I'm new here

Hello, everyone.

I watched the anime back in 2006 and it completely blew me away - blew me out of the water. :eek:

Never before had I seen anything remotely this awesome, except maybe the original Star Wars trilogy when I was a kid. Berserk is on a different level than other stories, animes, movies, books, IMO.

Obviously the Griffith character and the clarity of his dream are what first got my attention. When he schooled young Guts without breaking a sweat I was like, "Whoa, who is this guy?" Then all the characters spent the next ten episodes talking about how epic Griffith is; I particularly enjoyed Casca’s back-story where Griffith allows her to save herself from the nobleman. Griffith is definitely one of the great all-time characters. (I thought the dude who voiced Griffith's enlgish dub was flat-out perfect.)

Guts... what can you say about Guts? He's simply the most badass character, ever.

What I really loved was the plot. Griffith's maneuvering in the court, the invincibility of the Hawks, the assassination of Julius, the kidnapping plot and resulting death of the Queen and her co-conspirators. I love those kinds of machinations toward power.

But then the story took a sudden and shocking turn I had no idea was coming -- what happens when our dreams crumble?

I'm stating the obvious here when I tell you that I was in utter shock and disbelief during the last couple of episodes of the anime -- the Eclipse. :eek:

I had to rewatch that many times, to make sure I had seen what I thought I'd seen. Back in 2006, I read some forums where I saw some idiots saying that the ending "was a letdown." Or a "bummer." WTF! What did they want, another Disney ending? The balls it took to make the ending as dark and tragic as it was is what I loved about Berserk.

BTW, the “Beherit” and “Guts” music in the anime just added more magic to the viewing, along with the strategic amounts of weed I was blazing when I watched. ;)

Anyway, after 2006, I became busy with my career and travel, and didn't return to Berserk until recently. I rewatched the whole thing and can now fully appreciate and embrace the Golden Age Arc story as one of the best stories ever told.

I have never read any Manga nor comic book in my life, but I have now begun to read the Berserk manga, starting around Volume 9. I'm up to Volume 19 now, I think. Definitely love the Puck character. I cannot wait to see where this story is going!!!

Please no spoilers beyond volume 19. Part of the beauty of watching the anime was that I was taken totally by surprise and had no idea what to expect. I'm trying to stay as spolier-free as possible until I can get up to speed on the latest installments.

Anyway, thanks to the forum owners here for providing a place for this rambling post. :)
 

Aazealh

Administrator
Staff member
Hey there, welcome to SK.net! :serpico:

-Dreams- said:
I have never read any Manga nor comic book in my life, but I have now begun to read the Berserk manga, starting around Volume 9. I'm up to Volume 19 now, I think. Definitely love the Puck character. I cannot wait to see where this story is going!!!

I heartily recommend you to read the manga starting at volume 1. You'll be missing out otherwise, and believe me, the animated series doesn't replace those volumes.

-Dreams- said:
Please no spoilers beyond volume 19.

Man, this place is full of spoilers. They're everywhere. I advise you to buy all the volumes released by Dark Horse so far and to read them before you start reading threads here, because otherwise you're going to be spoiled for sure. Even our avatars are spoilers.
 
I know, some of the avs have definitely spoiled me a bit! I'm reading the mangas as fast as possible. I will take your advice and not explore threads here outside of this one until I'm done.
 

Oburi

All praise Grail
-Dreams- said:
Hello, everyone.
I have never read any Manga nor comic book in my life, but I have now begun to read the Berserk manga, starting around Volume 9. I'm up to Volume 19 now, I think.

Your crazy for not starting with book 1 of the manga. It's not like your wasting your time reading volumes 1-9 just because it was already covered in the anime. The books add so much to the Berserk story (well it IS the story after all). Even the scenes you've already seen in the anime are longer and there is more dialog between the characters (this is obvious for all manga-anime adaptations(always go to the source!)). Of course volumes 1-3 are almost completely absent from the anime and contain some important information. Go back and start from the beginning, you really can't substitute the anime for a series like this, especially if you like it so much, which you seem too.
 

