Episode 375

I will probably go against the grain here, but I enjoyed this last episode. Felt a lot more like the older ones.

They are getting better and of course it will never be the real thing. But managing expectations is important.
 

Walter

Administrator
Staff member
It's now available (an hour early?)

 
It's now available (an hour early?)

Japan (and many other countries) don't do daylight savings time, so we get it an hour early now.
 

TheItCrOw

Knight without Title
Perhaps it's just a temporary emotional outburst and I apologize in advance, but I've never felt so enraged while reading or viewing anything. I feel sickened. It angers me so much to see Guts in chains with the saddest, pathetic look on his face before he falls on the floor again. If that's still how I feel in two hours, I'll refund the magazine, even though I have no clue whether that's an option.

Puck is looking like he couldn't care less and what in the world is Rickert doing there? Knowing that Guts is still alive and finally getting to see him again, shouldn't he be overjoyed?
 

Walter

Administrator
Staff member
puck-this-is-fine.png
 

Parkus

Keep pushing no matter what
I'm really gonna hope Guts does something by the time episode 380 hits, there's no way their gonna keep him like this for awhile getting up just to fall down for the what? the 3rd time? is just a really sad sight to see, I get their trying to show him as a broken man but the way they're doing it seems pathetic.
 
I love how one of the soldiers put a chain around Guts' ankle just to make him fall face-first for no reason. These episodes have created a surprising amount of memes in such a short span of time it's actually impressive.
 
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I love how one of the soldiers put a chain around Guts' ankle just to make him fall face-first for no reason. This episodes have created a surprising amount of memes in such a short span of time it's actually impressive.
I love how the Kushan-Bakiraka soldiers fight strongly to restrain a Guts who is not in any way making resistance.

I am disappointed Rickert didn't slap Guts already, come on!
 

Judo

Midlands finest
They actually put the Dragonslayer in chains. :sweatdrop:
I reckon they did this to show that it is too heavy to be carried around by average soldiers... but it seems silly nonetheless.

The look that Rickert throws Guts at the top of the second to last page is a very good expression of the feelings many fans have towards the continuation.
 
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how can they portray the characters like this? especially puck, rickert and guts? I feel like the instruction was “guts is completely broken and everyone is shocked” and this was the result
 

TheItCrOw

Knight without Title
how can they portray the characters like this? especially puck, rickert and guts? I feel like the instruction was “guts is completely broken and everyone is shocked” and this was the result
Except that nobody is really shocked except for Isidro. I mean, Walter posted that picture of Puck looking at Guts and it was the most disconnected look on a dear friend being in chains I've ever seen in my life. That was more like "Dude, I'm seeing Guts in chains, I'm trippin, I should ease up on the fairy powder"
 
how can they portray the characters like this? especially puck, rickert and guts? I feel like the instruction was “guts is completely broken and everyone is shocked” and this was the result
I don't even know if they're actually following any instructions to be honest. Because if they are, they're doing a good job at ignoring them. Unless everything is going according to plan, but it feels so disjointed because maybe Miura and Mori were smoking some good fairy powder when they were talking about it at the time, if you know what I mean :badbone:
 
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Walter

Administrator
Staff member
Except that nobody is really shocked except for Isidro. I mean, Walter posted that picture of Puck looking at Guts and it was the most disconnected look on a dear friend being in chains I've ever seen in my life. That was more like "Dude, I'm seeing Guts in chains, I'm trippin, I should ease up on the fairy powder"
I posted it because I also thought it was funny for that reason, but the truth is that Puck’s supposed to be reacting to the appearance of Rickert next to Guts. But agreed: That’s not what it looks like.
 
I finally got the chance to read it with a proper translation and...

The episode's title is as clumsy as it can get. I get that they're trying to sound poetic, but they're trying too hard.

The dialogues (especially the ones between Daiba and Silat) were abysmal, even worse than the previous episodes. Not only I couldn't understand who was saying what, but the way Daiba talks and laughs during every single sentence makes him sound like he's lost his mind. Is Daiba going through his Joker arc, or is he just becoming a crazy old man? :daiba:
It seems like he has something in store for Guts, and that's the only thing that kinda raised my curiosity.

I also hated the fact that Serpico didn't do anything other than saying "Isidro" here and there. If you don't know what to make him say, just leave him be and don't even bother trying.

Rickert's dialogue was just dumb exposition about what's happening right there, and it was a dumbed down version of what Daiba and Silat said just a couple of pages before. I hope that they'll change the way they write these dialogues, because every time I read a new episode I feel like I'm going insane by reading the same things over and over in the same episode. The only new bit of information that he added is that there is upheaval in the Kushan empire, which was to be expected.

