Berserk: The Flame Dragon Knight novel

RaffoBaffo

Ex-Newser of the late Berserk Chronicles
MrFlibble said:
Love his chariot, I'd hate to be chased by that sight :magni:. as implied by Mule, Grunbeld's beherit seems to have been activated by his mortal wounds on the battlefield, although I didn't expect Grunbeld's sacrifice to be a female friend. In the last image Grunbeld, also seems to be wreaking vengeance against his comrade after sacrificing the girl, and the female knight in the other three pictures appears to be dead or unconscious, makes me wonder what enmity has torn these characters apart. I do hope Miura doesn't gloss over any of this when Grunbeld's past is revealed in the manga.
Actually I think the girl died, and he sacrificed the other two.
 
Looking at these illustrations almost makes me forget my trepidation for the book. Almost. The illustrations are great, and it's fun to try and imagine what the story surrounding them could be. But I'm quite certain they're the best thing about it, and I'm still disappointed that this all has to be revealed to us in a novel written by a guy whose work so far has only filled me with white frothing rage. Best I can hope for is that it won't suck balls and that Miura will incorporate the story (or at least what worked in it, or what he envisioned it would be like) into the manga when the time is right. Or that he'll just ignore it and do his own thing, changing Grunbeld's history completely in the process. Either way, this had better be the last Berserk novel we see, as well as the definitive end for this merchandising push that's by and large only produced trash.
 
I love Miura's illustrations, especially the walrus knights (talk about a Northern country!) and the Nordic designs incorporated into the clothes/armor of Grunbeld's friends.

Even though I agree an episode in the manga would've been better, I appreciate that we can infer the backstory solely from the illustrations without having to read the novel. The illustrations taken together are almost like a small episode itself, one Miura created outside the main story to satisfy our backstory curiosity. It's not preferable, but thinking of it like that makes it palatable to me.

But then again, I felt the backstory information we got in the manga was sufficient.
 
I am not sure why, but inferring from the illustration, Grunbeld seem to be Guts in another parallel universe where he was chosen to be the one to do the sacrifice instead.


The panel where she hold the dying girl kind of resemblance the 13th volume cover of Berserk.
 
Why is everybody so butthurt ? Anything Berserk related is gold.Also Grunbeld seems a very cool guy. He is like the "Apostle Guts". I hope he will play an important role in the main storyline too.
 
Since Grunbeld is my favorite apostle. I pretty much would like to read this novel... even if it's not written by Miura but still would like to read it
 

Menosgade

Not all those who wander are lost
Cyrus Jong said:
Looking at these illustrations almost makes me forget my trepidation for the book. Almost. The illustrations are great, and it's fun to try and imagine what the story surrounding them could be. But I'm quite certain they're the best thing about it, and I'm still disappointed that this all has to be revealed to us in a novel written by a guy whose work so far has only filled me with white frothing rage. Best I can hope for is that it won't suck balls and that Miura will incorporate the story (or at least what worked in it, or what he envisioned it would be like) into the manga when the time is right. Or that he'll just ignore it and do his own thing, changing Grunbeld's history completely in the process. Either way, this had better be the last Berserk novel we see, as well as the definitive end for this merchandising push that's by and large only produced trash.

I agree with not having more, but I guess this won't really be incorporated in the main story. Maybe we could see some reference to the story developed in the novel, but not really seeing it being "changed". Grunbeld is an important apostle in Femto's army now, the past doesn't change his role today. Since he made the sacrifice, we can assume he doesn't really have something important to go back to. The pact is made :idea:

Lord Skanderbeg said:
Why is everybody so butthurt ? Anything Berserk related is gold.

Well personally I can't say these illustrations aren't exciting. They're pretty damn good. However, it's not up to the illustrator, Miura, also author to Berserk, to write the novel, as it wasn't to consult/direct our recent Berserk anime. And, unfortunately, the anime's head writer is also this novel's writer, justifying our precaution. So not many people arround here will agree with "Anything Berserk related is gold". Also, mind your manners.
 

