The Hawk want YOU! Go Berserk!

Hey, hows it goin everybody? As it so happens, the Army might be my next big chapter in life, and I'm going through the process of preparing to enlist. In my younger days, I never thought much about it. However adult life is quite costly, and Berserk merchandise inst exactly cheap! So for the monetary benefits alone, I may just go through with it. I'm curious, how many of us that read material like Berserk consider what our lives would be in the characters positions, or even the generic soldiers boots. Surely Real life isn't as dark, even in the dark ages.. just dark enough for one man to conceive a manga called berserk. Acting like Guts probably won't get very far in basic training.

Also, I've completed my first official read of the current 36 volumes. (37 comes out soon in English). Honestly, its a long-ass story, and with so many repetitive scenes I'm surprised Miura has any patience at all left to finish.. though that's also why its been goin on for sooo long. I enjoyed it allot, especially after Gutts dawns the Armor.. but all the vauge magical elements introduced seemed a bit confusing. ( It will be interesting to see how an anime would adapt those parts.) As a whole, my favorite arc was the mock-eclipse. Its just so dark.. and the last time Gutts is co-oping it with only the brave Puck in his purse. I HATE Farnese Sometimes i think Miura has a sever distaste for any christian themes (can't blame him) and goes out of his way to utterly destroy/disprove any relevant bearings it would have on the story. Ie. Farnese going from zealous witch-hunter to magical apprentice.. it doesn't fly with me. Seeing her burn that poor baby bird was the last straw. And Serpico if he put some of his cape on his head he'd be Link, only cheekier as he can actually talk. Overall, i just don't like the Holy See Characters, with the exception of Mozgus because hes so over the top that it matches his violence. I can't wait till Gutts&crew get back on land(Miura must have a passion for boats, or he's just Japanese) , or elf-helm.. or rematch the god hand already!.. Haha, but that'll probably happen in 5+ years. More than anything though.. I would like to see what Femto's true "Age of Darkness" really is. It seems like hes still preparing his grand hell on earth plan even now. I want to see Gutts more desperate for vengeance than ever, scarifying what ever humanity he has left to destroy the hawk. (and if casca ever recovers, give her some badass female spotlight!)

There you have it, a highly in-secuiter summary of my berserk manga experience/ real life update/ 2nd post. Good Day/Night <--- love that one

Chosen Immortal said:

I HATE Farnese Sometimes i think Miura has a sever distaste for any christian themes (can't blame him) and goes out of his way to utterly destroy/disprove any relevant bearings it would have on the story. Ie. Farnese going from zealous witch-hunter to magical apprentice.. it doesn't fly with me. Seeing her burn that poor baby bird was the last straw.

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Well, keep in mind, the young Farnese is basically unhinged from straight-up rich-kid neglect. You're not supposed to like her, exactly, but you're supposed to recognise that she is, like everyone in the world of Berserk, largely a product of her circumstances. And, I assume, you're supposed to empathise with the way she wants to change when her world expands beyond what she has known up till then.

She was a witch hunter because she was a tiny, lost thing, and taking control of the fire was the only relief she knew how to get. The catalyst for her change was seeing how wrong she was about having any control in the first place. Her pursuit of magic is her choice to face the problem of being a small thing in an ancient world, and to learn how to relate to it instead of railing against it.

The popular religion in Berserk is very intentionally not Christianity, or even Catholicism, in the same way that the Midlands are not Germany and Vrittanis is not in Italy. Miura uses a lot of the real world as source material for building the world of Berserk, but I wouldn't mistake it for a straight allegory or anything. It's borrowing a lot from Catholicism of course, but to whatever extent the events of Berserk are actually meant to be allegory, they are allegory for fanaticism, for mob psychology, for what people do when confronted with extreme adversity. In short, for organised, hierarchical religion as it relates to frightened masses, in general.

And don't forget that we still know very little about the popular religion in Berserk; we have no idea whether it's associated with a real god or not at this point, or if it's strictly man-made, or if it's an intentionally hollow religion crafted by darker forces with the express purpose of misleading the masses. All we know is that it's been easily co-opted by the powers Femto has on his side.

We only know that previous religions were definitely associated with real entities, because Schierke knows how to contact such things. And even Schierke softens her initial scorn in Enoch when the preist agrees to honor the older spirits there.

We don't even actually know who sent the vision, or what effect it will eventually have on the story. At the moment it's helping Griffith, and we assume it was sent by the God Hand for that purpose, but it's at least conceivable that at some point people might see things that change their mind about what it meant.

Good luck with enlisting for the army.

Chosen Immortal said:

Honestly, its a long-ass story, and with so many repetitive scenes I'm surprised Miura has any patience at all left to finish.. though that's also why its been goin on for sooo long.

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What in the story did you find repetitive?

IncantatioN said:

What in the story did you find repetitive?

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I was going to ask the same question. One of the many things I find so attractive about this story is that it isn't repetitive. I know it actually turns some people off, too, those who just wanted Guts to continue around isolated as the Black Swordsman hunting apostles forever.

I'm curious, how many of us that read material like Berserk consider what our lives would be in the characters positions, or even the generic soldiers boots.

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I like that thought because it makes my life seem like such a piece of cake in relation. Guts' life specifically, of course. He's the one I really relate to, not so much the other characters.

Hi, sorry for the delayed response. In short I decided not to go through with the Army. I thought of it as a cop-out, but know I know you just gotta work through the crap in life alongside the good stuff.

What I found repetitive was mostly how the earlier battles followed the same formula: Gutts slays fodder, bigger enemy appears, Gutts slays that to. Not that i dont like the over the top violence, but I suppose you need 'lesser' parts in a story to form a 'greater' whole.

