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Berserk Deluxe Edition #8
Berserk Deluxe Edition, Volume 8
Kentaro Miura's legendary adult fantasy/horror manga is now available at its original published size in handsome deluxe hardcover editions, each collecting three volumes of the acclaimed series. Collects Berserk volumes 22-24, including three fold-out color posters.
The fall of the Tower of Conviction and the Grand Inquisitor, Mozgus, has heralded the unexpected return of Guts' former commander, Griffith, last seen transformed from a mutilated husk into a demon lord of the Godhand. Regenerated into health and beauty, and with his dreams of carving out a kingdom intact, Griffith has raised a new Band of the Hawk, but recruited from darkness to fulfill his deadly destiny.
The fall of the Tower of Conviction and the Grand Inquisitor, Mozgus, has heralded the unexpected return of Guts' former commander, Griffith, last seen transformed from a mutilated husk into a demon lord of the Godhand. Regenerated into health and beauty, and with his dreams of carving out a kingdom intact, Griffith has raised a new Band of the Hawk, but recruited from darkness to fulfill his deadly destiny.
632 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2021
124 people are currently reading
1743 people want to read
About the author
Kentaro Miura
372 books2,738 followersKentarou Miura (三浦建太郎) was born in Chiba City, Chiba Prefecture, Japan, in 1966. He is left-handed. In 1976, at the early age of 10, Miura made his first Manga, entitled "Miuranger", that was published for his classmates in a school publication; the manga ended up spanning 40 volumes. In 1977, Miura created his second manga called Ken e no michi (剣への道 The Way to the Sword), using Indian ink for the first time. When he was in middle school in 1979, Miura's drawing techniques improved greatly as he started using professional drawing techniques. His first dōjinshi was published, with the help of friends, in a magazine in 1982.
That same year, in 1982, Miura enrolled in an artistic curriculum in high school, where he and his classmates started publishing their works in school booklets, as well as having his first dōjinshi published in a fan-produced magazine. In 1985, Miura applied for the entrance examination of an art college in Nihon University. He submitted Futanabi for examination and was granted admission. This project was later nominated Best New Author work in Weekly Shōnen Magazine. Another Miura manga Noa was published in Weekly Shōnen Magazine the very same year. Due to a disagreement with one of the editors, the manga was stalled and eventually dropped altogether. This is approximately where Miura's career hit a slump.
In 1988, Miura bounced back with a 48-page manga known as Berserk Prototype, as an introduction to the current Berserk fantasy world. It went on to win Miura a prize from the Comi Manga School. In 1989, after receiving a doctorate degree, Kentarou started a project titled King of Wolves (王狼, ōrō?) based on a script by Buronson, writer of Hokuto no Ken. It was published in the monthly Japanese Animal House magazine in issues 5 and 7 of that year.
In 1990, a sequel is made to Ourou entitled Ourou Den (王狼伝 ōrō den, The Legend of the Wolf King) that was published as a prequel to the original in Young Animal Magazine. In the same year, the 10th issue of Animal House witnesses the first volume of the solo project Berserk was released with a relatively limited success. Miura again collaborated with Buronson on manga titled Japan, that was published in Young Animal House from the 1st issue to the 8th of 1992, and was later released as a stand-alone tankōbon. Miura's fame grew after Berserk was serialized in Young Animal in 1992 with the release of "The Golden Age" story arc and the huge success of his masterpiece made of him one of the most prominent contemporary mangakas. At this time Miura dedicates himself solely to be working on Berserk. He has indicated, however, that he intends to publish more manga in the future.
In 1997, Miura supervised the production of 25 anime episodes of Berserk that aired in the same year on NTV. Various art books and supplemental materials by Miura based on Berserk are also released. In 1999, Miura made minor contributions to the Dreamcast video game Sword of the Berserk: Guts' Rage. 2004 saw the release of yet another video game adaptation entitled Berserk Millennium Falcon Arc: Chapter of the Record of the Holy Demon War.
Since that time, the Berserk manga has spanned 34 tankōbon with no end in sight. The series has also spawned a whole host of merchandise, both official and fan-made, ranging from statues, action figures to key rings, video games, and a trading card game. In 2002, Kentarou Miura received the second place in the Osamu Tezuka Culture Award of Excellence for Berserk.[1]
Miura provided the design for the Vocaloid Kamui Gakupo, whose voice is taken from the Japanese singer and actor, Gackt.
Miura passed away on May 6, 2021 at 2:48 p.m. due to acute aortic dissection.
That same year, in 1982, Miura enrolled in an artistic curriculum in high school, where he and his classmates started publishing their works in school booklets, as well as having his first dōjinshi published in a fan-produced magazine. In 1985, Miura applied for the entrance examination of an art college in Nihon University. He submitted Futanabi for examination and was granted admission. This project was later nominated Best New Author work in Weekly Shōnen Magazine. Another Miura manga Noa was published in Weekly Shōnen Magazine the very same year. Due to a disagreement with one of the editors, the manga was stalled and eventually dropped altogether. This is approximately where Miura's career hit a slump.
In 1988, Miura bounced back with a 48-page manga known as Berserk Prototype, as an introduction to the current Berserk fantasy world. It went on to win Miura a prize from the Comi Manga School. In 1989, after receiving a doctorate degree, Kentarou started a project titled King of Wolves (王狼, ōrō?) based on a script by Buronson, writer of Hokuto no Ken. It was published in the monthly Japanese Animal House magazine in issues 5 and 7 of that year.
In 1990, a sequel is made to Ourou entitled Ourou Den (王狼伝 ōrō den, The Legend of the Wolf King) that was published as a prequel to the original in Young Animal Magazine. In the same year, the 10th issue of Animal House witnesses the first volume of the solo project Berserk was released with a relatively limited success. Miura again collaborated with Buronson on manga titled Japan, that was published in Young Animal House from the 1st issue to the 8th of 1992, and was later released as a stand-alone tankōbon. Miura's fame grew after Berserk was serialized in Young Animal in 1992 with the release of "The Golden Age" story arc and the huge success of his masterpiece made of him one of the most prominent contemporary mangakas. At this time Miura dedicates himself solely to be working on Berserk. He has indicated, however, that he intends to publish more manga in the future.
In 1997, Miura supervised the production of 25 anime episodes of Berserk that aired in the same year on NTV. Various art books and supplemental materials by Miura based on Berserk are also released. In 1999, Miura made minor contributions to the Dreamcast video game Sword of the Berserk: Guts' Rage. 2004 saw the release of yet another video game adaptation entitled Berserk Millennium Falcon Arc: Chapter of the Record of the Holy Demon War.
Since that time, the Berserk manga has spanned 34 tankōbon with no end in sight. The series has also spawned a whole host of merchandise, both official and fan-made, ranging from statues, action figures to key rings, video games, and a trading card game. In 2002, Kentarou Miura received the second place in the Osamu Tezuka Culture Award of Excellence for Berserk.[1]
Miura provided the design for the Vocaloid Kamui Gakupo, whose voice is taken from the Japanese singer and actor, Gackt.
Miura passed away on May 6, 2021 at 2:48 p.m. due to acute aortic dissection.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 167 reviews
July 11, 2024
Casca being in the state she’s in and Guts being unable to help her is pure torture 😭😭😭
December 14, 2021
Hellraiser + Conan the Barbarian + Game of Thrones + Ash vs Evil Dead + Elric of Melnibone + Macbeth = Berserk.
Guts is a severely traumatized vigilante that wanders the world, throwing himself into one battle after another in hopes of finding a meaning in the tremendous suffering he's endured. His sword is his only trusted companion and he's consumed by a lust for vengeance. Griffith is a charismatic mercenary with dreams of ending a hundred year war in hopes of attaining his own kingdom. Little do his comrades and enemies know, he's not the flawless hero many believe him to be. When the paths of these two men clash, the entire world drastically evolves around the earth-shattering conflict between their indomitable wills.
A grimdark epic with compelling protagonists, stomach-churning horror, heartbreaking drama and a lovecraftian sense of metaphysical worldbuilding that's as fascinating as it is terrifying. Berserk has been my favorite manga, fantasy story and perhaps favorite story ever made for over a decade now and I was really sad to hear that the man behind the masterpiece passed away earlier this year.
Berserk is infamous for being the most gratuitously dark, brutal, shocking and depressing fantasy story ever written, but it is also rich with intense human emotion, philosophical depth, perseverance through unimaginable suffering and horrifyingly realistic depictions of psychological trauma. The series tackles the complex nature of morality vs. primal nature, fate and causality vs. free will, resilience against soulcrushing trauma that would cause most people to become broken or twisted. The definitions of good an evil are blurred beyond recognition, the heroes are just as flawed and capable of terrible deeds as the villains. The lead characters Guts and Griffith consistently challenge these themes and definitions through their shocking yet horrifyingly human actions.