NightCrawler

Aeons gone, vast, mad and deathless
I just saw the illustrations and didn't read any post after it, and even though they're beautiful, i find all of this quite sad.
 
Not really spoiling much here, but
but the first four of the God Hand members are mentioned by name when Grunbelds beherit summons them. DUN DUN DUUUN
 

Walter

Administrator
Staff member
MrFlibble said:
Not really spoiling much here, but
but the first four of the God Hand members are mentioned by name when Grunbelds beherit summons them. DUN DUN DUUUN

Neat. It's where I expected this to have taken place in the general timeline of Berserk (Within the past 216 years).
 
Female soldier friend is called Sigur(has feelings for Grunbeld), black-haired girl is Benedict and male soldier friend is Edvard(has feelings for Sigur).

Basically:

Edvard is encouraged by their jealous king and the Tudor general to betray Grunbeld, this throws their family(the girls) in danger. Grunbeld finds himself in mortal danger when the Beherit activates with his blood. The first 4 God Hand appear and he sacrifices his friends(they were willingly sacrificed). The apostle Grunbeld eats Edvard, burns the Tudor general to ashes and then goes after his king.
 

Walter

Administrator
Staff member
GORDOL said:
Female soldier friend is called Sigur(has feelings for Grunbeld), black-haired girl is Benedict and male soldier friend is Edvard(has feelings for Sigur).

Basically:

Edvard is encouraged by their jealous king and the Tudor general to betray Grunbeld, this throws their family(the girls) in danger. Grunbeld finds himself in mortal danger when the Beherit activates with his blood. The first 4 God Hand appear and he sacrifices his friends(they were willingly sacrificed). The apostle Grunbeld eats Edvard, burns the Tudor general to ashes and then goes after his king.

Thank you. Podcast prophecy fulfilled. :badbone:

Also a few things seem off about the description here. It's unclear to me whether you copied this summary from elsewhere, or you read it and summarized the book yourself (in which case, bravo!) -- I just hope Fukami himself didn't get this stuff wrong...

* Beherits don't activate with blood. They activate when their owner is at their most desperate moment, responding to "the crying/wailing of the soul." Blood is often present on the Beherit incidentally, but there are instances shown where no blood is present and it activates anyway (namely, the Count).

* Beherit-apostle aside, calling something a "willing sacrifice" is anomalous, to say the least.
 
Walter said:
Thank you. Podcast prophecy fulfilled. :badbone:

Also a few things seem off about the description here. It's unclear to me whether you copied this summary from elsewhere, or you read it and summarized the book yourself (in which case, bravo!) -- I just hope Fukami himself didn't get this stuff wrong...

* Beherits don't activate with blood. They activate when their owner is at their most desperate moment, responding to "the crying/wailing of the soul." Blood is often present on the Beherit incidentally, but there are instances shown where no blood is present and it activates anyway (namely, the Count).

* Beherit-apostle aside, calling something a "willing sacrifice" is anomalous, to say the least.

Found 2 spoiler sets and combined them(that's why I edited for a more accurate version). Regarding the blood: it's the way it was written(グルンベルド自身も命の危機にさらされた時にグルンベルドの血でベヘリットが発動。). On the sacrifice portion I guess Grunbeld didn't want to sacrifice his family initially but they saw it as the only way out of the dire situation and convinced him to do the deed.
 
GORDOL said:
Regarding the blood: it's the way it was written(グルンベルド自身も命の危機にさらされた時にグルンベルドの血でベヘリットが発動。). On the sacrifice portion I guess Grunbeld didn't want to sacrifice his family initially but they saw it as the only way out of the dire situation and convinced him to do the deed.

If this is true, this is highly inconsistent with the way things work in the series. The sacrifice just doesn't work this way. Not a good sign....
 

Walter

Administrator
Staff member
GORDOL said:
Found 2 spoiler sets and combined them(that's why I edited for a more accurate version). Regarding the blood: it's the way it was written(グルンベルド自身も命の危機にさらされた時にグルンベルドの血でベヘリットが発動。).