Walter

Administrator
Staff member
Welcome!

I'll have to reiterate what Oburi and Aaz have already been so kind to point out. Start from the beginning. It actually took me a long time to unlearn all the shit the anime threw in as canon, once I got into the manga. The additional and extended Adon scenes, for example. Those don't happen in the manga at all, but I've seen members here reference those scenes as canon. :schierke:

It really is best to take a fresh start, and just forget everything you thought you knew about Berserk :badbone: .

However, that being said, it's good to know you at least started with vol 9, when things start deviating extremely in the anime.
 
I will definitely go back and start from the beginning.

I'm on Volume 20 now, I think, but I'm kind of worried that the plot thus far is not nearly as epic or tight as the Golden Age Arc. :(

I hope it gets better. Guts just took down that goat monster is where I'm at roughly right now.
 

Walter

Administrator
Staff member
-Dreams- said:
I'm on Volume 20 now, I think, but I'm kind of worried that the plot thus far is not nearly as epic or tight as the Golden Age Arc. :(

I hope it gets better.  Guts just took down that goat monster is where I'm at roughly right now.
Well, in case you missed SK's hint in vol 18 about what event is just around the corner, you're within 1 volume of something big. Stay tuned.

I personally think the story improved dramatically once the series emerged from the flashback. Again, this is something most new readers are conditioned to believe: "Berserk is not a fantasy, it's a historical medieval anime!" Which is, to be blunt, horribly wrong.
 

Dani

Smile!
I'm of jealous of you Dreams, I'd love to read the manga for the first time again. Read it at your own pace, don't skip any episode and feel free to reread any part you enjoy.

Just be prepared, when you catch up, you will be in the same situation as everyone here, waiting with baited breath for each new episode.
 
OMG, some seriously epic sh#t just went down in Volumes 21 and 22!! :eek:

That square-headed Church dude got pawned... Zodd vs Guts... Griffith returns.. OMG.

I'm at the point now where Griffith is sitting on a tree stump bringing the souls of the battlefield dead back briefly to say goodbye to their families... holy s.
 
Have you gone back and read the first 3 volumes? They all happen chronologically after the golden age except for the last 5% of volume 3.

Also guts and
puck first meet
and guts encounters all
five of the godhand
again
 
Jaze1618 said:
Have you gone back and read the first 3 volumes? They all happen chronologically after the golden age except for the last 5% of volume 3.

Also guts and
puck first meet
and guts encounters all
five of the godhand
again

Not yet, will do. Thanks for the headsup.
 
It's a common mistake to skip to volume nine/ten. There are a lot of characters that make no appearance in the anime series that do in the manga. The Count, Puck (who isn't in the anime at all). Wyald is one of my favourite apostles. Silat is another one, and one of my favourite characters in the overall series. Plus Skull Knight makes a few appearances in those earlier volumes too. You will be surprised by how much better the story is told via the manga series, Miura takes his time fleshing out the well known characters too (like the Band of the Hawk). Honestly, you think you'll just be seeing a retread of the anime series, but the manga has so much new content in the earlier volumes that it feels afresh. :SK:
 
So I'm up to Volume 26, I think.

One of the most shocking images along the way was of Gutts as that dog beast kind of thing raping Casca "Tear her up like Griffith did." :eek: Gutts nearly did it. His inner demons were evident in that scene. Very hardcore stuff.

I loved the whole battle in the town with the trolls, but even more epic was trolls' lair! WTF. Rapes, mass slaughterings by Guts, Slan, SK... WHOA. One thing that grabbed by attention was Slan calling SK "Your Majesty". I'm guess that will be explained at some point.

Then I hit the part with the Berserk Armor - wow. :chomp: I think I left off right around where Griffith flies off with Charlotte.

