Wereallmad said:
It could be a deliberate thing to try and set up some sort of visual mood whiplash, in which case I love it, but if not, then I hate it.
I worry that it's more than a deliberate style change. Outlines are looking way thicker, and I'm seeing less line weight. Tones look kinda worse to me as well (that could be shitty scan quality though). Those are common symptoms of switching from traditional to digital. I hope it's just my imagination.
Well it's commonly known that Miura switched to digital art back in 2016. It may have been
slightly earlier, but it was most evident in 2016's episodes and volume insert posters. We had a thread about it back then: http://www.skullknight.net/forum/index.php?topic=15089.0 And a few months later, in the Berserk Guidebook, there was an image of his workstation, which now has a tablet. It's come up
a few other times too, when people point out reused or altered panel art.
Beyond the workflow enhancements that moving to digital afford, I do think that the style change coinciding with their arrival at Elfhelm is by design. We talked about the possibility of a big art change months before it was shown on the pages, because it made sense to shift the style to match a more fantastical location. There's also the consideration of YA moving to digital distribution. It's possible he had pressure internally to adopt a digital format to ease the production. Finally, it seems clear that Miura had to adopt some changes to keep the Berserk release schedule more consistent (and say what you will, but it has been more consistent since he switched over). His adherence to pen and paper drawings for 25+ years is truly admirable, but if the limitations of reality require him being more economical in how he puts his dream to paper, I'm cool with it. But I imagine that for someone who doesn't follow it episodically, the shift was probably more of a noticeable thing.
Cronus said:
Back to the episode so this isn't a total derailing - I'm hopeful that it's just misdirection on Miura's part, but the 2 pages seen just as Casca calls out to Guts give me the impression that they may separate after this for a good while. The first page with Guts in front of the eclipse/festival is ominously done - Guts is masked in shadow in front of what broke her, and the edges of the drawing are very
Femto-esque to me with a flowing wing-like look.
Eh, I don't see a connection there. If Miura wanted to achieve a recognizable comparison with Femto, he wouldn't have made Guts' cape billow like that. Instead, he could have made it look more distinctly wing-like. He could also have featured Femto in this episode
But as it is, it just looks like Guts' cape is framing the shot of the Eclipse, which conveys what's happening in Casca's head — he's the harbinger of those memories.
The next page - Griffith, completely asunder. It seems to me as though the framing is around his chest wounds - will Casca be reminded of Guts attacking her breast as he lost control? This could also just be the memory from a first-person perspective, and just for drama, but I think Miura is smarter than that.
Similarly, this seems like a
very loose connection. The focus on Griffith's chest is likely incidental because Miura didn't want to show off the crotch or the eyes (he's been hiding those in dream-like depictions recently, likely to depersonalize the memory). What's left? Center mass. But going down that train of thought, there's not a connection between Griffith's tortured body, and whatever happened between Guts and Casca in that moment in Vol 23. It's the kind of thing that readers would really have to twist their brain to accommodate a connection for, which, aside from the aforementioned circumstantial nature of what's being depicted, is why I don't really see it happening here.
The pages are meant to show off in horrific detail a horrific moment in her past that she chose to bury. I imagine that it's supposed to be painful to look at and shocking, but I really don't see any symbolism or anything happening here.
Cronus said:
And to add to the avalanche, she already had previously said that the Falcons' situation (at the time) was his fault, as Griffith was no good without him.
I don't believe we'll be getting back the Casca from Vol 9, so I'm disinclined to think she'll
still think that way about Guts.
Cronus said:
I wonder where the tipping point is for her in all of this - Griffith saved her life, and betrayed her - but so did Guts. I obviously hope it goes toward Guts, but SK's words to him put this in reasonable doubt in my mind.
No matter how you stretch it, the sins of Guts and Femto can't be compared. And I also don't think that's what these last two 2-page spreads are meant to represent.
What Guts did was wrong — not just biting her breast, but holding her down and kissing her against her will. That's fucked up! And that's on Guts, and it'll have to be reconciled. But unlike with Femto, there are
so many mitigations to that particular scenario (like his exhausted and tortured state of mind in that moment; like crossing the world to rescue her; keeping her safe from endless nights; enduring hardship after hardship to ensure her safety, etc. , etc.). Guts realized his mistake immediately and took drastic actions (accepting companions) to ensure it didn't happen again. On the other hand, Femto had her friends gruesomely killed, raped her in front of her lover, drove her insane, corrupted her child, condemned her soul to the Vortex, and left her to die while his new friends cooed and laughed.
I mean... I realize that in the pages of the manga there might not be a court-ordered attorney to stand up for Guts in the circumstance that Casca starts trying to compare the two, but it would be completely unjust for Guts' actions to be tossed in with Femto's, given all other considerations.