Whew, crisis averted then. It sounds like the summarizer simply put emphasis on the wrong thing. That text says he was bloody AND dying, which is consistent with how Beherits function.

Would you mind posting the full Japanese text summary, for posterity?

On the sacrifice portion I guess Grunbeld didn't want to sacrifice his family initially but they saw it as the only way out of the dire situation and convinced him to do the deed.

Grunbeld begrudgingly became an apostle in order to exact some righteous revenge? That's not very evil, particularly if the sacrificed were "willing." Something is off here... And the "family" are the ... Girls, you said? If they were sacrificed, then why is Sigur's body visible on the page where Grunbeld is an apostle? It'd have been taken by the Vortex upon her death.

I'm still willing to bet the original summarizer is simply off the mark here on the details, but it's an unpleasant feeling.
 
グルンベルドを嫌う(嫉妬している)自国の公王と敵であるチューダーの将軍に唆されたグルンベルドの親友に裏切られてグルンベルドの身内が危機にされされます。
グルンベルド自身も命の危機にさらされた時にグルンベルドの血でベヘリットが発動。
四人のゴッドハンドが降臨し、グルンベルドは身内を生贄に捧げます。(身内もそれを望んでいた為)
転生したグルンベルドは裏切った親友を食らい、チューダーの将軍を焼き尽くし、公王の元へ…。

It didn't make much sense to me but then I found the character names and that Sigur liked Grunbeld and Edvard liked Sigur. The thing is this summary uses plural for his friends but the images shows him holding the black-haired girl with the Beherit activated and then his apostle form towering over Edvard and downed Sigur. We will know soon.

EDIT: found more spoilers and more in-depth character descriptions. Still doesn't answer how the sacrifice went.

Characters:
グラント大公国

グルンベルド・アールクヴィスト: 主人公 炎竜騎士団の団長

父は早くに戦死

オイフェミア・アールクヴィスト:

グルンベルド・アールクヴィストの母:元名門貴族で北方海洋狩猟民族出身でチェダー兵に殺された。

キルステン: 齢60のグラント大公国の大将軍

大柄の白髪で肩幅も広く首も太い顔中に戦傷があり身が細い

ホーコン: グラント大公国の大公

エドヴァルド: グラント大公国 大公の息子で炎竜騎士団の福団長

フルド: エドヴァルドの母、公妃

シグル: ヨハンセン家の娘で炎竜騎士団、炎竜重装歩兵団の騎士団長

ルドヴィック: 銀狼 ベネディクトと何時もともにいる狼

ベネディクテ: 盲目の巫女(火竜の巫女)

マテウシュ: 影手の一党のリーダー(グラント大公国の隠密・暗殺者)


チューダー軍

アベカシス: チューダー軍の将軍

Story spoilers:

