continued serialization. In the same year, Miura collaborated with Buronson on the manga Japan, which was also published in Young Animal. In 1997, Miura supervised the production of a 25-episode anime adaptation of Berserk produced by OLM, Inc., which aired in the same year on NTV. He also supervised the 1999 Dreamcast video game Sword of the Berserk: Guts' Rage. In 2002, Miura received the Award for Excellence at the 6th Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prizes for Berserk. Starting in 2006, Berserk went on frequent and often extended hiatuses, and alternated between monthly and irregular serialization. As of 2018, Berserk was collected into 40 volumes in Japan, and as of May 2021 it had more than 50 million copies in circulation worldwide, including digital versions. The series also spawned a host of merchandise, both official and fan-made, ranging from statues, action figures to key rings, video games, and a trading card game. Various art books and supplemental materials by Miura based on Berserk were also released. In 2013, Miura released the short standalone manga Giganto Maxia, published in English-speaking territories by Dark Horse in 2016. Duranki, a short manga produced by Miura's personal manga studio Studio Gaga, was serialized in Young Animal Zero in 2019. Influences Miura stated that the work that had the biggest impact on his own was Buronson and Tetsuo Hara's manga Fist of the North Star (1983 debut). Miura also cited influences from Go Nagai's Violence Jack (1973 debut), the Japanese fantasy novel series Guin Saga (1979 debut), Paul Verhoeven films, the Hellraiser series (1987 debut), manga, Disney films, and the works of Hieronymous Bosch, M. C. Escher, Gustave Doré, and Pieter Bruegel. Death On May 6, 2021, Miura died due to acute aortic dissection, at the age of 54. His death was publicly announced on May 20, 2021. A private ceremony was held by his family. Various manga artists offered condolences, including Kouji Mori, Miura's high school friend, and George Morikawa, who shared a story of their friendship. People who worked on the Berserk anime adaptations also paid tribute to Miura, including Susumu Hirasawa, composer for the 1997 series; Nobutoshi Canna and Yūko Miyamura, who voiced Guts and Casca, respectively, in the 1997 series; Hiroaki Iwanaga, Guts' voice actor since the 2012–13 film trilogy; and singer Yoshino Nanjō, who voiced Sonia and performed the ending theme for the 2016 series' second season with Nagi Yanagi. Legacy