From a technical perspective, this episode is definitely better put together than the three previous ones. The story flows more naturally. That's probably because a lot of it focuses on secondary characters (i.e. not Guts, Griffith and Casca) and that the team felt they could take more liberties in their portrayal. Unfortunately that brings its own set of problems.
Roderick, Isidro and the Skull Knight have some good looking panels. You can tell one of the staffers at Studio Gaga really gave his all on that full page of Zodd, too. On the other hand, every shot of Guts looks like a Las Vegas impersonator, and Griffith and Casca don't look like themselves either. You'd think they would have really tried to nail
those faces, and maybe they did. But the end result just isn't there. Which is really too bad, since it happens to be the most important part of the episode.
As far as the dialogue goes, like I had outlined in the previous thread, the problem of doing more dialogue is that it'll quickly show they can't nail the authentic voices of the characters. They sound like caricatures of themselves. For example Isma is a naive country girl, but she's not a 5 year-old. That bothered me in the last episode, but it's more obvious here, especially in the exchange between Isidro and the Skull Knight.
Isidro & SK
Isidro has fought evil spirits for months on end, every night, with Guts and the others. Before that, he was at Albion and also had to survive that apocalyptic event. He's had to fight stronger and stronger opponents over time, and these oozey specters aren't individually dangerous, it's their mass that makes them a threat. All of this to say that he should be able to handle this stuff. It's what the last half of the series prepared him to do. He's even got a fire dagger that feels particularly adapted to the situation, since these evil blobs fear fire if they are similar to those he encountered in Albion.
Instead, he's saved by the Skull Knight and we get some attempt at levity that falls flat while SK demonstrates his power by... slashing these things? Is that supposed to make him cool? It's cool when he dices three apostles in a split-second. These shouldn't even be worth his time. Of course, the real reason he shows up is to deliver exposition... to Isidro. Like the others, he's a caricature of himself. The Skull Knight was never just a vessel for dumping information on the reader, and the things he told Guts always had layers to them.
But here, I can only describe his dialogue as clumsy. It's trying to sound like something Miura would write, but missing all of the depth he actually infused in the text. A good example is the talk of "a vivid light that became a wedge and created cracks all over the island". It honestly sounds so obvious that I feel stupid writing it, but when Miura used "light" to refer to Griffith, he made metaphors that related to light. Like Ganishka talking about "the apostles that swarm like insects around his light". There are plenty of ways it could have been good, but a light turning into a wedge? Not great, sorry.
And did I mention that the Skull Knight's advice makes no sense? He's telling Isidro to flee, but how? Aren't they surrounded? Where are they supposed to go? "You can't save everything"... Who said anything about that? It's like a parody of when he told Guts he would have to choose between seeking revenge and protecting Casca. And then Isidro internally reveals himself to be a coward who only outwardly pretends to stand his ground because he has no choice, which frankly feels like a complete betrayal of his character. This might have made sense when he was on his own in volume 18, but this is volume 42.
Inauthentic characterization
Isidro has shown himself to be dependable, but more importantly to be courageous and even temerarious. He's frequently had to be held back from danger, like in episode 327 when Roderick forcefully grabs him as the Sea God sinks. Here, however, not a thought for Guts or the others. Yet this meaningless show of bravery prompts some internal reflection from the Skull Knight, which again feels like a parody of previous scenes. Frankly, if it's to see stuff like this, I prefer no dialogue.
By the way, the Skull Knight didn't take a shot at Griffith? Really? That's literally all he cares about, and he told Danan as much in episode 363. He came to the island because he knew shit was going down. He even warned Guts about it in episode 361. And he has a score to settle with Femto. But I guess saving Isidro from evil spirits was more important? And he couldn't have done both? I mean, when Slan appeared in the Qliphoth, he was already on the way before she even manifested... And he could cross the short distance between the house and the others in seconds. It's hard to reconcile his actions or lack thereof with who he has been so far.
Ah, and he's missing a spike again for no reason, even though it was fixed by Hanarr as we can see numerous times in episode 363. Given that Studio Gaga finished the mini-posters of volume 41 and that even there he's got his spike, you'd think they would remember.
Before moving on, a quick note on the other characters "present" in the scene. Danan is voiceless and powerless. She lives, but may as well not exist (she also looks like crap, her likeness is on the level of an AOW statue). Did the Skull Knight come for her? Apparently not, from what the scene shows us.
And what about Serpico? He's just there. I guess he can't fight because he's holding Danan... Clearly a wise course of action from this master tactician. It's worth pointing out that he's not wearing his cloak, which has got to be a deliberate choice from the team. I wonder whether that will amount to anything.
