I spend most of my Berserk-related time in Discord and have noticed a certain issue come up pretty often- the irrelevancy and "out of character"-ness of the opening scene of Berserk in which Guts is shown having sex with an apostle before destroying it. After reading through the a recent thread on here I decided there were a few points I wanted to address on this issue in relation to Guts's characterization: the importance of the interplay between sex and violence in Berserk and Miura's foresight.
The relationship between sex and violence in Berserk is always an important indicator of Guts's present state, and how the theme of sex is currently interacting with Berserk's concurrent atmosphere. Sex and violence coincide for Guts, to varying degrees at different times. This is, in my opinion, a result of the original trauma of his childhood rape at the hands of Donovan. The first instance of physical intimacy he experiences since the death of Shizu/Shisu and his first sexual experience is an act of violation, subjugation, aggression, and betrayal. From this point, sex and violence are "married" in Berserk, and we can see the repercussions on Guts mental state and ability to socialize with the repetitive rejection of contact throughout the beginning Golden Age Arc.
The next major shift in the relationship between sex and violence for Guts we see is during his sexual encounter with Casca. What starts off as a positive and egalitarian encounter morphs into a brief episode of violence after Guts's childhood trauma is triggered, re-establishing the marriage of sex and violence as Guts chokes Casca in a frenzied attempt to submit the weakness and vulnerability of his childhood self. However, Guts is "brought down" from this and is able to reconcile the pain and fear associated with sexual vulnerability by sharing it with Casca, and physical affection ensues. This bounce-back demonstrates that some kind of healing has been permitted in the divorce between sex and violence with openness, understanding, and the allowance of a sort of solidarity from a loved one.
The Eclipse obviously undermines this very shortly after. All of the previous associations between sex and violence resurface to the extreme with the slaughter of the Band of the Falcon and the rape of Casca by Griffith/Femto. I believe this is the point that people fail to take into consideration when deeming the Guts/apostle sex scene out of character following the Golden Age- that this event basically entails the regression of all Guts's "progress" in forming relationships and finding external fulfillment and meaning, and the forceful re-marriage of sex and violence in the conjoined act of sex and murder. In feeding his own darkness and pain in pursuing vengeance on apostles while abandoning the equally traumatized Casca, he prevents the necessary process of "healing" through sharing and negotiating pain that we have observed to be at least incidentally successful.
So, while the opening scene is Berserk may seem jarring and dissonant, especially with the next iteration of Guts growth seen during the Golden Age, it ties in completely comprehensibly with the thematic evolution of the sex/violence dichotomy and is equally reflective of Guts's insular, isolated, and self-serving outlook exaggerated throughout Black Swordsman.
In addition, showing that the resultant trauma of the Eclipse remarries sex and violence is consistent with Guts's later sexual assault of amnesiac Casca and its conjoined fantasy of rape and murder. The scene therefore serves as a relevant precursor when viewed chronologically which makes the lapse thematically understandable in a greater context.
The follow up argument to this line of thinking is usually that Miura did not plan that all in advance, so it is not actually as important. However, to my understanding, the majority of content in BS and a notable amount of content throughout the rest of Berserk was and has not been intensively incorporated in accordance with future planning. But does that discount the symbolic importance of the Demon Child in the beginning of the story, and its later connection to Guts's and Casca's relationship which was, according to Miura, not planned? Does this make the acquisition of the Beherit dismissible or Theresia's impact negligible? Obviously not. Cherry-picking, what we do and don't deem relevant to Berserk on the basis on Miura's foresight only caters to our own favored interpretation of Berserk and bears no significance to the media itself. Being able to weave together preexisting elements should be a basis of admiration (or criticism, depending on the level of success) for Miura's storytelling and not a shallow argument for trying to mold a story towards a personal ideal.
I hope this is appropriate and readable! Still learning to reckon with the forum setup.
The relationship between sex and violence in Berserk is always an important indicator of Guts's present state, and how the theme of sex is currently interacting with Berserk's concurrent atmosphere. Sex and violence coincide for Guts, to varying degrees at different times. This is, in my opinion, a result of the original trauma of his childhood rape at the hands of Donovan. The first instance of physical intimacy he experiences since the death of Shizu/Shisu and his first sexual experience is an act of violation, subjugation, aggression, and betrayal. From this point, sex and violence are "married" in Berserk, and we can see the repercussions on Guts mental state and ability to socialize with the repetitive rejection of contact throughout the beginning Golden Age Arc.
The next major shift in the relationship between sex and violence for Guts we see is during his sexual encounter with Casca. What starts off as a positive and egalitarian encounter morphs into a brief episode of violence after Guts's childhood trauma is triggered, re-establishing the marriage of sex and violence as Guts chokes Casca in a frenzied attempt to submit the weakness and vulnerability of his childhood self. However, Guts is "brought down" from this and is able to reconcile the pain and fear associated with sexual vulnerability by sharing it with Casca, and physical affection ensues. This bounce-back demonstrates that some kind of healing has been permitted in the divorce between sex and violence with openness, understanding, and the allowance of a sort of solidarity from a loved one.
The Eclipse obviously undermines this very shortly after. All of the previous associations between sex and violence resurface to the extreme with the slaughter of the Band of the Falcon and the rape of Casca by Griffith/Femto. I believe this is the point that people fail to take into consideration when deeming the Guts/apostle sex scene out of character following the Golden Age- that this event basically entails the regression of all Guts's "progress" in forming relationships and finding external fulfillment and meaning, and the forceful re-marriage of sex and violence in the conjoined act of sex and murder. In feeding his own darkness and pain in pursuing vengeance on apostles while abandoning the equally traumatized Casca, he prevents the necessary process of "healing" through sharing and negotiating pain that we have observed to be at least incidentally successful.
So, while the opening scene is Berserk may seem jarring and dissonant, especially with the next iteration of Guts growth seen during the Golden Age, it ties in completely comprehensibly with the thematic evolution of the sex/violence dichotomy and is equally reflective of Guts's insular, isolated, and self-serving outlook exaggerated throughout Black Swordsman.
In addition, showing that the resultant trauma of the Eclipse remarries sex and violence is consistent with Guts's later sexual assault of amnesiac Casca and its conjoined fantasy of rape and murder. The scene therefore serves as a relevant precursor when viewed chronologically which makes the lapse thematically understandable in a greater context.
The follow up argument to this line of thinking is usually that Miura did not plan that all in advance, so it is not actually as important. However, to my understanding, the majority of content in BS and a notable amount of content throughout the rest of Berserk was and has not been intensively incorporated in accordance with future planning. But does that discount the symbolic importance of the Demon Child in the beginning of the story, and its later connection to Guts's and Casca's relationship which was, according to Miura, not planned? Does this make the acquisition of the Beherit dismissible or Theresia's impact negligible? Obviously not. Cherry-picking, what we do and don't deem relevant to Berserk on the basis on Miura's foresight only caters to our own favored interpretation of Berserk and bears no significance to the media itself. Being able to weave together preexisting elements should be a basis of admiration (or criticism, depending on the level of success) for Miura's storytelling and not a shallow argument for trying to mold a story towards a personal ideal.
I hope this is appropriate and readable! Still learning to reckon with the forum setup.