Episode 340

I'm definitely expecting Daiba & Garuda to swoop into Erica's rescue next episode (Erica helping Daiba out with his leg/knee wasn't likely put in for no reason in the previous episodes), that and/or some sort of intervention from the Moonlight Boy, since the full moon is out. Regardless of the method though I would pretty surprised if Erica got killed off.

I mean, I've noticed a lot of (what I presume to be) younger fans on other websites kinda overstating Miura's willingness/tendency to kill off protagonist characters. As outside of The Eclipse (which was in a flashback and had a huge amount of buildup involved with it), the only significant named protagonist/"good guy" characters that Miura has killed off has been Shisu/Sys, Godo, Flora, Chitch, and Serpico's mother (if one is very generous with the term "good guy"); with three of those deaths still being in flashbacks and the other two characters either died of old age/natural causes or were already in the process of doing so and none of them were particularly gorey.
Most character deaths in Berserk, outside of The Eclipse, are usually either unnamed masses/soldiers/villagers and/or antagonistic characters. I think it would be very atypical of Miura's writing patterns to kill Erica in this relatively sudden (not much build-up) manner.
 

Griffith

With the streak of a tear, Like morning dew
Theozilla said:
I mean, I've noticed a lot of (what I presume to be) younger fans on other websites kinda overstating Miura's willingness/tendency to kill off protagonist characters.

Yeah, and I think part of the problem is we also have two anime series now that punctuate the singular event where a large portion of the popular supporting cast died, out of necessity really, and that skews perception like Miura's the George RR Martin of manga or something and it's all ultimately leading to him killing everybody again (btw, I also think that being a popular GoT trope contributes to this thinking). On the contrary, Miura shows a lot care for his cast, to the point that characters that were always destined to die became so endearing. I'm sure not everybody will make it out alive, and maybe the ending will see the death of a majority of characters , but I'm also sure the cast we have now is the one we're going to ride the series out with, and they're not just around to be abruptly taken away so poor Guts has to start over again.
 

Deci

Avatar by supereva01 @ DA
Ahhhh! NOT MY DARLING ERIKA NO! Bad Rakshas! Can't wait for the next episode to see how she lives! ^_^ I'd personally love to see Luka get involved somehow. I'm guessing Rickert will do something VERY dramatic, so exciting!

♡ BERSERK
Thanks Miura!
 

Walter

Administrator
Staff member
Theozilla said:
I'm definitely expecting Daiba & Garuda to swoop into Erica's rescue next episode (Erica helping Daiba out with his leg/knee wasn't likely put in for no reason in the previous episodes), that and/or some sort of intervention from the Moonlight Boy, since the full moon is out. Regardless of the method though I would pretty surprised if Erica got killed off.

While I of course agree, it'll be interesting to see exactly how Daiba manages this.

A transformed Rakshas is formidable. So I don't think it'll be as simple as swooping down and snatching Erika out of Rakshas' tendrils. I could be underestimating it, but Garuda hasn't shown any special abilities, other than flight. Normally I'd say Daiba could whip up some spell, but heretofore, his powerful abilities relied on the Kundalini, granted him by Ganishka. We've seen him perform a few parlor-tricks from his own power since then, but nothing that would be even a passing threat to Rakshas.

PS: Completely off topic, but thinking about the possibilities Daiba has at his disposal made me think about what Schierke would do in this situation. I imagine she'd reach out and see if there are elemental entities in the area. What kind of entity would she pull from Falconia...? :isidro:
 

Judo

Midlands finest
Walter said:
I imagine she'd reach out and see if there are elemental entities in the area. What kind of entity would she pull from Falconia...? :isidro:

Now that you mention it... iirc we have not seen her reach out for deeper layers since the merging of the worlds, or am I forgetting something?
It will be very interesting to see how this influences her connection to certain spiritual entities.
 
Walter said:
While I of course agree, it'll be interesting to see exactly how Daiba manages this.

