Hidetaka Miyazaki has been a huge fan of Berserk since childhood. He used to consume a lot of manga in his teenage years, and during his transition from shonen manga to more mature seinen manga, he stumbled upon Berserk.
Berserk’s influence can be seen throughout his work in almost most of his games, especially Dark Souls, where the inspiration almost always seems to be quite in the face; from character design to posters, it is everywhere.
He is a master director who knows well how to hide the inspiration behind his work so that it does not appear to be direct. He has paid more of a homage to his favorite mangas than taking direct inspiration from them.
Miyazaki could not stop himself from taking this one thing from Berserk
Dark Souls is one of Miyazaki’s biggest successes that shaped his career into the success story we know today. However, masterpieces are not made overnight, especially in a collaborative art form like video game development.
Miyazaki has been quite lucky in meeting like-minded creators who have always complimented his vision and influences. Similarly, for Dark Souls, he had Mr. Wargai, who designed the Catarina armor. Catarina is also loosely inspired by Emma Watson.
Amongst the many designs made by him, Miyazaki’s gaze was affixed on one large, overweight person like Bazuso from Berserk. Upon looking at it, Miyazaki immediately knew that he had to go forward with this design since it complemented his overall vision. He said,
The Catarina armor was designed by Mr. Waragai. During that time, I requested him to produce some fantasy armor, and among his designs was a large, overweight person like Bazuso from Berserk. It was truly distinctive with a spherical, onion-shaped helmet. I liked it immediately.
The world of Dark Souls or his other games is a culmination of all the things he has ever consumed or been inspired by throughout his life. The list of these inspirations consists of real-life locations, films, manga, and other forms of media.
Miyazaki is a master creator of worlds
Ever since childhood, reading has been Miyazaki’s way of immersing himself in the world of many fictional lands. This was his way of escaping reality and traveling to other worlds.
This attribute of his character shaped the master director we know today. His worlds are meticulously designed and offer players a chance to immerse themselves completely in the worlds that he creates. The level of immersion his games require and offer is much higher than most of the games out there.
His worlds are known for their immersive qualities, especially because he does not offer players a linear narrative that keeps the audiences hooked on the story. He is more interested in creating worlds that offer players an opportunity to create their path and choose how they want to approach the game. Are you a fan of Miyazaki’s games? Let us know in the comments below.
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