This manga has inspired many famous works of art that are popular in today’s media such as the Dark Souls franchise, Final Fantasy, Attack on Titan, Evangelion, Castlevania, as well as countless fantasy novels, comics, manga, movies, tv shows, video games, musicians, artists, illustrators and so much more.
Miura inspired me as well and I regard him for being the person who taught me just how influential, meaningful and life changing art and literature can be when I first read his series over a decade ago. He changed the way I view entertainment and taught me how to appreciate the deeper meanings in everything I experience.
Berserk is to me what Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings is to millions of others.
Rest In Peace to a legendary man.
***
Above is my completely spoiler free review showing my appreciation for this series and its characters.
Below is a review of the entire series, broken down arc by arc. I originally wrote these individual reviews back during my first reading of the series, so keep that in mind. Each part contains mild spoilers, I would advise not looking any further than the arcs you’re currently reading or have already read.
***
The Black Swordsman Arc: Volumes 1-3
The first arc is only the tip of the iceberg of a very complex, dark and violent tragedy. If you find yourself to be not too impressed with the first volume, I highly recommend reading until at least volume 4 before deciding if this series is for you or not. The first three volumes serve as an interlude to help prepare you for the atrocities to come and may seem somewhat underwhelming in terms of plot, but believe me when I say the payoff is highly rewarding and memorable.
The Black Swordsman arc is awesome for fans returning to the series or rereading the series, but it often gives newcomers the wrong impression. It’s not that it’s bad, it’s just extremely different from the rest of the series and it’s set in the middle of the story rather than the beginning. This is done to set the dark tone of the series, bombarding you with shocking and upsetting content to make sure you know what you’re getting into before delving back to the beginning. For newcomers, this arc is a confusing yet exciting sword and sorcery tale of a vengeful barbarian warrior hunting demons in hopes of settling the score with his mortal enemy Griffith, and the evil lovecraftian beings that govern the world from the abyss known only as the Godhand. For returning readers, the Black Swordsman arc is much deeper than it seems, packed with genius foreshadowing, subtle character depth and truly impressive worldbuilding that will probably fly over the heads of newcomers.
Guts seems like a simplistic, edgy anti-hero at first glance, but he's so much more than that. Guts is one of the greatest characters the fantasy genre has to offer. Sigmund Freud could probably write a novel-length psychological analysis of this severely troubled and broken man. Guts is more complex than he leads people to believe as well. He's not a sociopathic antihero, he's a man that has no choice but to lie to himself to keep his emotions from crushing his spirit and getting innocent people involved with his deadly affairs. He's cruel and harsh for the greater good. It's the only way he can keep himself from going insane and continue to put up a good fight against terrifying creatures that are far stronger than he is. There's a bit of a joke in the Berserk community that says that no matter how bad your life might be, Guts will always have it worse. It's really not that hard to believe after you've read a bit of the series. His life was one big catastrophe literally from the moment he was born.
Not to mention his rival Griffith who is equally complex and incredibly rich with psychological depth, but there will be more on that as you delve further in. I would strongly recommend this series for hardcore fans of fantasy and horror, so long as you're prepared to be traumatized for life by the disgustingly harsh nature of its content.
This arc mainly serves to set up a lot of future plot points by introducing us to the Behilit, the God Hand, and the fact that even the demonic apostles are capable of emotions and having a family. Nothing is as it seems and no one is safe or innocent. It might not seem like it in the beginning, but the Black Swordsman arc is arguably one of the most important as it solidifies the themes of struggle, survival and wavering humanity that Guts deals with on a daily basis and sets up the flow of the rest of the story. It peels back the layers and reveals little by little how Guts grew up to be such a mentally broken and morally outraged character. It makes you sympathize with him and understand why he acts the way he does.
***
The Golden Age Arc: Volumes 4-13
The Golden Age Arc is where the story truly begins.
We return to the origins of Guts and learn about the series of battles, traumas and conflicts he gets himself wrapped in one after the other. We get introduced to a wonderfully intense group of mercenaries that go by the name of The Band of the Hawk. Among the Hawks are Casca the hot-headed female warrior, Judeau the smooth talking assassin, Corkus the drunken realist, Pippin the gentle giant, Rickert the blacksmith and of course, the infamous leader of men named Griffith.
Griffith is the most interesting of the motley crew as he is very complex and unpredictable. He has a playful side, a merciless side, a charismatic side and a childish yet vulnerable side. He can't be put into any single category. The gallant and elegant master of the sword has more layers than an onion. His brotherly rivalry with Guts is also a lovely and dementedly joyful sight to behold. This is the major turning point of the series and it only gets better and better from here.
After a life of grief and trauma, Guts reluctantly joins Griffith on his quest to attain his own kingdom while simultaneously struggling to come to terms with his own identity. We get to see a side of Guts we’ve never experienced up until this point. We see his vulnerability, his wounded soul, his ability to show affection to others, his role as a battle commander, and his blossoming relationships with Casca and Griffith; the two people who end up having the biggest impact on his entire life for very different reasons.
This is the arc that has the most in common with Game of Thrones, focusing on personal character dramas rather than constant brutal battles, action and lovecraftian horror being thrown at you left and right. While the battles and action sequences in Berserk are amazing, where it truly shines are its quiet moments of vulnerability where we get to see the most raw, heart-wrenching and introspective emotions of the severely damaged cast of protagonists.
Guts is an unstoppable badass, but he constantly suffers and contemplates his meaning in life. His sheer strength and relentless rage can’t hide the wounded little boy deep inside him. Casca is more fierce than most male soldiers on the battlefield and she has an attitude to match, so when we see her more feminine and loving side it makes her complex journey of self-realization all the more powerful. Griffith is a godlike war hero that millions of people worship, yet he has the deepest flaws, insecurities and inner darkness than any other character in the entire series. Most of all, they’re painfully human. These three represent the absolute best and absolute worst in all of us. That’s what makes them equally compelling, empathetic and utterly repulsive at times.
After an incredible display of war, romance, political drama, moral and philosophical musings, heartbreaking trauma, fascinating worldbuilding and chilling foreshadowing, the Golden Age arc ends on the single most shocking, depressing and mind blowing finale I’ve ever witnessed in a fantasy story. The Eclipse marks the major turning point in the story from Game of Thrones style medieval drama to the lovecraftian nightmare fest that we only get a small taste of in the Black Swordsman arc.
***
The Lost Children Arc: 14 - 16
Ah, the end of the Golden Age and the beginning of the Age of Darkness. This is where the horror elements of Berserk are dialed up to the absolute extreme. You thought the story was gruesome and horrifying before? You haven't seen anything yet. The Lost Children arc is not only arguably the most gruesome of them all, but it also completely wrecks your emotions as well. The relationship between Guts and Jill shows us that Guts is still in touch with his human side after the atrocities of the Black Swordsman arc may have convinced us otherwise. It solidifies his bond with his unlikely companion Puck, explores the lasting effects of trauma inflicted on him by the Eclipse and by Casca's heartbreaking condition and there's a rollercoaster of action, horror and small glimpses of hope in a sea of darkness. I've always loved how Jill and Puck brought Guts's humanity back to the surface after being stuck in such a devastating and harmful state for so long. This arc also humanizes the act of becoming an apostle which adds a layer of emotional depth to their depraved existence and makes the antagonists feel like more than simple fodder for Guts to slash through.
The Lost Children arc feels a bit underwhelming in a few areas compared to the shocking finale of the Golden Age arc, but the ending of this arc finishes with quite a few shockers of its own to bring back the hype and despair of the series. This arc is one of my favorites for a few reasons. It shows that apostles can be victims in their own right by exploring the sad life of Rosine who only sought to escape abuse and had to resort to inhumane methods to bring this about. This is made further relatable by contrasting her situation with that of Jill's as she's also severely abused by her father and wants nothing more than to escape from that life.
It also shows that Guts still has a human side. Despite how broken and full of hate and bloodlust he is, he still cares for Jill and throws himself in harm's way multiple times to protect her. Considering how tragic and terrifying Guts's childhood was, it's not too surprising that he would have a soft spot for kids that also happen to be suffering from abuse.
After the arc is done, we're thrown into another great arc which introduces us to the Holy Iron Chain Knights. Farnese and Serpico are fascinating characters, Azan is a cool guy and the shadiness of the group as a whole raises a lot of red flags. Guts and Puck also become much closer during this time which solidifies their companionship.
