Episode 369

Aazealh

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There are three inhuman characters of which we don't know the destiny after the Thanos snap: Puck, Ivalera, and... Skull Knight. I fell like the first two have "survived" the snap in some way (retcon risk over there), but the third one is intriguing me the most. So close to Danan... is the SK immune to this link-breaking mess?

Let's just stop with the Thanos jokes because it's only going to confuse people. The elves aren't dead. As for the Skull Knight, I don't see why he would be affected, not to mention that he is able to literally cut through layers of the ethereal world as he pleases.
 
Reads like fanfiction. Unmitigated shit.
It IS fanfiction, it was always gonna be. It's just sprinkled with some canon info about the ways turn out along the way. Even if the continuation project was alright or passable (for Berserk standards), it would still be, essentially, an officially approved fanfic.

I really hope it gets cancelled, but sales-wise, it's probably doing ok. Unfortunately, casual readers seem to like it. And from what I've seen, various youtubers seem to be over the moon about the continuation hype train so far.
 

Aazealh

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I didn't say that was the case. We'll see if the general excitement that seems to exist so far also translates to sales, sometime along the way. I personally hope it does not.

What I'm telling you is that the bulk of the people who actually buy Berserk volumes shares little overlap with the commenters you see online. It's likely volume 42 will sell decently as long time readers will be curious about it, but sales will probably steadily decrease with subsequent volumes as people drop off when they see how it's going. That's another reason why I think this project should be as short as they can make it.
 
I know and I agree, but if I had to guess, I'd say that so far the magazine sales are probably doing ok. Once they'll start publishing volumes, well, things may be a little different. I'm also curious about the reception by japanese fans so far...
 
I think it is pedantic to reduce those who appreciate to "casual readers". I am not casual reader yet I appreciate it.

And I have high expectations. I just don't have "impossibly high" expectations.

Rereading volume 41 then those 5 chapters in a row, it seems to me that the pacing after 364 was supposed to reflect that everything disapppeared in an instant, I am not sure the fast pacing is "the pacing we will have from now on", I think it was that way on purpose.

I'm not pretending it is as good as before, but it is for sure better than I expected. Isma and Isidro was good.

I think Puck will be dealt with in the next chapter, as well as the fate of those that went back to the astral plan. We might see the "survivor" gathering.
 

Aazealh

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I know and I agree, but if I had to guess, I'd say that so far the magazine sales are probably doing ok.

There's no need to wonder, here are the official numbers:

4th quarter of 2020: 76,933 copies sold
1st quarter of 2021: 75,917 copies sold
2nd quarter of 2021: 77,300 copies sold
3rd quarter of 2021: 84,400 copies sold
4th quarter of 2021: 74,083 copies sold
1st quarter of 2022: 63,333 copies sold
2nd quarter of 2022: 63,400 copies sold

Sourced from the Japanese Magazine Publishers Association
 

RaffoBaffo

Ex-Newser of the late Berserk Chronicles
for that to be the case, Danan should have died when her tree was destroyed (if we assume it was). But she didn't, so that comparison is moot.[/ISPOILER]

How are we sure Chich died?
Of course I'm basing this only on the English version, cause I don't know Japanese, but all she says is that if the flower is destoyed she would disappear.
And she disappeared.
 

Scorpio

Courtesy of Grail's doodling.
Well, it feels silly to even try but on a more constructive note...

I always assumed Guts' beherit would be the method of diving deeper for himself, or perhaps a dire temptation for someone close to him. Now I wonder if the Road of Dragons won't instead be used to reunite with the elves? Honestly, with how the continuation is going I could see some kind of gate open up at the end revealing an army of elves and daimons at falconia for an ultimate showdown of ultimate destiny. It seems in line with the kind of easy handwave, devoid of any nuance or development that we've seen so far.
 

Walter

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How are we sure Chich died?
Of course I'm basing this only on the English version, cause I don't know Japanese, but all she says is that if the flower is destoyed she would disappear.
And she disappeared.
That is indeed what Chich said:

Chich: If all my leaves had been eaten,
Chich: I'd have disappeared.

However, I don't think anyone read that episode and thought: "Oh she just left the corporeal world to be with the other elves in a deeper layer of the astral world." The implication in that episode was that she died. It's possible Danan has just specified what happens, but with the death of the tree, it appears to have happened for _all_ elves, not just spirits of flowers like Chich. So it's a bit convoluted without some further information, which we may not get.

BTW, maybe your pal who knows Kurosaki can provide this missing information. Or maybe he'll clarify that the error was in making the worlds merge to begin with? :troll:
 
At the end of the episode there's a number if you want to send a feedback to Hakusensha...so at least there's a way to give solid criticism.
Though I don't know if they'll take something in consideration and change some bits of the story.
 

