FINALLY got a chance to fire this up today and give it a dedicated listen and I was not disappointed. Loved the focus on female characters, perspectives and analysis, especially since a lot of those perspectives were new to me, eschewed the obvious, and gave me a new perspective on those subjects and the series in general. It's just great hearing such a grown up Berserk conversation, the more of it the better, and the focus on feminism and women's issues pertaining to the series certainly enhanced that feeling.
Like I said, it also made me see Berserk differently in general, such as the destruction of Guts as a figure of male power. While he's certainly still powerful, he's now suffering with the responsibility of a family in danger and a broken body and mind that both betray him. It made me understand why many younger male fans, and I once was one, can't or don't want to relate to that sort of male role model as much as the old Black Swordsman. BTW, loved you all calling out the guys that really relate to Guts' physical toughness, because who can't swing a 6' slab of metal around in their teeth? Though, I'm not happy you forced me to reexamine and appreciate Nina's crappily realistic humanity.
The discussion of sexual assault and the disparity of it between men and women also made me take stock of the depictions of it in the series and how that's changed, as well as making me appreciate again what Berserk does that so few other stories don't. Such as having a main male character that was the victim of rape, and is truly affected by it in their daily life as well as their sex life, such as his breakdown with Casca, his weakness, and her love and strength for him that he needed.
The part about Casca being taken away as a character was sobering, not because I wasn't aware of it, but because I kind of take her return for granted and am probably not as invested in it as a fan that can relate to Casca as a woman, or having lost that outlet. It really is unfair, particularly with her constantly dangling there in front of us, and although that presence has been replaced with a few great female characters, I only hope her revival comes sooner still (the rationale I came to is that it's better than her being dead like the rest of the Falcons).
Well, I think that's it for my initial impressions. When the recording stopped I sincerely wished there was more (I did wait for it to repeat Gobs theme again before stopping =), and I hope you do another before too long. Now I've got to catch up with all the, sometimes looong, posts in the thread... after Shovel Knight.