Episode 286

Proj2501 said:
I would kinda find it a little disturbing though if Skull Knight was waiting for them before they even got there. I mean I know Guts swore to take care and watch over Casca and wouldn't ask Skully to take her there for him. But if Skull Knight could carry Guts and Casca out of the Eclipse, I'm pretty sure he could whisk them to Elfhelm. If he shows up in Elfhelm sometime after, fine. Maybe he was doing more important things while they were on their sea voyage. It would be like he could've saved them an ass load of trouble but just didn't bother.

If he does everything for Guts, then Guts wouldn't get stronger, if he didn't save Guts and Casca during the eclipse they would have died, but this journey they can make on their own, and hes made a lot of friends along the way and has gathered more power. SK has actually done a lot of things for Guts, he saved him during the Eclipse, he breifed him after the Eclipse about the intercise, he arranged the Berserker armor to fall into his hands. He has actually saved Guts a lot of trouble already. Its the journey that is more important than the destination. I'm pretty sure though that if something really bad were to come Guts's way that SK would help him, like a certain someone trying to take his sword ;).
 

Walter

Administrator
Staff member
I don't really think you and Proj are at odds here, but you just said a mouthful of Skully stuff we already knew. Skully is an asset. Yes, I agree :guts:

Donald Shimoda said:
SK has actually done a lot of things for Guts ... he arranged the Berserker armor to fall into his hands.
Really? From what I remember he warned Flora about its malevolence, but didn't urge her to have Guts use it. She's the one who really made it happen. Skully just asked her to help them out if they dropped by.

[quote author=Kentarou Miura, Episode 222: Claw Marks]
Flora : Who would have thought we'd have to bring this out...
Skull Knight : I am certain that you know ... exactly how dangerous this item is.
Flora : Yes, I do. I've kept it here since long ago. If that is how it must be ... I believe it could become necessary for them on their journey.[/quote]

That's it.
 
Proj2501 said:
He shows up when he has to. Warning Guts of the Eclipse, the Eclipse itself, giving Guts the low down post Eclipse, telling Guts how Casca can regain her heart, hell you all know when he's shown up. We'll see Skully we he needs to be seen.
Donald Shimoda said:
SK has actually done a lot of things for Guts, he saved him during the Eclipse, he breifed him after the Eclipse about the intercise

:???: See my personal text.
 

Aeglos

Avatar made in mspaint
If there is any action at all at sea, I don't think we'll see Guts taking care of things. He should be monumentally injured right now; got his chest throughfully pierced, got charred in the crash & burn maneuver against the Kundalini and the electrocutions by Ganishka, Zodd fell on top of him :zodd:, a few broken bones wouldn't surprise me at all.

So I I think it's either Guts' answering questions, or the rest of the troupe interacting between them, specially with Azan being put up to date. We've seen plenty of action recently, some peaceful dialogue driven episodes would be ideal.

And then there's Magnifico and Roderick. The last would probably go along with Guts' group, but Magnifico does not seem fit nor willing to embark in such a journey... he might feel left behind and do/plan something stupid in hopes of gaining some personal credit, fame and recognition. I can just picture him convincing Roderick to convince Farnese to leave the group bringing the whole Farny-crisis again, or plotting to claim Skellig island in the name of the Vandimions or Eath, or some stupidity like that... they were both pretty hyped about their ideas of sea exploring, and finding Elfhelm in Skellig might give them a nudge in a wrong way.
 

Dirty Dog

Avatar by CnC ^^
Walter said:
Ahhh, it's good to be back. Awesome painting here, but they're not "on the ship" in that pic. I guess this is kind of a preview for what to expect in the next tankoubon poster?