Roderick
The deal with Roderick is pretty puzzling. So they were conveniently in the midst of preparing to leave the island... But since when? It can't possibly have just been since episode 365, given that only a minute or two elapsed between then and now. But if they had been preparing to leave for a while, why didn't we see anything before? And why didn't anyone else know? By the way, the Sea Horse isn't in the same place than it was in episode 365. This episode is the first time we see a full shot of the island, too, but I couldn't tell where the Sea Horse is in it.
Roderick says he received an oracle from the merrows... Really? When? How? And he just obeyed like that, without consulting anyone else? He said he warned the village, but he didn't bother contacting his friends? And Isma's mother didn't tell her daughter? When you see the level of activity displayed, it's not something that was done in 30 minutes, so the timeline doesn't make a whole lot of sense here.
More importantly, since when do the merrows have precognitive abilities? And why them and no one else? I mean, you know who has precognitive abilities? Danan, the queen of the elves and ruler of Elfhelm. So
she was completely blindsided regarding the destruction of her land and possibly her own death, but the merrows foresaw it?! And what about the Great Gurus, who had also predicted something would happen, as the Volvaba notes in episode 361? Nowhere to be seen. Instead it's Roderick who "warned the village" (who did he warn and how?). Again, doesn't make much sense to me.
Magnifico and Azan's portrayal is odd and feels just placed there for convenience. They're drunk for no reason, and Azan is not exactly the kind of person who would get along so well with Magnifico (and vice versa). The interaction between Magnifico and Roderick doesn't feel authentic to me either, and since when do Roderick's men call him Magnifico-sama? Bizarre choices all around.
Speaking of, the sailors who get eaten exhibit ridiculous behavior with the evil spirits. Literally every human character ever has had an instinctive fear and revulsion for these type of things in the past, but they're confusing them with elves? Even trying to touch them? I mean
maybe they're actually a different type of being but still, when you see a black mass covering the entire island and swarming towards you, who would think "oh these must be benevolent beings!"
Zodd & Griffith
Zodd's presence is confirmed to just have been for transportation. I'm guessing there were two aspects to it: 1) Mori didn't want to take too many liberties by bringing out Femto; 2) he thought mirroring the Hill of Swords would be visually and thematically powerful. Unfortunately, as far as we know Zodd couldn't really have come there in the first place, and his non-fight with Guts is such a travesty that I don't see how it could be justified.
Beyond that though, Griffith transforming would have made sense in this sequence. First off, he could have flown off by himself, obviously. Second, it would have better explained how he caused the specters to emerge and destroy the island, as opposed to something that happened while he was doing something else, as if he had no agency in it. Third, the impact of Guts seeing Femto grab Casca would have been insane, incomparable to flying off on Zodd. And last, Guts doesn't hit him except at the end, and it leaves no scratch. Again, it'd be more coherent and visually powerful if it had been Femto that he hit, almost like saying "playtime's over".
Of course, the problem here is I'm basing this little scenario on what may have already been a serious departure from what Miura intended in ways we can't be sure of. Can't do anything about that, unfortunately.
I do hope that Mori will eventually reveal
exactly what he knew, though. What bothers me is that it feels like he's already walked back on his big claim that he would only do what he knows for sure. That doesn't reassure me about the future.
Guts
Ah, Guts, a character defined by his impotence and abdication in the face of adversity. Truly, if all the other stuff is the price to pay to be able to see this, then it's more than worth it. [Neurodivergence alert: I am being sarcastic] In truth, not much to say here, except to repeat that
execution matters enormously, often more than the ideas being conveyed. Even if everything else was actually stellar (which it is not), it would be meaningless if pages 15, 16 and 17 look like a bad Hill of Swords fan fiction. It's baffling and sad that these scenes elicit no emotion in me given what they depict, and yet they don't.
That aside, it's notable to me that the black mass doesn't attack Guts, even though he stays powerless and immobile for the entire episode. There could be an explanation for it, given that they speak to him politely and even ask for him to respond (but to what, since they didn't ask anything?)... But then those same guys just attack the Skull Knight on sight (who is most likely also a sacrifice). Doesn't make much sense. Still, the way they talk to him on that first page is what's most interesting about this episode to me.
What's next
It feels somewhat evident that Guts will enter that fissure we see on the first page in the next episode and maybe come across some secret ruins that will shed light on the island's true nature. By extension this might give us new information on what happened a thousand years ago. Like I said a month ago, it does remain to be seen how it all ties together, since the island is isolated and so far away from Gaizeric's capital city. Was it displaced from its original location? Did another Eclipse-level event occur separately? Were these beings "sealed" by Danan's power/tree? It's notable to me that the episode title (referring to them) contains the same kanji used for the Eclipse, even though it could be involuntary.