The Lost Children arc is often written off as a short filler mini-arc, but I think it serves its purpose more than well in just 3 volumes.
***
The Conviction Arc: 17 - 21
My favorite arc of Berserk in many ways.
The amount of story packed into these few volumes is incredible. Griffith is manipulating people's dreams from the beyond while a plague ravages the entire country. The people see this as a sign that the foretold messiah will soon come to save the world from darkness when really it's just Griffith leading them to believe that. After being visited by an omen in his dreams, Guts decides to return to Casca after not seeing her for two years because he's been going on a murderous rampage. After the tragic outcome of the Lost Children arc, Guts begins to accept that his quest for vengeance is futile, and that there are more important things in his life than violence.
This is where the arc gets really emotional. Figuratively speaking, Guts receives the harsh scolding and the much-needed therapy he's needed for a long time from Godo the blacksmith. Rickert, Erika and Puck are also there to knock some sense back into Guts's thick skull, giving him the mental and emotional support and guidance he desperately needed to get back on his feet after the tragedy of the eclipse. After regaining his compassion and conviction, Guts sets out to find the missing Caska, the woman who set the spark on his self-destructive quest in the first place to try and redeem his life from all the horrible things he’s been through and all the detestable things he’s done in the name of love.
We're then introduced to a horrifying priest that loves unreasonable torture, genocide and bashing people's brains out with a bible. The Holy Iron Chain Knights mean business and there's tragedy and death all over the world. Guts's path to redemption, the mad religion dedicated to a false messiah, the foreshadowing of Griffith's return, this arc is packed full of all kinds of heavy emotions.
On top of all the heart-wrenching emotions in this arc, it’s also by far the most terrifying. Religious tyranny, satanic orgy cults, cannibalism do to starvation, extreme torture methods using real historical tools such as the Judas Cradle, breaking wheels, rack torture, flaying and burning at the stake, etc. And that’s just a small taste.
We’re introduced to a group of prostitutes with strong character development. Luca is a saint and Nina is a sinner, yet Luca brings everyone together and loves them all unconditionally. Though she’s a prostitute, she has more love, kindness and motherly instinct in her than the entirety of the Holy Iron Chain Knights and their religious order which makes me respect her character a lot.
Overall an explosive arc that’s equally horrifying and beautiful. It has one of the most satisfying reunions and redemption plots of all time.
***
The Millennium Falcon Arc: Volumes 22-35
After the shocking ending of the previous arc, Griffith returns to the spotlight once more.
This is the most complex arc of the series as it's split into multiple perspectives which hasn’t really been done up until this point. Guts has reunited with his beloved Casca and her mind is still in shambles from the trauma she experienced during the Eclipse. With a new band of loyal companions at his side, Guts begins to learn how to trust, grow and love as he once did during his time in the Band of the Hawk while struggling to reconcile with his inner darkness and his hatred towards his former friend Griffith.
Schierke is a young witch that serves to explain the more magical, fantastical and metaphysical elements of the world of Berserk while aiding Guts’s crew in their journey to fight against the alarming uprising of demonic creatures overrunning the land.
The Kushan Empire has risen to power and is waging war with the unguarded kingdom of Midland. As if the deadly plague, religious crusades and rampant demon invasions weren’t enough, Emperor Ganishka of the Kushan Empire is making life an even greater hell for anyone that’s in his path of conquest.
Griffith is back in the human world, building an army of knights, demons, apostles and any other willing companions in his journey to 'save' the world from war to fulfill his dream of attaining his own kingdom no matter the sacrifices and immoral actions he must commit to make his dream a reality.
Not my favorite arc, but definitely the most chaotic, action-packed and lore heavy of them all. The fantasy, paranormal and existential elements of the story really ramp up in this arc and there’s all kinds of mindblowing chaos at work.
***
The Fantasia Arc: Volumes 36-41
It’s difficult to review this arc because it was left unfinished after the author’s untimely passing.
The Fantasia arc marked another major turning point of the series. If Lost Children and Conviction were the age of darkness, this was the beginning of the age of misguided light. Griffith changed the world in truly remarkable ways, both fascinating and terrible.
Guts and his crew set out to Elf Island to restore Casca’s memories before deciding how to settle the score with Griffith once and for all. The arc was tying up loose ends at a very nice pace, answering questions that many readers have been contemplating since the beginning of the series such as the identity of Skull Knight, the origins of the God Hand, Griffith true motives, how Casca confronts her trauma, the purpose of the Berserker Armor, Guts finding the answer to his life’s purpose, the secret history and lore of the greater universe and much more.
Just as the arc was heading for a climactic buildup to the finale, it ends on a tear jerking cliffhanger that serves as the untimely ending of the series as a whole. It’s a shame that Miura’s masterpiece wasn’t able to be finished, but he’s created the most influential manga of all time that heavily impacted millions of reads and thousands of artists all over the world.
***
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Guts is a severely traumatized vigilante that wanders the world, throwing himself into one battle after another in hopes of finding a meaning in the tremendous suffering he's endured. His sword is his only trusted companion and he's consumed by a lust for vengeance. Griffith is a charismatic mercenary with dreams of ending a hundred year war in hopes of attaining his own kingdom. Little do his comrades and enemies know, he's not the flawless hero many believe him to be. When the paths of these two men clash, the entire world drastically evolves around the earth-shattering conflict between their indomitable wills.
A grimdark epic with compelling protagonists, stomach-churning horror, heartbreaking drama and a lovecraftian sense of metaphysical worldbuilding that's as fascinating as it is terrifying. Berserk has been my favorite manga, fantasy story and perhaps favorite story ever made for over a decade now and I was really sad to hear that the man behind the masterpiece passed away earlier this year.
Berserk is infamous for being the most gratuitously dark, brutal, shocking and depressing fantasy story ever written, but it is also rich with intense human emotion, philosophical depth, perseverance through unimaginable suffering and horrifyingly realistic depictions of psychological trauma. The series tackles the complex nature of morality vs. primal nature, fate and causality vs. free will, resilience against soulcrushing trauma that would cause most people to become broken or twisted. The definitions of good an evil are blurred beyond recognition, the heroes are just as flawed and capable of terrible deeds as the villains. The lead characters Guts and Griffith consistently challenge these themes and definitions through their shocking yet horrifyingly human actions.
This manga has inspired many famous works of art that are popular in today’s media such as the Dark Souls franchise, Final Fantasy, Attack on Titan, Evangelion, Castlevania, as well as countless fantasy novels, comics, manga, movies, tv shows, video games, musicians, artists, illustrators and so much more.
Miura inspired me as well and I regard him for being the person who taught me just how influential, meaningful and life changing art and literature can be when I first read his series over a decade ago. He changed the way I view entertainment and taught me how to appreciate the deeper meanings in everything I experience.
Berserk is to me what Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings is to millions of others.
Rest In Peace to a legendary man.
***
Above is my completely spoiler free review showing my appreciation for this series and its characters.
Below is a review of the entire series, broken down arc by arc. I originally wrote these individual reviews back during my first reading of the series, so keep that in mind. Each part contains mild spoilers, I would advise not looking any further than the arcs you’re currently reading or have already read.
***
The Black Swordsman Arc: Volumes 1-3
The first arc is only the tip of the iceberg of a very complex, dark and violent tragedy. If you find yourself to be not too impressed with the first volume, I highly recommend reading until at least volume 4 before deciding if this series is for you or not. The first three volumes serve as an interlude to help prepare you for the atrocities to come and may seem somewhat underwhelming in terms of plot, but believe me when I say the payoff is highly rewarding and memorable.
The Black Swordsman arc is awesome for fans returning to the series or rereading the series, but it often gives newcomers the wrong impression. It’s not that it’s bad, it’s just extremely different from the rest of the series and it’s set in the middle of the story rather than the beginning. This is done to set the dark tone of the series, bombarding you with shocking and upsetting content to make sure you know what you’re getting into before delving back to the beginning. For newcomers, this arc is a confusing yet exciting sword and sorcery tale of a vengeful barbarian warrior hunting demons in hopes of settling the score with his mortal enemy Griffith, and the evil lovecraftian beings that govern the world from the abyss known only as the Godhand. For returning readers, the Black Swordsman arc is much deeper than it seems, packed with genius foreshadowing, subtle character depth and truly impressive worldbuilding that will probably fly over the heads of newcomers.
