Share your real life interactions with other Berserk fans

guuuuuuuuts

Excited for the next chapter!
Some months ago at the grocery store I walked by a young guy wearing a NERV hoodie.

Me: Nice hoodie.
Him: Hey, thank you! Do you know what this is from?
Me: Neon Genesis Evangelion.
Him: That is great! You know, there aren't so many people like us out there. What else do you like?
Me: From that time, Cowboy Bebop.
Him: What else?
Me: Berserk.
Him: You like the old show?
Me: I read the manga.

He immediately lifts up his shirt and pulls down his pants to reveal a brand tattoo.
 
There are quite a few over the years. A more comprehensive version of this is in my 20 years later retrospective. But here are a few of the ones I can immediately recall:

2001: I related this story before, but a friend of mine had convinced his high school to use Guts as the design for their Knights mascot and had a t-shirt of it, which I ended up with (somehow!).

2002: I met up with Griffith (member here) in Georgia. We saw X-Men 2 together, went to a few parties, and I remember walking around a park and talking about the latest eps (around Flora's first apperance, Ep 200).

2005: Met up with Aazealh and Puella in France. Stayed at their place for a week and a few days while traveling after college. We hunted down another member from here, Olivier, and payed him a surprise visit, then went out drinking together. Amazing trip!

2011: At a grocery store I overheard two employees were talking about Berserk. I wasn't paying attention until one of them said something that indicated they had been talking about Casca the whole time. It wasn't a very profound statement, but my brain keyed in on one of them saying: "That was before she went crazy after the eclipse." So, I knew it had to have been Casca. It struck me as surprising because the series still wasn't THAT popular at the time.

2012: Met with IncantatioN and DirectDK in New York City over pizza.

2016: Visited Boston and hung out with Aaz for an afternoon. We even recorded a tiny podcast about it.

2023: Went to the Big Berserk Exhibition in Sapporo with Aaz, Grail, and Gobolatula. Four nightly podcasts recount our crow-filled adventures there.

2024: Oh yeah, a month or so ago, I was walking into a local grocery store (another one) and saw a guy with his wife and kid, and he had a Berserk shirt on (unofficial, 2016 logo), and I just told him: "I love Berserk" and smiled and he was pretty jazzed about that.
 
2024: Oh yeah, a month or so ago, I was walking into a local grocery store (another one) and saw a guy with his wife and kid, and he had a Berserk shirt on (unofficial, 2016 logo), and I just told him: "I love Berserk" and smiled and he was pretty jazzed about that.
Most likely not the exact same guy in the same grocery store. :)
 
I never met a Berserk fan in real life that I did not create myself. I got two of my best buddies into it, one who hates reading, and another who dislikes dark and bloody stories (his favorite genre is rom-coms, go figure). They were both utterly captivated. And devastated when Miura left us.

I'm usually the 'DJ' when we go on road trips. I select the songs that play while my non-reader friend drives and Rom-Com guy sits uselessly in the back. My driver friend makes it a point to demand I blast 'Forces' by Susumu Hirasawa at least once during our trips. Good times.
 
I've met one fellow real-life Berserk fan in June of this year; a worker at a comic book store in Manhattan who had a Brand of Sacrifice tattoo. Funny thing is, I was waiting to meet John Russo to have a poster of Night of the Living Dead signed, and that worker happened to be managing the lineup. Had a really interesting conversation about Guts and our love for Miura-sensei's work.

Anyway, hello everyone! This is my first post here. I've been a Berserk fan since 2014, but I've only read up to the (then current) chapters twice. That's certainly not as much as the rest of you. At present, I'm currently reading through the Dark Horse deluxe editions.

I've heard about SkullKnight.net for years, and its great reputation of being a treasure-trove of accurate information on Berserk. So, I've finally decided to sign up last week. Thanks for having me. I'm mostly lurking and reading old threads, but I hope I'll be able to contribute well to some conversations.
 
Anyway, hello everyone! This is my first post here. I've been a Berserk fan since 2014, but I've only read up to the (then current) chapters twice. That's certainly not as much as the rest of you. At present, I'm currently reading through the Dark Horse deluxe editions.

I've heard about SkullKnight.net for years, and its great reputation of being a treasure-trove of accurate information on Berserk. So, I've finally decided to sign up last week. Thanks for having me. I'm mostly lurking and reading old threads, but I hope I'll be able to contribute well to some conversations.

Welcome! Hope those old threads meet your expectations. =)
 
I’ve met two.

1. During my undergraduate years I ran into someone on campus with a Berserk shirt. I was running late to my class and didn’t have time to strike a conversation, but I complimented his shirt as I walked past him. I heard a “Thanks Man!” I didn’t see his physical reaction, but I’d say he was pretty happy about that.

2. There was a regular at my old gym who occasionally wore Berserk shirts. I’m pretty sure the guy was a teenager. I never interacted with him, but it was always nice to see the Berserk merch.
 
Ive met a bunch over the years. Made some fans too by talking about it.

I remember a guy working at tim horton's, and he saw my brand tattoo on the top of my hand and he said jokingly "griffith did nothing wrong!"

We talked a bit about the serie.

Id be down to meet people from here if any goes through montreal.
 
I never met a Berserk fan in real life that I did not create myself.
Mostly my experience too. I got my best friend into it but other than that I mostly only hear people know of it or talk about the dragonslayer. Frankly I'm glad because Berserk has a uniquely awful fanbase outside of places like this and my interactions with it have just left me enjoying the manga less.
 
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I started physical therapy in August and the attendant was clearly an anime fan, so I mentioned reading Berserk. At the end of my appointment, after receiving my list of daily exercises for home, he mused: You'll need to repeat each exercise on the print out three times daily. Just like Guts required the Berserker armor, your body needs these core strength exercises to push through this discomfort at work.

His other funny thing he said was when I first mentioned Berserk: "What is the one thing Guts has when you look at him?"
Core strength.
 
I was in Boston this summer for a weekend, and had a nice chat with a fellow fan who recognized Schnoz on my shirt. I think last fall, I was walking by Penn Station and a girl on a bicycle yelled "Niiiiice Berserk community" as she crossed me; I was wearing my Sk.Net longsleeve tee. I love seeing the Berserk love when someone wears tees or has a tattoo and interacting with folks, and this's coming from me - someone who's super shy! Maybe because I know I will probably never see them again gives me a bit of a confidence boost. I always make it a point to say "Nice shirt!" to someone and there'll be those few times someone who's face is buried in their phone will look up and smile in acknowledgement or chat for a bit.

Over the years, I've had numerous conversations with fans while waiting to cross a street or elevator chat. And I think, I've had more of them since after Miura's passing.
 
I had a funny interaction with a fan in 2017 who was gushing about the plot and characters of the 2016 anime adaptation as his favorite anime ever. I mentioned the manga was insanely better and he replied, "I'm super satisfied with the show, so I'll pass on the books."
 
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