What kind of horrible turn would Berserk have to take in order for you to put it down for good? Or have you invested so much time into it that you'd have to force yourself to know the conclusion?
I'll read Berserk to the end and I'll still be a fan even once it's ended. The probability of finding me in 10 years still here on SK.net answering the same questions like I did 2 years ago is pretty high.
I've been kind of dissatisfied with the recent volumes. That's not to say they aren't good, I just don't like how the series feels like it's slowing down and Guts is repeatedly fighting big monsters for several episode at a time. I mean, how long has the party been trying to get a ship?
I think that's because you lack some global vision on the series. I don't mean that as an insult either, especially since a lot of people do. How long has the party been trying to get a ship? Do you really want to know? Since volume 22. In volume 22, Guts, Puck and Casca (what a party) started their journey to Elfhelm. And people thought they'd arrive by volume 23. You feel like the series is slowing down? Re-read volume 18 then, where entire episodes focus on "minor characters" and background development. You almost don't see Guts in that volume. The story's actually not moving much slower right now than it did at that time, it's just that people didn't notice it before.
I think the problem with "disappointed" people in general is that they expected the party to breeze through Vritannis, steal a ship and sail away (that and also the fact they read 30 volumes in a week and can't stand to get the episodes one by one). Ignoring the fact that it wouldn't have been realistic at all, Miura went for a different approach. He introduced the town (and how Guts & co were doing in it), shed some light on what's happening with the world (the Holy See, the war, different countries being allied, etc), resolved the problem of Serpico & Farnese's place within the group (important character development for both) together with Serpico's rivalry with Guts, included some serious character developement for Isidro, Schierke, Sonia and Mule, and used that to show how life at the Neo Hawk's camp is going. Then there's the familial subplot with the Vandimions that served as an introduction to the Holy See Alliance's political struggles, the reappearance of Owen, the introduction of Roderick that allows the group to use a ship, and lastly the Kushan attack on the town. Is this for the better? I think so.
The onslaught itself and the group's escape will probably cover 2 volumes (30 & 31) in total, and that's not 2 volumes of continuous battle. But then again people always complain and say they want MORE fights and MORE blood, so I have to admit that sometimes it's hard to get their reactions. At the beginning of volume 30 it's a showcase of Guts' strength, classic stuff, then it shows Farnese' newfound abilities and Roderick's willfulness. They decide to get out of the place and get to Roderick's ship, but they have to cut directly through the assault being led on the city. Logically, they encounter more enemies and have to defeat them. Miura uses the opportunity to show that the group's fighting like a real team and that all the members complete each other well. Then a Makara appears again after the fight on the beach, and Guts shows that he can kill it without resorting to the armor's power. That's just 2 episodes, for getting to the harbor from the ball in a city under attack. I don't think it's too long. But they find Daka on the port, logical since that's where they're attacking from. Schierke kills them using magic, that takes 2 episodes more. The way to the ship is clear, but a dozen Makara surge suddenly, and Guts has to use the armor to fight them. He gets badly wounded and doesn't control himself anymore, Schierke was absorbed by the armor, plus Daiba has appeared. That's also 2 episodes. The group fights Daiba and the Kundalini, Guts comes back to his senses, Daiba's defeated, 3 episodes long. Now the group is really free to get to the ship, and they should within the next 4 episodes if things go well. This is a rough summary, omitting a lot of important details, but I think it shows that there's no fat you can cut in the last volume.
What part could be removed? Would it make sense for the group to move through town avoiding all of the enemy troops that are investing it? I don't think so. And sure, the Makara are just huge stupid monsters, but that's what they're supposed to be. They're not meant to be cool enemies, just heavy troops in an army. They're not the focus at all, they're instrumental. The group has been fighting monsters repeatedly because of the context, they're in the middle of a battlefield. Regardless, Miura managed to cram a lot of things in each and every of these episodes, save maybe for 269 (which is still cool), and I don't see how the story could do without them. Especially since it's probably going to be used as a transition to the Neo Hawks' intervention in Vritannis. Please also keep in mind that what looks slow to you right now might very well feel too brief when you'll read it in a few years. People were complaining that the story was moving too slowly in volume 26 and 27, but did it? Nobody's saying so anymore. And before that it was too slow in volume 23, 24, 25... Once it's all put together people usually reconsider their thoughts.