Guts seems like a simplistic, edgy anti-hero at first glance, but he's so much more than that. Guts is one of the greatest characters the fantasy genre has to offer. Sigmund Freud could probably write a novel-length psychological analysis of this severely troubled and broken man. Guts is more complex than he leads people to believe as well. He's not a sociopathic antihero, he's a man that has no choice but to lie to himself to keep his emotions from crushing his spirit and getting innocent people involved with his deadly affairs. He's cruel and harsh for the greater good. It's the only way he can keep himself from going insane and continue to put up a good fight against terrifying creatures that are far stronger than he is. There's a bit of a joke in the Berserk community that says that no matter how bad your life might be, Guts will always have it worse. It's really not that hard to believe after you've read a bit of the series. His life was one big catastrophe literally from the moment he was born.
Not to mention his rival Griffith who is equally complex and incredibly rich with psychological depth, but there will be more on that as you delve further in. I would strongly recommend this series for hardcore fans of fantasy and horror, so long as you're prepared to be traumatized for life by the disgustingly harsh nature of its content.
This arc mainly serves to set up a lot of future plot points by introducing us to the Behilit, the God Hand, and the fact that even the demonic apostles are capable of emotions and having a family. Nothing is as it seems and no one is safe or innocent. It might not seem like it in the beginning, but the Black Swordsman arc is arguably one of the most important as it solidifies the themes of struggle, survival and wavering humanity that Guts deals with on a daily basis and sets up the flow of the rest of the story. It peels back the layers and reveals little by little how Guts grew up to be such a mentally broken and morally outraged character. It makes you sympathize with him and understand why he acts the way he does.
***
The Golden Age Arc: Volumes 4-13
The Golden Age Arc is where the story truly begins.
We return to the origins of Guts and learn about the series of battles, traumas and conflicts he gets himself wrapped in one after the other. We get introduced to a wonderfully intense group of mercenaries that go by the name of The Band of the Hawk. Among the Hawks are Casca the hot-headed female warrior, Judeau the smooth talking assassin, Corkus the drunken realist, Pippin the gentle giant, Rickert the blacksmith and of course, the infamous leader of men named Griffith.
Griffith is the most interesting of the motley crew as he is very complex and unpredictable. He has a playful side, a merciless side, a charismatic side and a childish yet vulnerable side. He can't be put into any single category. The gallant and elegant master of the sword has more layers than an onion. His brotherly rivalry with Guts is also a lovely and dementedly joyful sight to behold. This is the major turning point of the series and it only gets better and better from here.
After a life of grief and trauma, Guts reluctantly joins Griffith on his quest to attain his own kingdom while simultaneously struggling to come to terms with his own identity. We get to see a side of Guts we’ve never experienced up until this point. We see his vulnerability, his wounded soul, his ability to show affection to others, his role as a battle commander, and his blossoming relationships with Casca and Griffith; the two people who end up having the biggest impact on his entire life for very different reasons.
This is the arc that has the most in common with Game of Thrones, focusing on personal character dramas rather than constant brutal battles, action and lovecraftian horror being thrown at you left and right. While the battles and action sequences in Berserk are amazing, where it truly shines are its quiet moments of vulnerability where we get to see the most raw, heart-wrenching and introspective emotions of the severely damaged cast of protagonists.
Guts is an unstoppable badass, but he constantly suffers and contemplates his meaning in life. His sheer strength and relentless rage can’t hide the wounded little boy deep inside him. Casca is more fierce than most male soldiers on the battlefield and she has an attitude to match, so when we see her more feminine and loving side it makes her complex journey of self-realization all the more powerful. Griffith is a godlike war hero that millions of people worship, yet he has the deepest flaws, insecurities and inner darkness than any other character in the entire series. Most of all, they’re painfully human. These three represent the absolute best and absolute worst in all of us. That’s what makes them equally compelling, empathetic and utterly repulsive at times.
After an incredible display of war, romance, political drama, moral and philosophical musings, heartbreaking trauma, fascinating worldbuilding and chilling foreshadowing, the Golden Age arc ends on the single most shocking, depressing and mind blowing finale I’ve ever witnessed in a fantasy story. The Eclipse marks the major turning point in the story from Game of Thrones style medieval drama to the lovecraftian nightmare fest that we only get a small taste of in the Black Swordsman arc.
***
The Lost Children Arc: 14 - 16
Ah, the end of the Golden Age and the beginning of the Age of Darkness. This is where the horror elements of Berserk are dialed up to the absolute extreme. You thought the story was gruesome and horrifying before? You haven't seen anything yet. The Lost Children arc is not only arguably the most gruesome of them all, but it also completely wrecks your emotions as well. The relationship between Guts and Jill shows us that Guts is still in touch with his human side after the atrocities of the Black Swordsman arc may have convinced us otherwise. It solidifies his bond with his unlikely companion Puck, explores the lasting effects of trauma inflicted on him by the Eclipse and by Casca's heartbreaking condition and there's a rollercoaster of action, horror and small glimpses of hope in a sea of darkness. I've always loved how Jill and Puck brought Guts's humanity back to the surface after being stuck in such a devastating and harmful state for so long. This arc also humanizes the act of becoming an apostle which adds a layer of emotional depth to their depraved existence and makes the antagonists feel like more than simple fodder for Guts to slash through.
The Lost Children arc feels a bit underwhelming in a few areas compared to the shocking finale of the Golden Age arc, but the ending of this arc finishes with quite a few shockers of its own to bring back the hype and despair of the series. This arc is one of my favorites for a few reasons. It shows that apostles can be victims in their own right by exploring the sad life of Rosine who only sought to escape abuse and had to resort to inhumane methods to bring this about. This is made further relatable by contrasting her situation with that of Jill's as she's also severely abused by her father and wants nothing more than to escape from that life.
It also shows that Guts still has a human side. Despite how broken and full of hate and bloodlust he is, he still cares for Jill and throws himself in harm's way multiple times to protect her. Considering how tragic and terrifying Guts's childhood was, it's not too surprising that he would have a soft spot for kids that also happen to be suffering from abuse.
After the arc is done, we're thrown into another great arc which introduces us to the Holy Iron Chain Knights. Farnese and Serpico are fascinating characters, Azan is a cool guy and the shadiness of the group as a whole raises a lot of red flags. Guts and Puck also become much closer during this time which solidifies their companionship.
The Lost Children arc is often written off as a short filler mini-arc, but I think it serves its purpose more than well in just 3 volumes.
***
The Conviction Arc: 17 - 21
My favorite arc of Berserk in many ways.
The amount of story packed into these few volumes is incredible. Griffith is manipulating people's dreams from the beyond while a plague ravages the entire country. The people see this as a sign that the foretold messiah will soon come to save the world from darkness when really it's just Griffith leading them to believe that. After being visited by an omen in his dreams, Guts decides to return to Casca after not seeing her for two years because he's been going on a murderous rampage. After the tragic outcome of the Lost Children arc, Guts begins to accept that his quest for vengeance is futile, and that there are more important things in his life than violence.
This is where the arc gets really emotional. Figuratively speaking, Guts receives the harsh scolding and the much-needed therapy he's needed for a long time from Godo the blacksmith. Rickert, Erika and Puck are also there to knock some sense back into Guts's thick skull, giving him the mental and emotional support and guidance he desperately needed to get back on his feet after the tragedy of the eclipse. After regaining his compassion and conviction, Guts sets out to find the missing Caska, the woman who set the spark on his self-destructive quest in the first place to try and redeem his life from all the horrible things he’s been through and all the detestable things he’s done in the name of love.
We're then introduced to a horrifying priest that loves unreasonable torture, genocide and bashing people's brains out with a bible. The Holy Iron Chain Knights mean business and there's tragedy and death all over the world. Guts's path to redemption, the mad religion dedicated to a false messiah, the foreshadowing of Griffith's return, this arc is packed full of all kinds of heavy emotions.
On top of all the heart-wrenching emotions in this arc, it’s also by far the most terrifying. Religious tyranny, satanic orgy cults, cannibalism do to starvation, extreme torture methods using real historical tools such as the Judas Cradle, breaking wheels, rack torture, flaying and burning at the stake, etc. And that’s just a small taste.
We’re introduced to a group of prostitutes with strong character development. Luca is a saint and Nina is a sinner, yet Luca brings everyone together and loves them all unconditionally. Though she’s a prostitute, she has more love, kindness and motherly instinct in her than the entirety of the Holy Iron Chain Knights and their religious order which makes me respect her character a lot.
Overall an explosive arc that’s equally horrifying and beautiful. It has one of the most satisfying reunions and redemption plots of all time.
***
The Millennium Falcon Arc: Volumes 22-35
After the shocking ending of the previous arc, Griffith returns to the spotlight once more.
