Casca had it hard too

[ellita]

I don't know why people often disregard Casca's pain in berserk. as it seems to make her pain become character development for guts inspires a lot of disregard for it.

Guts went through everything, however, Casca went through everything a few times. She was raped while pregnant by her hero, her baby miscarried, her rapist and her child now share a body, she was sexually assaulted many times, survived several attempted rapes and the love of her tried to rape her, she lost her memories and sense of self only for all of it to come flooding back all at once. Because she as a person became null after the eclipse readers never saw the aftermath that rape does to someone who does remember readers could never truly understand the extent of damage rape can do to a person. Additionally with attempted rape and sexual assault being brushed off constantly it is easy for the reader to not take a second to think of the horrible thing that just happened.

so yeah take a moment to consider this and happy pride

 

[Lawliet]

I'm not aware of any serious Berserk reader who disregards Casca's pain, to be honest.

BTW, this reminds me of that couple of weeks of Twitter exposure Berserk got not long ago. "Super fans" claimed that Miura only addresses Guts' trauma from being raped and ignores Casca's. I mean, what?

 

[Aazealh]

I don't know why people often disregard Casca's pain in berserk.

I don't think people on this forum disregard the ordeals Casca endured over the years. Her recovery in Elfhelm had the whole fanbase rejoice.
Furthermore, you're speaking as if what she went through is trivialized in the manga, which is definitely not the case. Half of the series revolves around her well-being.

Because she as a person became null after the eclipse readers never saw the aftermath that rape does to someone who does remember readers could never truly understand the extent of damage rape can do to a person. Additionally with attempted rape and sexual assault being brushed off constantly it is easy for the reader to not take a second to think of the horrible thing that just happened.

This is flat out wrong. The Eclipse and its impact on both Guts and Casca is repeatedly referenced throughout the series. Moreover, her condition after Schierke and Farnese restore her mind directly addresses the trauma of the experience, and not just the rape she endured but also the murder of her friends and comrades. It was going to be further developed going forward, but alas, we didn't get the opportunity to see it.

So, in short, if someone really were to "disregard her pain" as you say, all it would show is that they're not a real fan of the series.

 

[Somnambulist]

I think that Miura unfortunately overdid it with the sexual assaults towards Casca, but I don't know if fans disregard the things she's been through. I don't think that's the case, at least from what i've seen.

I don't know why people often disregard Casca's pain in berserk. as it seems to make her pain become character development for guts inspires a lot of disregard for it.

A friend of mine told me the exact same thing once. I agree to an extent, because Guts was the only one that had to deal with the stuff that happened to Casca, thus having character development, while Casca's mind was broken and she couldn't really address all these terrible situations and react. On the other hand, we as readers could see Guts react to these things and read his thoughts, internal and external, while something similar with Casca was impossible because of her condition.

I'm sure that Miura would give her excellent character development after her healing, what we got was great and very emotional. His death brought everything to an abrupt end. He'd certainly "do her justice", as they say, but life had other plans.

 

[Aazealh]

I think that Miura unfortunately overdid it with the sexual assaults towards Casca

As the #metoo movement showed, sexual assault is unfortunately a common danger for women from a young age on in our modern world. That it would be a very real and frequent threat in a violent and lawless world like the one Berserk takes place in feels realistic to me. It rather underlines the harshness of Casca's life as a woman warrior and what she had to overcome.

 

[Somnambulist]

As the #metoo movement showed, sexual assault is unfortunately a common danger for women from a young age on in our modern world. That it would be a very real and frequent threat in a violent and lawless world like the one Berserk takes place in feels realistic to me. It rather underlines the harshness of Casca's life as a woman warrior and what she had to overcome.

No arguments there, I agree with your points and that's the way I think about it too in general. I just think that some of these assaults, the one involving Wyald being the first that comes to my mind, could be excluded, as I don't think that it holds any real, important reason for it. The violent and lawless setting of Berserk as you say is well established from early on, it's just that I personaly feel that some graphic scenes could be easily excluded without any significant impact to the story.

