Humor and believability in Berserk's fantasy elements

Deci

Avatar by supereva01 @ DA
I did a search for this topic as I swear I've seen at least a couple topics on it in the past but typing "humor" pulled up almost nothing. =/

Anyway I read an article recently that got me thinking. You can find it here: > Exploring Believability: Analysis Berserk

Perhaps it's been shared here before, the article is over a year old. I feel the guy doesn't really have a very good grasp of a lot of the concepts in the story, almost like he forced his opinion out lengthily to fill it, so I don't agree with it totally by any means.

Anyway that being said, my criticism started when I felt a sense of familiarity when he talked about how sometimes (with humor) Muira will straight up pull you out of the universe and remind you of it's unbelievability, which totally contradicts elements of the story where Muira has very masterfully implemented to pull us deeply into the intricately laid out universe, letting us dive in and explore it in wonderfully imaginative ways.

BugsBunny_Maroon.jpg

It's almost as if Puck is giving a Bugs Bunny little wink.

Which is fine, I love that humor, but not when something very serious is going on at exactly the same time. This really kicked into gear after the introduction of Isidro, once he was established as a member of the group, and then also some more when Ivalera and Shierke joined the scene. When they're all relaxing and we're getting some damn fine character exploration scenes I think this type of humor is absolutely wonderful and couldn't enjoy it more. At times though, it almost seems that Muira forgot to turn team Chestnut Puck and Monkey Dropey off, and let the frightening and fantastic realism elements in the story soar. It's jarring to me, personally, to go back and forth between the fantasy realism to cartoonish caricatures, then back, sometimes seemingly almost overlapping.

In contrast to the humor we got with the old Hawks, like with Judo and Pippin's buddy humor, or during Guts and Pucks duo journey, it just feels much more childish. That's where my criticism lies in the end, I feel it's gotten a lot more little kiddy and I don't like it as much. This also applies to Magnifico a bit, as a child I would laugh at an over-the-top humorously scared he is, or sick he is, or whatever. Not quite so much now though. In short I feel the humor at this stage sometimes doesn't match with the rest of Berserk.

Phew. =P

I feel a bit sheepish about this, it's one of my only small criticisms of Berserk as a whole, but while we're oh-so-patiently waiting for a new release, I felt I'd stir the pot a little with my opinion. I'm open to discuss that article too a bit, because it's a little interesting, however off-the-mark it is a lot of the time, it did reopen an old perspective I hadn't really looked from in a while.
 

Walter

Administrator
Staff member
That article is such hot garbage that I don't even know where to begin. The writer completely ignores, or fails to address, any important scenes with Isidro where the character is shown to be in danger, and has been shown to grow as a fighter. Instead it's written like a baby on a tantrum, angry that the writer is ruining his story with humor.

As for you, it sounds like you're taking the humor too seriously. Those panels where Puck is super-deformed are just asides, usually nested away in panels where other action is happening. It's just there as a side joke. It's rarely the focus of a scene, and when it is, the scenes are meant to be comical. So I guess I just don't see the problem, unless you're a humorless person.
 

Deci

Avatar by supereva01 @ DA
Walter said:
That article is such hot garbage that I don't even know where to begin. The writer completely ignores, or fails to address, any important scenes with Isidro where the character is shown to be in danger, and has been shown to grow as a fighter. Instead it's written like a baby on a tantrum, angry that the writer is ruining his story with humor.

Ya I agree, there really isn't much to discuss, reading it really just incited a perspective I had thought I had abandoned a while ago, but have recently realized not fully. I just finished re-reading the series again recently and there's definitely a feeling inside me that wishes there was less of the, what I perceive to be, more cartoony humor.

As for you, it sounds like you're taking the humor too seriously. Those panels where Puck is super-deformed are just asides, usually nested away in panels where other action is happening. It's just there as a side joke. It's rarely the focus of a scene, and when it is, the scenes are meant to be comical. So I guess I just don't see the problem, unless you're a humorless person.