This is the most complex arc of the series as it's split into multiple perspectives which hasn’t really been done up until this point. Guts has reunited with his beloved Casca and her mind is still in shambles from the trauma she experienced during the Eclipse. With a new band of loyal companions at his side, Guts begins to learn how to trust, grow and love as he once did during his time in the Band of the Hawk while struggling to reconcile with his inner darkness and his hatred towards his former friend Griffith.
Schierke is a young witch that serves to explain the more magical, fantastical and metaphysical elements of the world of Berserk while aiding Guts’s crew in their journey to fight against the alarming uprising of demonic creatures overrunning the land.
The Kushan Empire has risen to power and is waging war with the unguarded kingdom of Midland. As if the deadly plague, religious crusades and rampant demon invasions weren’t enough, Emperor Ganishka of the Kushan Empire is making life an even greater hell for anyone that’s in his path of conquest.
Griffith is back in the human world, building an army of knights, demons, apostles and any other willing companions in his journey to 'save' the world from war to fulfill his dream of attaining his own kingdom no matter the sacrifices and immoral actions he must commit to make his dream a reality.
Not my favorite arc, but definitely the most chaotic, action-packed and lore heavy of them all. The fantasy, paranormal and existential elements of the story really ramp up in this arc and there’s all kinds of mindblowing chaos at work.
***
The Fantasia Arc: Volumes 36-41
It’s difficult to review this arc because it was left unfinished after the author’s untimely passing.
The Fantasia arc marked another major turning point of the series. If Lost Children and Conviction were the age of darkness, this was the beginning of the age of misguided light. Griffith changed the world in truly remarkable ways, both fascinating and terrible.
Guts and his crew set out to Elf Island to restore Casca’s memories before deciding how to settle the score with Griffith once and for all. The arc was tying up loose ends at a very nice pace, answering questions that many readers have been contemplating since the beginning of the series such as the identity of Skull Knight, the origins of the God Hand, Griffith true motives, how Casca confronts her trauma, the purpose of the Berserker Armor, Guts finding the answer to his life’s purpose, the secret history and lore of the greater universe and much more.
Just as the arc was heading for a climactic buildup to the finale, it ends on a tear jerking cliffhanger that serves as the untimely ending of the series as a whole. It’s a shame that Miura’s masterpiece wasn’t able to be finished, but he’s created the most influential manga of all time that heavily impacted millions of reads and thousands of artists all over the world.
***
If you're looking for some dark ambient music for reading horror, dark fantasy and other books like this one, then be sure to check out my YouTube Channel called Nightmarish Compositions: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPPs...
October 22, 2022
It really gave a more in depth look at a few characters my favorite was how this female was made this head figure of the holy see and how she kept looking back on what she had done not of her own will but the will of the people she lead because if she had not thrown the torch and purged the heretic she would have been purged herself, but once she caught up with the black swordsman she saw a man going against fate casting aside what the world had laid out for him and carving his own path so she cast aside her own fate that her father had carved out for her and decided she wanted to see what would lie ahead for her if she took her own path following guts
June 23, 2024
I loved the amount of character development in this volume. Finally got a little world building too that explained a lot about the supernatural things that have been occurring throughout the series. Guts has started warming up to traveling with others but his reasons are his own and very dark. 🫢
October 24, 2024
Vol. 22 - Guts has finally reunited with Casca, but Griffith has also returned with new power and Guts will do anything to protect Casca if it means for them to find a safer place. We follow Griffith as we see him attack the Kushan, a royal army of ravagers that are invading Midland as well as learning about the backstories of Lady Farnese and her faithful servant Serpico as their relationship grew from very dark memories.
Vol. 23 - Guts, Casca and Puck continue traveling while contemplating about her lost self and Griffith’s new form. After an intense situation, they unexpectedly run into old faces from Midland including Lady Farnese who wants to accompany them as we see a huge change in her persona. Meanwhile, we continue to see Griffith against the mighty Kushan in Midland.
Vol. 24 - Guts and his party make their way through a forest of golems where they come across a magical surprise in the form of a witch residence and another new party member, witch apprentice Schierke. With magic infused weapons, they will find themselves against an army of trolls near a village.
A (100%/Outstanding)
Vol. 23 - Guts, Casca and Puck continue traveling while contemplating about her lost self and Griffith’s new form. After an intense situation, they unexpectedly run into old faces from Midland including Lady Farnese who wants to accompany them as we see a huge change in her persona. Meanwhile, we continue to see Griffith against the mighty Kushan in Midland.
Vol. 24 - Guts and his party make their way through a forest of golems where they come across a magical surprise in the form of a witch residence and another new party member, witch apprentice Schierke. With magic infused weapons, they will find themselves against an army of trolls near a village.
A (100%/Outstanding)
February 25, 2022
Berserk 8, details Gut’s continued attempts to protect Casca from her brand as we attempt to travel to Elfhelm, Pucks homeland.
-Along the way we have the first meeting between Guts and Griffith post Eclipse and it was so intense.
-We get a lot of background info some of the side characters, Isidro, Serpico, Farnese.
-We start to see a lot more of the magic of the world, from the cosmology, to magic items, to troll armies.
Definitely a slower edition, however a lot more world background and character development, all done in an entertaining and well realised way.
-Along the way we have the first meeting between Guts and Griffith post Eclipse and it was so intense.
-We get a lot of background info some of the side characters, Isidro, Serpico, Farnese.
-We start to see a lot more of the magic of the world, from the cosmology, to magic items, to troll armies.
Definitely a slower edition, however a lot more world background and character development, all done in an entertaining and well realised way.
September 14, 2024
This is easily my second favorite arc in the entire series. Almost caught up to where I stopped reading YEARS ago. But the return of Griffith is SO good. The little showdown with Guts, his takeover and new army, his new "band" of hawks is all SO fucking good. On the flipside we get into a more fantasy setting for Guts as he also has his own band of people now, and even a little magical girl. All of it works really well, on top of him processing his extreme PDST with Casca, and his demon within.
This is Berserk at its finest.
This is Berserk at its finest.
August 8, 2023
"While many can pursue their dreams in solitude, other dreams are like great storms blowing hundreds, even thousands of dreams apart in their wake. Dreams breathe life into men and can cage them in suffering. Men live and die by their dreams. But long after they have been abandoned they still smolder deep in men's hearts. Some see nothing more than life and death. They are dead, for they have no dreams."
Deluxe edition volume 8 is again a step up from the previous volume. This series only seems to get better and better.
Character development and destruction is in full swing. Just when something good happens, something shitty happens. As a Berserk reader at this point, I've come to expect this emotional torture.
Guts in full protection mode at this point is tired from fending off the demons that pursue him and Casca. Gut's inner demons are beginning to disrupt his stasis. I hope he'll be able to control it - Seeing Casca's hurt when Guts attacked her left me heartbroken.
The team of misfits and horrible/good people are together and advancing in their journey to face their new foe: trolls.
So so excited to read on! Here's to hoping this series never ends!
March 30, 2025
In the ashes of the Tower, the white hawk rises. Griffith is back, and he is getting what he desires no matter what. As he forms a new unholy band of the hawk, Guts struggles desperately to keep Casca close. On the long, arduous road, they are soon joined by former allies and adversaries, forming a new small party going forth.
Vol 8 is the come down from the climatic sinister Tower of Conviction. Equal parts hard traveling heroes and new alliances for evil. The parallels of Guts at his lowest learning to let new people back into his life, as well as Griffith ascending and gathering his disciples for his war is poetry. It might not be the most exciting of these volumes, but it is compelling watching these pieces fall into place. In any other series, this would probably be a three out of five. But Berserk's average is so much higher, and I know it'll pick back up again.
Vol 8 is the come down from the climatic sinister Tower of Conviction. Equal parts hard traveling heroes and new alliances for evil. The parallels of Guts at his lowest learning to let new people back into his life, as well as Griffith ascending and gathering his disciples for his war is poetry. It might not be the most exciting of these volumes, but it is compelling watching these pieces fall into place. In any other series, this would probably be a three out of five. But Berserk's average is so much higher, and I know it'll pick back up again.
September 8, 2021
Another excellent series of chapters by the now departed Kentaro Miura.
July 11, 2025
Plenty of good moments (especially the Griffith scenes) but overall quite the forgettable volume
November 6, 2024
[english+ελληνικά]
"Don't abandon... what you can't replace"
A very pleasant and necessary break
from the constant fighting and conflict.
The new characters in the group lighten up drastically
the suffocating atmosphere of the narrative.
-----
Ένα πολύ ευχάριστο κι απαραίτητο διάλλειμα
από τις συνεχείς μάχες και συγκρούσεις.