 

[Aazealh]

No arguments there, I agree with your points and that's the way I think about it too in general. I just think that some of these assaults, the one involving Wyald being the first that comes to my mind, could be excluded, as I don't think that it holds any real, important reason for it. The violent and lawless setting of Berserk as you say is well established from early on, it's just that I personaly feel that some graphic scenes could be easily excluded without any significant impact to the story.

Well it comes down to one's personal appreciation in the end, but for example I think the entire Wyald fight, including the closely averted situation with Casca, serves an important role. Specifically, it lures you into a false sense of safety.

Here we see our heroes faced with an overwhelmingly powerful enemy, and while it really comes close, they triumph somehow. But their morale is broken, and tough decisions must be m— but no. Suddenly, the real nightmare begins. They're faced with a truly overwhelming situation, and they do not triumph.

What it does to the reader is the equivalent of a sucker punch. And the reason it works so well (i.e. is so intolerable and unforgettable) is because we've seen our heroes pull through before. If the Eclipse happened in a vacuum, it wouldn't have nearly the same emotional intensity. But we know they're strong, and so we come to believe they're invincible. Even though we know it's a flashback, and the future is dark. The power of the Eclipse lies in that painful disillusionment.

 

[Walter]

Anyone who attempts to minimize the trauma Casca endured is likely not a mature reader. If rape comes across as a glancing blow, it's likely they aren't really feeling the full force of Berserk. There's no question that Miura gives it the weight it deserves. But he delayed the processing of those traumatic moments to the Casca that only just emerged in Episode 354.

 

[Somnambulist]

Well it comes down to one's personal appreciation in the end, but for example I think the entire Wyald fight, including the closely averted situation with Casca, serves an important role. Specifically, it lures you into a false sense of safety.

Here we see our heroes faced with an overwhelmingly powerful enemy, and while it really comes close, they triumph somehow. But their morale is broken, and tough decision must be m— but no. Suddenly, the real nightmare begins. They're faced with a truly overwhelming situation, and they do not triumph.

What it does to the reader is the equivalent of a sucker punch. And the reason it works so well (i.e. is so intolerable and unforgettable) is because we've seen our heroes pull through before. If the Eclipse happened in a vacuum, it wouldn't have nearly the same emotional intensity. But we know they're strong, and so we come to believe they're invincible. Even though we know it's a flashback, and the future is dark. The power of the Eclipse lies in that painful disillusionment.

I understand your point of view, and I guess it can be read like that, but this specific scene always felt weird to me, because the Eclipse is just a few episodes away, and there, yes, true horror awaits, and the events can be understood based on the concept. There, everyone's morale is shattered. What Femto did in the eclipse can be explained easily from a narrative point, but the Wyald scene always felt as a shock value scene in my eyes without any meaningful weight. If Wyald was included for a brief time in the eclipse and the attempted assault happened there, it's another story. These events are too close to each other, and the most impactful is obviously with Femto, making Wyald a weird choice in my mind in comparison.

 

[Aazealh]

If Wyald was included for a brief time in the eclipse and the attempted assault happened there, it's another story. These events are too close to each other, and the most impactful is obviously with Femto, making Wyald a weird choice in my mind in comparison.

I'm sorry but your rationale doesn't make sense to me. I don't think it's pertinent to compare the scene with Femto to the one with Wyald. They don't have the same weight at all and aren't meant to. Rather the battle against Wyald (in its entirety) is a preamble to the Eclipse. It's the horror and danger of a single apostle, versus a hundred or more and the God Hand on top. Plus, like I said, it lures the reader into a false sense of security, which is the point of having them so close together. But, again, to each their own appreciation of the scenes in question.

 

[ellita]

Furthermore, you're speaking as if what she went through is trivialized in the manga, which is definitely not the case. Half of the series revolves around her well-being.

