I have very little experience reading Manga. I've only watched Anime that were popular in the West when I was a child, some examples include: DBZ, One Piece and Yugioh. Over the course of my teenage years I developed a kind of prejudice against the subculture surrounding Manga and Anime due to the strange portrayal of sexuality and iterative storytelling centred on perpetual battle scaling. Later I would find out that the latter is a central them of a subcategory known as Shonen Manga. All this to say, I wasn't in search of Manga to read, but I somehow stumbled on the 1997 Berserk Anime. And boy did I embark on an incredible journey. I was impressed by the themes that were raised by the Anime, but once I started reading the Manga, I knew that this was truly something special. I wanted to share my thoughts here with others who like the Manga.
A true tragic drama, our protagonist Guts is an amazing rendition of the hero bound to endless tragedy. Born from the womb of dead woman, left to drown in placental waste. 'Born under a bad sign' couldn't be anymore suited to a character than it is for Guts. This 'bad sign' is formalized by the brand he receives during the Eclipse ceremony. Often, I see people saying that Berserk is a misanthropic and pessimist tale where the author is just writing a tale where the hero undergoes the worst suffering imaginable for no reason other than his suffering. This completely missed the point of Berserk. In Berserk, Guts is appropriately nicknamed the 'struggler' by the Skull Knight. Although he is destined to be haunted by the Apostles until the end of his days, he fights and struggles to survive and to protect those he loves, most notably his lover Casca. Berserk is a tale where although the hero is facing unsurmountable odds, he is determined to fight until the very end. The brilliant depiction of this struggle is what makes Berserk such a masterpiece.
This might be a controversial take to have on a diehard Berserk website, but I dislike some of the characters that Miura introduces in the story in the later arcs where Fantasy seems to overtake the dark tragedy and dramatic themes. I understand Miura is trying to create a band for the protagonist that will eventually challenge the antagonist's band, however I am not a fan of the introduction of several children in the narrative. It definitely takes away from the serious and rebellious nature the Manga had in its heyday. I'm not talking about being an edgy and insane killer as in the Lost Children arc (although that is one of my favourite arcs), I'm talking about examining the deep contradictions in human nature that lead us to tragedy. This is somewhat lost when Miura keeps adding children to the storyline who understandably are not or not as afflicted by the same 'drives' as adults are; i.e. lust, power, shame, etc.
Lastly, the post-Miura's death narrative in the Manga, I simply do not understand what's going on. There are way too many narrative mistakes, and actions that make no sense whatsoever. As I believe one of the hosts mentioned in the podcast, the Berserk's armour should have activated at the mere sight of Griffith when the Moonlight Child transforms into him. After failing to have landed a blow on Griffith, the 'Beast of Darkness' should be on life support in its smallest and most insignificant form. Bafflingly, the authors chose to show it at its strongest and free from any chains. The authors seem to not understand how some of these items work. Another puzzling incident is the 'loss of magic' of the great gurus, how is this possible? Schierke is able to practice magic after the Flora's tree is burnt, why would these great witches and wizards be able to practice magic? The implication of Schierke being the strongest witch in the story now basically locks the story, Void, who we think is a wizard that practices occult magic cannot be much stronger than her or else the difference in strength will be too unsurmountable to even allow the group to challenge the God Hand.
I think they should wrap up the story in a final arc, and afterwards publish Miura's notes so we can hopefully extrapolate our own ending to the series.
A true tragic drama, our protagonist Guts is an amazing rendition of the hero bound to endless tragedy. Born from the womb of dead woman, left to drown in placental waste. 'Born under a bad sign' couldn't be anymore suited to a character than it is for Guts. This 'bad sign' is formalized by the brand he receives during the Eclipse ceremony. Often, I see people saying that Berserk is a misanthropic and pessimist tale where the author is just writing a tale where the hero undergoes the worst suffering imaginable for no reason other than his suffering. This completely missed the point of Berserk. In Berserk, Guts is appropriately nicknamed the 'struggler' by the Skull Knight. Although he is destined to be haunted by the Apostles until the end of his days, he fights and struggles to survive and to protect those he loves, most notably his lover Casca. Berserk is a tale where although the hero is facing unsurmountable odds, he is determined to fight until the very end. The brilliant depiction of this struggle is what makes Berserk such a masterpiece.
This might be a controversial take to have on a diehard Berserk website, but I dislike some of the characters that Miura introduces in the story in the later arcs where Fantasy seems to overtake the dark tragedy and dramatic themes. I understand Miura is trying to create a band for the protagonist that will eventually challenge the antagonist's band, however I am not a fan of the introduction of several children in the narrative. It definitely takes away from the serious and rebellious nature the Manga had in its heyday. I'm not talking about being an edgy and insane killer as in the Lost Children arc (although that is one of my favourite arcs), I'm talking about examining the deep contradictions in human nature that lead us to tragedy. This is somewhat lost when Miura keeps adding children to the storyline who understandably are not or not as afflicted by the same 'drives' as adults are; i.e. lust, power, shame, etc.
Lastly, the post-Miura's death narrative in the Manga, I simply do not understand what's going on. There are way too many narrative mistakes, and actions that make no sense whatsoever. As I believe one of the hosts mentioned in the podcast, the Berserk's armour should have activated at the mere sight of Griffith when the Moonlight Child transforms into him. After failing to have landed a blow on Griffith, the 'Beast of Darkness' should be on life support in its smallest and most insignificant form. Bafflingly, the authors chose to show it at its strongest and free from any chains. The authors seem to not understand how some of these items work. Another puzzling incident is the 'loss of magic' of the great gurus, how is this possible? Schierke is able to practice magic after the Flora's tree is burnt, why would these great witches and wizards be able to practice magic? The implication of Schierke being the strongest witch in the story now basically locks the story, Void, who we think is a wizard that practices occult magic cannot be much stronger than her or else the difference in strength will be too unsurmountable to even allow the group to challenge the God Hand.
I think they should wrap up the story in a final arc, and afterwards publish Miura's notes so we can hopefully extrapolate our own ending to the series.