Οι νέοι χαρακτήρες του γκρουπ ελαφρύνουν δραστικά
την αποπνικτική ατμόσφαιρα της αφήγησης.
"Don't abandon... what you can't replace"
A very pleasant and necessary break
from the constant fighting and conflict.
The new characters in the group lighten up drastically
the suffocating atmosphere of the narrative.
-----
Ένα πολύ ευχάριστο κι απαραίτητο διάλλειμα
από τις συνεχείς μάχες και συγκρούσεις.
Οι νέοι χαρακτήρες του γκρουπ ελαφρύνουν δραστικά
την αποπνικτική ατμόσφαιρα της αφήγησης.
December 29, 2021
Damn that first meeting between Guts and Griffith post eclipse.
March 21, 2024
Guts starting to put faith in others will never not rouse my cold dead heart
September 16, 2025
We start this one off with a new visit to Godot's home, as well as a new meeting between Guts and Griffith, which is always interesting.
The extended backstory for Serpico and Farnese is also a nice (if not slightly creepy) development, and I think the new group dynamic opens up some interesting opportunities for the plot to develop further.
The last part of this volume, however, featuring the visit to the witch, was a little disappointing for me, as much of it came across a bit like an exposition dump. It’s also difficult for me to see how the subplot involving the trolls will develop beyond a few fight scenes—though I could of course be mistaken. At times I also feel like the humor in the series is getting a bit too slapstick, with the silly fairies and Isidro perhaps taking center stage a bit too often.
All in all, a good volume, though part of me is slightly concerned about where we may be headed.
The extended backstory for Serpico and Farnese is also a nice (if not slightly creepy) development, and I think the new group dynamic opens up some interesting opportunities for the plot to develop further.
The last part of this volume, however, featuring the visit to the witch, was a little disappointing for me, as much of it came across a bit like an exposition dump. It’s also difficult for me to see how the subplot involving the trolls will develop beyond a few fight scenes—though I could of course be mistaken. At times I also feel like the humor in the series is getting a bit too slapstick, with the silly fairies and Isidro perhaps taking center stage a bit too often.
All in all, a good volume, though part of me is slightly concerned about where we may be headed.
August 19, 2024
Miura’s characters come to life as always. Miura jumps between the two stories, showing the desperation of Guts’s situation contrasted with the reborn Griffith. His powers have never swelled so fast. Everything seems to fall into Griffith’s place like fate itself has been manipulated to ensure his success. Delving into the nature of casualty and free will, Miura explores what happens when you’re able to change the odds and ensure every toss of the dice lands your way. The Godhand have put their plans into Griffith’s shoulders. They are inspiring the world, allowing Griffith to achieve his dream of his kingdom. But what will happen when he has it? Why are such evil beings seemingly so altruistic? BERSERK is shifting more and more into the pure fantasy story, but the grim dark brutality still exists. The trolls are horrible creatures, squat and brutish. It will take the aid of magic to allow Guts and his group to continue on. Miura’s world develops more and more in this chapter as he dives into not only the metaphysics of his world, but whether the Godhand’s belief that causality controls all is the truth.
BERSERK continues to be an exciting read as Guts and his group deal with the trolls while Guts is beginning to remember what it was like to belong again. They’re not the Band of the Hawk, but has he found a new family to protect? A way to escape his destructive path of vengeance?
BERSERK continues to be an exciting read as Guts and his group deal with the trolls while Guts is beginning to remember what it was like to belong again. They’re not the Band of the Hawk, but has he found a new family to protect? A way to escape his destructive path of vengeance?
July 27, 2025
Came for the complex characters and relationships, wanted to leave because of the rape-trolls...
Rating for the individual volumes:
Volume 22: 3.5 ★
Volume 23: 3.5 ★
Volume 24: 2.5 ★
Rating for the individual volumes:
Volume 22: 3.5 ★
Volume 23: 3.5 ★
Volume 24: 2.5 ★
August 2, 2023
now that’s what i’m talking about!!!!
August 20, 2023
Check out my reactions/chapter for chapter thoughts here: https://youtu.be/kF8Z0r8INUw
October 26, 2023
FINALLY Griffith is back!!
I’m enjoying the new crew Guts has acquired. Love Farnese’s loser-ass and how she’s grown to care for Casca. Anyway, looking forward to the rest of this arc.
I’m enjoying the new crew Guts has acquired. Love Farnese’s loser-ass and how she’s grown to care for Casca. Anyway, looking forward to the rest of this arc.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 26, 2024
hm kinda got boring ?
December 23, 2023
hope serpico never dies—i already lose all my favourite characters i cant do this anymore.
April 16, 2025
“when was the last time i saw her smile?” wrap it up. STOP BEING MEAN TO HIM PLEASE💔💔💔
July 18, 2025
Very lore heavy, but still nothing but peak
May 7, 2024
It’s very upsetting to see casca turned into a fridged character for the series.
I liked farnese’s background dive though. And the visit to the witch!!!
I liked farnese’s background dive though. And the visit to the witch!!!
March 27, 2025
3.5/5 super solid look at some of the side characters, and the return of Griffith is interesting. This volume felt like a setup, can’t wait for the payoff.
January 12, 2026
Frfr I love it more and more and we're getting whimsical finally which is simply perfect and wowowow I just love everyone in this little group I'm sure no one is gonna die on me!
Oooo Griffith makes me so angry, like when I talk about him by heart actually starts racing so like really effective character I suppose but UGH I just wanna see him crack just once.
Overall I think that the whole dynamic with guts and casca is so heartbreaking especially because he is trying so hard and he is literally unable to help her in the way that she needs. And I especially feel bad because it's not like he was being careless or anything when he left with her and he literally had no help but by the time he realized that he was totally in over his head they were literally in the middle of nowhere and just UGH it's so painful.
Once again... casca is always in sexual situations and like there isn't much more to say at this point. I was weirdly?? excited when she fucked up all those guys because that's the first time she's really done much of anything but then....
*that* scene with guts and casca was shocking and horrifying and honestly I found it harder to read than anyyyyything that Griffith did bc like guts was supposed to be safe and at first I was so mad at him.. I felt so bad for her bc like imagine how confusing of a presence he would be?? And I feel like that would make him seem even more threatening to her than someone who is ONLY cruel you know? and it's crazy to me because I feel like no one ever talks about this moment and I don't know WHY because it literally changes EVERYTHING
now... do I think it was necessary that the scene played out exactly the way that it did? no. Do I understand that this is Miura's most favourite plot device? yes. Do I think that this moment was effectively used to create change in the plot/characters? Absolutely (don't get me fucked up tho, this isn't me excusing it). But what I will say is that every decision that guts made from this moment on changed him from a character that I really loved to being my literal favourite of all time ever.. so.
Now, LOVE Farnese already and I loved how she was reflecting on her uselessness and when Serpico asked if she wanted to go back, she said no! because she is discovering herself! she is the literal definition of doing it scared - also I loved her and Serpico's backstory I love him so bad and I want to hug him and I really want Farnese to apologize to him at some point even though I can already smell that that isn't going to happen
But huzzah for whimsy! Shierke! Serpico! I also love because instantly once everyone joins you can see guts chill out and I'm so glad I want him to be happy so so so bad. I'm SOOO happy Casca has Farny now - I want her to be happy the most ever and I love them together.
Oooo Griffith makes me so angry, like when I talk about him by heart actually starts racing so like really effective character I suppose but UGH I just wanna see him crack just once.
Overall I think that the whole dynamic with guts and casca is so heartbreaking especially because he is trying so hard and he is literally unable to help her in the way that she needs. And I especially feel bad because it's not like he was being careless or anything when he left with her and he literally had no help but by the time he realized that he was totally in over his head they were literally in the middle of nowhere and just UGH it's so painful.
Once again... casca is always in sexual situations and like there isn't much more to say at this point. I was weirdly?? excited when she fucked up all those guys because that's the first time she's really done much of anything but then....
*that* scene with guts and casca was shocking and horrifying and honestly I found it harder to read than anyyyyything that Griffith did bc like guts was supposed to be safe and at first I was so mad at him.. I felt so bad for her bc like imagine how confusing of a presence he would be?? And I feel like that would make him seem even more threatening to her than someone who is ONLY cruel you know? and it's crazy to me because I feel like no one ever talks about this moment and I don't know WHY because it literally changes EVERYTHING
now... do I think it was necessary that the scene played out exactly the way that it did? no. Do I understand that this is Miura's most favourite plot device? yes. Do I think that this moment was effectively used to create change in the plot/characters? Absolutely (don't get me fucked up tho, this isn't me excusing it). But what I will say is that every decision that guts made from this moment on changed him from a character that I really loved to being my literal favourite of all time ever.. so.
