Berserk fan-made anime project remains silent after being denounced by publisher, but other Berserk fans are cancelling their own projects voluntarily
Hakusensha, the publisher of Kentaro Miura’s acclaimed Berserk series recently issued a statement via X denouncing a fan-made anime adaptation of the manga called Berserk: The Black Swordsman. The publisher made it clear that the adaptation is unofficial and, more importantly, uses the IP and its copyrighted images without permission from Studio Gaga or the late Miura.
Berserk: The Black Swordsman is currently being produced by Studio Eclypse, a US-based fan animation group. The project is being funded through Patreon subscriptions ranging from $5 to $20 a month. There is currently a trailer out, and Episode 1 is supposed to air in 2025.
Following Hakusensha’s statement last week, many Berserk fans assumed that Studio Eclypse would respond with a statement of its own, or even that the publisher would start to take legal measures. However, the fan project has yet to make a public comment on the matter, even as their Berserk-related posts on X receive community notes.
On the other hand, other fan projects related to Berserk have reacted to the situation. Studio Taka, a fan group dedicated to creating motion comic videos of Berserk, recently notified its viewers that they have cancelled their adaptation in light of Hakusensha’s statement. “We believe it’s the right thing to do in order to honor the rightsholders and their wishes,” the studio commented. Studio Taka similarly operated through user donations, boasting 258 paid subscribers on Patreon at the time of writing.