Episode 351

Aazealh said:
Uhhh, no. She just could feel him with her Brand. While it's likely not something the God Hand intended, we've seen that the Brand allows those who carry it to feel the presence of evil and other supernatural beings with surprising accuracy. See for example how Guts could tell Flora was a witch upon seeing her, but also knew she wasn't evil. So Casca, while she was insane, could recognize her son instinctively as a mother through that particular sensation.

If that's the case, why Guts don't recognise him? He has been in contact with his son plenty of time before (probably even more than Casca), and he's way more familiar with the brand than Casca. In fact I don't recall at any point Guts noticing any reaction from his brand coming from his son's current form.

Aazealh said:
That's why she could tell it was him even when Griffith showed up in volume 22
The pain she feel at this time and the amount/way the blood was dripping from the brand was clearly the same as when Guts faced Griffith in the black swordmans arc, just toned down. I highly doubt she could have recognised her son in that.
 

Aazealh

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darnage said:
If that's the case, why Guts don't recognise him? He has been in contact with his son plenty of time before (probably even more than Casca), and he's way more familiar with the brand than Casca. In fact I don't recall at any point Guts noticing any reaction from his brand coming from his son's current form.

Guts never had as keen a sense for him as Casca did. Meanwhile, literally every time the boy appears Casca is shown sensing him through her Brand. That connection was likely established when he was born, and relates to the fact she carried him in her body. That's why I said it was something she did instinctively. You would be wise to re-read the relevant parts of the manga before posting further on the subject.

darnage said:
The pain she feel at this time and the amount/way the blood was dripping from the brand was clearly the same as when Guts faced Griffith in the black swordmans arc, just toned down. I highly doubt she could have recognised her son in that.

Really, you shouldn't be arguing with me if you don't even remember the scene. Casca felt her son's presence from far away, while she was eating with Erika and Puck inside the cabin. She ran to him in the snow, and called out to him as she literally has done in every encounter with him, not caring about danger at all. And when the boy forced Griffith to save her, she reached for him despite the excruciating pain (which, understandably, greatly confused Guts). Then she is shown longing for him after he departs. There is absolutely no doubt she recognized her son in that scene.
 
Aazealh said:
Guts never had as keen a sense for him as Casca did. Meanwhile, literally every time the boy appears Casca is shown sensing him through her Brand.
I guess you mean in his fœtus form, because as the moonlight boy, there is no mention of either Guts or Casca sensing him through the Brands (I verified). Also, what make you think Guts don't identify his fœtus form through the brand as well as Casca? I've no problem reading Berserk again, but it's gonna take me a while if I have to read everything again to find the concerned part.

Aazealh said:
Really, you shouldn't be arguing with me if you don't even remember the scene. Casca felt her son's presence from far away, while she was eating with Erika and Puck inside the cabin. She ran to him in the snow, and called out to him as she literally has done in every encounter with him, not caring about danger at all. And when the boy forced Griffith to save her, she reached for him despite the excruciating pain (which, understandably, greatly confused Guts). Then she is shown longing for him after he departs. There is absolutely no doubt she recognized her son in that scene.
I agree with all that. What I don't agree with is that Casca recognised her son in Griffith through her brand specifically.
 

Walter

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darnage said:
Also, what make you think Guts don't identify his fœtus form through the brand as well as Casca?

Guts has never been shown to drop everything and seek out his child when it appears. Only Casca does. It's likely a combination of her possession of the brand and her motherly instinct — juiced up due to the brand. I'd also wager that her non lucid state of her mind aids her in this manifestation of the brand's extrasensory powers, but it's never been explicitly addressed, because Casca doesn't talk... You just have to use context clues to figure some things out.

I agree with all that. What I don't agree with is that Casca recognised her son in Griffith through her brand specifically.

Casca's only extrasensory medium is the brand. She's not a magic user. She only knows what she feels. So when she senses something supernatural, it's always going to be via the brand. So at the Hill of Swords, when she sensed Griffith's presence, it would have caused her some pain. But not just that. If it were just the pain associated with the God Hand, then what would make her want to seek it out? However, she did know what her son felt like, from her previous encounters. So, it was a combination of sensations, which you can pretty much read on her confused face as she gets close to Griffith, reaches out to touch him, and reels back in pain. None of that makes any sense if it's just the God Hand presence she feels. She'd simply run from the pain, not seek it out.

The other end of that sensation can be seen pretty clearly in Vol 36, when the Boy appears on the solitary island. Casca gets a flash of a sensation (that only she detects) and knows to seek out the boy. Again I'll reiterate — Casca's only extrasensory medium is the brand, but she's particularly attuned to the sensation of her son, because she is its mother.
 

Aazealh

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darnage said:
I guess you mean in his fœtus form, because as the moonlight boy, there is no mention of either Guts or Casca sensing him through the Brands (I verified).

