Episode 371

Aazealh

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I liked that we saw the remaining part of the island disappear down a glowing whirlpool. It appeared to explain something to me that I was wondering about, because under normal circumstances an island is a protruding piece of landmass that's simply higher than the ocean level. It's not something that can simply crumble and sink like a mythological Atlantis.

Like Walter said, the island was undermined by the Gnawers (whose actual name in Japanese can mean tons of things, including "underminers"). It's not like it disintegrated without explanation. It was destroyed from the inside out.

The place had wind constantly blowing in a similar whirl-like breeze and lower gravity as well as a time-difference with the outside world.

No specific wind pattern is highlighted in the story as far as I know (even when Schierke and Molda go flying), and only the forest had lower gravity, the underground place where the dwarves lived actually had higher gravity and the rest of the island had normal gravity.

Of course there is the question of the Gnawers and what their role on the island was. Perhaps they were necessary for balance, to absorb the Barytes or something.

It's implied they are related to the island's creation, or at least that they've been there from the beginning. I've speculated about it a bit before. However I don't think they were "absorbing Barytes".

I wonder if we'll get some background on the place in a potential Gaiseric flashback. The fact that the place was called "Skellig" suggests a connection with King Gaiseric and his skull motif.

"Skellig" is a name taken from a real set of islands off the coast of Ireland. It comes from "sceilg" which means "rock" in Irish, according to the Internet. Furthermore, in Japanese, the word "skull" that is used for "Skull Knight" is pronounced "dokuro", so there is no relation at all.

This also makes me wonder if Danan intentionally cast some spell to remove the Elfhelm creatures from the world before the rest of the island would sink, even if it was some kind of "mercy kill."

That's definitely not what it looks on the page.
 
Like Walter said, the island was undermined by the Gnawers (whose actual name in Japanese can mean tons of things, including "underminers"). It's not like it disintegrated without explanation. It was destroyed from the inside out.

Yeah, but similar to a volcanic eruption undermining an island by bursting forth Lava one would not expect an ordinary island to sink completely under water like that, unless it rested on an unusally delicate foundation not much wider than the island itself, as if it would be situated on top of a rock-made pole shape underneath the water or something. And, as you pointed out earlier, the Gnawers were already gone by the time the remaining bit of the island sank.

I forgot that the underground place where the dwarves lived had higher gravity. If only lighter elf-like creatures disappeared with Danan then perhaps a heavier elf-like creature like Hanarr might still have remained and is on the ship?
 
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Aazealh

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Yeah, but similar to a volcanic eruption undermining an island by bursting forth Lava one would not expect an ordinary island to sink completely under water like that

Just to be clear, I attribute little to no informational value to the way the island's destruction was depicted by Studio Gaga's staff. I don't think one should draw too many conclusions based only on it.

That being said, it's not so much shown sinking in one block as it disintegrates. Like a mountain top crumbling down, if you want. So even though we see a big whirlpool being formed by the sheer mass of the remaining rocks as they shatter and sink, there might still be a land mass a few hundred meters down.

I forgot that the underground place where the dwarves lived had higher gravity. If only lighter elf-like creatures disappeared with Danan then perhaps a heavier elf-like creature like Hanarr might still have remained and is on the ship?

Dwarves are elves, and given that the Merrows disappeared, I don't see why dwarves would be exempted.
 
Dwarves are elves, and given that the Merrows disappeared, I don't see why dwarves would be exempted.

Well, if one should not draw too many conclusions based only on what Studio Gaga depicted, and we don't know exactly where Merrows fall on the elemental weight scale, then perhaps elves such as dwarves who live closer to places that resembles Qliphoth (as I think Schierke pointed out when they went to visit the dwarves) have more mixture of dark or heavy elementals (such as Barytes) and that might factor into whether or not a dwarf could or would remain in the world outside Elfhelm.

Perhaps that's also how the disappearance might be explained or hinted at in a future episode, in a possible comment by Hanarr himself: "I didn't vanish with the other inhabitants since I'm a heavier sort of guy."
 

Aazealh

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we don't know exactly where Merrows fall on the elemental weight scale

There's no "elemental weight scale" that we know of. What's explained in the manga is that the forest has less gravity because Barytes "don't have an affinity with the inhabitants of this forest". As a result they were sparser in that place. That's all, nothing about the elves' own weight. As for the Merrows, we know they weren't inhabitants of the island, so I don't see why phenomena that are local to the island would have affected them.

perhaps elves such as dwarves who live closer to places that resembles Qliphoth (as I think Schierke pointed out when they went to visit the dwarves) have more mixture of dark or heavy elementals (such as Barytes) and that might factor into whether or not a dwarf could or would remain in the world outside Elfhelm.

