berserk features an extraordinary imagery, original to the incredible imagination of Kentaro Miura and still capable of influencing many artists. After examining the historical era in which Gatsu’s adventures take place, let’s dive into an analysis of the main locations of the series by answering the question: Where does Berserk play?
From the first chapters of the manga to the setting, the common technologies, the way of dressing and living life in small towns and big cities, Miura presents to the readers an atmosphere very reminiscent of late medieval Europe. Although the story unfolds in the vast area known simply as “continentIn fact, there are many similarities between the places Gatsu visited and the complex geopolitical situation in which the European continent found itself at the time.
Most of the story Berserk is set in the Midlands kingdom, located in the center of the continent. Place where Gatsu was born and raised and for which he fights alongside the Hawk Squad to face it Threat of the Tudor Empirepositioned to the east, in a decades-long conflict, a clear reference to the Hundred Years’ War.
Also in the east of the great continent are the Kingdom of Balden and various duchies. Heading to the Far East we reach the Kushan Empire, inspired by the rule that the Kushans exercised in the lands from present-day Afghanistan to Varanasi in the first century. In the manga, two years after the end of the hundred-year conflict, The Emperor of Kushan, Ganishka, will attempt to invade the Midlands, who calls the new Hawk Squad into battle. The victory of Grifis will raise the new capital, Falconiathe only safe place after the union of the physical world with the astral.
Starting from the port city of Vritannis, Gatsu and his companions set off the island of Skellig, where they find the magical kingdom of Elfhelm, home of the Ephli led by Danan. To complete our journey into the world of Berserk, let’s head north where the Principality of Ysfamous for its refined shipbuilding techniques and possessing one of the best fleets.