I fully disagree, most of the series is based on her trauma from the eclipse yes, however, every time shes sexually assaulted she never has an aftermath for those events, for example wylad, she was almost raped but immediately after she was never shown to care for the encounter, do you understand what I mean?

also, in the second part you referenced I was talking about how after the eclipse her losing her memories led to people disregarding her pain because she didn't show rape aftermath, guts showing pain isn't the same as casca showing pain. I am not criticizing Miuras writing at all, but mostly how readers react to his work and why.

also I agree these people arent real fans but they are still readers who unfortunately share their opinions

As the #metoo movement showed, sexual assault is unfortunately a common danger for women from a young age on in our modern world. That it would be a very real and frequent threat in a violent and lawless world like the one Berserk takes place in feels realistic to me. It rather underlines the harshness of Casca's life as a woman warrior and what she had to overcome.

you are very right and that is very true.
even the fact casca wore pants would've been greatly sexualized.
my criticism is mostly on how these sexual assaults weren't treated with the gravity they deserve
and also they were way too fan service-y which takes away the importance of this danger

 

[Aazealh]

I fully disagree, most of the series is based on her trauma from the eclipse yes, however, every time shes sexually assaulted she never has an aftermath for those events, for example wylad, she was almost raped but immediately after she was never shown to care for the encounter, do you understand what I mean?

I understand, but I don't think your argument has merit. At that point in the story, Casca wasn't simply a hardened warrior, she was also a leader of men. She had commanded the Band of the Falcon for a year during their hardest time. She was someone who fought and killed countless adversaries, skirting death daily on the battlefield. On top of that, she had to face sexual assaults, yes, but the belief these should overshadow everything else is irrational. Wyald was a supernatural monster and the threat he represented wasn't merely rape, it was brutal death. She almost died, Guts almost died, many of their comrades did die. And it ended with a truly heartwrenching reveal about Griffith, who they had just saved.

At that time, we see her emotions well, and she's not fixated on the danger she personally faced and that was averted, but rather on her duty to Griffith and her wish for Guts to live the life he wants. Instead of sniveling about herself, she selflessly tried to sacrifice her own happiness to repay Griffith for saving her, while not binding the man she loved, Guts, to an unhappy life. This altruism is the reflection of who she is as a character. Not a victim, but a strong woman, strong enough to care for others.

The idea that every single close-call she ever had should be traumatizing just isn't coherent at all with her character, much like Guts doesn't think back to every time an enemy almost killed him. And that's why the Eclipse is important: it's the exception. It's meant to be the exception. Even simply from a storytelling perspective, it's easy to see why it's the right choice.

also, in the second part you referenced I was talking about how after the eclipse her losing her memories led to people disregarding her pain because she didn't show rape aftermath, guts showing pain isn't the same as casca showing pain.

Casca is shown having flashbacks to the Eclipse repeatedly, even while she's in a stupor. And after she wakes up on Skellig, she has violent panic attacks everytime she thinks back to those days and that is a major plot point.

Regarding Guts, you're not expressing yourself very clearly, but I'll just remind you that he is the main character of the series. So naturally in comparison every other character gets less exposure.

I am not criticizing Miuras writing at all, but mostly how readers react to his work and why. also I agree these people arent real fans but they are still readers who unfortunately share their opinions

Please don't take this badly, but I don't think it's useful to come here to talk about what "some other people elsewhere" say. It's equivalent to inventing imaginary opponents for yourself to argue with, and all you end up doing is repeating "what they say" to then justify your own reaction. It's a fruitless endeavor which presumably aggravates you as well as those reading the thread while achieving nothing. Instead, you should either confront those you take issue with, or simply ignore them and enjoy Berserk for what it really is.

my criticism is mostly on how these sexual assaults weren't treated with the gravity they deserve
and also they were way too fan service-y which takes away the importance of this danger

You said above you weren't criticizing Miura's writing, but that's what this thread is starting to look like... In fact, calling sexual assault scenes "fan servicey" is a straight up insult as far as I'm concerned. Don't throw these kinds of accusations around so lightly, because we don't take kindly to them.