Scenes in Berserk that tug at your heartstrings

[puella]

There are many heart-wrenching scenes in Berserk and I thought it would be interesting to share what moments moved us the most in that way.

For me personally, I cried at these scenes...

When young Guts was happy with the ointment Gambino gave him.
When three-year-old Guts held the hand of Shisu as she was dying.
When young Guts dreamed of running alongside Gambino.
When Adonis was killed.
When the young boy soldier died in Griffith's arms.
When the egg apostle swallowed the demon child.
When Guts rescued Casca in the heretics' cave.
When Chich died.
When the Moonlight boy touched Casca's face with both hands.

There are many other scenes that touched me deeply but the ones above came to mind first. In the end, I always tell myself: Miura is too good, it's crazy. Nowadays, I feel like crying whenever I see the picture of his desk.

 

[Maco_2000]

The scene that always gets to me is Guts' sprint after the eclipse. Also when Guts finally saves Casca at Albion and pulls her in close for a silent embrace.

 

[manvsdestiny]

all events in the eclipse,guts childhood with gambino and the mercenary's,the moonlight boy not being able to be with his parents,guts in the cave of darkness with Jill,rosines death,so many to name.

 

[Lawliet]

Here are some of the moments that moved me:

1. Guts' face as he walked away from Theresia. That hit me hard.
2. Also, Guts' face when recovered Casca is screaming after she saw him.
3. Speaking of Casca, seeing her broken form in the dream world and the rebuilding of it was emotional.
4. Guts' final speech to Jill.
5. Guts holding up his sword after Godo repaired it one last time.
6. Schierke calling on the four elemental spirits and her subsequent speech to Farnese and the priest.
7. The villagers' heartwarming gratitude to Schierke after the village was saved, and the priests acknowledgement of her and her request.
8. Guts' reaction to Skull Knight's revelation that Casca can be brought back.
9. Guts thanking his companions as they arrived at Elfhelm.
10. Guts acknowledging Puck for the first time.

 

[Gobolatula]

Guts and Casca's love scene in volume 9 is superb. When I see the sequence leading up to their first kiss, I feel such a warm feeling in my heart. Despite Guts' moment when he flashes back to his childhood and lashes out at Casca, the whole scene is just so tender.

All the events involving Flora's death really get to me. Specifically, how it affected Schierke. It all was so chaotic and traumatic for her, and she was literally torn from her comfortable, peaceful life with her cherished mentor. I get choked up during the scene on the beach when Schierke does her best to keep it together, but then starts bawling, running to Guts to be comforted. Poor kid.

The most recent moment that had me in tears was when Casca regained her mind. I really couldn't believe it when it happened.

 

[Grail]

Oh man... there are already so many great moments listed, but here are a few that always get me:

• In volume 12 when Casca tells Guts to leave. There's that old saying, "if you love something, let it go," and while Guts and Casca never plainly say "I love you," this was one very devastating example of where it's so achingly obvious that I just wanted to eat the pages (I didn't, cause I needed to read it again! )
• In volume 14 when the Demon Child is born. I'm very attached to the little guy, so any scenes with him fill me with pity and affection, particularly those scenes already mentioned with him and the Egg Apostle.
• In volumes 26-27 when a dying Flora communicates with Schierke as the tree mansion burns. Those heartbreaking exchanges, interspersed with Guts's fight against Grunbeld and the group's escape, are such incredible moments filled with emotion for me.
• In volume 40, when Farnese and Schierke restore the doll representing Casca, and the little sprite version of Casca enters it with one last look back, and Farnese's encouragement. As a woman, that part meant a lot to me.
• Again, in volume 40, when tears come to Casca's eyes when she thinks of Guts. I still very vividly remember reading this episode for the first time and welling up. Of course, things didn't work out quite like I'd imagined for that meeting, but still, that particular scene hits me hard.

 

[puella]

In volume 12 when Casca tells Guts to leave. There's that old saying, "if you love something, let it go," and while Guts and Casca never plainly say "I love you," this was one very devastating example of where it's so achingly obvious that I just wanted to eat the pages (I didn't, cause I needed to read it again!

)

I think Casca expresses her love quite actively while Guts doesn't.

In volume 14 when the Demon Child is born. I'm very attached to the little guy, so any scenes with him fill me with pity and affection, particularly those scenes already mentioned with him and the Egg Apostle.

Me too, everytime the boy/demon child shows up, I become very emotional.

 

[Guin]

There are a lot, but I'll choose the one that instantly came to my mind without thinking too deeply about it, and it's when Guts looks at Casca happy and smiling at the beach, not only is it a great pay off from what he said previously, "when was the last time I saw her smile?" But he wants Casca to be happy, even from afar Guts will treasure those moments I think, even though they aren't on great terms he's happy she can still smile even after everything, and it must remind him of the Casca he once knew too. There is so much going on here, there is also the fact that it really shows how important the group is and how Farnese and the gang have positively affected her.