A transformed Rakshas is formidable. So I don't think it'll be as simple as swooping down and snatching Erika out of Rakshas' tendrils. I could be underestimating it, but Garuda hasn't shown any special abilities, other than flight. Normally I'd say Daiba could whip up some spell, but heretofore, his powerful abilities relied on the Kundalini, granted him by Ganishka. We've seen him perform a few parlor-tricks from his own power since then, but nothing that would be even a passing threat to Rakshas.

Even if incapable of physically harming Rakshas, can't Daiba's remaining powers at least be enough to distract Rakshas long enough to enable Rickert or Silat to strike a (possibly fatal) blow on him? Those parlor tricks that Daiba showed off in his shed was to scare off the pestering little kids. But he could still have something up his sleeve, just in case of a catastrophic situation. Certainly not the same formidable Eastern magic that he had while under Ganishka's patronage, naturally, but still something better than just charming the horses and cattle.

Walter said:
PS: Completely off topic, but thinking about the possibilities Daiba has at his disposal made me think about what Schierke would do in this situation. I imagine she'd reach out and see if there are elemental entities in the area. What kind of entity would she pull from Falconia...? :isidro:

That is a very good question. Whatever elements Schierke would summon, they'd have to be something that can immobilize Rakshas. That elemental entity would have to be something that he fears more than anything. Seeing as how hurriedly he doused the flames on his body with that poor horse's blood and entrails, does that mean he is averse to heat? Or is it the light from the fire that repels him?
 

Aazealh

Administrator
Staff member
Theozilla said:
I'm definitely expecting Daiba & Garuda to swoop into Erica's rescue next episode (Erica helping Daiba out with his leg/knee wasn't likely put in for no reason in the previous episodes)

Well it already served multiple purposes when she did: getting the reader reacquainted with Daiba, shedding some light on why he was always levitating before and showing him under a sympathetic angle, getting both Luka and Daiba to know about Rickert's talents, having them Erika, Rickert and Guts might be related... But yeah, it's definitely one more factor weighing in favor of his intervention. And beyond all of that, there's really no way that Erika will be killed.

Theozilla said:
Shisu/Sys, Godo, Flora, Chitch

Just using this opportunity to remind everyone that the official spellings are Erika and Luka with a K. And while these aren't confirmed, I would recommend Godot and Chich too.

Griffith said:
that skews perception like Miura's the George RR Martin of manga or something and it's all ultimately leading to him killing everybody again (btw, I also think that being a popular GoT trope contributes to this thinking).

Distasteful comparison. :miura: By the way, random trivia but the Eclipse was prepublished in Young Animal before A Game of Thrones (first book of ASoIF) even came out.

Griffith said:
On the contrary, Miura shows a lot care for his cast, to the point that characters that were always destined to die became so endearing. I'm sure not everybody will make it out alive, and maybe the ending will see the death of a majority of characters , but I'm also sure the cast we have now is the one we're going to ride the series out with, and they're not just around to be abruptly taken away so poor Guts has to start over again.

Yep. The idea that characters must die is based on a fundamental misconception about the series. And it usually doesn't come alone.

Walter said:
While I of course agree, it'll be interesting to see exactly how Daiba manages this.

A transformed Rakshas is formidable. So I don't think it'll be as simple as swooping down and snatching Erika out of Rakshas' tendrils. I could be underestimating it, but Garuda hasn't shown any special abilities, other than flight. Normally I'd say Daiba could whip up some spell, but heretofore, his powerful abilities relied on the Kundalini, granted him by Ganishka. We've seen him perform a few parlor-tricks from his own power since then, but nothing that would be even a passing threat to Rakshas.

Yes, that is the actual heart of the issue here. While it's a given Daiba will intervene, it's not like he's any more of a match for Rakshas in this state than the Bakiraka are. So, let's talk about some possibilities!

