Episode 343

Walter said:
One other thing we learned from this episode: Schierke says the field is enchanted by Gnomes, which are earth elementals — the earth equivalent to wind's sylphs, water's undines, fire's salamanders. So, now we know all four!

Gnomes, eh? I like it! :guts:
 

Aazealh

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Walter said:
Wonder if it's Morda, like the village in England. But what's in a name anyway? I'm really looking forward to more from her.

Morda and Molda are both possible of course, although I don't think any random village played a role in naming the character. Funnily enough, the spelling in Japanese is also close to that of Mulder (モルダー), from the X-Files.

Walter said:
One other thing we learned from this episode: Schierke says the field is enchanted by Gnomes, which are earth elementals — the earth equivalent to wind's sylphs, water's undines, fire's salamanders. So, now we know all four!

Yes, although we had already surmised that from the three other names back in volume 24, it's nice to have confirmation.

Apollyon Necron said:
The three witches seem to imply that witches solely exist on the island, and that could bring out an interesting point on what exactly are the witches (if they're humans with power or more in lines the same race as elfs or mythical entities).

They're just speaking out of ignorance and prejudice; considering themselves to be more civilized. Any human can become a witch, it has nothing to do with being some sort of mythical entity. It has been explained to us at length in the manga, and Farnese is the most obvious example of that fact. There's no mystery here.
 

Oburi

All praise Grail
Aazealh said:
Morda and Molda are both possible of course, although I don't think any random village played a role in naming the character. Funnily enough, the spelling in Japanese is also close to that of Mulder (モルダー), from the X-Files.

That was my initial thought. Could it be an X-files reference? No shame in that.
 

Aazealh

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Oburi said:
That was my initial thought. Could it be an X-files reference? No shame in that.

Nah I don't think so, otherwise it would be spelled the same. Plus that would be a really puzzling reference since the two have nothing in common.
 
Hello everyone! Long time lurker here. Finally decided to join up after a recent re-read and getting caught back up after a few years not staying current with the manga. Thanks for the registration approval, admins. Been enjoying the podcast too.

I had a question about the episode that I haven't seen brought up in the thread:

Does anyone think there may be some negative consequences going forward about how the wicker man was handled? I say this for two reasons. First, because Morda doesn't care that it is supposed to be forbidden and wants to use it anyway.

Aazealh said:
It's an ancient relic that was lying around. The witch used it against the rules because the group had defeated their usual defenses.

Maybe it's forbidden for a reason, like keeping the spirits contained from the island? Second, the final panel shows all the spirits flying up like they are released after being trapped inside for however long.

If this is the case, it could be used as a plot device to keep them from wasting too much time on the island with the time flow issue.

Go easy on me Aazealh
 

Aazealh

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Head said:
Hello everyone! Long time lurker here. Finally decided to join up after a recent re-read and getting caught back up after a few years not staying current with the manga. Thanks for the registration approval, admins. Been enjoying the podcast too.

Hello Head, welcome!

Head said:
Does anyone think there may be some negative consequences going forward about how the wicker man was handled?

Negative consequences for Molda maybe, but for Guts and friends? No.

Head said:
Maybe it's forbidden for a reason, like keeping the spirits contained from the island?

No it's forbidden because the wicker man was powered by human sacrifices, so it's inherently an unethical weapon.

Head said:
Second, the final panel shows all the spirits flying up like they are released after being trapped inside for however long. [...] it could be used as a plot device to keep them from wasting too much time on the island with the time flow issue.

The trapped spirits were indeed released but we can assume they'll just move on. I don't think it will be used as a plot device, first because it's not necessary and second because I don't see how those spirits would pose any problem to them.
 
Negative consequences for Molda maybe, but for Guts and friends? No.

I guess I meant moreso to the island in general. I had it in my head leading up that Skellig would be a safe haven for the party once they got there. As we see, that hasn't been the case so far.

