Initiating other people to the series

OK well not really upset...but still!

I recently started university and am in first year after taking a victory lap and moved into a double room in residence. I brought all my volumes of Berserk to try and convert people into reading it and have something to talk about and thankfully my roommate was easy to convince (he has had brush ins with anime and had seen movies like Akira and what not, basically he has an appreciation for it).

He begins to read Berserk saying how much he loves it but i notice he is finishing the volumes surprisingly fast and i occasionally would watch and be all "slow down man! your missing stuff/ check out the art a little more!". He would respond with "nah man I'm just a fast reader its all good" and the like. We being talking about it when hes a little further in, clearly showing how much hes missed and key concepts he didn't really grasp, only really talking about the action and little things he thought were "deeep" but really weren't that important to the story.

Most notable and recent occurrence was when he was finishing 34 and got the the merging of the two worlds, HE LITERALY FLIPPED THROUGH THE PAGES AND SPENT NO MORE THAN TWO SECONDS ON EACH ONE! He stopped on the page with Ubiks material form and just said a "wtf" I turned and was like "show me" like i occasionally do to see what part hes on and said "oh yeah Ubiks page. " He responded with a "what"?..."yeah Ubiks there, Conrad and Slan on the pages before?" . "What who ? ", "The Godhand Tim....". He turns back "No they aren't". Look more carefully....." "Oh!" I'm sure he missed the entire point of Fantasia or what happened anyways so w.e.....

Anybody else have upsetting stories? Whether like my roommate where they were just undeserving or other stories where people didn't get it?

Sorry if my post was headache inducing, I'm really a horrible writer, especially when it came to all the quotes :sad:
 

Rhombaad

Video Game Time Traveler
I tried getting a friend of mine to read the manga at one point, but he declined because he heard Guts gets raped as a child and he's not interested in reading that sort of thing. I tried to explain to him that it wasn't for shock value or anything and that it has a lot to do with his early character development, especially in relation to Casca, but he didn't seem interested. However, I did manage to convince him to watch the anime and he loved it. He was bummed that it ended on such a cliff hanger but he's excited that a new anime is being made and will probably end up checking it out. I keep trying to get him to read the manga but he's hesitant. I don't think he likes reading manga that much anyway, which doesn't help. Oh well, it's his loss.
 

Jesterhead

I ain't mad at it!
I missed a lot of concepts/themes during my first read through of the manga. I can understand wanting to catch up (though if I'd have known the average release schedule, I might have slowed down a bit!). It sounds like he is enjoying the story quite a lot if he intends to read it that quickly. If he really does enjoy Berserk that much, I'm sure eventually he will want to go back and reread for the second time, then the third time etc, etc.

For a new reader, there is A LOT to take in. Cut him some slack :troll:
 
Haha, i do cut him slack. I am really happy with him liking the series. Just kinda bothered me and this seems the only place where i can vent my berserk frustrations :serpico:
 

Jesterhead

I ain't mad at it!
Draculoid said:
Haha, i do cut him slack. I am really happy with him liking the series. Just kinda bothered me and this seems the only place where i can vent my berserk frustrations :serpico:

Well, you live with him so:

Bring up events from Berserk, which he mis-understood/missed, all the time in passing conversation. He'll have to learn something eventually!
 

Walter

Administrator
Staff member
You should ask him how the layers of worlds work together, and what the different properties of them are. :slan:

Berserk's definitely not a series you can fully grasp with a quick once-over. Or even really a thorough once-over. I've probably read through the entire thing about 5-6+ times and I always find some new detail or nuance to appreciate. Miura's extremely consistent with both written and visual details, and it's awesome to go back and analyze it in detail. Merely glancing through it is like sprinting through an art gallery. "I GET IT, IT'S A STATUE OF A CHICK WITH HER ARMS CUT OFF. BIG DEAL?"
 
Haha, I'm not sure how well that would go over Walter. Its unfortunate too considering how the whole Fantasia incident sort-of relies heavily on at least a general understanding of that.

Ill probably try talk about the layers and Fantasia to see how much he understand and if not tell him rereading volume 24. I can't remember the exact episodes but the ones where Guts talks to Schierkes teacher are very insightful on multiple levels. I even find i retain a new detail or two every time i read them .
 

Walter

Administrator
Staff member
Draculoid said:
Ill probably try talk about the layers and Fantasia to see how much he understand and if not tell him rereading volume 24. I can't remember the exact episodes but the ones where Guts talks to Schierkes teacher are very insightful on multiple levels. I even find i retain a new detail or two every time i read them .
Yeah, Flora and Schierke's dialogue in episodes 201-202 in particular lay the foundation for what we know about the interaction between worlds. But that whole volume is filled with important information as well. As a result, Volume 24 is probably the one that's spent the most time on my desk, away from the bookshelf.
 