Now, LOVE Farnese already and I loved how she was reflecting on her uselessness and when Serpico asked if she wanted to go back, she said no! because she is discovering herself! she is the literal definition of doing it scared - also I loved her and Serpico's backstory I love him so bad and I want to hug him and I really want Farnese to apologize to him at some point even though I can already smell that that isn't going to happen
But huzzah for whimsy! Shierke! Serpico! I also love because instantly once everyone joins you can see guts chill out and I'm so glad I want him to be happy so so so bad. I'm SOOO happy Casca has Farny now - I want her to be happy the most ever and I love them together.
July 11, 2022
ok this one took me a little while to read because you have to know me and my boyfriend are reading it together and i read other novels in between reading chunks of berserk so yeah it gets complicated. but god damn these are so well written and the atmosphere is so…. THERE that it takes one page to get back into it like you never put it aside. those deluxe volumes really make you feel like you’re reading in 4K HD. it draws you in the drawings. which are absolutely gorgeous.
*i will be mentioning specifically what happens in this volume so, potentially, spoilers ahead*
this volume kicks off with a griffith/zodd and guts encounter. what a BANG. the TENSION, the frustration, the action, the staging of the scenes. really sends you into the volume with a high.
one of my favorite parts of this particular volume was the serpico/farnese backstory. really makes you understand their dynamic more and understand them as individuals. gave us a little break from the main storyline but it was well placed, and a welcome and relevant tale for what was to come (joining our dear guts).
speaking of guts. this heartbreaking scene with casca broke something in me when i read it. it’s bringing the story somewhere but man i wish this wasn’t real. it is interesting seeing how guts is battling his inner demons (beast…) but damn it casca deserves a freaking break (and i can definitely understand why some readers are criticizing this particular chapter). it does lead him to accept serpico, farnese and isidro joining him and puck though.
it’s refreshing seeing guts interact with them and seeing a group dynamic settling between them all.
i also appreciated, later on, the encounter with schierke and it leading to meeting her mistress and getting a LOT of infos on some fantastic elements they’re stumbling upon (the astral world, mostly, and then the elementals). it felt a little overwhelming at times, all this info being dumped on you, but it definitely feels important and makes sense to be said and condensed at this moment.
once again, even in calmer moments, there’s always something going on, may it be introspection from a character, action, new information, anything, there’s always something engaging, something keeping you into the story. berserk is a masterclass in drawing you in and making you feel like you’re a companion, following along with guts. and even when it gets hard to read, you just can’t abandon the characters.
(and damn it all, i’ll always, always, ALWAYS, wish bad things upon that bitch ass hoe griffith when i see him)
(ok, griffith is interesting, don’t hate on me, but you’ll never catch me not wanting him to suffer. xxx)
*i will be mentioning specifically what happens in this volume so, potentially, spoilers ahead*
this volume kicks off with a griffith/zodd and guts encounter. what a BANG. the TENSION, the frustration, the action, the staging of the scenes. really sends you into the volume with a high.
one of my favorite parts of this particular volume was the serpico/farnese backstory. really makes you understand their dynamic more and understand them as individuals. gave us a little break from the main storyline but it was well placed, and a welcome and relevant tale for what was to come (joining our dear guts).
speaking of guts. this heartbreaking scene with casca broke something in me when i read it. it’s bringing the story somewhere but man i wish this wasn’t real. it is interesting seeing how guts is battling his inner demons (beast…) but damn it casca deserves a freaking break (and i can definitely understand why some readers are criticizing this particular chapter). it does lead him to accept serpico, farnese and isidro joining him and puck though.
it’s refreshing seeing guts interact with them and seeing a group dynamic settling between them all.
i also appreciated, later on, the encounter with schierke and it leading to meeting her mistress and getting a LOT of infos on some fantastic elements they’re stumbling upon (the astral world, mostly, and then the elementals). it felt a little overwhelming at times, all this info being dumped on you, but it definitely feels important and makes sense to be said and condensed at this moment.
once again, even in calmer moments, there’s always something going on, may it be introspection from a character, action, new information, anything, there’s always something engaging, something keeping you into the story. berserk is a masterclass in drawing you in and making you feel like you’re a companion, following along with guts. and even when it gets hard to read, you just can’t abandon the characters.
(and damn it all, i’ll always, always, ALWAYS, wish bad things upon that bitch ass hoe griffith when i see him)
(ok, griffith is interesting, don’t hate on me, but you’ll never catch me not wanting him to suffer. xxx)
February 2, 2025
cw: discussion about a graphic depiction of sexual assault
Parts of this book continue to feature the strong character work and evocative world-building that I love about Kentaro Miura's magnum opus, but parts of it feel grating, repetitive, and over-burdened with plot.
Serpico's recollection of the toxic yet undying connection he has with Farnese is dark, but allows the characters to be flawed and endlessly complex. In fact, it makes Farnese out to be even more insane than the book already presented her to be beforehand. The previous volumes already outlined her fetish for pain (both inflicted on herself and others) and people being burned alive, but her forcing Serpico to kill his own mother at the stake is another level of madness. That he stuck with her after that and even continues to fervently love (and be in love with) her is about as dark since he seems, on the surface, a much more reasonable person. Serpico loved his sick mother but felt burdened by having to take care of. Farnese, on the other hand, was vibrant and represented wealth and comfort.
Guts gets some interesting character development, but I also have mixed feelings about it. Egged on by a dark spirit dog, Guts sexually assaults Casca. People seem to find it ambiguous whether the dog made him do it or not, but the fact that Guts had the ability to stop himself from going any further than he did shows that he had agency despite being "influenced" by the dog. What he did may even count as rape depending on how you define that (He holds her down, forces a prolonged kiss on her, and bites hard on one of her breasts). It is just incredibly disturbing to see Guts do what he did and I at first felt like it was bad storytelling just because it made me disgusted with him in a way I hadn't been the entire story. Guts' trauma from being assaulted and seeing Casca be assaulted could very well have caused him to take out his anger and frustration out on her. Abused people sometimes perpetuate the same abuse on others. Casca being reduced to a child-like state reminds Guts of his own trauma of being helpless against being raped, Griffith's rape of Casca and his betrayal of all of his comrades, and of Guts' own failure to save Casca. She is a living embodiment of trauma that he cannot easily shake off. It was a daring decision to allow the protagonist so late in the story to do something so despicable yet believable given his circumstances and his lack of vigilance regarding facing his own trauma.
I think the character development is strong in this (if controversial), but what worries me is Miura's focus on it seems to be more and more intermittent post Golden Age arc. I talked about in my review for deluxe volume 7 that character development was scarce in the name of emphasizing action. In this volume, the first half is extremely character focused and the second half is not in a way that feels incredibly jarring. Farnese, as I noted before, is a fascinatingly mercurial character, but her transformation seems too neat given the myriad of crazy issues she had. She is very subdued and aimless the entire volume and not in an interesting way. She is a fascinating character in Serpico's flashback, but then she largely fades in to the background for most of the volume. If she is going to go on a redemption arc, I want to see much more of what that looks like moment to moment. It should also frankly be much more difficult for her to shake off her indoctrination and sadism than volumes 7 and 8 make it out to be. Miura wants to keep side-lining her and Casca in a way that feels paternalistic and sexist. Caregiving his an important role and there is a lot of complexity in it to be explored, but relegating Farnese to taking care of Casca feels like the author thinks that a woman needs to adopt a more traditionally feminine role as penance for any perceived crimes.
Guts' suppressed shame and guilt is highlighted more than Farnese's character arc, but I fear the book is not aware of how horrible what he did to Casca was. Miura has a mixed track record with the portrayal of sexual assault and its reverberations. Sometimes the weight of it is given proper respect and sensitivity and sometimes it is done purely for shock and an excuse to show an attractive naked woman in distress. Guts' assault on Casca is shown to be bad and isn't particularly sexualized (at least not compared to Griffith's horrifying rape of Casca in volume 5), but the book gets distracted with other plotlines after that are far lighter in nature. It was hard for me to get invested in them when I couldn't help thinking about what Guts had done.