First off, I do quite like the idea Griff mentioned on the podcast, that Rakshas might have picked up Erika to extinguish the small fire that still remains on his body. I believe it's what he's going for (with extra teasing to the others along the way obviously). Second, while Daiba isn't much of a magic user compared to Schierke, I think he might still have a few tricks up his sleeve that'll help here. For example, if he could manage to fan up the little fire remaining, he could get Rakshas distracted enough to allow the Bakiraka to flee while he'd carry Erika and Rickert away on the Garuda's back. By the way, it's worth noting that Daiba was not seen at all in this episode, meaning he could have easily been getting ready for rumble. Let's also remember it's the full moon, and that during the full moon, magic is much more powerful than usual.

Finally, Rakshas is now covered in horse blood (and guts), and it has been established that the Garuda does quite enjoy those things. Maybe it'll just bum-rush him. :void: Still regarding the Garuda, while its capacities have seemed pretty limited so far, it's possible it might have grown more powerful (getting fed in that shed) since we last saw it, or that it had abilities that hadn't been demonstrated yet (e.g. spitting fire). One limitation in a possible escape scenario through the air is that the Garuda's back might accomodate 3 people, but probably not 6. However Silat and the Tapasa could conceivably escape on horseback (the stable's been damaged, which might facilitate that), or even possibly by running away if Rakshas is distracted enough. Speaking of horses, Daiba's skills could also come handy here, for example by using them as way to slow Rakshas down.

All in all, I'm almost as excited to see what Daiba's got cooked up as I was to see Silat finally use the Urumis again. It's his moment. Show us what you got, grandpa! :daiba:

Walter said:
PS: Completely off topic, but thinking about the possibilities Daiba has at his disposal made me think about what Schierke would do in this situation. I imagine she'd reach out and see if there are elemental entities in the area. What kind of entity would she pull from Falconia...? :isidro:

Not so fast! Remember Vritannis: a human city is not the best of places to summon spiritual entities. And using her astral body near a member of the God Hand... Like she said in Shet, that could be dangerous. That being said, it will be interesting to hear what she has to say about the World Spiral Tree. Also, in a place where mankind is so concentrated, what manner of being could she possibly sense? I wonder... :idea:

As for this specific situation, I imagine the Blaze Wheel would do the trick, provided there is enough warlike karma around.

Judo said:
Now that you mention it... iirc we have not seen her reach out for deeper layers since the merging of the worlds, or am I forgetting something?

Nope, you're right!

Johnny Apples said:
Certainly not the same formidable Eastern magic that he had while under Ganishka's patronage

It wasn't really "eastern magic" though, just a different (and lesser) way to understand how magic works, mixed with an apostle's power. But the principles are the same and Schierke could understand everything he was doing.
 

Squiddot

The Falcon needs you. You don't need him!
While everyone's discussing Daiba's hypothetical power level lets remember his 'life work' involved dozens of apostles being subdued and stitched together alive. Now the way I interpret 'life work' is that Daiba is clearly much older than Ganishka, who furthermore became an apostle in his seniority, so its possible he was creating the majority of the man made Beherit without any aid from Ganishka's army at its height.

If he did indeed capture these apostles alone. Then he must be capable of either powerful magic we haven't been shown yet, or he simply has a specific trick for dealing with apostles, possibly in a similar vein to the 'hypnotic suggestion' he used on the horses and Erika in the earlier episodes but massively beefed up.
 
Squiddot said:
While everyone's discussing Daiba's hypothetical power level lets remember his 'life work' involved dozens of apostles being subdued and stitched together alive. Now the way I interpret 'life work' is that Daiba is clearly much older than Ganishka, who furthermore became an apostle in his seniority, so its possible he was creating the majority of the man made Beherit without any aid from Ganishka's army at its height.

If he did indeed capture these apostles alone. Then he must be capable of either powerful magic we haven't been shown yet, or he simply has a specific trick for dealing with apostles, possibly in a similar vein to the 'hypnotic suggestion' he used on the horses and Erika in the earlier episodes but massively beefed up.

I don't think it being his 'life's work' means he's older than Ganishka at all. Daiba capturing and patching together all those Apostles without any help from Ganishka is hard to believe, at least to me.