I love the episode title too, even if it is kinda predictable. :guts:

PS: Man, 4 years and I still can't get over how awesome the Berserk Armor looks.
I need to agree with everything you said, even though I've only been seing the Berserk Armor since about September..
Very anxious to see how close Guts and co come to death in the upcoming EPISODES. :troll:
 
Rhombaad said:
Sounds almost as groovy as our translations.
I know, after I read that small text I missed the reference, screamed blasphemy, condemned all forms of God, Pastafarian and Lovecraftian, and then I burned the book. However, I grew hungry and devoured it quickly while still burning yet felt a boil in my stomach and stabbed myself no less than twelve times while preceding to rip out my small intestine by entwining it in barb wire and letting the spokes tap into my intestinal wall which is crawling with a medusa-head of tapeworms just from the mere contact with the text. Dark Horse, you're paying my medical bills.


As for the episode, its nice to finally just see Berserk again in general, let alone Guts and crew after a (six-seven?) month hiatus. Have no clue what to expect really. As for Skull Knight, he's done a lot for Guts in hindsight. I don't think Guts needs to give everybody on the boat 20 flashbacks that describe his entire life, as imo flashbacks are only useful to expose such to the reader and not the actual people surrounding them (again, its not like they see it and would only rely on how good of a storyteller Guts is, he's known to write epics after all.) Anyways, one day left and I'm pretty damn excited.
 
I also can't see Guts opening up to the others just because they are on the boat and have more time on their hands. Someone will eventually have to really push it out of him in the right situation before he comes out, or Puck puts all the pieces together and blabs.


Manji said:
As for the episode, its nice to finally just see Berserk again in general, let alone Guts and crew after a (six-seven?) month hiatus.

I might be mistaken, but the last Episode with Guts and co was in August last year, so I think we're looking at more than 10 months since they arrived on the boat, as strange as it sounds.
 
I have no idea how long the trip to elfhelm will even be, as (to the best of my memory) other than Puck's random FAQ, we really don't have much to go on so far, let alone if they can even get there (up there?) Without any huge problems (Cthulhu waits dreaming and a Kraken is about 100 miles offshore, its over, Berserk -is- Finished).

I also agree its a bit underwhelming to think Guts will begin breaking down his whole life while on the boat. Haven't they been traveling for quite some time? (Despite Encyclopedia timeline, I'm not sure how long Guts+crew have been together regardless, but I'd assume not just 2-3 days). I think either way he's had -more- than enough time to turn around and say "He guys...listen up." In other words, I don't see why the boat trip would be the icebreaker.
 

jackson_hurley

even the horses are cut in half!
Manji said:
In other words, I don't see why the boat trip would be the icebreaker.

Probably cause they have less chance to encourter monsters and stuff. unless the sea is really filled with monsters skeletton and ghost..
 

Walter

Administrator
Staff member
jackson_hurley said:
Probably cause they have less chance to encourter monsters and stuff. unless the sea is really filled with monsters skeletton and ghost..
The seal in the armor and casca's necklace should be able to ward them away for now.

It's official, I just had a dream about 286 and it was awesome :guts:. I'm counting down the minutes til it arrives...
 
jackson_hurley said:
Probably cause they have less chance to encourter monsters and stuff. unless the sea is really filled with monsters skeletton and ghost..

That would be also assuming this trip is going to be somewhat peaceful..... doubt it. The amount of monsters Guts pisses off holds no boundaries. Besides Flora said the the Seal on his armour and Casca's necklace isn't going to last indefinitely. Although I think she said it would be long enough for his trip who knows, this might be a rather inconvenient/exciting time for them to start dying.
 
Yeah, that's why I said I don't see it an icebreaker and foresaw the whole "but it'll be less traumatic/eventful" thing. Flora's work and the necklace imo have helped enough and again, they've had imo countless days/weeks/hours of walking and sitting around (not saying they had no problems but) to at least talk a little of the past. Basically at the end of it, unless this boat journey is a year long trip and we have to view that entire point with no events/trouble, I don't see any reason for talking. Besides, I expect awesomeness in this one much like Walter.
 

jackson_hurley

even the horses are cut in half!
Sparnage said:
That would be also assuming this trip is going to be somewhat peaceful..... doubt it.