The trapped spirits were indeed released but we can assume they'll just move on. I don't think it will be used as a plot device, first because it's not necessary and second because I don't see how those spirits would pose any problem to them.

That was my concern. That the spirits wouldn't just move on. That they might start to wreak havoc on the island and that the wicker man was not to be used in order to keep them contained. Just speculation.

Something else that occured to me, now that we have confirmation on all four elemental names, I wonder if the inhabitants of the island send the members of the party on their way with a couple more pieces of armor/weapon that are enchanted with undine and gnome powers? Might be cool to see someone like Azan get a gnome-powered weapon.

As far as the hiatus until summer goes, it sucks. I just got back into Berserk and caught myself up after seeing it was back on a regular schedule, wait a month for the newest episode to come out and BAM! Back on hiatus again
 

Aazealh

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Head said:
I had it in my head leading up that Skellig would be a safe haven for the party once they got there. As we see, that hasn't been the case so far.

Well they've encountered the island's defenses. I don't think you can use that to argue that the island is unsafe.

Head said:
That was my concern. That the spirits wouldn't just move on. That they might start to wreak havoc on the island and that the wicker man was not to be used in order to keep them contained. Just speculation.

I find that really unlikely. I can't imagine that mere specters would be a threat to Elfhelm.

Head said:
Something else that occured to me, now that we have confirmation on all four elemental names, I wonder if the inhabitants of the island send the members of the party on their way with a couple more pieces of armor/weapon that are enchanted with undine and gnome powers? Might be cool to see someone like Azan get a gnome-powered weapon.

As I mentioned above, the confirmation that the earth elementals are called gnomes isn't really groundbreaking, and I don't see how it ties in with the group getting new equipment. That aside, I certainly do expect new gear to be gained in Elfhelm. As for the specifics, who knows? The idea that Azan might get an earth-based staff – which is great – is literally decade old speculation. As for undines, I guess they would fit Isma best. Honestly though I hope things are not that cut-and-dry.
 
isn't really groundbreaking

Just reiterating Walter's post about it being confirmation. Now that I google it, I see what you mean. It's hard to remember every little thing.

I don't see how it ties in with the group getting new equipment

Just speculation based on two members of the party already having equipment imbued with 2 other elemental's powers

decade old speculation

Sorry. I started reading in 2007, and don't think I found this site until a year later maybe? I can't remember.
 

Aazealh

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Head said:
Sorry. I started reading in 2007, and don't think I found this site until a year later maybe? I can't remember.

Oh it's no problem, I was just letting you know that it's something we've long expected.

RaffoBaffo said:
For the ones who are interested, the Digital Edition of YA n.1 is finally out :serpico:

Thanks for the reminder! I very much appreciate the fact they included the poster.
 
Hi all, new to the forum as well!

I started reading the manga about 2 years ago, so thankfully I didn't have to deal with the age of boat as much as most around here did. I kind of know how it must have felt though. I've been a big fan of the asoiaf series for much, much longer, and Martin and Miura seem to have some things in common in concern to meeting fan expectations on time tables.
 

Walter

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Defengar said:
Hi all, new to the forum as well!
Welcome!

Defengar said:
thankfully I didn't have to deal with the age of boat as much as most around here did. I kind of know how it must have felt though.

Some readers tend to exaggerate the length of that portion of the series due to the number of publication breaks that occurred during it. As Aazealh noted a few months back, the entire sea voyage takes up about 30 episodes in total. The sea god stuff and the mini-flashback sequence were fucking solid, and I think it's pretty demeaning to call that entire span "the age of boat." Afterall, before Guts and Co. left on the Sea Horse, people complained about how long it took them to get TO the ship. Then of course people complained about being ON the ship so long. Next, it'll be how long they've been on the island. At some point you have to reexamine how the story is being told in accordance with misconceptions about duration, particularly since Berserk is released at an irregular, episodic pace.

Defengar said:
I've been a big fan of the asoiaf series for much, much longer, and Martin and Miura seem to have some things in common in concern to meeting fan expectations on time tables.