Are we ever given a specific time for Ganishka's age, or at least how long he was emperor? I don't recall seeing anything about it in my volumes, but I'm only basing this off of my Dark Horse volumes.
 

Aazealh

Administrator
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Squiddot said:
While everyone's discussing Daiba's hypothetical power level [...] its possible he was creating the majority of the man made Beherit without any aid from Ganishka's army at its height.

We aren't discussing Daiba's "power level", and no, it's really quite unlikely that he subdued even a single apostle in his life. Daiba's subjugation and servility to Ganishka is well established in the manga. It's made quite clear that he was heavily depending on him.

N7Paladin said:
I don't think it being his 'life's work' means he's older than Ganishka at all.

It doesn't, however we do know that Daiba was already pretty old when Ganishka was still human, as he was the one who gave him his beherit.
 
Aazealh said:
Just using this opportunity to remind everyone that the official spellings are Erika and Luka with a K. And while these aren't confirmed, I would recommend Godot and Chich too.
Out of curiosity, when/where was it established that Erika and Luka were the official spellings? (I just go off the the Dark Horse spellings typically since that's what I read first). Also why is Godot and Chich recommended over Dark Horse's Godo and Chitch? Doesn't Dark Horse's spellings get the benefit of the doubt on being official until other official sources directly contradict it? (or there is a compelling argument based on existing mythology like with Beherit vs. Behelit and Rakshas vs. Raksas)

N7Paladin said:
I don't think it being his 'life's work' means he's older than Ganishka at all. Daiba capturing and patching together all those Apostles without any help from Ganishka is hard to believe, at least to me.

Are we ever given a specific time for Ganishka's age, or at least how long he was emperor? I don't recall seeing anything about it in my volumes, but I'm only basing this off of my Dark Horse volumes.
I think it is fair to assume Daiba is older than Ganishka since it was shown that Daiba was already fairly old when he gave Ganishka (who was still relatively youthful) his beherit. But regardless I don't think Daiba being older than Ganishka indicates much about his magical power levels/skills.
 

Aazealh

Administrator
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Theozilla said:
Out of curiosity, when/where was it established that Erika and Luka were the official spellings?

In Young Animal, two months ago.

Aazealh said:
So I finally got my physical copy of YA and one thing no one else mentioned is that the booklet has a character sheet with two new official spellings: Luka and Erika. So consider that the official SK.net notice: Cs now uncool, Ks are in demand.

Those character sheets are the most reliable source we have for spellings outside of a direct word from Miura.

Theozilla said:
Also why is Godot and Chich recommended over Dark Horse's Godo and Chitch? Doesn't Dark Horse's spellings get the benefit of the doubt on being official until other official sources directly contradict it?

Dark Horse doesn't get the benefit of the doubt because they're just guessing these names (and apparently not putting too much effort into it as they've got half of them wrong). When we talk of official sources, it's strictly from the Japanese publisher.

As for why Godot and Chich? Why it's quite simple: Godot is written "ゴドー", with a long vowel at the end (making it unlikely to end with a simple "o"). It also just so happens to be the name of an (absent) character in a famous play by Samuel Beckett, spelled exactly the same. Therefore, unless Miura says otherwise, it's Godot. And for Chich, I believe the name — aside from being a pun on a rat's noise — is likely a reference to this series: http://chich.jp/. It is, again, spelled the same in Japanese.
 
Aazealh said:
In Young Animal, two months ago.

Those character sheets are the most reliable source we have for spellings outside of a direct word from Miura.
Ah, gotcha. Thanks for the reminder.

Aazealh said:
Dark Horse doesn't get the benefit of the doubt because they're just guessing these names (and apparently not putting too much effort into it as they've got half of them wrong). When we talk of official sources, it's strictly from the Japanese publisher.