 

[Egg]

Yes, the drama! What is Berserk without the drama?!
A lot of you already mentioned some scenes that made me emotional as well.
Other moments that easily come to mind are…

Godot telling Guts that he left those irreplaceable things and went alone
These words really pushed Guts in the right direction. I have nothing but gratitude and love for Godot.

Young Guts’ face crumpling in tears at Gambino’s confession
(about Donovan and all the other painful things he said) This cruel moment is really heartbreaking.

Judeau’s final thoughts—a love that he couldn’t confess!
Bittersweet until the end.

 

[Thasky]

When the band of the falcon find out about Griffiths condition after the wyald battle, and no one has it in them to speak up. "Only the wind announced the end of our fight"

 

[Maco_2000]

Yes, the drama! What is Berserk without the drama?!
A lot of you already mentioned some scenes that made me emotional as well.
Other moments that easily come to mind are…

Godot telling Guts that he left those irreplaceable things and went alone
These words really pushed Guts in the right direction. I have nothing but gratitude and love for Godot.

Young Guts’ face crumpling in tears at Gambino’s confession
(about Donovan and all the other painful things he said) This cruel moment is really heartbreaking.

Judeau’s final thoughts—a love that he couldn’t confess!
Bittersweet until the end.

Ah, you reminded me of another one of my favorite emotional moments: Guts realizing in Godot’s cave that it’s not too late to save Casca and declaring that he’ll get her back. It’s my favorite berserk episode actually.

And kid Guts crying when Gambino tells him the truth, heartbreaking indeed.

 

[krzysiek]

Many great moments have already been pointed out so I'll go with:

1) Guts, Serpico and Roderick talk when Schierke and Farnese were in corridor of dreams. Absolute fantastic scene that shows how their bond developed over time.

2) Guts farewell with party when they, as far as I remember, were leaving Qliphoth. Guts shared some warm words for everyone here.

3) Farnese casting four cardinal points on Seahorse. Scene really shows how much it meant for her.

 

[puella]

All the scenes you guys mentioned moved me much. However I have more!

The story of Farnese and Serpico in their childhood. Farnese was an obnoxious girl but it broke my heart when she always kept her rabbit doll and shuddered at the thunder. The fear and loneliness of an abandoned child were very pitiful. And young Serpico... His hardship was even followed by Farnese's hazing.

 

[Walter]

A more recent one comes to mind for me: In 363, Skull Knight and Danan appear in the same panel in what would normally be a very romantic framing, but because of their tragic histories, and 1000 years of distance, it's merely an echo of a happier time for them.

In a modern sense, it's like a couple that used to have a history, but they've each moved on because it didn't work out. Only because it's Berserk, the distance between them isn't some mutual thing, it's (likely) a result of their lives having been artificially extended after death. They're like reincarnations of themselves.

I think it's incredibly potent because of how much it implies about them without being explicit. But still... I really wish we got the full story between these two. Or at least a few more morsels before that door completely closed.

 

[asic]

So many great examples!
Not very specific sorry. Guess its time for another read but there are so many moments when Guts is alone even when he is surrounded by friends. Miura was so great at showing that loneliness or him never really fitting in. Only using subtle body language and facial expressions. Those moments always gets me even though there were a lot of them.

 

[Goat]

Spoiler

 

[Dionysus]

Chich's story is sublime and it hit me the hardest. A bright flame of innocence and kindness is able to shatter the walls of a deeply traumatized youth and rekindle humanity in Guts.

A second moment that really hits the soul is Guts embracing Jill in the cave at the conclusion of the Lost Children arc, which in my eyes is the high point of the entire manga. Behind the veil of a beast of darkness, a broken man is able to share a warm moment with another damaged child all the while relaying to her his philosophy of struggle and persuading her to fight continue to fight in her own battlefield as he does in his.

Although Griffith doesn't get much sympathy from the fanbase, but if you analyze the traumatic moments in his life that lead to the sacrifice you can see how Causality is working to fashion a man who would agree to sacrifice his Band at the Eclipse. An especially sad moment is when Griffith mourns the death of the boy who wanted to be a knight, he is willing to sell himself to avoid (albeit temporarily) death of his men and perform a self-penance of sorts for his sin. Although he frames it as a calculated logical decision, Casca in particular is able to see how fragile Griffith was, which unfortunately for Guts he was never able to see and it ended up breaking Griffith after Guts' decision to leave and fulfilled Zodd's prophecy and dooming the Band.

 

[Dark Emperor]

It seems a lot of people are kinda dancing around this one, but well... Guts's rape at the hands of Donovan, an event that had a huge impact on making him who he is.