I don't really see how that would work, honestly. The elves' disappearance doesn't seem to be tied to Barytes as far as we know. There may have been something going on between the Gnawers and Danan's tree, with her power counteracting theirs or something. That's something I speculated about in the past. But there's no hint that the elves disappeared because they had a low Barytes blood count or anything. That's not really how it seems to work.

Perhaps that's also how the disappearance might be explained or hinted at in a future episode, in a possible comment by Hanarr himself: "I didn't vanish with the other inhabitants since I'm a heavier sort of guy."

What about Puck and Ivalera? They're heavier too?
 
Perhaps that's also how the disappearance might be explained or hinted at in a future episode, in a possible comment by Hanarr himself: "I didn't vanish with the other inhabitants since I'm a heavier sort of guy."

They didn't even explain how Zodd used the fast travel tree without Griffith or Sonia, I don't think you should expect such holes to be filled.
 
What about Puck and Ivalera? They're heavier too?

The only thing that seems to make sense for Puck and Ivalera not disappearing, if the Studio Gaga events are taken seriously, is the fact they've been in the physical realm longer than the Merrows and inhabitants of Elfhelm. So the best explanation, if any, would probably be something like an accumulated affinity for or adjustment to the physical, whatever that might mean. Might be related to Barytes and the way they make things "heavier" or "darker", might not. But if Hanarr shows up on the ship the weight thing is what I will speculate on. But he's probably gone, and it might not make sense anyway. Maybe Skull Knight took him with him when or however he left the island since he might need him for future armor maintenance, but we didn't see Skull Knight when we last saw Hanarr with the other inhabitants before they disappeared so probably not.
 

Aazealh

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The only thing that seems to make sense for Puck and Ivalera not disappearing, if the Studio Gaga events are taken seriously, is the fact they've been in the physical realm longer than the Merrows and inhabitants of Elfhelm.

That's a big if. :sweatdrop:

Especially since, as far as we know, Ivalera spent most of her life in Flora's domain, which existed is the Interstice. Puck is the one that's been roaming around the most. Anyway, it's not explained, like so many other things, and you'll notice that Puck himself isn't shown reflecting a second on his home's destruction. All of this to say that I don't think it's worth dwelling on too much. It's all vague and unclear on purpose and I'm not holding my breath for a coherent explanation down the line.
 

Griffith

With the streak of a tear, Like morning dew
Wasn't that obvious already in episode 370? Was there any doubt that he was crushed?

Are you sure it's enough even now? Maybe if he defecated in his armor a little bit, while ugly crying, but wailing... like a baby.

I'll give them this, they're not playing it safe (of course, that's what they're supposed to be doing)!

"Skellig" is a name taken from a real set of islands off the coast of Ireland. It comes from "sceilg" which means "rock" in Irish, according to the Internet. Furthermore, in Japanese, the word "skull" that is used for "Skull Knight" is pronounced "dokuro", so there is no relation at all.

So THAT'S why King Kong wasn't there! I thought it was a plot hole. :???:


Ok, I'm done, I'll see myself out...
 
as far as we know, Ivalera spent most of her life in Flora's domain, which existed is the Interstice. Puck is the one that's been roaming around the most. Anyway, it's not explained, like so many other things, and you'll notice that Puck himself isn't shown reflecting a second on his home's destruction. All of this to say that I don't think it's worth dwelling on too much.

You're right, it probably isn't worth dwelling on too much. But I'll throw out one more hypothesis because I just thought of it - maybe elves are anchored or fixed to, or can become fixed to, other living entities, such as how Chich was fixed to her flower. And maybe what they are fixed to can change, so that, over time, Ivalera became fixed to Schierke and will not disappear until Schierke dies, and Puck might have gotten fixed to Guts or Isidro, while the Merrows disappeared because they had not become anchored to any physical being or place in particular and the Elfhelm creatures might've been fixed to Danan and the tree or the place itself.
 

Aazealh

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You're right, it probably isn't worth dwelling on too much. But I'll throw out one more hypothesis because I just thought of it - maybe elves are anchored or fixed to, or can become fixed to, other living entities, such as how Chich was fixed to her flower.

Well I mean, you're free to come up with theories, but Chich was a specific type of elf that is tied to a plant. She's visibly different from a Pisky (subspecies of elf) like Puck. And other than that, there's no hint of that sort of anchoring mechanism in the series.
 
@Aazealh Man, I love reading your reviews for the episodes. You always make perfect sense and you understand Berserk better than Mori or any of the current writers. I honestly think they should hire you to finish Berserk together with them. :)
 

Walter

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Where is this info on dwarves being elves from? I don’t see it in the manga or in the official guidebook.
 