As for why Godot and Chich? Why it's quite simple: Godot is written "ゴドー", with a long vowel at the end (making it unlikely to end with a simple "o"). It also just so happens to be the name of an (absent) character in a famous play by Samuel Beckett, spelled exactly the same. Therefore, unless Miura says otherwise, it's Godot. And for Chich, I believe the name — aside from being a pun on a rat's noise — is likely a reference to this series: http://chich.jp/. It is, again, spelled the same in Japanese.
Well the rōmaji for "ゴドー" IIRC would normally just be Godō and it's not that uncommon for translations to simply leave out the macron mark for character's with names like that. But I admit that it being a reference to the French name Godot is the most likely.
 

Aazealh

Administrator
Staff member
Theozilla said:
Well the romanji for "ゴドー" IIRC would normally just be Godō and it's not that uncommon for translations to simply leave out the macron mark for character's with names like that. But I admit that it being a reference to the French name Godot is the most likely.

The rōmaji is irrelevant. No self-respecting translator works like that.
Not to mention that in this case it's likely the name was transliterated in Japanese from another language and not vice versa.
 
Aazealh said:
The rōmaji is irrelevant. No self-respecting translator works like that.
Not to mention that in this case it's likely the name was transliterated in Japanese from another language and not vice versa.

I don't see how the rōmaji is completely irrelevant. I mean, all I am trying to say is that if the Dark Horse translator was unaware of the French name Godot (or of the play by Samuel Beckett), then I think choosing the spelling of Godo, from a word whose rōmaji is Godō, is a pretty reasonable choice/conclusion to make.
 

Aazealh

Administrator
Staff member
Theozilla said:
I don't see how the rōmaji is completely irrelevant. I mean, all I am trying to say is that if the Dark Horse translator was unaware of the French name Godot (or of the play by Samuel Beckett), then I think choosing the spelling of Godo, from a word whose rōmaji is Godō, is a pretty reasonable choice/conclusion to make.

No offense, but that's because you don't know what you're talking about. Rōmaji's main purpose is to transcribe Japanese names into the Latin alphabet. But here the name is in Katakana, which is used to transcribe foreign names into Japanese. The logic you're proposing does not apply.

Furthermore, you're conflating languages with writing systems. A translator's duty is to look for the meaning of a word, what it refers to, not simply to convert it to a different writing system. That's the difference between a translation and a transcription. And that's why rōmaji is irrelevant. The Katakana tells us all we want to know and is all we need.

As for the specific process of translating the name ゴドー, the fact it has a long vowel is quite likely an indication of the way it's spelled in the original language. The fact a world famous play features the same name spelled the same way only confirms it (it's not really a French name by the way, Beckett made it up). This is why we recommend this spelling. And that's also how we have correctly guessed the spelling of practically every name in the manga over the years. Now can we get back to the episode discussion please?
 

Mammon

Mangoku army
Walter said:
I could be underestimating it, but Garuda hasn't shown any special abilities, other than flight.

He/it did get zapped (along with Daiba) by an angry Ganishka and recovered pretty quick. IIRC at least, I'm in New Caledonia right now and don't have my volumes to double-check...

Also, awesome episode (as always, but damn this one was particularly good).

Silat is one of my favorite characters; I bought the 3rd Berserk movie DVD even after suffering through the first 2 ones, well first to support Miura, but also because I had read that Silat gets his duel with Guts in the movie (which was the best part, even if Silat looked a bit more like a psycho than he does in the manga). And I was curious about the eclipse.

His fight with Raksha is great, looks like trained harder than ever after he got humiliated (as he said himself) by Guts.

These last 3 episodes really got me all hyped up again. Next month I'm getting my 2nd Berserk-related tattoo, and now I'm even more impatient than I was before :ubik:

Thank you guys for these threads, they are the first thing I check after finishing an episode, I always know I'll find some good stuff here. :slan:
 
Aazealh said:
No offense, but that's because you don't know what you're talking about. Rōmaji's main purpose is to transcribe Japanese names into the Latin alphabet. But here the name is in Katakana, which is used to transcribe foreign names into Japanese. The logic you're proposing does not apply.