yeah thats for sure but I'd still put my money on a storm rather than a monster attack.it's make a change kinda for the action and beside, the sea isn't the easiest place to sail on. IMO :schierke:
 
jackson_hurley said:
yeah thats for sure but I'd still put my money on a storm rather than a monster attack.it's make a change kinda for the action and beside, the sea isn't the easiest place to sail on. IMO :schierke:
I'm still counting on Guts: Cast Away. He'll figure out he can use the Dragon Slayer to fish instantly, but it will take him 2 years to learn properly. It'll take two hours for him to miss Puck and create a blood-painting out of him, and another one out of Griffith which he attacks ferociously everyday. Finally, he'll figure that the DS is long enough to float on and tries to use it as a raft, only to sink to the bottom of the ocean.
 

Dirty Dog

Avatar by CnC ^^
Manji said:
I'm still counting on Guts: Cast Away. He'll figure out he can use the Dragon Slayer to fish instantly, but it will take him 2 years to learn properly. It'll take two hours for him to miss Puck and create a blood-painting out of him, and another one out of Griffith which he attacks ferociously everyday. Finally, he'll figure that the DS is long enough to float on and tries to use it as a raft, only to sink to the bottom of the ocean.

That last part actually made me laugh out loud.
 
I'm really hoping Roderick sticks with he group, he seems an interesting guy, who could adapt to being with their group/fight the demons.

I think he might be killed doing something heroic though.

peace
 

Aazealh

Administrator
Staff member
bph said:
On that note, this is a bit of VERY idle speculation, but I wonder if the ocean would be a particularly pertinent site for a visit from Skully?

I'd tend to say no. Regardless of SK's incredible means of locomotion, I don't think it would be very interesting or pertinent. What would he have to tell them that he hasn't already? Rather, a visit once they'll have reached Elfhelm seems more likely (after some story development).

bph said:
Of course, the last time we left Guts and Co., it was with a glance between him and Griffith. Depending on who brings it up first (Puck saying, "hey wasn't that the guy from the Eclipse?", for instance), Guts may not be particularly happy about answering questions.

You're assuming the others noticed Griffith, which isn't sure at all. And really, given the distance (and the rising sun behind him) it'd be impossible to say it was a glance between the two and not just Griffith looking in their general direction. Also, Puck wasn't present during the Eclipse, but anyway he already knows who Griffith is and what he did to Guts, so he wouldn't need to say that. Lastly, I'm not sure Guts would be any more or less happy to talk about his life because someone asked about Griffith, since he's a central part of it.

jackson_hurley said:
oh well I'll keep dreaming about it until i see a storm! :guts:

A storm isn't a bad idea actually, I think we'll see one sooner or later.

Proj2501 said:
I really think we will see Puck shine in the near future, I'm tellin' you. :puck:

I sure hope so! :guts:

Proj2501 said:
I would kinda find it a little disturbing though if Skull Knight was waiting for them before they even got there. [...] if Skull Knight could carry Guts and Casca out of the Eclipse, I'm pretty sure he could whisk them to Elfhelm.

Well I don't think he'll be there right when they'll arrive, if he were to appear on Skellig I believe it'd be later on. I don't even see the need for him to have a talk with them before they meet the Elf King or anything. But you know, I don't really see the relation between getting them out of the Eclipse and traveling over seas. The Eclipse had an entry point in the material world: the tornado SK jumped through to get there. All he did was enter and get out through that tornado. You guys seem to have forgotten that his sword technique (the only way he has to travel instantly that we know of) isn't something trivial, he appeared even reluctant to use it in the Qliphoth and only did so to escape a life or dead situation. There's a lot of potential reasons for him not to take them to Elfhelm by himself: he might have other things to do, he might not be able to carry so much people across the world, or not willing to waste his limited ressources to do so, or they might not all be able to endure it, or Elfhelm could be protected to some extent against such intrusions, etc.

Proj2501 said:
I love the character, but frankly, I don't think there's a pressing need for him TO show up at this time. He shows up when he has to. Warning Guts of the Eclipse, the Eclipse itself, giving Guts the low down post Eclipse, telling Guts how Casca can regain her heart, hell you all know when he's shown up. We'll see Skully we he needs to be seen.