Walter

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At the end of the episode there's a number if you want to send a feedback to Hakusensha...so at least there's a way to give solid criticism.
Though I don't know if they'll take something in consideration and change some bits of the story.
Just to be clear, that's been there for every release. Expecting them to read that stuff and make changes seems like a pipe dream. But voicing concerns as international Berserk fans? Absolutely worthwhile, in my opinion.
 

Truder

"I frown at Griffith's nipples" -Aazealh
Like you all said in the Skullcast, looking for every little detail in an Episode used to be a rewarding experience while reading Berserk. now its shallow without Miura pouring so much thought and intent in every page. I have made peace with the fact that we are getting highlights with some glue holding them together from now on. ill be sad when its all over and think about 'what could have been'. My love for Berserk in undying, id like to be clear. it is a masterpiece and i pray that they can somewhat stick the landing
 

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Honestly, I liked it. There was a real sense of devastation and despair in the aftermath, and I'm looking forwards to seeing Guts crawl out of it. He's in his "Belly of the Whale" moment.

I can't help but feel that there's a lot of snobbery from many of the people dismissing it. It's not perfect, but to say that only "casuals" can like it is annoying as hell.
 

Walter

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I can't help but feel that there's a lot of snobbery from many of the people dismissing it. It's not perfect, but to say that only "casuals" can like it is annoying as hell.
Just two people here have used the word "casual." That's a broad generalization, certainly. But you're similarly handwaving away all of the problems with the continuation by saying it's "not perfect."

So what did you think of:
  • The anticlimactic, nearly off-page destruction of the gnawers (despite the dramatic tension last episode)
  • Not showing key characters like Puck and Ivalera disappearing (can't say they ran out of room)
  • Guts focusing on his inability to hit Griffith, and not "Oh shit, Casca was taken away by my enemy"
  • The Gurus, Hanarr, Volvaba, etc. showing up just for one perfunctory panel instead of the major players they were set up to be
  • The dissonance between Danan's explanation and the merging having brought the corporeal and ethereal worlds together
That's quite a few imperfections just in the past 17 pages.
 
I just sucks because when I reduce what's occurred to its most basic beats: "Griffith appears, Guts can not harm him, he takes Casca, the tree dies and the island collapses, all the magical creatures disappear (including puck potentially)" I see the outline of something that really works.

Guts worked so hard to get here. His journey has been all about reaching this place for the past 20 volumes. This is where things were supposed to be safe, where things were supposed to be better, where Casca would be healed and they could finally begin picking up the pieces of their lives again. Then, after all the long nights, all the struggle, companions gained, this was supposed to be where it payed off. Then Griffith ruins it all in an instant out of nowhere. Reduces everything to ashes in an instant while Guts can do nothing to stop him, just as powerless as he's ever been. Casca is gone, their safe haven is gone Guts' oldest companion might even be gone. This is truly his lowest moment since the eclipse.

That's all so compelling in theory, and they've even managed to nail it in some of the visuals, but the overall execution is just so lacking in so many places.
 
It can't be helped, its just aint the same without Miura sensei... I just hope that we will get to know the ending miura had in mind.


I know this is far from perfect (what an understatement) but I'm really afraid they will cancel berserk due to bad reception, this manga really do deserve an ending, I want to see SK go toe-to-toe with the God Hand, and if the idea of evil will show up in the end or not and so much more to unravel.

I hope the next arc will be more story oriented and not plot driven like untill now, maybe studio gaga will have more creative freedom in a fresh start.
 
I definitely feel in the minority on here, but I genuinely liked it. I think they will handle Puck in the next chapter - but cliffhangers are good. Leaving us grasping for more is good (in my opinion). I read it and my jaw dropped, thinking "No way this happened, no way." Then, you read it again and look for more details, more clues, anything to give you hope as you watch Guts fall into despair. He looks after Griffith and Zodd in disbelief that he couldn't stop it, he couldn't even land a hit—just watches them take Casca. It was heartbreaking, him staring up, then the zoom in on Casca's face. I had to read the last two chapters and then this one to really get a feel for it, and they felt cohesive and had a flow.

Yes, there are a lot of questions, yes, there are a lot of things that need more explanation - but I do feel like Berserk has always been this way. So I wasn't surprised that I was left feeling helpless. Miura has left us feeling that way as well. We will get answers later - and I'm confident the team will make sure to give us them, whether that be through future chapters or by alluding to things stated in the past.

I'm also thrilled to see more improvement and consistency in the art. I just really am excited about all of it. I was surprised to see the reactions on here - I don't know what else we can expect from short little chapters. When they're put together in a whole volume they shouldn't feel as short. I don't know, just my two cents.
 