They don't seem as aside as I like to think though, and I'm just not the biggest fan of that particular humor in the serious moments of Berserk specifically. I can easily state that a lot of my humor is misunderstood by most though. Honestly I'm not even sure when I'm joking sometimes. :iva:

Looking back on it I think the humor reflects on what's popularly used in manga, at least from what I used to watch and read growing up, and since I haven't been into the genre's really at all aside from Berserk and a very select few others I've just recently come to realize I don't appreciate it as much as I used to.
 

Walter

Administrator
Staff member
That's too bad. All humor is subjective of course, but I think most of Puck's impersonations are pretty darn clever, and show that Miura does have a pretty good sense of humor. Let's also keep in mind that they're bright spots in his otherwise dark, dreary fantasy series. Try to imagine the series without Puck... :puck:

Deci said:
I'm just not the biggest fan of that particular humor in the serious moments of Berserk specifically. I can easily state that a lot of my humor is misunderstood by most though. Honestly I'm not even sure when I'm joking sometimes. :iva:
Those who know me well know that I have a pretty strange sense of humor as well. I think I've known only a handful of people who truly understood it. But that doesn't affect my ability to appreciate the humor in the series.
 
I usually like the humor used throughout the series but yeah. I remember thinking a couple of times it was a bit out of place, or that it was a bit distracting from the current events and disrupted the tone of whatever was happening.
 

Walter

Administrator
Staff member
SrCraneo said:
I usually like the humor used throughout the series but yeah. I remember thinking a couple of times it was a bit out of place, or that it was a bit distracting from the current events and disrupted the tone of whatever was happening.
Do you have any examples in mind?
 

Kompozinaut

Sylph Sword
I don't think I've ever disliked the humor in the series (unless Dark Horse is hamfisting a "groovy" somewhere). In fact, that's part of what I really appreciate when reading each episode. I always wonder what Puck and Isidro are going to do next. Many times it gets an audible laugh out of me. And I certainly don't think it's ever fractured the tone of the story (at least nothing comes to mind).
 
Walter said:
Do you have any examples in mind?
To be honest I don't. It's been a while since I've re-read the manga. It's just something I remember thinking. But I'll sure post them here once I get access to my volumes again.
 

Aazealh

Administrator
Staff member
Deci said:
I did a search for this topic as I swear I've seen at least a couple topics on it in the past but typing "humor" pulled up almost nothing. =/

Threads complaining about the humor in Berserk, or more specifically about Isidro and Puck, are countless. The search engine's not working properly since the latest forum upgrade, so I guess that's why you couldn't find anything.

Deci said:
It's almost as if Puck is giving a Bugs Bunny little wink.

Well sometimes he does, breaking the fourth wall and such. That's nothing special.

Deci said:
This really kicked into gear after the introduction of Isidro, once he was established as a member of the group, and then also some more when Ivalera and Schierke joined the scene.

I don't think you could actually back that statement with precise scenes demonstrating what you say.

Deci said:
In contrast to the humor we got with the old Hawks, like with Judo and Pippin's buddy humor, or during Guts and Pucks duo journey, it just feels much more childish.

Same as above, I don't think you could actually back that up with precise scenes.

Deci said:
That's where my criticism lies in the end, I feel it's gotten a lot more little kiddy and I don't like it as much.

Half the references Puck makes can only be understood by people over 30, if not 40.

Deci said:
This also applies to Magnifico a bit, as a child I would laugh at an over-the-top humorously scared he is, or sick he is, or whatever. Not quite so much now though. In short I feel the humor at this stage sometimes doesn't match with the rest of Berserk.

Eh, it's pretty funny I think, and is in line with what the humor's been throughout the whole series...

Deci said:
Ya I agree, there really isn't much to discuss, reading it really just incited a perspective I had thought I had abandoned a while ago, but have recently realized not fully.

Maybe you ought to question your feelings when you find yourself sharing them with someone you recognize has no idea what he's talking about. :iva:
 
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