 

[Aazealh]

It seems a lot of people are kinda dancing around this one, but well... Guts's rape at the hands of Donovan, an event that had a huge impact on making him who he is.

I don't think people aren't daring enough to talk about his rape, it's just that it's not depicted as a particularly sorrowful moment. It's certainly traumatic, but it rather makes Guts angry and then he quickly avenges himself. Like Egg and others mentioned, it's the admission by Gambino that he sold him out that really tears Guts apart, along with everything else he did to him. Thus that scene has more emotional weight, as does the one where he tells Casca about it in volume 9.

 

[blodvind]

There are many heart-wrenching scenes in Berserk and I thought it would be interesting to share what moments moved us the most in that way.

For me personally, I cried at these scenes...

When young Guts was happy with the ointment Gambino gave him.
When three-year-old Guts held the hand of Shisu as she was dying.
When young Guts dreamed of running alongside Gambino.
When Adonis was killed.
When the young boy soldier died in Griffith's arms.
When the egg apostle swallowed the demon child.
When Guts rescued Casca in the heretics' cave.
When Chich died.
When the Moonlight boy touched Casca's face with both hands.

There are many other scenes that touched me deeply but the ones above came to mind first. In the end, I always tell myself: Miura is too good, it's crazy. Nowadays, I feel like crying whenever I see the picture of his desk.

I can think of these scenes when I was so emotional I cried:

- After Femto's incarnation when Casca stretches her arms out to him
- At the hill of swords whenever Griffith speaks to Guts
- The moment Farnese's inocence is lost when she is a child. She says something about how she became one of the dancing shapes
- When Farnese's mom tells her how she communicates like a small child, without speech but through actions
- When Casca falls into the ocean and Guts follows her. Guts internal monologue gets me
- In Elfhem, when Schierke tells Guts to trust his companions for curing Casca
- When Casca screams when she sees Guts
- When the Moonlight Boy transforms into Griffith

Well, I just realized I cry a lot!

 

[Xenoskell]

The Eclipse was so shocking that I couldn't even cry.
I legit thought that it was all a dream at first.
When I finally understood that it was not a dream, I was already reading the next episodes, so I didn't have the time to process all my emotions.

But I couldn't hold myself when Chitch died. It's the first time I've ever cried by reading a manga (the second one was reading Oyasumi Punpun).
It hit me like a truck, because I liked the character a lot, she had that naive spirit on her, but she was also cheerful and caring. Brought so many heartwarming sensations to the story.
I was was really not prepared to see her vanish into thin air, let alone so shortly.

Anyway, I've done a recent re-read of the Blackswordsman Arc, and I couldn't help but feel pretty sad at Varga's story, I think people (not from here but the overall readers) often forgot too much about him.
Seeing your wife and children being eaten by a monster like the Count for doing nothing wrong would be pretty devastating. Not only that, but he also had to struggle a lot to escape, then research and keep moving to see what you can do this horrible monster, only to find out that you're too weak to do anything, die in the processand, and go straight to hell eternally.
At least he got his revenge though.

And does the game (the Dreamcast one) count?
There were some moments that were pretty remarkable to me.

 

[Aazealh]

Anyway, I've done a recent re-read of the Blackswordsman Arc, and I couldn't help but feel pretty sad at Varga's story, I think people (not from here but the overall readers) often forgot too much about him.
Seeing your wife and children being eaten by a monster like the Count for doing nothing wrong would be pretty devastating. Not only that, but he also had to struggle a lot to escape, then research and keep moving to see what you can do this horrible monster, only to find out that you're too weak to do anything, die in the processand, and go straight to hell eternally.
At least he got his revenge though.

Beyond the basic facts about Vargas, his life and eventual fate also serve as a cautionary tale for Guts, who is clearly disturbed by the parallels between them.

And does the game (the Dreamcast one) count?

I don't see why not.

 

[hsvfan-jan]

A quote from Farnese during the Conviction arc:
"I never escaped from that childhood darkness after all. Then ultimately it took shape and appeared before my eyes." (Episode 176)
There's something I had unconsciously hidden away deep within me for most of my life until it recently got "forced out" due to a personal event. I've read that line quite a few times already but now it hit me deeply and totally different than before.

 

[Xenoskell]

I don't see why not.

Ok then.
So, that famous moment when Casca briefly recovers her sanity and even talks to Guts. I legit get goosebumps whenever I remember about it.
It's just a shame that we will likely never get to see her talking with him again, at least not until much later in the story.

 

[Aazealh]

So, that famous moment when Casca briefly recovers her sanity and even talks to Guts. I legit get goosebumps whenever I remember about it.

A teaser, 20 years before the real cure, that was true to her experience. The kind of thing only Miura could pull.

It's just a shame that we will likely never get to see her talking with him again, at least not until much later in the story.

Sadly, I doubt there will be much meaning to be found in how the Continuation handles their relationship.