I've never really recommended Berserk to anyone irl. And whether it's over the net or in person, you cannot force someone to like something else, or to even be interested in it.

The best thing to do is to tell them that Berserk is awesome, has a very developed cast of characters with incredible depth and the storyline will blow you away. It sets the bar very high and makes most other series seem second class in comparison. Then just let the person discover it for him/herself. The incentive for me is that it's an incredible story of betrayal, revenge and the author keeps things real within the confines of the universe he has created. There are no lame plot twists, everything unfolds in a way you would only expect from a master writer, which Miura obviously is.

One of the problems I do have with the manga is that the volumes are hard to read. I don't want to destroy my collection and the pages, when so small, lose their incredible detail. The pages you can find .. online.. are a lot easier on the eyes. And I would literally buy the manga all over again if Dark Horse had an online Manga viewer. E-comics or whatever. Create an account system were purchased comics/mangas/works/ show up in your accounts online viewer. Just protect your password and they can send you an actual physical confirmation key just in case. That would be fucking awesome!

Your roommate, Draculoid, might be more willing to look at Berserk more in depth if Dark Horse had such an online system. No straining your eyes, no breaking your books spines, easy reading. Or maybe he doesn't really care about story and character development.. you know, the kind of people that are hardcore fans of Godzilla vs, movies. And "Epic" disaster movies. :schierke:

Think about it this way, if your roommate doesn't care for the details, its his loss. And if you wanna discuss theories. There's no better place than Sk.net. :slan:
 

Oburi

All praise Grail
I wish this thread was around when I had a roomate, I could have complained endlessly :guts: Seriously though, I've had the same problem. I got a few friends into berserk but when I watch them read the books I can't help but be bothered at how fast they flip through the pages, then they ask me basic questions :schierke:

Oh well, at least I know a few people IRL that I can talk about berserk with, and I can still go to Sk.net for the real discussions.

Ramen4ever said:
One of the problems I do have with the manga is that the volumes are hard to read. I don't want to destroy my collection and the pages, when so small, lose their incredible detail. The pages you can find .. online.. are a lot easier on the eyes. And I would literally buy the manga all over again if Dark Horse had an online Manga viewer. E-comics or whatever. Create an account system were purchased comics/mangas/works/ show up in your accounts online viewer. Just protect your password and they can send you an actual physical confirmation key just in case. That would be fucking awesome!

I don't get this. I would never prefer E-comics over actual books. My books took such a beating over the years, I eventually just gave in and bought the japanese editions.
 

Jesterhead

I ain't mad at it!
Oburi said:
I don't really get this. I would never prefer E-comics over actual books.

A lot of people (myself included) enjoy reading hard copies of their manga, but don't like handling them due to the inevitable damage that will be done to them after reading through it a few times. I'm so terrified I'll crease or bend the spines, I find myself opening the book just enough to peek inside.

And there is always the dreaded "reading Berserk before bed and falling asleep" possibility. Luckily I've never done it with any of my Berserk, just other paperbacks.

Reading a physical book is indeed more pleasant, but its almost hard to justify! :troll:
 
Oburi said:
I don't get this. I would never prefer E-comics over actual books. My books took such a beating over the years, I eventually just gave in and bought the japanese editions.

I like being able to read the entire page, and not just what the spine of my books allows for without breaking. An online viewer would allow for various page sizes, zooming, and nothing is cut off. I don't have to worry about damaging anything that way, there won't be a thumb indent where I'm holding one side of the book. No bends. Less hassle.

I like owning a physical copy because that's just the way I roll but I would prefer reading episodes online so I can look at the page in as much detail as I want without having to worry about damaging it.

Is the Japanese edition the same dimensions as the Dark Horse releases? Same kind of spine?
 
I really don't compare online reading with the actual book. In the book you hold in your hands what the creator has drawn on the page, it's way better than reading it on the screen. I really don't like reading the latest episodes of berserk online because i think how much better it would be reading them from the volume. I don't mind if the volume gets a bit 'destroyed' it's something that i actually expect and i plan on buying some of them again.
 

Johnstantine

Skibbidy Boo Bop
The people I preach it to are automatically turned off when they find out it's been ongoing for twenty years and still has no end in sight.
 