BTW, anyone read Miura's 1 chapter of his new manga? (the one with the giant elephant heads and bug people. )

Chosen Immortal said:

What I found repetitive was mostly how the earlier battles followed the same formula: Guts slays fodder, bigger enemy appears, Guts slays that to. Not that i dont like the over the top violence, but I suppose you need 'lesser' parts in a story to form a 'greater' whole.

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Uh-huh, sure would like you to give an elaborate description of how each of these specific scenes is formulaic.

Chosen Immortal said:

BTW, anyone read Miura's 1 chapter of his new manga? (the one with the giant elephant heads and bug people. )

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What would your guess be?

Sure, basically all the enemies in the golden age arc, save for Zodd and Boscorn. The little demon pig that first appears when gutts gets Dragonslayer.. ect.
These fights display Gutts character more than being a true battle. You know Gutts isn't going to die in most of those fights, so the longer he fights the less engaging it is. IF the fights stayed the same that is, the knight to knight combat. I'll give credit that the action gets more dynamic as the story progresses (berserk armor, magic, riding on zodd.) And the scale increases proportionally to (especially with ganishka how they gonna top that?) To know that it spans out over 20 years is impressive, the guy has foresight.

All I'm saying is, as a reader, I enjoy the large turning points in Berserk more than i do fighting some rolling wheels. Maybe I'm shallow.

and what is with this thing --> We've only seen it once so far,ey?

My guess for the other manga, is 'Yes". Although, i cant find any of Miura's other works on Manga websites... anyone else know where to find them? ( the one called 'japan')

Chosen Immortal said:

Sure, basically all the enemies in the golden age arc, save for Zodd and Boscorn. The little demon pig that first appears when Guts gets Dragonslayer.. ect.

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That's not what I asked about. But so, tell me for example, what's repetitive about the fight against Bazûso, and what's repetitive about the "hundred men" fight? What parts were shown before and repeat themselves exactly? Because I don't think you have a point here. Oh and what's repetitive about that apostle that shows up after Guts gets the Dragon Slayer?

Chosen Immortal said:

These fights display Guts character more than being a true battle.

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Most if not all battles in Berserk tend to "display Guts character". But I fail to see how that prevents them from being "true battles" (which is because it doesn't).

Chosen Immortal said:

You know Guts isn't going to die in most of those fights, so the longer he fights the less engaging it is.

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I'm sorry to break it to you, but Guts isn't going to die in any fight in the series, save for maybe the very last one. He's the main character. That's not all there is to making a scene engaging.

Chosen Immortal said:

IF the fights stayed the same that is, the knight to knight combat.

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Because 2 scenes involve "knights" doesn't mean they're the same. It seems to me that you don't really have any ground for what you're saying.

Chosen Immortal said:

I'll give credit that the action gets more dynamic as the story progresses (berserk armor, magic, riding on zodd.)

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Action tends to be dynamic by nature.

Chosen Immortal said:

My guess for the other manga, is 'Yes". Although, i cant find any of Miura's other works on Manga websites... anyone else know where to find them? ( the one called 'japan')

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They can be bought in stores. Don't you buy Berserk volumes?

King of Wolves | Japan

I have yet to see anything repetitive in Berserk. Perhaps you have become a little too desensitized to violence to truly appreciate a battle where your opponent is so close you can probably feel their last breath on you... Even though Guts does not die in his battles it doesn't take away from the fact that when someone is involved in hand-to-hand combat the stakes are the highest they could ever be. Death could come at any moment and from any angle.

In this age of modern weaponry where an enemy could be killed from miles away we sometimes tend to forget just how viscous and brutal a war was when armies were to meet each other face to face in battle.

Every time a battle sequence comes up in Berserk I get butterflies thinking about what the outcome will be because it is so unpredictable for the most part.

You´d think that if you look at Berserk as a whole, it´d be extremely repetitive with all the battles/fights/action/violence. What is downright jaw-dropingly amazing though is that I cant even call anything about Berserk repetitive in the slightest. And that thought itself is kinda hard to wrap your head around, cause you´d think it´d be pretty damn hard to be versatile to that degree, both conceptually and choreographically, and in a MANGA no less. Its one of those rare admirations, man.

Then of course you have those moments which are intended to be repeated for tribute/badass sake, like that little DS reference in the first couple of episodes. Or that cannon-charged-DS-tornado-attack (got a name for that one? ) which is suffered by those insect monsters in Misty Valley, Mozgus´ disciples and the tentacles/sea slugs (sorry, dont remember exactly what episodes). But thats the point! A super epic attack when facing multiple enimies or being surrounded, you´re like "Oh yes! Its coming! I know that one! Holy shit, thats even more epic than the last time!" If theres one thing Im eager to see animated its this one! I guess I shouldnt get my hopes up though eh... Now that I think about it this scene would make a damn fine diorama (like at the end of the motion but with the air-pressured visual effect after the DS and the cannon smoking) ...Drifting again! Sorry! But yeah these scenes doesnt count as repetitive in the sense you were alluding to.

You got me. Indeed, I have become desensitized to a number of things like those of my generation. Its hard for me to digest the content if i never put my words into action. I am still just a kid, for now (20).

I may have been implementing Zodd's perspective while reading the story,focusing on who's the strongest, most bad ass looking character. Thats a narrow mind set, but easy to digest. (on that note, my favorite combo is the Gutts/schierke Wheel of Flame+ Dragon Slayer attack'. <-- needs an official name.)

I do have all the volumes, though i had to buy them online.(I despise reading online, but it is necessary at times. *weekley naruto*) I'll check out the other two, thanks. I apologies for dwelling off topic and I hope to further my understanding of Berserk.