I think you're barking up the wrong tree, man. Many of us have been reading it for more than a decade or more. There's no other series out there like Berserk, so I'm perfectly content to get it however and whenever I can.
 

Aazealh

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Defengar said:
Hi all, new to the forum as well!

I started reading the manga about 2 years ago, so thankfully I didn't have to deal with the age of boat as much as most around here did. I kind of know how it must have felt though.

Hi Defengar, welcome to our community. Walter's already addressed the issue, but for the record I feel like reposting my breakdown of the time the group spent at sea.

Aazealh said:
They have not been travelling on Roderick's ship for that long. They embarked in volume 32, and arrived at their destination in volume 38. And a big part of those volumes has taken place on Griffith's side. Besides, the events that took place while they were at sea have been pretty damn cool I think. Some great character development, a couple of cool sea battles, and a little horror story on a mysterious, creepy island with a dark secret (that technically did not occur "on the ship").

Anyway, since I'm at it, let me give you the rundown of the episodes featuring Guts in those volumes:

Volume 32: The last episode of this volume is the first one of the group at sea. It focuses on overall character development.
Volume 33: Four episodes with Guts. Two focus on very important character development, and two are a gorgeous sea battle.
Volume 34: No episodes featuring Guts.
Volume 35: Eight episodes with Guts. Three for the sea battle against the Ghost Ship, five on land (exploring the Solitary Island, character development, etc.).
Volume 36: Nine episodes on land (character development, introduction of new elements, fight against the Sea God).
Volume 37: Seven episodes with Guts. Three on land (end of the Sea God battle), three showing a super cool flashback about Guts, one at sea acting as epilogue for the Solitary Island's events and a recap of sorts.
Volume 38: Only the last episode features Guts, and it starts with the group's arrival at Skellig, therefore ending the sea voyage.

So in total, the entire sea trip takes up 30 episodes, which is roughly 3 volumes if you put them back to back. However, if you only count the time they're actually "on the boat" (not counting the island or the flashback), there it's just one single volume. And it'd still be selling Berserk extremely short to pretend amazing things don't take place in every single one of those episodes. They're densely packed with cool stuff to take full advantage of the setting, with the bulk of the actual journey happening off-page. And honestly, it would have been a monumental waste to not feature the sea journey at all (and people would have complained). It also wouldn't have appropriately conveyed its actual length and the distance traveled. Plus the story would have not featured Guts for several volumes. So basically it doesn't hold water.
 
I was more referring to the amount of real life time that it took for the arc to complete, not so much their pace (which I personally had no issue with). I will say however that while I enjoyed it, the boat arc did feel more "filler-ish" than any other to me, which is pretty reminiscent of A Dance With Dragons. Martin was originally going to do a two year time skip and go straight to The Winds of Winter, but eventually decided that to much information would be left unknown to readers (among other things) if that occurred. So he wrote ADWD which took several years... then threw it out and started over again, and several more years passed before it was published and asoiaf fans were left with what was certainly a decent addition to the series, but arguably the most lackluster (generally fans are split between ADWD and A Feast For Crows being "the worst"). Now several years have gone by and there are no solid signs that George is going to be ending his hiatus any time soon, and Miura just started another one of significant length.

And then to boot, Berserk is soon getting what will probably be a lackluster show adaptation, and the upcoming GoT season will probably be the worst one because the show writers have finally passed up the books and are probably not going to come even close to doing the story justice like Martin can.
 
Defengar said:
I was more referring to the amount of real life time that it took for the arc to complete, not so much their pace (which I personally had no issue with). I will say however that while I enjoyed it, the boat arc did feel more "filler-ish" than any other to me, which is pretty reminiscent of A Dance With Dragons. Martin was originally going to do a two year time skip and go straight to The Winds of Winter, but eventually decided that to much information would be left unknown to readers (among other things) if that occurred. So he wrote ADWD which took several years... then threw it out and started over again, and several more years passed before it was published and asoiaf fans were left with what was certainly a decent addition to the series, but arguably the most lackluster (generally fans are split between ADWD and A Feast For Crows being "the worst"). Now several years have gone by and there are no solid signs that George is going to be ending his hiatus any time soon, and Miura just started another one of significant length.

