Berserk Volume 2

The evil Count uses his dark powers to transform a defeated guard captain into an inhuman horror to combat Guts, the Black Swordsman. Puck, Guts’ pint-sized fairy sidekick, is captured when he attempts to stop an old doctor’s execution, and he is given as a gift to the count’s daughter, a sweet girl in a gilded cage, imprisoned by her father in her own room. Guts, determined to make mincemeat of the Count, assaults the castle and carves a swath of blood-soaked destruction through the Count’s minions. Face-to-face with the Black Swordsman at last, the Count reveals his true form, and even Guts’ super-sized sword may not be big enough to contend with this demonic monstrosity!

While attending college at Nihon University, in 1988, Kentaro Miura debuted a 48-page manga known as Berserk Prototype, an introduction to the current Berserk fantasy world. It went on to win Miura a prize from the Comi Manga School. In 1989, after receiving a doctorate degree, Kentarou started a project titled King of Wolves based on a script by Buronson, writer of Hokuto no Ken (Fist Of The North Star). In 1990, the first volume Berserk was released with a relatively limited success. Miura again collaborated with Buronson on manga entitled Japan. Miura's fame grew after Berserk began "The Golden Age" story arc and the huge success of this masterpiece made of him one of the most prominent contemporary manga artists. In 1997, Miura supervised the production of 25 anime episodes of Berserk that aired in the same year on NTV. The series has also spawned a whole host of merchandise, both official and fan made, ranging from statues and action figures, to key rings, video games, and a trading card game. In 2002, Kentaro Miura received the second place in the Tezuka Osamu (Astro Boy) Cultural Prize of Excellence for Berserk. The author lives in Tokyo, Japan.