I would much prefer having the hard copy in my hands when reading and just be extremely careful. Not wear it down but having a "used" feel is fine with me. I can take it anywhere and clipping through pages at my leisure beats clicking for me. On a side note this topic has gotten a little off topic..... :guts:
 
I've successfully introduced four people in the past two years, three of which are female. One of the females in particular is a teacher at Oxford University and she's very much into English literature and likes drawing comparisons and looking at consequences within various parts of the story, which she has a lot of praise for. She's currently 19 volumes in and has decided to take a bit of time between volumes after I told her how long she can expect to wait between each episode and volume, which surprisingly has had more of a positive effect, as it gives me time to talk with her in depth about the current volume and what she liked about it. My aim is to get her to use it in one of her classes for a lesson, since she likes using media and entertainment as a tool with her students to keep their attention, I'll be interested to see how it goes if she does.

The other girls/women I have introduced Berserk to are my fiancée (currently awaiting for her to start the manga after using the anime as an initiation tool, but she's a little too engrossed with Gantz) and an old friend who has become a little obsessed with Griffith, to the point where she wanted to build a full size replica of his armour. Unfortunately she's not quite as easy to talk to in depth regarding the story, but it's nice to see the enthusiasm.

I continue to show my appreciation for Berserk and that there is more depth to the story than most people would think from first impressions and it usually pays off. Although not everyone goes out of their way to read it they say they would be interested in doing so, I just don't have the heart to hand my manga out to various people, I learnt the hard way why that can be a bad idea.
 
That actually sounds awesome, and a fiancee who likes Berserk and Gantz? You son of a gun :ubik:

only people who hadn't read manga prior i converted were my roommate and a female friend of mine back home, another girl friend is going to but jsut recently asked her library to order them.
 
Draculoid said:
That actually sounds awesome, and a fiancee who likes Berserk and Gantz? You son of a gun :ubik:

Yeah, I think she's more liking Gantz and tolerating Berserk as she knows it's my favourite series. Hopefully her look at the manga (or maybe even the new anime series if she doesn't put in the effort to read it) will hopefully engross her a little more and have her talking about it. She was decent enough to grasp my liking for Skull Knight though as she bought me one of the AOW figures without me even requesting it.

Draculoid said:
only people who hadn't read manga prior i converted were my roommate and a female friend of mine back home, another girl friend is going to but jsut recently asked her library to order them.

Introducing people who haven't read manga is probably the most difficult task, especially when it comes to explaining how you read the panels. I had one person say to me that they got half way through a manga (not Berserk thankfully) before they realised they were reading the panels in the wrong order. The other difficult side is explaining that it's not a kids comic, but an in depth artistic voyage through a beautifully structured masterpiece that has been over twenty years in the making, the usual response is along the lines of "but it's made up of pictures of a guy cutting things to pieces with an angry look on his face" :schierke: going from there can be an uphill struggle.
 
I tried getting my roommates twin brother into it now, and he loves it even more!

He called me at 3 in the morning (luckilly i was still hanging out in the lounge with people) to come down from the seventh floor and grab more volumes :ganishka: Claims its the greatet thing hes ever read!
 
Draculoid said:
I tried getting my roommates twin brother into it now, and he loves it even more!

He called me at 3 in the morning (luckilly i was still hanging out in the lounge with people) to come down from the seventh floor and grab more volumes :ganishka: Claims its the greatet thing hes ever read!

Congrats and well done. :ubik:
What Volume has he reached now?
 
Draculoid said:
He just finished volume 17, was complaining about it interferring with his studying for midterms :guts:

You wait, when he's fully up to date he's going to have a major come down and demand more, like crack.
 

Saephon

Die young and save yourself
There's this girl I've been friends with since college, who's really jaded by modern anime and manga. I described Berserk to her about a year ago, and tried my best to explain why I regard it as leagues beyond any other manga. At the time I could tell she respected my opinion, but she didn't seem ready to commit to reading something so...."epic."

Found out recently she is now 7 volumes in, and thinks it's the greatest thing she's ever read. Now the hard part; getting a date. :slan:
 
Saephon said:
There's this girl I've been friends with since college, who's really jaded by modern anime and manga. I described Berserk to her about a year ago, and tried my best to explain why I regard it as leagues beyond any other manga. At the time I could tell she respected my opinion, but she didn't seem ready to commit to reading something so...."epic."

Found out recently she is now 7 volumes in, and thinks it's the greatest thing she's ever read. Now the hard part; getting a date. :slan:

Make her a heart shaped beherit, that should do the trick :slan:
 

Aphasia

ALL MYSTERIES MUST BE SOLVED
Awaken, Thread!

So recently two of my very good friends have gotten into Berserk. One of them started with the Manga and read until the Eclipse before starting the Anime, so he knows what happens afterwards. I think he's on 24 now. The other guy simply loved the anime and is super excited to read the Manga to get the full story. I think I have done my job. :puck:

This makes me happy too, I felt so lonely being a lone Berserk fan. I eventually broke down and and joined this Berserk support group called Skull Knight...I guess I don't need you guys anymore. Seeya! :zodd:
 
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