The most recent Berserk chapter was released on December 9th and fans have only grown sadder as the chapters come. With Guts struggling to get Casca’s memories back, no one expected that as soon as he did that Griffith would be there to take her from him once more.
The final act of the series is beginning and the late Kentaro Miura’s former assistants are doing an admirable job of carrying on his legacy. They’ve adopted his art style which was one of the best and most unique ever seen in manga. While Berserk has always been noted for its grim story its been equally commented on for its brilliant artwork and Miura’s excellent visual storytelling.
Contents
- 1 Uzumaki — Junji Ito
- 2 Gantz — Hiroya Oku
- 3 Jagaaan — Muneyuki Kaneshiro & Kensuke Nishida
- 4 One Punch Man — ONE & Yusuke Murata
- 5 Berserk — Kentaro Miura
- 6 Innocent — Shin-ichi Sakamoto
- 7 Vagabond — Takehiko Inoue
- 8 Goodnight Punpun — Inio Asano
- 9 Hideout — Masasumi Kakizaki
- 10 The Climber — Shin-ichi Sakamoto & Yoshirō Nabeda
Uzumaki — Junji Ito
Juni Ito has long since established himself as the most well-known psychological horror mangaka and his horrifying and unsettling artwork displays why perfectly. The story of Uzumaki has a sort of episodic feel to it with different horrors relating to the recent obsessions of the spiral appearing in every chapter.
Kirie Goshima works to uncover the mysteries of the spiral and put a stop to it alongside her boyfriend, Shuichi. However, the struggle is long and dangerous with family and friends being lost along the way. Ito’s manga isn’t for everyone but for fans who don’t mind their skin scrawling in some of the most horrifying panels ever drawn should definitely read it.
Gantz — Hiroya Oku
Gantz has always been a bizarre franchise and falls into the common genre known as isekai where characters are transported into another world, often a gaming world. Here it feels far more like the afterlife as all the characters are dead and have to slay aliens in order to try and win their lives back.
The story is full of action and some surprisingly great story-telling, but the artwork comes in as one of the best aspects of the manga. Oku’s details are incredible, and the settings also look extremely realistic. The art not only makes many of the action scenes come to life, but it also consists of dozens of manga panels that fans can simply stare at in awe.
Jagaaan — Muneyuki Kaneshiro & Kensuke Nishida
While many fans may be more familiar with Kaneshiro’s other work, Blue Lock, the artwork for Jagaaan has a different illustrator who draws some of the best action scenes in seinen manga. Jagaaan isn’t too different from the concept of Parasyte as Jagasaki’s hand is possessed by a mysterious creature.
This grants him all sorts of abilities that lead to some of the best art in the series. The demons he faces are downright horrifying and help lend to the thriller and horror elements present in the manga. Nishida gives many brilliant scenes of perspective that make the reader feel as if they’re being chased right alongside Jagasaki.
One Punch Man — ONE & Yusuke Murata
Anime adaptations always fail to bring to life some of the most extraordinary artwork and One Punch Man, one of the best seinen manga ever, is a perfect example of that. While the series is often goofy and comedic, the artist Yusuke Murata always gives his all with some of the most stunning artwork to ever touch a manga page.
Whether it’s an action scene of Saitama’s or simply a detailed drawing of the setting, Murata never disappoints. The anime is no doubt excellent and has added some extraordinarily well-done fight choreography, but the manga is such a work of art that it shouldn’t be skipped.
Berserk — Kentaro Miura
Berserk has commonly been noted as one of the best seinen manga ever and has sat at the top of MyAnimeList as the highest-rated manga for years. While fans have debated for years whether the story dropped off after the Golden Age arc or not, most agree that Kentaro Miura’s artwork only improved throughout the years.
Even at the beginning of the series, his artwork was incredible, but as the manga progressed fans got to see Miura’s art evolve as it beautifully captured his dark detailed world. Miura’s visual storytelling alone is second to none with Miura creating so many panels where readers can almost feel how a character is feeling simply by the way it’s drawn. Following his death in 2021, Miura’s close friend Kouji Mori has taken over the manga.
Innocent — Shin-ichi Sakamoto
Innocent can be a complete nightmare to read and is an incredibly dark story focusing on a family of executioners in French around the time of the French Revolution. The main protagonist, Charles-Henri Sanson was historically the one who had executed King Louis XVI.
Sakamoto has proven time and time again that he is one of the best mangaka artists. His details can be sickening because have how accurate they are when it comes to gruesome scenes like human dissection, but his gorgeous settings in France can be equally breathtaking.
Vagabond — Takehiko Inoue
Vagabond is a manga series based on the novel Musashi by Eiji Yoshikawa with recounts the life of Miyamoto Musashi, the man regarded as the greatest samurai to live. Inoue had already been well-established as a brilliant mangaka by his work with Slam Dunk, but he truly surpasses himself in Vagabond with stunning detailed artwork of nature and the action of duels.
With how intuned the story of Musashi is with nature and swordsmanship, Inoue’s rigorously detailed style is a perfect fit for the manga. Musashi learns as much of his swordsmanship from other masters of martial arts as he does from the nature surrounding him. Inoue has provided some of the most jarring artwork ever and has even given one of the best sword duels in anime & manga when Miyamoto Musashi faces off against 70 samurai at once by himself.
Goodnight Punpun — Inio Asano
Goodnight Punpun is an incredibly thought-provoking manga and a coming-of-age story about Punpun who is depicted as an oddly drawn bird, just as his family is. Though they are not actually birds, it is drawn this way for symbolic purposes.
The contrast of his character fits well with the beautiful manga art and shows how difficult one can fit into the world. Asano created some of the most realistic artwork imaginable for this manga, and it helps the reader fall into the story. The blankness of Punpun also allows the reader to identify with the character more easily.
Hideout — Masasumi Kakizaki
Hideout is by Masasumi Kakizaki, one of the best horror mangakas, and is a psychological horror manga known for its gritty art style and shocking scenes. The story itself doesn’t feel too removed from many cliché horror films, but the real appeal is the art. The Old Man in the story is the most unsettling character as he eats human flesh and attempts to murder the main characters, Seichi and Miki.
The focus on darkness and sharp details with little white to show helps the reader more strongly feel a sense of terror and dread. While the manga isn’t as mind-boggling as a Jinji Ito work, it does match it with its sense of impending doom and horror.
The Climber — Shin-ichi Sakamoto & Yoshirō Nabeda
The Climber was co-written by Shin-ichi Sakamoto & Yoshirō Nabeda with the art done by Shin-ichi Sakamoto. The premise of the manga is mountain climbing and finding one’s purpose in the world. The story utilizes both literal and symbolic usages of overcoming obstacles and the gorgeous artwork along the way helps compliment the brilliant writing in the story.
The manga can sometimes bring forward rather disturbing and surprising panels to bring in its heavy psychological aspects, but Sakamoto maintains his well-detailed art even if the concept itself is completely bizarre or absurd.