Yes.

Aeglos said:
If there is any action at all at sea, I don't think we'll see Guts taking care of things. He should be monumentally injured right now; got his chest throughfully pierced, got charred in the crash & burn maneuver against the Kundalini and the electrocutions by Ganishka, Zodd fell on top of him :zodd:, a few broken bones wouldn't surprise me at all.

IMO that'll mostly depend on how bad the chest wound is, the rest is nothing elf powder and rest can't take care of. But of course, the astral wounds and the armor's side effects aren't making things any better.

Aeglos said:
I think it's either Guts' answering questions, or the rest of the troupe interacting between them, specially with Azan being put up to date. We've seen plenty of action recently, some peaceful dialogue driven episodes would be ideal.

We'll see each character thinking and doing their own thing in this episode. I'm also looking forward to dialogue more than action in the next few issues.

Aeglos said:
And then there's Magnifico and Roderick. The last would probably go along with Guts' group, but Magnifico does not seem fit nor willing to embark in such a journey... he might feel left behind and do/plan something stupid in hopes of gaining some personal credit, fame and recognition. I can just picture him convincing Roderick to convince Farnese to leave the group bringing the whole Farny-crisis again, or plotting to claim Skellig island in the name of the Vandimions or Eath, or some stupidity like that... they were both pretty hyped about their ideas of sea exploring, and finding Elfhelm in Skellig might give them a nudge in a wrong way.

You know, there's some kind of contradiction here in what you say. You're saying Magnifico doesn't seem fit nor willing to embark for such a journey (which is true), yet you also say he was hyped about the idea sea exploring, no doubt referring to his talk with Roderick in episode 254. They were just talking about eras and metaphors then, about how their elders are content with what they have and restrain themselves in a bird cage instead of trying to seize a new era full of promises and unknowns. It's pretty clear than Roderick alone cares for sea faring and exploration.

Anyway, your speculation seems far-fetched to me. First off Magnifico is supposed to disembark in Braj (granted, there might always be a change in the plan), Roderick told him so when they decided to flee Vritannis, remember? Second, I doubt he's in a situation where he'd try to do anything to gain credit or fame, and from whom really? Credit for what? He's certainly not going to convince Farnese to leave the group, no matter what he does, and claiming Skellig sounds like a joke even though we can only guess what powers reside there. No, while Roderick may no doubt be interested in exploring an unknown island, I don't think Magnifico poses a serious threat. He might try to do something like claiming Skellig, but it'll undoubtedly fail.

Manji said:
I don't think Guts needs to give everybody on the boat 20 flashbacks that describe his entire life, as imo flashbacks are only useful to expose such to the reader and not the actual people surrounding them

Nobody said we'd see flashbacks of Guts' life, it's quite obvious it'd be more like "Guts starts talking, we see various shots from a little afar while it continues, some close-ups, then it eludes to a while later, calm shots of the boat or the sea and then someone saying 'so that's it', etc, Guts having finished telling his tale." Look at the way it was done when Guts told Rickert about Griffith in volume 22. The explanation itself wasn't even shown. If it has to happen all that matters is the group's reactions, and it's definitely what the focus would be on. This isn't something that'd take 50 pages to do either.

Manji said:
I also agree its a bit underwhelming to think Guts will begin breaking down his whole life while on the boat. Haven't they been traveling for quite some time? (Despite Encyclopedia timeline, I'm not sure how long Guts+crew have been together regardless, but I'd assume not just 2-3 days). I think either way he's had -more- than enough time to turn around and say "He guys...listen up." In other words, I don't see why the boat trip would be the icebreaker.

