Original Berserk artwork by Kentaro Miura and Dragon Ball’s artwork Akira Toriyama sold for a total of 21.4 million yen, or $141k on November 7, 2023. Japanese online auction site Mandarake listed both the Guts and Son Goku hand-painted piece in the auction their price, which ran from October 15 to November 7. Berserk piece was sold for 6.4 million yen (~$42k) while Dragon Ball went for 15 million yen (~$99k). Both are signed, and the comments accompanying both works give a sense of the history behind them:
Works of art are auctioned
Comments on Dragon Ball:“This is what I received at the awards ceremony for winning the June 1987 Tezuka Akatsuka Award. Unlike the young Son Goku depicted after his later maturation into a Super Saiyan, this Goku has features round, child-like, only found in that era. Master Roshi, Krillin and the Tenkaichi Budokai era. It’s like a picture that encapsulates the events of Son Goku’s childhood.”
Crazy comments:“Someone who contacted Studio Gaga asked for Kentaro Miura’s autograph and he kindly offered to not only sign it but also draw on it. The drawing is many times more complex than one might imagine given the artist’s history and shows how much the recipient trusted him. Guts’ solemn expression looking up… Although this is his shading style from the latter part of his career, it really suits a pencil drawing like this. The whites of Guts’ unshaded eyes have been calculated so that their whiteness stands out. This is Guts’ best pencil drawing.”
After Berserk creator Kentaro Miura passed away, Studio Gaga, the studio he founded so that his assistants could also be credited, officially took over his work on June 24, 2022. Koji Mori, Miura’s close friend, previously revealed that he is the only person who knows the outcome of Berserk. With a heavy heart, he vowed to end the story. Berserk Episode 42 latest released in Japan on September 29, 2023.
Dark Horse is publishing the Berserk manga in English and describes the plot: His name is Guts, the Black Swordsman, a fearsome warrior mentioned only in whispers. Bearing a giant sword, an iron hand and the scars of countless battles and torture, his flesh is also indelibly marked with The Brand, an evil symbol that attracts the worlds. The forces of darkness came upon him and destroyed him as their sacrifice. But Guts will not accept his fate; He will slash a crimson wave of carnage through the ranks of the damned – and anyone else foolish enough to oppose him! Accompanied by Puck the Elf, more annoying than companion, Guts relentlessly follows a dark, bloody path that leads only to death… or revenge. Created by Kentaro Miura, Berserk is an utterly chaotic manga — violent, horrifying, and mercilessly humorous — and is the source of the internationally famous anime series. Not for the squeamish or easily offended, Berserk asks no price — and makes no offers!
Meanwhile, the long-running Dragon Ball franchise announced new addition Dragon Ball Daima on October 12, 2023. The series sees Goku and the cast return to their child forms as they participate in new adventure. The latest film in the Dragon Ball Super: SUPER HERO franchise was released in June 2022 and has grossed around $102 million worldwide.
The official synopsis for Dragon Ball Daima is: Due to a conspiracy, Goku and his friends are turned into small children. To fix things, they will go to a new world! It’s a grand adventure filled with intense action in a mysterious and unknown world.
Source: Mandarake© BIRD STUDIO/SHUEISHA © Kentaro Miura (Studio Gaga)/Hakusensha