I meant any of the forms he's taken so far. As the Demon Child, as Griffith, and as the Moonlight Boy. In the latter case, the Brand isn't depicted specifically, however Casca is shown sensing him in volume 36. And the only supernatural sensing ability she possesses, like Guts, is through her Brand. The alternative you propose, some obscure "corruption", is unspoken of in the entire story. There has never been a single hint of it.

darnage said:
Also, what make you think Guts don't identify his fœtus form through the brand as well as Casca? I've no problem reading Berserk again, but it's gonna take me a while if I have to read everything again to find the concerned part.

What makes me think that is the manga... Casca is shown systematically sensing her son when he's nearby, while Guts doesn't, or at least not with nearly the same accuracy. Call it motherly instinct or whatever else you want, but they have a connection. And that connection started right when he was born, and crawled up to her breast... to suck on her Brand.

darnage said:
I agree with all that. What I don't agree with is that Casca recognised her son in Griffith through her brand specifically.

The reason she came out to see him in the first place is because she knew —through her Brand— it was her son. Literally everything in the scene makes it clear Casca recognized her son in Griffith. Including the fact Casca does not remember anyone from before her illness, and therefore could not have remembered Griffith himself (and would not have reacted like that if she had).
 
Aazealh said:
Thanks for the info! At first I was surprised that volume 39 isn't available yet, but then I remembered it took them years to stock the more recent ones after they launched this online store. I hope they'll make it available faster this time.

This distributor is taking pre-orders for a 7/21/2017 release date. If i remember correctly, volume 38 was released digitally the same day as the physical volume, I'm not sure how things have worked in the past, though. I was expecting it to be released the same day as the YA issue but Bookwalker put up their pre-order a few days ago.
 
Some crazy good imagery in these last few episodes, and what a cliff-hanger. There's so much to look forward to, I am really hyped to see it unravel. I also wonder what will Miura do to move the plot after Casca regains her memory. The story has been heading to this moment for so long, it's like Berserk is soon to arrive at a whole new segment. It's a pivotal time for Berserk fans.
 

Walter

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RaffoBaffo said:
If Wikipedia is correct, today is the 28th Anniversary of Berserk.
Congratulation Miura Sensei :guts:

Pretty sure it's October 1989, with no known date. Source: http://berserk.fan.coocan.jp/archive_ah.html#ah89_10

Also, when Young Animal celebrated the 20th anniversary of Berserk back in 2009, it was in the October issue.
 

Aazealh

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Walter said:
Pretty sure it's October 1989, with no known date. Source: http://berserk.fan.coocan.jp/archive_ah.html#ah89_10

Animal House was released on the 25th of each month, so it was October 25, 1989. They at least got that right!
 
Someone on twitter posted a new Guts and Griffith illustration that was given away as prize from a Japanese manga website called Manga Park.
IvqENMZ.jpg


Source
https://twitter.com/manumiscat/status/904641327492509697

Walter said:
Pretty sure it's October 1989, with no known date. Source: http://berserk.fan.coocan.jp/archive_ah.html#ah89_10

Also, when Young Animal celebrated the 20th anniversary of Berserk back in 2009, it was in the October issue.
Aazealh said:
Animal House was released on the 25th of each month, so it was October 25, 1989. They at least got that right!
Um, cover date isn't the publishing date, though. For a monthly magazine, it wouldn't have been published in the same month as the cover date. The date on a magazine cover is for newsstands to pull unsold issues from their stands.

The 20th anniversary issue was published on September 25, 2009, which coincided with the Japanese release of volume 34. Some October issues from monthly magazines have been published in late August. Here's one for example:
https://www.amazon.co.jp/月刊コミックゼノン-2017年-10-月号-雑誌/dp/B073ZYRS1W
 

Aazealh

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Hitoshura said:
Um, cover date isn't the publishing date, though. For a monthly magazine, it wouldn't have been published in the same month as the cover date. The date on a magazine cover is for newsstands to pull unsold issues from their stands.

That's true, although the cover date is what's typically used to refer to these publications in print. I've never seen a site use the date they hit stores as a reference before.

Anyway, I tried to find a source to confirm that August release date. Best I could find is the article for Animal House on the Japanese edition of Wikipedia. Says the first issue was May 1989 and that it was released in March of that year. I guess that's where the info from the US Wikipedia is derived from.
 
The issues of Animal House that I own have stamps on the top and bottom that seem to have dates 2 months ahead of the cover date, from the 22nd to the 24th. I may be wrong though, I'm not sure what the first number before 11.22 indicates.

This is from the January 1991 issue.

lLIFrV1.jpg
 

Aazealh

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Sareth said:
The issues of Animal House that I own have stamps on the top and bottom that seem to have dates 2 months ahead of the cover date, from the 22nd to the 24th. I may be wrong though, I'm not sure what the first number before 11.22 indicates.

This is from the January 1991 issue.

Ah, good call, mine also do and the dates fit.
No idea about that number "2" though. It doesn't seem to change and obviously doesn't refer to the year... Maybe an indication of how many months separate printing from cover date? :void:
 

Walter

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Interesting that AH released to newsstands 2 months before the cover date. Thanks for the pics, Sareth! As these things get older and older, it's less feasible to hold the series to the date that the issues actually arrived on store shelves. Afterall, most newsstands get YA several days early, but the date of its actual release (2nd and 4th Fridays) are the ones people remember.