So what's he supposed to do for it not to be underwhelming to you? Tell it while fighting Zodd and Locus both at the same time? :schierke: I think you're overlooking a lot of things here. Guts has traveled with the group for a while, but they weren't nearly as close from each other as they are now. Just before meeting Schierke, Serpico was still telling Guts he would kill him if anything went wrong, and he actually tried keeping his word in Vritannis. Since the beginning they've become a much tighter group. And it's not like they had nothing to do either, even at the time they were "only" traveling all day and fighting all night. Then the events didn't leave them much time for that kind of discussion, though it did get them to know each other. The time just wasn't right. Now they're like a small family and their disputes are mostly settled, but they're also reaching the end of their journey, and should be thinking about their future. They have literally nothing to do but think and talk, they're not even walking anymore, and they've been exposed to a lot of information in Vritannis that they must be ruminating.

It's not Guts that's going to ask them to listen to his life story, but rather they'll end up wondering about too many things with insistence. It's been said before but it's not like they even need him to reveal anything, Puck knows everything already, and the others each have various pieces of the puzzle as well. The topic never came up seriously before, but I don't see how Guts could refuse to explain things to them if they were to ask directly. They don't even know who Casca is or what happened to her... If you don't think the sea trip is a good setting for this then try to think of the context for a minute. If they are to stay together after reaching Elfhelm then they need to be briefed on everything, it's inevitable. And they're about to reach it now, it's tangible. So either the talk happens on the boat or it does on the island, but it's happening anyway.

Sparnage said:
That would be also assuming this trip is going to be somewhat peaceful..... doubt it. The amount of monsters Guts pisses off holds no boundaries. Besides Flora said the the Seal on his armour and Casca's necklace isn't going to last indefinitely. Although I think she said it would be long enough for his trip who knows, this might be a rather inconvenient/exciting time for them to start dying.

The talismans' usefulness mostly comes from preventing the Brands from attracting specters and incubi, so I don't think they'll matter much this time. If the ship has to encounter monsters, I think it'll be later on, as they close in on Skellig. The island most likely resides in the astral world and the sea around it surely does as well, so I expect these waters to be full of weird creatures (mermaids, sirens, krakens, leviathans, or who knows what else). Before that I'd imagine potential threats to be less fantastic, maybe some pirate ship(s) or any other enemy ship(s) basically. The focus could be on the fact that the environment isn't destructible and that protecting the ship would be a priority no matter what. Or of course there's always the possibility of a ghost ship appearing in the middle of a huge storm, right jackson_hurley? :carcus:

But anyway, I do think the trip will be peaceful at least to some extent. There will probably be a few bad encounters, but there's only so much they can fight while at sea.

prawnstyle said:
I'm really hoping Roderick sticks with he group, he seems an interesting guy, who could adapt to being with their group/fight the demons.

I'm not too sure about fighting monsters and such. He seems courageous but not particularly talented as a swordsman, just decent.



In this YA, Miura commented that his knees hurt because of the huge amount of time he spends sitting.
 
Well they do have :isidro: yes he makes himself useful, but I think Roderick could do as much damage if he had a suitable weapon... And he seems to come from a powerful family, though they 'cast him aside', he could have some useful contacts.

It's not that I think it is likely that he will become part of the group, I have my doubts, but I think he would fit in reasonably well, and he could almost be a replacement to :judo: in terms of personality for the group.
 

Bakou

I RIDE a llama!
Haha sorry I forgot to login. :p

Wow I'm excited about this episode, Miura must be cooking up something big here!
 

Luca

Happiness is a warm gun.
I really cannot wait for this, it's been so long since we've seen Guts and co. =) The preview is um..not so much of a preview, but it's beautiful nonetheless!
 

Aazealh

Administrator
Staff member
A small summary of events: Days pass by calmly on the ship as it sails toward its destination. Things go well for the group with Guts considered his savior by Roderick. Farnese pursues her magical training under Schierke and has reached the stage where she's able to let her spirit flow away from her body. Meanwhile Isidro and a certain knight do their own thing on the deck.
 

jackson_hurley

even the horses are cut in half!
No storm?! haaaa it's all right! it looks like a great episode! cant wait to see it! thx for the resumé aaz! wont be back until tomorrow (fete du Quebec) so maybe when I'll be back it'll be there! :guts:
 
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