Miura's amazing panel framing
Added 2025-10-05 20:49:57 +0000 UTCReading Berserk, I was always amazed at Miura's cinematographic scene composition as if he had a camera in his head. From below to above, from above to below – dioramic or three dimensional drawings – I thought he must have incredible ability for viewing angles.
My thought was unsurprisingly confirmed by his comments in one of his interviews : "I can come up with a 3D composition in my head and draw it at any angle by turning it round and round"; "In technology class, I was ridiculously good at things like producing three-sided drawings of three-dimensional objects"; "I think I was good at apprehending and drawing three-dimensional objects."
I'm sure you guys also noticed this great ability of his. I just chose some examples among them that I wanted to share. Well, in truth I didn't have to make any effort. These images are very common in Berserk. I just picked and chose somewhat randomly. The hard part was limiting which to include!
As far as I know, and as Miura himself said, "there were many people who drew manga well around me, but it’s true that few of them understood three-dimensional objects the way I did". This natural talent is not granted to many artists. While he was such a talented artist, he was a very modest person. I miss him a lot. :'(
I've been enjoying the manga various ways lately: reading it of course but also focusing on the pictures alone to find details I couldn't notice before. Checking them with a magnifier is also another kind of pleasure of mine. Can't wait until Hakusensha releases a proper deluxe edition in a bigger format.
-Puella
Comments
I think that one of the great pleasures of rereading Berserk is pondering on Miura's use of paneling and angles in service of his story. Looking up at an object for below vs looking at something from a bird's eye view, or from the side, can connote a very different meaning. I always admired how he wouldn't shy away from challenging angles or showing objects with a lot of complex parts, I suppose in part due to this innate talent. I love the selections you chose!
Grail
2025-10-06 06:51:23 +0000 UTCWow, I don’t think I’ve ever paid much attention to the page with Theresa , that’s awesome!
Walter
2025-10-05 20:59:55 +0000 UTC
