Grail said:
Sorry to get stuck on this point. I actually don't like debating, and I'm not going to pretend to know what Miura's intentions were, but I feel pretty strongly about the language being used here. I also think that this interpretation has implications with Charlotte's other important scenes (the incident with Ganishka for example), and probably what we'll see of her and Griffith's interactions in the future.
I think you're overanalyzing the scene, and that by focusing too much on the language and on what constitutes consent or not, you're diluting the point of what matters. No, Charlotte wasn't comfortable with it at first and no, it isn't how she would have done things had she been in total control of everything. However, the takeaway here is that it eventually was not a bad or traumatic experience for her. She kept fond memories of it and didn't have any regrets. Those aren't the symptoms of someone who was raped, and so I don't think it's appropriate to label the encounter as such just by principle. That can be opposed to her father's aggression that actually traumatized her to some extent, as seen in her later scene with Ganishka, during which she called out to... Griffith.
I don't believe it's sensible to label all sexual assaults as "rape" regardless of their level, because it diminishes the gravity of the more ignominious ones. Simply said, either we classify them by induced trauma (which is subjective in nature but representative of the victim's grief), in which case this can't really be called rape as she was rapidly happy with what happened, or we classify them through an assessment of their perceived criminality. And if so, well I don't think one can seriously compare this particular encounter, to say, Casca's rape by Femto. Lastly, the fact Griffith wasn't honest about his feelings to Charlotte can't be used to argue that it constituted rape in my opinion, in fact I would say that it's another issue entirely.
Grail said:
At the end of the day, Charlotte says "no," but Griffith keeps going, and it's hard for me to divorce my interpretation from that fact. To be clear, I was never trying to prove that Charlotte didn't ultimately enjoy it or that she felt any guilt. What I'm saying is that her subsequent feelings have little bearing on what I believe is technically an assault.
The thing is, like you say, it's a technicality. One that I think obscures the bigger picture if we focus on it too much in this particular case, as I said above. Furthermore, I believe there is an argument to be made here for not disregarding the character's feelings as merely being a result of mental inadequacy, which I think would be presumptuous if not contemptuous. Was she misled and taken advantage of? Definitely. Was she sexually abused? I would say no, even though Griffith's behavior in that specific moment was improper.
More one thing: consent can change during a sexual encounter. Someone can be Ok with it and then change their mind and not want it anymore. Here the opposite happens: Charlotte is originally reticent, partly or totally because she's scared, but then Griffith talks her into it and after that she seems fine with it. Something to think about.
Grail said:
when the emperor attempts to force himself on her, Charlotte calls out to Griffith [...] To me, this indicates a growing separation between Charlotte's perceptions and reality
Well Griffith does save her from Ganishka soon afterwards, so I'm not sure her perception of him as a savior is all that erroneous (or at least not more so than anyone else's). You seem to be forgetting about the effect Griffith had on everyone at this point through the Falcon of Light dreams. However, to address the actual point directly, Charlotte has been (and is still being) deceived when it comes to Griffith having romantic feelings towards her. But, while that makes him a cold-hearted bastard, as far as I know, that's not a crime.
You guys go into so much detail, its seriously fucking great. A great part of why Berserk is so incredible to me is Miura's attention to details, so talking about these volumes almost page by page brings conversations and ideas to the table that don't necessarily always come out in the forums. This exhaustive approach is definitely the way to go, as far as I'm concerned. Despite Griffith's absence, you guys managed to make things really interesting and entertaining, so good job! Almost 50 
Hey, I'm not complaining!
I would have never picked up on that. A little detail that, knowing Miura, is hard to accept as something entirely random now that I view it that way. 