The sequence with Isidro raised more problems than pathos. By the way that everyone reacts to Guts' state, we can only assume that Schierke couldn't be bothered to tell everyone about his condition. Not only this is out of character for her, but it makes the whole sequence in episode 371 useless, or at least it makes her presence during that moment superfluous.

So yeah, that sucked.
 
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So I just got a chance to look through it, though the current translations are abysmal, so I will give some benefit of the doubt regarding dialogue.

First what little praise I can give. Studio Gaga are clearly talented artists. The amount of detail is commendable, and individual panels look great. They have been able to emulate Miura's mastery fairly well in some cases. This was not guaranteed with this continuation. Whether the juxtaposition of panels always works is a different story, but credit where it is due.

In regards to story and pacing, I continue to have issues. The dialogue between Daiba and Silat is unclear, so it's hard to judge, but it seems like Daiba had some type of prophecy that led the Kushans here. This at least makes things less random, but it opens the question of how Roderick and crew (excellent sailors) wandered into Kushan waters in the first place. Beyond this, the focus of the episode is on things that the audience already knew, and that the side characters like Isidoro, Roderick, Magnifico, Puck, et al, should have already known based on previous events. Guts had to be carried onto the ship by sailors, while crying at the end of the Island. He's locked himself in his room. He's talked to no one. And yet when he is led out in chains, after several episodes of crying about his sword, everyone is shocked and distraught. Huh?

This is the primary focus of this episode. That Guts is at his lowest point. I don't mind that Guts is at a low point before we get to the climax of the story (that's often good storytelling) but I have major issues with how basic this low point is and how drawn out it has become. Guts could care about losing Casca again, he could care about how impotent he is against Griffith, and he could be giving up the struggle. He could have meaningful dialogue about this like he did with Godot, or a reaction like after the Eclipse. But no. His sword failed him and he's sad.

This is especially an issue when the releases are so infrequent, which has always been a pain point of the series. Meandering story without payoffs is rude. Previously, with Miura at the helm, it was worth it, because the quality was so high with the artwork, the economy of dialogue and story to action, the pacing, and the the consistency across decades. Now it's pretty much the art and a zoomed-out view of the story.

The other reveal is Rickert, which is fine, but there's not much more to it than that. No new information.

The fusion of the Kushan with the Bakiraka clan is ignorant to the rest of the series, but it's possible to rectify this. The Kushan are in disarray without a leader, so it's possible Silat usurped power, but we'll need to see that. It's more likely that as Walter has mentioned, this is just racism that 'they're all brown, so they're the same.' I'm not surprised that they simplified this, but I hope they add nuance to this.

By the end, we see that we are going to the Kushan (or Bakiraka) homeland or fortress, which seems based on the Hagia Sophia (not a bad choice). I'm glad we are at least accelerating to get to a new and novel setting for Guts and crew.

This continuation is both taking massive shortcuts at things, while also reiterating story points ad nauseam episode after episode. I hope they find they're footing soon.
 
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By the end, we see that we are going to the Kushan (or Bakiraka) homeland or fortress, which seems based on the Hagia Sophia (not a bad choice). I'm glad we are at least accelerating to get to a new and novel setting for Guts and crew.
Wait... GAGA has used a Christian Church for the basis of their home? Instead of something Hindu and Buddhist, Afghan or Persian?
 

Walter

Administrator
Staff member
Ep 339:
Rickert: A friend of mine once went on a journey for the same reason I am now.
Rickert: A dangerous journey with someone precious to him... But he's an excellent swordsman whom nobody can kill, unlike me...
Rickert: Because it's him... I'm sure he is (protecting her) somewhere under the sky right now. Like always...

Ep 375:
Rickert: I guess I was wrong...

Of course, what Rickert actually said about Casca not being around: Nothing.
 
I've been wondering at what point exactly did we have a time jump in the story. Where I can see it fitting is during 372. So Guts been in that one room depressed for how long? At least long enough for the ship to basically "pop" roughly thousand leags to the opposite direction from Falconia. Best I can think is look at the moon and as it is a crescent meaning at least about half a month from full moon which it was on the island before it was destroyed. Though that definitely isn't enough time for the distance that they've travelled.

Also as Schierke is still unconscious did she travel with her astral body through the Dragon path, indicated by the light shine in 373? And now she's "detached" who knows how far, she definitely went willingly. I don't think I full get how here astral projection works.
 
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