In related news, Kurosaki confirmed on Twitter that six episodes were indeed planned originally and they just overran. Putting aside any questions about why they would announce a decisive number if it wasn't locked in, it's kind of incredible that this ends up being a less satisfying conclusion to the Elf island chapter than episode 370 was. But to me, it mainly cemented the fact they don't seem to know what they're doing, which really bums me out.

Does this mean that Studio Gaga have been working on these episodes since around the publication of the first ones (365+366), or that they went back and added additional pages of material (perhaps some of the dialogue and characterization), or that they added the whole of episode 371 to the end because they thought 370 ended too suddenly?

If it is the first scenario, which sounds most likely based on how you've conveyed what Kurosaki said, then that means they actually didn't have the six episodes already in the can when they announced this continuation back in June. Meaning that Mori and the Young Animal Editing Department did not even have enough samplings in terms of episodes to truly judge whether the project is viable? And that would also mean they've taken just about one month to produce each episode and that they are not ahead in any way shape or form?

If it is the second scenario, then what pieces in the last couple of episodes did they actually add, and would this mean that they are actually considering fleshing things out by making up some dialogue and characterization of their own?

If it is the third scenario, then it is similar to the second scenario except we know more exactly what they added beyond the first plans based on Mori's information.

That the story will be more work and grow in size from what they anticipated does not come as a surprise to me though. This happens almost every time with projects of this sort, but in TV and film they tend to cut material to make it fit certain standards of time and broadcast. Even Miura had not anticipated how long Berserk would go on for or how many volumes it would end up getting.
 
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Aazealh

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Does this mean that Studio Gaga have been working on these episodes since around the publication of the first ones (365+366), or that they went back and added additional pages of material (perhaps some of the dialogue and characterization), or that they added the whole of episode 371 to the end because they thought 370 ended too suddenly?

Uhhhh, it means that they realized they couldn't fit everything they wanted in six episodes, likely when they drafted 370, so they made one more. I'm not sure what the confusion is. It's pretty straightforward.

they actually didn't have the six episodes already in the can when they announced this continuation back in June

Yeah, I think that's safe to say.

we know more exactly what they added beyond the first plans based on Mori's information.

I don't think that's how it works.
 
Hanarr is older than Danan, right? So, is it possible that the remaining inhabitants disappeared as they were created after Danan was born as the Flower Storm Monarch?

I was also wondering if it was possible that Danan willingly shifted everyone to a deeper layer because she figured the island was going to be destroyed? Perhaps, she spared Puck because she knew he was needed for Guts’ journey moving forward still.

I apologize, if all this has been answered before. Just trying to make sense of what we’re getting here.

The episode then cuts to Falconia and boy, where to begin. First off, why is there now a harbor in Falconia? Wyndham was landlocked, and so is Falconia. Or I guess was, because now it's near the sea. This is a pretty crazy change that I imagine they feel they can get away with because we never saw a clear aerial shot of the entire city, showing there's no sea shore at its back. The problem is... we do see and get told enough about the city for it to be very clear it's not by the sea side. This is really far beyond plausible handwaving.

In episode 307, Foss mentions that capital is "too big" and magnificent to be built by human hands. Is it possible that the capital simply stretches so far as to reach the sea or is Foss referring to the architecture? Of course it still begs the question of why show the harbor in the first place and it makes no sense that Griffith would land there and be welcomed by the five members of the band for no reason.
 
Is the Beast of Darkness able to function if Guts hate himself? Can it be fueled by self loathing? That can be just as intense as hating someone and very destructive. If that is the case I am more inclined to believe the beast could be there. :shrug:


The art was okay, the faces are mangled but the linework and composition seemed decent. I guess that is the only positive I have.
 

Aazealh

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Hanarr is older than Danan, right?

Presumably, based on speculation.

So, is it possible that the remaining inhabitants disappeared as they were created after Danan was born as the Flower Storm Monarch?

Just to be clear, at this point nothing indicates Hanarr is still around. That aside, I don't think that's how it's supposed to work. Once again, I have to point to the merrows. They weren't from the island as far as we know. They were unrelated save from being there.

I was also wondering if it was possible that Danan willingly shifted everyone to a deeper layer because she figured the island was going to be destroyed? Perhaps, she spared Puck because she knew he was needed for Guts’ journey moving forward still.

All I can say is that it's not what it looks like to me. They all just fade away, and Danan isn't even the first to go. It's Isma! Same as above, we can't overlook that the sea-dwelling merrows disappeared as well. They would have been fine without the island.

For it to make sense, all you have to do is shift your thinking to consider how these decisions were reached: "Oh, wouldn't it dramatic if Isma faded right in Isidro's arms? And then after that all the others disappear too!" No consideration was given to whether or not it makes sense as far as the world and the storyline go. It just does away with these characters so that things can quickly move on.

