Mori promised to remain faithful to Miura’s creative direction, ensuring the series would end as Miura envisioned.

Kentaro Miura’s sudden death sent the world of Berserk into a chaotic state. Now his close friend and fellow manga creator, Koji Mori, would retain the key to its future. Mori has retained Miura’s original ending, which was carefully planned by him before his death.

Guts from Berserk | Studio Gemba

With great respect toward Miura’s vision, Mori promised never to add his own twists or different interpretations to the integrity of Berserk‘s conclusion. And with the manga world holding its collective breath, Mori is to adapt Miura’s final chapter, untouched and unfiltered. The real ending of Berserk finally comes, exactly as it was intended by Miura.

Mori Reminisced About His Long Friendship With Miura

Griffith & Guts from Berserk | Official Manga

In an extremely rare, rather personal interview, manga artist Koji Mori looked back warmly to the childhood days shared with Kentaro Miura. These two future manga legends grew up together, roaming the town in love with art. Mori remembered how, even back then, Miura was drawn to fantasy and horror—genres that would later define the dark world of Berserk. As children, they spent hours just drawing and telling stories together.

Miura was a manga genius bursting with talent, he had an eagerness to see things through to the end as well as an outstanding ability to paint, conceive stories and employ narrative devices effectively.

This friendship, nurtured from a shared passion for manga, slowly blossomed into a creative team to forge the world of Berserk. With determination in his voice, Mori swore that he would protect Miura’s work, he would not touch the ending of Berserk, as it had already been planned out.

I will never add my own twist. I will simply remember and convey what Miura told me.

It now falls upon Mori, the last guardian for Miura, to work out his friend’s idea of closing out the series iconically, as intended.

Mori Was Profoundly Heartbroken By The Sudden Death of His Dear Friend, Kentaro Miura

Casca from Berserk | Studio Gemba

Koji Mori was a very close friend and fellow manga artist to Kentaro Miura. Which is why, he also understood very profoundly what Miura wanted for Berserk’s ending. Mori remembers very clearly what Miura had planned for the series ending, with the goal of honoring those plans to the best of his ability.

However, the exact day he had heard about Miura’s death remains blurred in Mori’s mind. This memory lapse points toward the real shock and sorrow that Mori had undergone on hearing the news.

The information about the death of Miura was conveyed to Mori through a call from an editor and longtime acquaintance. The call sent Mori scrambling into Miura’s town. His wife later said that he collapsed to the ground, placing his hands on the road, in utter despair, showing the extent of his shock and grief.

It’s a moment that really showed just how much Mori has been affected by the loss of Miura and just how close they were. He still remains steadfast in protecting Miura’s legacy and setting Berserk to rest in a proper fashion.

You can watch Berserk on Crunchyroll.