The late Miura Kentaro’sBerserk (1989)isone of the most influential anime and mangaworks of the 20th century; with various artists, authors and media spanning video games, anime, manga and film crediting the dark fantasy title as their inspiration. The influence of Guts’s story on those of countless other stories in media is immense, but there is one anime and manga title that saw inspiration inBerserkas a story structure, and funny enough, the author of this title shares a first name withBerserk’sMiura!
Yabuki Kentaro is the author ofBlack Cat (2000), a manga about Train Heartnet, an assassin who defects from the mysterious organization known as Chronos, which controls a third of the global economy from the shadows. There are several major similarities betweenBerserkandBlack Cat, and the structure of the latter shows heavy inspiration by the former – here’s how:
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The Protagonist
One of the biggest similarities betweenBerserkandBlack Catlies with the protagonists because they’re both characters with immensely troubled pasts, having lost their parents at a young age and being raised by murderers who shape the rest of their lives in very profound ways. They both become insanely adept at a particular brand of violence and wield a weapon that becomes synonymous with their very reputation – the iconic gigantic broadsword Guts wields, earning him the nickname “The Black Swordsman”; and Train Heartnet’s orichalcum gun known as “Hades”.
It goes without saying that the in-universe epithets granted to either character invoking a “Black” something are alsoan example ofBerserk’sinfluenceoverBlack Cat,although the latter does rely on the imagery of misfortune invoked by the imagery of a black cat. The characters live the life laid out to them by their adoptive “parent” before something cuts that person’s life short – for Guts, it was his accidental murder of Gambino, while Train randomly finds Zagine Axeolake dying in a pool of his own blood one day. In their adulthood, the Black Cat and the Black Swordsman both become hired weapons, with Guts starting out as an outright mercenary, while Train first lives life as the world’s most feared assassin before defecting from Chronos – the organization that effectively raised him – to becoming a different kind of hired gun: a bounty hunter, known colloquially as a “Sweeper”. Guts and Train are the same kind of character in that they have tragic pasts, but while they have completely different general demeanors, they are both “strays” and at first, neither of them remains in any one place for too long, but even after they find community they still tend to go at things alone.
The Betrayal
The most important plot events in both Berserk and Black Cat relate to the betrayal experienced by the protagonist at the hands of someone who was once an ally. For Guts, this happensin the Golden Arc ofBerserk, when Griffith essentially offers up his entire army, every last one of his friends and allies to be sacrifices for his reincarnation as the demon Femto. This event is so traumatic for both Guts and Casca for various reasons, but after the destruction of the Band of the Hawk by the God Hand summoned by Griffith, Guts is determined to find him and cut him down for good.
Train’s betrayal came in the form of the murder of Minatsuki Saya at the hands of his partner, Creed Diskenth. Creed was under the impression that Train had grown softer and weaker after meeting Saya, and vowed to “break Train free from the witch’s curse”. Both antagonists inflict some kind of violence upon a female character who is important to the protagonist, which inBerserkfurther ramps up the levels of betrayal not only Guts, but for Casca herself in the most heinous way imaginable, as Casca was once a dear ally of Griffith’s as well.
The Antagonist
Interestingly, both Griffith and Creed are white-haired men with English names who are thought to be incredibly attractive, and they both incredibly narcissistic, and are extremely mentally unstable, envious people. They are both obsessed with the protagonist in their respective stories, a fondness for them which cannot be separated from romantic affection and admiration because both characters consider the protagonist to be “their only equal”. Griffith is generally composed, but somehow he loses that composure whenever it comes to Guts, while Creed has a similar demeanour until times when people he considers to be unworthy talk about Train. So both protagonists have in common a former ally who may or may not be in love with them, who is also guilty of an extremely grave betrayal. Both Griffith and Creed also get involved in some occult stuff that is of a completely different realm to what is initially thought to be within the scope of their realities, although Train, given his status as the world’s greatest assassin, has some experience with the strange power known as Tao. Griffith, as fans would know, possessed a strange artifact known as the Crimson Behelit, otherwise known as “The King’s Egg”, which is an artifact of destiny, enabling its owner to summon “The God Hand” and “ascend” to the status of one of the Guardian Angels of Desire. When faced against the first monstrous enemy of the series, Nosferatu Zodd, Guts is given a disconcerting prophecy regarding those who follow one who possesses the Crimson Behelit, one which foresaw calamity befalling Guts and his friends in the eclipse that would occur a year later.
The item also saves Griffith on two separate but totally fatal occasions before his year-long detainment and torture – first against Nosferatu Zodd, and second when a hit on Griffith’s life fails because the poisoned arrow used was blocked by the Crimson Behelit itself.
Another strange similarity between the antagonists of both Berserk and Black Cat is the use of the term “Apostles”. In Berserk, Apostles are inhuman entities who had a Behelit in their possession at some point in their human lives. Using the Behelit means summoning The God Hand and effectively becoming one of them – an angel, or… a demon. In Black Cat, Creed establishes an organization of Taoists to change the global order, naming them “The Apostles of the Stars”, but in both instances, the Apostles are people who are said to have abandoned their humanity in pursuit of greater power.
The Catalyst of Change
In bothBerserkandBlack Cat, the protagonists meet someone who begins to change their perception of themselves and the world around them. This character is in both cases a woman who they become aligned with because of work, but they soon become trusted friends and their relationship deepens. For Guts, this is Casca, one of Griffith’s closest attendants and one of the strongest members of the Band of the Hawk. Despite not getting along for three years straight, Griffith’s betrayal also becomes a new point of beginning for both Guts and Casca, who develop a bit of a romantic relationship in the year that Griffith is imprisoned and horribly tortured. After the horrible experience with the destruction of the Band of the Hawk, Guts and Casca have to figure out how to move on from their own devastation at the hands of Griffith.
For Train, the romantic interest and catalyst of change is Minatsuki Saya, a Sweeper who believed in living life however she pleased. Train met her after his first failed assassination, and her influence on his life leads to his defection from the secret society known as Chronos. However, this defection is seen as the result of Train’s corruption due to Saya’s influence, and he murders her in front of Train in order to get his former partner back on his side.