In episode 307, Foss mentions that capital is "too big" and magnificent to be built by human hands. Is it possible that the capital simply stretches so far as to reach the sea or is Foss referring to the architecture?

I think he's referring to the architecture. But it's not like the city is stretching to a hundred kilometers away, we can actually see that the sea is just at its back. Honestly, in my opinion there's no way around it: they just changed the city from being "in the middle of the land" to being on a coast. It's a pretty shocking thing to do. They could have had the ship land somewhere and then not shown the group's travel, just have them arrive at the gates. To directly change established facts in the story like that is just... it's a huge lack of respect and I think it shows (once again) they can't be trusted with their pledge to stick to Miura's word.

Is the Beast of Darkness able to function if Guts hate himself? Can it be fueled by self loathing? That can be just as intense as hating someone and very destructive. If that is the case I am more inclined to believe the beast could be there. :shrug:

The Beast of Darkness already represented a self-destructive urge, that's nothing new. It's repeatedly shown teasing Guts that he would lose everything again and then only the burning urge for revenge would remain. That's why his companions were seen as "obstacles". The problem here is that he was face to face with the object of the Beast's desires, spectacularly failed to accomplish anything, and now feels completely dejected, to the point of being sprawled on the floor. In that situation, the Beast of Darkness can't possibly be triumphant. Guts' failure is its failure. Really, I can't stress this enough, but in this context the Beast should be even more affected than Guts himself, since it specifically represents the part of him that's all about revenge.
 
One thing that's starting to stick out to me is how often they're flashing back to old events. We've had like four or five full pages of such panels so far. It's not like it's unwarranted in the scenes I suppose, and Miura would do it occasionally, but it's starting to feel like they're clinging to familiar imagery to remind the audience that "this is totally the same story we promise".
 
One thing that's starting to stick out to me is how often they're flashing back to old events. We've had like four or five full pages of such panels so far. It's not like it's unwarranted in the scenes I suppose, and Miura would do it occasionally, but it's starting to feel like they're clinging to familiar imagery to remind the audience that "this is totally the same story we promise".
I thought of them as simply filler to get to the 20 page mark, Not sure which one is worse haha
 
One thing that's starting to stick out to me is how often they're flashing back to old events. We've had like four or five full pages of such panels so far. It's not like it's unwarranted in the scenes I suppose, and Miura would do it occasionally, but it's starting to feel like they're clinging to familiar imagery to remind the audience that "this is totally the same story we promise".

This and @Aazealh's summary for this episode (as well as the rest of the continuation so far) make me question how much the staff of Studio Gaga really absorbed the story while working with Miura. The impression I'm getting now is that they focused on it from a more technical standpoint (touching up little details in panels and etc.)
Because what we're getting now feels like people who heard about things that happened in Berserk, but didn't fully absorb the information. Guts reflects on his life sometimes, so here it is. He has some sort of dog-wolf-beast thing in his mind that gets riled up when bad things happen, so here it is. Farnese's a crybaby (even if she's progressed since then), so here's her sobbing. Schierke can go into his mind (which, as Aaz's pointed out, she can't  really), so here it is.
It also feels like the staff are taking the opportunity to work on images that they wanted to do before, but maybe Miura was more protective of.
"I call dibs on doing Schierke's barrier!"
"I love the image of Zodd flying away with Griffith from the Hill of Swords! I want to take a crack at it!"
"I love the Golden Age Arc, let me do some throwback panels that I can add to my resume!"
I apologize if I'm rambling, repeating previously discussed information or if this just sounds overly cynical, but I really feel like this team was very minimally involved in the production of Berserk, and that they were a long way away from being trusted with more responsibility. Now they have to carry it, and they are just woefully unprepared. Obviously, no one else on this planet could give us what Miura could, and this team is arguably the closest you could get, but the difference is still night and day.
 

Aazealh

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Staff member
I apologize if I'm rambling, repeating previously discussed information or if this just sounds overly cynical, but I really feel like this team was very minimally involved in the production of Berserk, and that they were a long way away from being trusted with more responsibility. Now they have to carry it, and they are just woefully unprepared.

What you feel is right. It's important to keep in mind that the assistants weren't very involved in his work until shortly before Miura passed away. He made an effort to give them more responsability with Dur-An-Ki, the idea being that eventually they could also maybe participate more in Berserk. But even Kurosaki himself (who now leads Studio Gaga) explicitly said on Twitter that "Berserk was 99.2% drawn by Miura-sensei". Furthermore there were periods where he didn't call on his assistants at all, like when he drew Gigantomakhia. And that's just talking about the technical aspects of producing it. Story-wise, it was obviously 100% Miura.
 
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