Furthermore, you're conflating languages with writing systems. A translator's duty is to look for the meaning of a word, what it refers to, not simply to convert it to a different writing system. That's the difference between a translation and a transcription. And that's why rōmaji is irrelevant. The Katakana tells us all we want to know and is all we need.

As for the specific process of translating the name ゴドー, the fact it has a long vowel is quite likely an indication of the way it's spelled in the original language. The fact a world famous play features the same name spelled the same way only confirms it (it's not really a French name by the way, Beckett made it up). This is why we recommend this spelling. And that's also how we have correctly guessed the spelling of practically every name in the manga over the years. Now can we get back to the episode discussion please?
I know that Katakana is used to transcribe foreign names into Japanese, I think you might be misunderstanding me, I'm not trying to argue that the Dark Horse translation is correct/superior, your explanation on why it isn't is perfectly logical. I'm only trying to say that because the the Dark Horse translator probably did not do as much research as you guys on this site do, they probably couldn't figure out what specific foreign (to Japanese) name the Katakana was referring to, so they likely just went with the Latin transcription of the name. I'm just saying I think it's an understandable mistake, not that isn't a mistake, that's all.
And while the name Godot may not be a French name, the play was originally written in French (which informs us of the pronunciation of the word having a silent "t" at the end).
 

Aazealh

Administrator
Staff member
Theozilla said:
I'm only trying to say that because the the Dark Horse translator probably did not do as much research as you guys on this site do, they probably couldn't figure out what specific foreign (to Japanese) name the Katakana was referring to, so they likely just went with the Latin transcription of the name. I'm just saying I think it's an understandable mistake, not that isn't a mistake, that's all.

Your mistake is to think the translation process somehow has to involve rōmaji while it doesn't. And I disagree, I don't think it's an understandable mistake for a professional translator. It's either a deliberate choice, which can then be argued to be the wrong one, or it's a lack of competence and/or professionalism. Either way, this isn't the proper thread to discuss it.

Theozilla said:
And while the name Godot may not be a French name, the play was originally written in French (which informs us of the pronunciation of the word having a silent "t" at the end).

Oui merci, t'es gentil coco mais j'ai pas besoin d'explications sur la langue française.
 

jackson_hurley

even the horses are cut in half!
Walter said:
Aw man, Miura is already nerding out for the new Star Wars, and all I feel is dread...

It's funny cause i trust him too, but I'm not gonna talk about that here. Yesterday I completed my re-reading of berserk again and after volume 37 I got to read the new episodes from here. Shit, the last sequence of these episode back to back is even a thousand time better then they were already every month! Now I'm getting too excited for the next one.
 
Walter said:
Aazealh said:
Miura's comment for this episode was: "J.J. Abrams is a man I can trust!!"

And as a reminder, the digital edition of Young Animal is now out and can be purchased for cheap at http://www.hakusensha-e.net/v_vtop?id=4856.
Aw man, Miura is already nerding out for the new Star Wars, and all I feel is dread...
Ha, that reminds me of another mangaka, Hiromu Arakawa's nerding out for Star Wars as well.

tumblr_nrz7o0scRj1tilt8xo1_500.jpg
 

Griffith

With the streak of a tear, Like morning dew
Walter said:
Aw man, Miura is already nerding out for the new Star Wars, and all I feel is dread...

I understand caution, but don't get what's to dread? If it's bad, that was already the last state of Star Wars at the cinemas. There's nowhere to go but up. :ganishka:

Plus, as I've said, I agree with Miura's sentiment (well, except when it comes to secrets/spoilers, since Abrams is a proven liar =). Everything I've seen/heard has been promisingn and in many ways this is the follow up I always wanted and we should have got, a story that was actually asking to be told, "what happened to these characters next." The fact that its serving as nostalgic childhood wish fulfillment and a last ride suits me just fine, beyond that... I'll probably be more ambilvent about any future Star Wars media, much as I have been, unless this really does bring the goods and isn't just a palatable alternative to the prequel disaster, which is all I ask and expect.
 
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