So great. Loving it! this is my first manga ever.
 
well i called every Borders and Barnes & Noble in a 100-mile radius and none of them have the manga.

anyway, i'm just reading them at night before bed on my laptop, it seems to be working well enough.  i just don't remember specifically where i left off last night. i think it was Griffith flying away with Charlotte, whatever volume that is.  of course this stuff before bed has had an INTERESTING effect on my dreams!!  :eek:
 

Aazealh

Administrator
Staff member
-Dreams- said:
i'm reading scans on my laptop.

Hahaha, that's exactly the kind of answer I expected. But you will have to buy the books if you want to be welcome here. You seem to think the story's great, right? So please support the author.

-Dreams- said:
well i called every Borders and Barnes & Noble in a 100-mile radius and none of them have the manga.

That's not an excuse. Amazon.com sells it and they ship for free. Buy it or begone.
 

Oburi

All praise Grail
You think? How can you not be sure what book you are up to? Just look at the cover

-Dreams- said:
i'm reading scans on my laptop.

I love how this is said so matter of fact. Like "Helloo, DUH!! he's reading scans. Thats why he doesn't know which volume he is on, Aaz you big goof."

... no shame at all
 
Wow, there's no need to be rude, pal.  I wasn't aware that these were available on Amazon.  Like I said I called B&N and Borders and they were clueless.  I just ordered all the ones I could find on Amazon right now with 2-day shipping, but it says that Volumes 29 and up are not even out yet.  So let me ask you:  how are YOU reading the most recent issues?

Anyway, I recently bought two of the new 6-disc animes and gave them to friends, so I have no problem supporting the author.  Are you this rude to everyone who comes here and might not know exactly everything there is to know about manga publication or reading mangas?  I told you this is the first I have ever read. 

Jesus.

Can we get back to discussing the issues now? 
 

Oburi

All praise Grail
-Dreams- said:
Wow, there's no need to be rude, pal. I wasn't aware that these were available on Amazon. Like I said I called B&N and Borders and they were clueless. I just ordered all the ones I could find on Amazon right now with 2-day shipping, but it says that Volumes 29 and up are not even out yet. So let me ask you: how are YOU reading the most recent issues?

Anyway, I recently bought two of the new 6-disc animes and gave them to friends, so I have no problem supporting the author. Are you this rude to everyone who comes here and might not know exactly everything there is to know about manga publication or reading mangas? I told you this is the first I have ever read.

Jesus.

Can we get back to discussing the issues now?

Sorry for sounding rude (and I'm glad to hear your trying to support the artist...now) but if your new to manga and you KNOW your reading scans for free then you should expect this kind of remark, especially from people who own the whole series in English and Japanese. How am I keeping up with the most recent episodes you ask?? Just how everyone else is. Like Aaz said, read the rules, pal.
 

Aazealh

Administrator
Staff member
-Dreams- said:
Wow, there's no need to be rude, pal.

Hahaha, you have no idea of what "being rude" is.

-Dreams- said:
I wasn't aware that these were available on Amazon. Like I said I called B&N and Borders and they were clueless.

Yeah after all it's only the biggest online library in the world. And many Borders do sell the manga, just like almost every comic book shop.

-Dreams- said:
I just ordered all the ones I could find on Amazon right now with 2-day shipping

Good, I expect pictures when you receive them.

-Dreams- said:
it says that Volumes 29 and up are not even out yet. So let me ask you: how are YOU reading the most recent issues?

Me personally? I own the Japanese volumes. And I have triples of some of them. I also regularly buy Young Animal, the magazine in which Berserk is prepublished.

-Dreams- said:
Anyway, I recently bought two of the new 6-disc animes and gave them to friends, so I have no problem supporting the author. Are you this rude to everyone who comes here and might not know exactly everything there is to know about manga publication or reading mangas? I told you this is the first I have ever read.

Jesus.

Don't push your luck, pal. I'm glad to know you're willing to support the author, but being the first manga you read is no excuse. When you registered, you were told to carefully read the rules. It's in the registration agreement. They stipulate everything you have to know on the matter as far as we're concerned. Not buying the manga is a bannable offense here. We're that serious about it.
 
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