hatred and move on from the past. For some reason though I never seem to see anyone talking about it!

One thing I noticed about Miura’s digital art was that whenever he drew the fully activated Berserker Armour (including the dog version in Casca’s dreamscape), he used a lot of very solid looking grey shading. We haven’t seen much of the Berserker Armour from Studio Gaga, but in Chapter 370 they drew it more like how Miura did in his pre-digital era which I find interesting. Do you wish that Studio Gaga kept Miura’s newer look for the armour, or are you glad that they’re returning to the more classic artstyle?