© STUDIO GAGA 2021 © Kentaro Miura 2021.
Available in English for the first time comes an original story produced by Kentarō Miura, creator of Berserk! A fantasy manga inspired by Greek and Mesopotamian myths, and illustrated by Miura’s personal manga studio, Berserk‘s Studio Gaga!
In ancient times, a wondrous child was born of the gods. Neither human nor god, neither male nor female, Usumgal has an inventive mind that can create solutions where they are needed most. Descending from the holy mountain, Usumgal finds friends among humans, and with each fateful encounter comes adventure and perhaps… their destiny!
Includes extensive bonus materials of Kentarō Miura‘s creative process, including the original story outline, concept illustrations, and more!
Dur-An-Ki is created and produced by Kentarō Miura and drawn by Studio Gaga. English translation by Duane Johnson. Lettered by Studio Cutie. Published by Dark Horse, September 23rd, 2025.
Kevin Cormack
Rating:
© STUDIO GAGA 2021 © Kentaro Miura 2021.
Dur-An-Ki is a fantastic manga that makes me both happy and sad, in equal amounts. What we’re presented with in this volume is a fascinating story with gorgeous art that ends just as things are getting really interesting, and then we’re told that it will never be continued. It’s helpful when going to read Dur-An-Ki to know we’re lucky to receive even this much of it to read, considering it was developed by the desperately-missed Kentarō Miura, beloved creator of the seminal Berserk, taken from us far too soon in 2021 at the age of 54.
As the fascinating extra material in this volume explains, Dur-An-Ki began as a proposed series called “Amazones”, an isekai story where an effeminate young half-Japanese boy is transported back to antiquity, during the Trojan wars. Mistaken as a girl by the mythical Amazon tribe of warrior women, he must keep his true physical identity secret while aiding them with his superior modern knowledge of technology and warfare against the invading Greek army. An entire “Part 1” of the story is presented here in detailed script form, with short summaries explaining where the story would have gone in parts two, three, and four.
Ultimately, Dur-An-Ki became an even more fantastical story about Usumgal, a young child conceived in secret by some renegade gods. Instead of a crossdressing boy, Usumgal has genitals of both sexes, and it’s hinted that they may be able to choose their ultimate physical sexual form in adulthood. Strikingly beautiful, Usumgal finds both girls and boys attracted to them. Initially brought up by kindly adoptive grandparents on a blessed mountain, Usumgal spends their childhood frolicking in the fields with the god Pan, in the shadow of what looks like Noah’s (or perhaps Utnapishtim’s) Ark.
Dur-An-Ki is full of references and allusions to ancient mythology, both Greek and Far Eastern. The local civilization features distinct Mesopotamian influences, and it’s fun as a fan of ancient history and myth to identify so many of these disparate elements. While Miura himself contributed storyboard and storyline, the art was produced by his extremely able assistants at Studio Gaga. Their clean, gorgeous linework is meticulous and evocative. It’s one of the best-looking manga I’ve seen in years. If these are the people chosen to finish Berserk in Miura’s absence, then I’d say the series is in good hands.
While the extremely compelling story, filled with delightful characters, is only six scant chapters long (serialization ended following Miura’s death), the aforementioned extra material does hint as to where Usumgal’s story would likely have gone, albeit in significantly altered form. Even incomplete, I’m happy that this single volume exists, even if I remain desperately sad that, without Miura, we’ll never get any more Dur-An-Ki.