Barytes also comes to mind, in particular the difference between the forest and the dwarves' caves. I had speculated when the element was introduced that it could eventually be related to the "evil power" wielded by the God Hand, and that may yet prove to be the case. Speaking of the dwarves, will Guts come across them? Are they even still alive given what just happened? That'd be quite a feat. What about all the other inhabitants of the island? Presumably we'll see the Great Gurus do
something at some point...
And other than that I'm guessing we'll be following each little group's perspective, which honestly seems very ambitious
and difficult to do for Mori and the staff. I'm curious to see how each group will handle themselves, and more importantly what's actually going to happen next. I guess I'd like to see Isidro and Serpico go rescue Schierke and Farnese, if they're brought back into existence at some point. Will they all stay split up? How do they even get out of this situation? It feels rather hopeless at the moment. Maybe we were closer to the end of the story than we knew! Next episode, they all get killed. THE END.
Casca's abduction
Many people have commented on Casca's abduction, so I want to touch on it a little. I've already given my thoughts on the matter
in the last thread: it isn't the scenario I wanted to see; I would have preferred for her to have room to grow with her current companions. That said, I can't believe Mori wouldn't follow Miura's plans in that regard, so it must be what he had envisioned. What he had in mind exactly remains to be seen, so I'll wait to see how it goes.
While we unfortunately will never get to see how Miura would have done it himself, hopefully we'll be able to discern his intentions and the ways in which they made sense. For example he may have seen it as a way to re-establish Casca as a main character, independent of the group, by having her evolve alone and with her own unique point of view and ordeals to get through. Given how he established her PTSD after she was restored, being split apart from Guts is also not incongruous (even if being taken by Griffith of all people isn't exactly great either). Of course it opens many other questions, including how and when they will meet again.
Beyond that, for a very long time now, over 15 years in fact, the question of what would occur after Elfhelm has been one of the biggest unknowns in the series. As I believe I said even back then, transitioning from the familiar journey to a new "configuration" would be a difficult task for Miura, and nigh unpredictable for fans. All big, epic fantasy works tend to start crumbling when time comes for the authors to pay all the checks they've written by endlessly expanding the story, world and characters. But I believed then that Miura would nail it, and I still very much think he could have.
Fundamentally, the problem with how the abduction takes place is that it's a repeat of what happened on the Hill of Swords, except Guts somehow does even worse. On its face, it makes it seem like the whole journey to Elfhelm served little purpose, and it makes me seriously yearn for a glimpse of how Miura would have done it. Of how it could have been good. It's frustrating, because I want to say that the next chapter in the story (which will start in just three episodes) will show us what he had in store for Casca and whether it was all worth it, but the truth is that at best it'll still just be an interpretation of his unfinished ideas.
The island's destruction
The island's almost instant destruction was definitely a surprise and reflects rather poorly on characters like Danan and the Great Gurus. I would go so far as to say it's pathetic, especially given how effortlessly it's made to occur. It even makes you question a character like the Skull Knight, who reflects on how "it's fate" that it happened, but didn't bother warning Guts about it back on the beach. As a side note, the word he uses for "fate" here (定め) isn't the one Miura used in the rest of the series (運命)... Only a detail, you might say, but it bums me out...
At the same time, Skellig's destruction in this specific manner feels like just the kind of twist you could expect from Miura. Again, the obvious question is what he would have done differently, but there's so many variables it's impossible to really say. Even changing the timing a little bit could have made a huge difference. It really reinforces the idea to me that "more is less" in this case. I'd rather only have what Mori knew was planned and be able to imagine the rest, than get additional "decorative" material that implies other things didn't happen when in fact they might have.
Anyway, what would have truly been lame would have been to make it just a repeat of what happened at Flora's place, so I'm glad it's not that. Also, what matters isn't so much the island as the people on it, and they (well, some of them) may yet survive. That would, again, be an interesting twist. Kind of like Daiba's survival after the annihilation of the Kushan empire. The prognosis isn't so good for Danan, though. But I guess she must have something left to do or she'd be dead already. That feels like a particularly sad end for her character, especially given how carelessly she's treated on the page. I hope the next couple of episodes won't be so miserable for her. Now that I think of it, though, if she ends up putting up a last display of power to allow people to escape, that will actually be quite similar to what happened with Flora...