And then to boot, Berserk is soon getting what will probably be a lackluster show adaptation, and the upcoming GoT season will probably be the worst one because the show writers have finally passed up the books and are probably not going to come even close to doing the story justice like Martin can.

How long it took will have almost no relevance when the series is finished. And mind you, there is no such thing as the ''boat arc''. I also don't see how any of that was filler. Touching upon character interactions, their developments and also displaying the consequence of the world transformation was stuff that we as readers needed to see.

And really what Martin did with his story and how long it took him to do so, again is not important when we talk here about Berserk.
 

Walter

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BlackSwordsman04 said:
I hope we get a release date for Volume 38 soon!

They're always announced in Young Animal first. Though they generally accompany a Berserk episode. Not gonna happen this time :sad:
 
Happy New Year !
Thanks for the summary, this episode concluded the arrive of the Band at Elf Island.
This expeditive battle with the giant, confirm me that Guts is in top form.
Next time we should learn more about this new witches caracters, especially "Molda" ...

By the way, I'm happy to watch Guts in a new anime version. A long time ago, I discovered Berserk trought the anime.
 

KnightZel

Vlways $trive Vnd Prosper
I was getting sooo pumped and then Miura goes and drops a bomb shell like the hiatus again!
I like that Miura chooses quality over quantity but my god is it frustrating!

Anyways with the bitching out of the way. I would like to say in light of pucks recent tales about his heroism, and his astonishing ability to connect with guts, and the many other mysteries that surround him, we might just be looking at puck becoming our fairy king...I know some might say pretty far fetched, but Puck has shown himself to be very secretive about things that matter, biggest example being the feelings that guts hides within himself that no one, not even schrieke, knows about thus far. So i personally can't wait to see the big reveal there. Moonlight boy, or Puck, or SkullKnight, or someone new alltogether. This is gonna be crazy!

Plus one more step towards Caska's return! I freakin love Caska, So seeing how this story ends is something that will genuinely haunt me until I see what Miura does with it!

Finally the witches! Can't wait to see what role they play. Especially the mischievous one that set the flaming giant on them!

Just so much win, and so many mysterious to be had. Sorry if i'm spazzing out but I'm kinda losing my shit since I don't have anyone else i know irl who's as into berserk as I am. ARHHHHHH!!!!

lol, summer 2016 will be something to remember for sure.
 

Aazealh

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KnightZel said:
Anyways with the bitching out of the way. I would like to say in light of pucks recent tales about his heroism, and his astonishing ability to connect with guts, and the many other mysteries that surround him, we might just be looking at puck becoming our fairy king...I know some might say pretty far fetched, but Puck has shown himself to be very secretive about things that matter, biggest example being the feelings that guts hides within himself that no one, not even Schierke, knows about thus far. So i personally can't wait to see the big reveal there. Moonlight boy, or Puck, or SkullKnight, or someone new alltogether. This is gonna be crazy!

I can guarantee you with 100% certainty that the King of the Flower Storm will be a new character. Puck is mischievous and whimsical by nature because he's an elf. As for the Skull Knight and the Moonlight Boy, there really isn't any doubt about who and what they are.
 

Uriel

This journey isn't ov--AARGH!
Here's the official word:

http://www.younganimal.com/magazine/next.html

This issue will be coming with a 100 Pages of Berserk annex of some sort it looks like. Will definitely try and snag this in 2 weeks!

Edit - hmm upon closer examination the 1st episode is also coming out with this issue. It seems these two episodes might be connected somehow? I dunno exactly how though... maybe Guts' and Puck's meeting?
 
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