The sequence of Guts' party in the Interstice area features the introduction of the witch, Schierke, and the biggest lore dump of the series. I sort of wish that the lore had continued to be doled out more gradually, but I still found it conceptually interesting. It is revealed that there are three worlds that intersect with each other and the Godhand inhabit the lower tiers of the Astral World. There is also a world of the imagination that is not described as much and a general discussion about the unknowability of reality. The book talks about how people used to be able to perceive the astral realm but the rise of (essentially) Christianity made people lose touch with it and the world around them. This is a theme I have seen in a lot of fantasy books and it never really resonated with me since I think that modernity has cons, but also some significant advantages over the pre-scientific revolution era (the breakthroughs in our understanding of disease and sanitation, for instance). From an environmental perspective, however, modernity leaves a lot to be desired largely due to record levels of carbon emissions that don't seem like they are stopping anytime soon. Schierke doesn't have enough character development in this volume, but I can empathize with her anger at the villagers for turning on her teacher and open-mindedness in the name of self-righteousness and ignorance.
The thing I cannot get on board with whatsoever is Isidro and the relentless immature gags constantly running in the background. I railed against his character in my last review so I won't get that much in to it here, but I hate him. He serves no purpose and I have no idea why Guts lets him tag along since he is an active impediment. There is no depth or anything sympathizable about him. Puck, too, seems to only be there for increasingly incoherent gags. Like, is the joke just that Puck is not paying attention to anything anymore? He's always chaotically doing whatever his pea brain finds compelling moment to moment since his attention span has now been reduced to nothing. Both he and Isidro insist on tearing my attention away from the story itself way too often. Comic relief can be great when it doesn't take you out of the story, but the endless jokes are starting to drive me nuts. They're not funny anymore either. It's all the usual juvenile manga tropes: "screaming is funny", "being a perv is funny" (this one is less emphasized thankfully), and "motivation-less chaos is funny".
I like this volume quite a bit in some ways, but I fear that Miura is starting to seriously lose his way here. My wishlist for the next part of the story would be to free Casca from "potato" mode where she has no agency or character development, focus more on characters and less on exposition, and get rid of the stupid, distracting hijinks.
Finished 1/29/25 (Counts as 1/2 of a book for the purposes of the book challenge- a book has to take me about 4 hours to finish to be considered 1 book and this took me about 2).
Parts of this book continue to feature the strong character work and evocative world-building that I love about Kentaro Miura's magnum opus, but parts of it feel grating, repetitive, and over-burdened with plot.
Serpico's recollection of the toxic yet undying connection he has with Farnese is dark, but allows the characters to be flawed and endlessly complex. In fact, it makes Farnese out to be even more insane than the book already presented her to be beforehand. The previous volumes already outlined her fetish for pain (both inflicted on herself and others) and people being burned alive, but her forcing Serpico to kill his own mother at the stake is another level of madness. That he stuck with her after that and even continues to fervently love (and be in love with) her is about as dark since he seems, on the surface, a much more reasonable person. Serpico loved his sick mother but felt burdened by having to take care of. Farnese, on the other hand, was vibrant and represented wealth and comfort.
Guts gets some interesting character development, but I also have mixed feelings about it. Egged on by a dark spirit dog, Guts sexually assaults Casca. People seem to find it ambiguous whether the dog made him do it or not, but the fact that Guts had the ability to stop himself from going any further than he did shows that he had agency despite being "influenced" by the dog. What he did may even count as rape depending on how you define that (He holds her down, forces a prolonged kiss on her, and bites hard on one of her breasts). It is just incredibly disturbing to see Guts do what he did and I at first felt like it was bad storytelling just because it made me disgusted with him in a way I hadn't been the entire story. Guts' trauma from being assaulted and seeing Casca be assaulted could very well have caused him to take out his anger and frustration out on her. Abused people sometimes perpetuate the same abuse on others. Casca being reduced to a child-like state reminds Guts of his own trauma of being helpless against being raped, Griffith's rape of Casca and his betrayal of all of his comrades, and of Guts' own failure to save Casca. She is a living embodiment of trauma that he cannot easily shake off. It was a daring decision to allow the protagonist so late in the story to do something so despicable yet believable given his circumstances and his lack of vigilance regarding facing his own trauma.
I think the character development is strong in this (if controversial), but what worries me is Miura's focus on it seems to be more and more intermittent post Golden Age arc. I talked about in my review for deluxe volume 7 that character development was scarce in the name of emphasizing action. In this volume, the first half is extremely character focused and the second half is not in a way that feels incredibly jarring. Farnese, as I noted before, is a fascinatingly mercurial character, but her transformation seems too neat given the myriad of crazy issues she had. She is very subdued and aimless the entire volume and not in an interesting way. She is a fascinating character in Serpico's flashback, but then she largely fades in to the background for most of the volume. If she is going to go on a redemption arc, I want to see much more of what that looks like moment to moment. It should also frankly be much more difficult for her to shake off her indoctrination and sadism than volumes 7 and 8 make it out to be. Miura wants to keep side-lining her and Casca in a way that feels paternalistic and sexist. Caregiving his an important role and there is a lot of complexity in it to be explored, but relegating Farnese to taking care of Casca feels like the author thinks that a woman needs to adopt a more traditionally feminine role as penance for any perceived crimes.
Guts' suppressed shame and guilt is highlighted more than Farnese's character arc, but I fear the book is not aware of how horrible what he did to Casca was. Miura has a mixed track record with the portrayal of sexual assault and its reverberations. Sometimes the weight of it is given proper respect and sensitivity and sometimes it is done purely for shock and an excuse to show an attractive naked woman in distress. Guts' assault on Casca is shown to be bad and isn't particularly sexualized (at least not compared to Griffith's horrifying rape of Casca in volume 5), but the book gets distracted with other plotlines after that are far lighter in nature. It was hard for me to get invested in them when I couldn't help thinking about what Guts had done.
The sequence of Guts' party in the Interstice area features the introduction of the witch, Schierke, and the biggest lore dump of the series. I sort of wish that the lore had continued to be doled out more gradually, but I still found it conceptually interesting. It is revealed that there are three worlds that intersect with each other and the Godhand inhabit the lower tiers of the Astral World. There is also a world of the imagination that is not described as much and a general discussion about the unknowability of reality. The book talks about how people used to be able to perceive the astral realm but the rise of (essentially) Christianity made people lose touch with it and the world around them. This is a theme I have seen in a lot of fantasy books and it never really resonated with me since I think that modernity has cons, but also some significant advantages over the pre-scientific revolution era (the breakthroughs in our understanding of disease and sanitation, for instance). From an environmental perspective, however, modernity leaves a lot to be desired largely due to record levels of carbon emissions that don't seem like they are stopping anytime soon. Schierke doesn't have enough character development in this volume, but I can empathize with her anger at the villagers for turning on her teacher and open-mindedness in the name of self-righteousness and ignorance.
The thing I cannot get on board with whatsoever is Isidro and the relentless immature gags constantly running in the background. I railed against his character in my last review so I won't get that much in to it here, but I hate him. He serves no purpose and I have no idea why Guts lets him tag along since he is an active impediment. There is no depth or anything sympathizable about him. Puck, too, seems to only be there for increasingly incoherent gags. Like, is the joke just that Puck is not paying attention to anything anymore? He's always chaotically doing whatever his pea brain finds compelling moment to moment since his attention span has now been reduced to nothing. Both he and Isidro insist on tearing my attention away from the story itself way too often. Comic relief can be great when it doesn't take you out of the story, but the endless jokes are starting to drive me nuts. They're not funny anymore either. It's all the usual juvenile manga tropes: "screaming is funny", "being a perv is funny" (this one is less emphasized thankfully), and "motivation-less chaos is funny".
I like this volume quite a bit in some ways, but I fear that Miura is starting to seriously lose his way here. My wishlist for the next part of the story would be to free Casca from "potato" mode where she has no agency or character development, focus more on characters and less on exposition, and get rid of the stupid, distracting hijinks.
Finished 1/29/25 (Counts as 1/2 of a book for the purposes of the book challenge- a book has to take me about 4 hours to finish to be considered 1 book and this took me about 2).
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 3, 2022
It would be hard to follow the Conviction arc, and much like Miura seemed to spin his wheels a bit after the Golden Age arc, he seems to be somewhat at a loss for where to go next at this point. I will say this: of all the character that I couldn't care less to see more of, or to learn more about, it would be Farnese. Miura's problem with writing women strikes again, with quite a large segment of this volume devoted to revealing the backstories of Farnese and Serpico. Farnese's history is a ridiculously on the nose "poor little rich girl" cliché. she's a feckless zealot that feels sexual gratification from watching people burn at the stake because her dad was away on business a lot. I know that Miura is setting her up for some attempt at redemption, but there's really no coming back from that ridiculousness. Unfortunately, Serpico's equally-cliché "lost prince" role honestly did a lot of harm to his character, and his actions and his loyalty to Farnese, now explained, feel less forgivable. It's all just... kinda dumb.
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