So in conclusion, I'll be celebrating Berserk's 30th anniversary on Sept 28, 2019. That's 10 years from when they celebrated the 20th, so I think that's the safest bet for the next big anniversary.
 
Aazealh said:
Ah, good call, mine also do and the dates fit.
No idea about that number "2" though. It doesn't seem to change and obviously doesn't refer to the year... Maybe an indication of how many months separate printing from cover date? :void:

My December 1990 and January 1991 have "2" but March 1991, November 1991, and February 1992 have "3".
 

Aazealh

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Sareth said:
My December 1990 and January 1991 have "2" but March 1991, November 1991, and February 1992 have "3".

Well your guess is as good as mine! I don't have the time to try to find out what it refers to right now.
 

Walter

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Sareth said:
My December 1990 and January 1991 have "2" but March 1991, November 1991, and February 1992 have "3".

That first number could signify the number of years for Animal House (like a "Volume" and a "Number"). That's how newspapers are categorized when they're archived, each year is a volume. Animal House was started in March 1989, so that'd be year 1. Year 2 is March 1990-Feb 1991, and so on. Also, that thin vertical line next to the 2 in Sareth's post could be a faded 年.

Seems to check out. Here's how the sequence looks, though I had to make up a portion of the actual dates:

2.12.22 (Dec 1990)

2.1.22 (Jan 1991)

3.3.22 (March 1991)

3.11.22 (November 1991)

3.2.22 (Feb 1992)

This would be confirmed if you looked at that stamp on an Animal House from 1989 and it showed a 1.

This is a fun numbers puzzle, but it doesn't actually help us know the actual date for the original release, unless someone has Animal House #1 and can look at that date. Otherwise, I'd just go with what we already knew.
 

Griffith

With the streak of a tear, Like morning dew
Not to complicate matters further (well, a little)... but what about the 1988 prototype? It's technically not the first issue of course, which is its own milestone, but for the anniversay of "Berserk" itself it's still Berserk in its earliest tangeable form practically speaking (think of it like a band demo that leads to the first album =). So, the de facto 30th anniversary is arguably just next year. Any idea what date Miura "released" or presented it?
 

Walter

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Griffith said:
Not to complicate matters further (well, a little)... but what about the 1988 prototype? It's technically not the first issue of course, which is its own milestone, but for the anniversay of Berserk itself it's still Berserk in its earliest tangeable form practically speaking (think of it like a band demo that leads to the first album =). So, the de facto 30th anniversary is arguably just next year. Any idea what date Miura "released" or presented it?

That would be November 26, 1988: http://berserk.fan.coocan.jp/archive_ah.html#comicomi

I think you might be able to call that "Guts' Debut" or something, but that's not really "Berserk" :void:
 

Griffith

With the streak of a tear, Like morning dew
Walter said:
That would be November 26, 1988: http://berserk.fan.coocan.jp/archive_ah.html#comicomi

Ah, cool! I'll keepthat date in mind.

I think you might be able to call that "Guts' Debut" or something, but that's not really "Berserk" :void:

"Guts' debut," I like that, now is that his first full appearance or cameo appearance? =) But yeah, it's an interesting distiction because while the prototype is certainly the concept, traditionally things like this are judged by official release date rather than conception, writing, recording, etc.
 

Aazealh

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Walter said:
That first number could signify the number of years for Animal House (like a "Volume" and a "Number"). That's how newspapers are categorized when they're archived, each year is a volume. Animal House was started in March 1989, so that'd be year 1. Year 2 is March 1990-Feb 1991, and so on.

Ohh, good find, that would make sense. Still somewhat counterintuitive to not start the year in January and end it in December though. Things like these are why I classify my YAs by issue number, muuuuch simpler.

Walter said:
Also, that thin vertical line next to the 2 in Sareth's post could be a faded 年.

The two issues I checked last night didn't have anything before the number, but I didn't scrutinize it.
 
Walter said:
Also, that thin vertical line next to the 2 in Sareth's post could be a faded 年.

Looking at a different issue it just looks like there two lines to block in the numbers, like | 3. 1. 24 |

But the first number referring to the first, second, third year of the magazine publication makes sense.
 

Headless_Death

u/QuartetGhent
Wow, after 10 years of not reading a new berserk, I have now caught back up. Although I was hopeful they would be further by now, I am still quite happy they have gotten further in the story than I had expected. I was still expecting them to be on Roderick's Boat making a few more stops along the way.

I'm happy to see that Silat and Rickert are at least working together. And I now have another favorite moment with Rickert's Bitch slap of Griffith. :rickert:

While it will be hard to wait now to get to the event I've been waiting for since I first read through the manga 12 years ago, I am eagerly looking forward to what will happen once Casca's mind is restored. :guts:
 
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