As some people have discussed when Guts is despairing he says "i couldn't land a single blow" and he doesn't outright mention Casca at all which I agree it's odd I think to remedy this all they needed to do was have Guts say "Casca...." In big letters In the following page as he clutches his sword and looks down, we know he's thinking about her but just to reinforce it for the readers. Also Guts here feels alien to me not just how he looks but the way he's acting, I know he's hurting but Guts wouldn't give up so easily especially when Cascas life is in jeopardy Why isn't the Beast consuming him why isn't the armour activating? This is the most dire circumstance Casca has been in since conviction, remember during the eclipse Guts did everything he possibly could pushed his body to the absolute limit. it had to take apostles to pin him down to stop him and even then he chopped his own arm off to get to Griffith and stop him, I know it's a different circumstance here but still, yet here we have Guts barely doing anything to stop Casca being taken, it feels anticlimactic and lackluster, if he was hanging from Zodd or something and he couldn't grip anymore or his arm came off and he fell and he was totally battle damaged anything to convey his absolute determination to save Casca this all would have been more impactful, ayway I won't go into too much detail about it, but it's possible Miura would have chosen this path too.

This episode definitely didn't feel right to me not just this episode but everything is happening so fast without much explanation, the characters feel lifeless most of them are just conveying the literal events and not much else that made them interesting, sure it's based on Miura's ideas but it's another person writing for these characters and it's so obvious and it hurts. Most of the characters are being pushed aside and are just background details. Also there is no way Puck and Iverella would be teleported I know it doesn't make sense that they werent but IF Puck has been teleported I cannot even comprehend it, that would be a monumental misstep Imagine Guts despairing and Puck finally catches up to him just to have him disappear in front of Guts's eyes WOW that would have been emotional.

Regarding the art, it's fine... That's about it, the further this continuation goes the further it seems to stray from Miura's artstyle especially the characters, they feel like imposters to me, and it's way harder to connect to them. Also did everyone see in the second to last page they didn't even draw the face of kukka and the magic users that panel is like half of the page for christ sake I get not doing it if they are really small on the page but this is awfully done.

Apologies for my incoherent blabbering

I was surprised to see the reactions on here - I don't know what else we can expect from short little chapters. When they're put together in a whole volume they shouldn't feel as short. I don't know, just my two cents
It's not about it being short, every episode Miura gave us regardless of length felt perfectly executed, these don't feel that way at all. A lot of people on this forum are very hardcore loyal fans of Berserk and it's really easy to see the many flaws in this new continuation because they have been following Miura's story for years so it's blindingly obvious
 
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Aazealh

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Staff member
I know this is far from perfect (what an understatement) but I'm really afraid they will cancel berserk due to bad reception, this manga really do deserve an ending, I want to see SK go toe-to-toe with the God Hand, and if the idea of evil will show up in the end or not and so much more to unravel.

I can guarantee you whatever ending they create won't be on the level of what you're expecting. Idea of Evil? Don't even count on it. We'll be lucky if Guts and Griffith have decent lines of dialogue. :sad:

I hope the next arc will be more story oriented and not plot driven like untill now

Is there a difference? :???:

maybe studio gaga will have more creative freedom in a fresh start.

Surely you don't believe that would make things better than they've been so far.

Yes, there are a lot of questions, yes, there are a lot of things that need more explanation - but I do feel like Berserk has always been this way. So I wasn't surprised that I was left feeling helpless. Miura has left us feeling that way as well.

If you think this is what Berserk has always been like, then you're factually wrong. It's fine if you like it, I mean to each their own, right, but no, this isn't how Miura did things. It's got nothing to do with "feeling helpless", it's simply about the craftsmanship involved in constructing the story and executing it on the page.

We will get answers later - and I'm confident the team will make sure to give us them, whether that be through future chapters or by alluding to things stated in the past.

I think your confidence is unwarranted. We've already seen a number of inconsistencies that can't possibly be explained, and this was the part of the story the team must have known the most about. There's no reason to believe it's going to get better in the future as far as story consistency and faithfulness is concerned.
 
I can guarantee you whatever ending they create won't be on the level of what you're expecting. Idea of Evil? Don't even count on it. We'll be lucky if Guts and Griffith have decent lines of dialogue.
You made me laugh so hard on the last part haha, and I know it won't be close to miura's level on the execution part - I just want to know what he planned for the end for all those loose plot threads.
Surely you don't believe that would make things better than they've been so far.
They did enter this story arc in the middle, Studio gaga might was cautious not to expand upon what kouji remembered because this story is really close to the Miura-canon and any small divertion can have drastic effect in the long run. A fresh new arc will allow them to plan the plot ahead and at least try creating more intricate nuanced dialouge.
It might not be more faithful to berserk as Miura intended, but at least we might get a more coherent story.
But again, just wishful thinking.

Is there a difference? :???:
Sorry, it doesn't translate well from my language, what I meant to say is that the story was too focused on progressing the plot and less on exploring the characters and actually building the world
 
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