始まりは、島国のグラント大公国の首都、ノルドキャピティで

女性の惨殺死体が衛兵に発見されたところから物語が始まっていきます。

死体は3体あり、すべて美人ばかり・・・

大将軍のキルステンはこう推測する

「わしの勘さえ確かならば、この犯人は高貴な人物よ」と


話は14年前までさかのぼる

グルンベルドが14歳の少年の時

喧嘩の後に森で一人の少女と銀色の狼とと出会い

盲目の少女(ベネディクテ)から火竜と
呼ばれるようになり森を抜けると人影はなかった。

「グルンベルド」の画像検索結果
それから数日後、
チューダー帝国にグルンベルドの住む村が占領され

その時にグルンベルドの母は
勇敢に立ち向かい殺害された。

捕虜収容所に送られたグルンベルドは
そこで、エドヴァルド、シグルと出会う

4年の歳月がたち収容所の
軍事訓練で体調3メートルのトラと戦うことになった3人

戦いの場に、グリンベルドの
愛用の武器となる人が持てるような大きさではない戦槌を手にし

トラをその戦槌で砕いた腹の中から
ベヘリットを手に入れる事となる。

それと同時にグラント公国の
キルステンの軍によってチューダー軍から解放された。

4年後にはグルンベルドは
騎士となり十年にわありチューダー軍と渡り合ってきた

その後グルンベルドは
グラント公国とチューダー軍の策略にはまり

挟み撃ちにあい死に至る寸前に
ベヘリットにより召喚されゴット・ハンドの4人にあい

生贄をささげ、人なざる者となり
グラント公国内のチューダーの拠点をすべて焼き尽くし

火竜が国を救ったと、おとぎ話として語り継がれた

グルンベルドは巫女の言葉どうり
光の鷹を探すためミッドランドを旅していた。

So:
-Black-haired girl is blind and the maiden of the fire dragon
-Grunbeld and friends were captured by the Tudor army and made prisoners
-Grunbeld finds his Beherit inside the beast he killed in that picture
-Grunbeld returns to his country, becomes apostle and liberates the country in his fire dragon form becoming a legend.
 

Aazealh

Administrator
Staff member
Haven't had time to really check the summaries Gordol posted, however I have received the book and for info it's 182 pages long (not counting the superfluous stuff) and is indeed a light novel (which wasn't 100% sure given how they've been advertising it).

There is also one more illustration than what has been posted so far, bringing the total to 10 plus the cover. I'm not going to post a picture of the drawing, but it depicts Benedikte (the proper spelling for the girl's name) dressed in a light robe and performing a ritual/dance of some kind.
 
Aazealh said:
It has already been established that it is an original story by Makoto Fukami. There is no doubt about it. And given that Miura is illustrating it, I find it hard to dismiss the idea that it is canon.

As depressing as the thought is, I'm trying to imagine what the novel being "canon" would even mean in terms of the manga.

"Guts! You and I are not so different, which you'd know if you'd read BERSERK®: The Flame Dragon Knight, available now at CDJapan and Amazon.co.jp!"

GORDOL said:
-Grunbeld returns to his country, becomes apostle and liberates the country in his fire dragon form becoming a legend.

This is interesting. Something I've wondered about the Berserk world is how the existence of apostles wasn't more well known before the eclipse; given how many legends have grown around monsters in our own world, one would think even a handful of witnesses/survivors of transformed apostles would be enough to get the word out and people wouldn't be so surprised to encounter someone like Wyald or Zodd.
 

Aazealh

Administrator
Staff member
llafnwod said:
As depressing as the thought is, I'm trying to imagine what the novel being "canon" would even mean in terms of the manga.

"Guts! You and I are not so different, which you'd know if you'd read BERSERK®: The Flame Dragon Knight, available now at CDJapan and Amazon.co.jp!"

Come on, let's not exaggerate things.

llafnwod said:
Something I've wondered about the Berserk world is how the existence of apostles wasn't more well known before the eclipse; given how many legends have grown around monsters in our own world, one would think even a handful of witnesses/survivors of transformed apostles would be enough to get the word out and people wouldn't be so surprised to encounter someone like Wyald or Zodd.

Well it's not like there aren't any tales of monsters (and other fantasy creatures such as elves) in Berserk, that much is established early on (for example when Zodd is introduced in volume 5). It's just that they aren't that common in the more populated areas.
 
Aazealh said:
Well it's not like there aren't any tales of monsters (and other fantasy creatures such as elves) in Berserk, that much is established early on (for example when Zodd is introduced in volume 5). It's just that they aren't that common in the more populated areas.

That's true, but I think it supports my point. Guts' visceral (hehe) reaction to Zodd's transformation isn't just fear (already uncommon for him), but the feeling that such a thing is impossible. That's an understandable reaction for someone living in our world, where beings like that really are just stories, but in Berserk's world, with folks like Grunbeld around and (apparently, according to this summary) well-known, one would think Judeau would just be like "Yeah, I mean, there's a knight in the North who literally turns into a fire-breathing dragon".

Godot's reaction to the order to make a sword capable of killing a dragon wasn't to make a practical, excellent sword like his contemporaries, it was to make a colossal thing impossible to wield for a human - a fantastic weapon for a fantastic opponent. Guts picks it up when nothing else will do, and uses a sword that shouldn't be wieldable against enemies that shouldn't exist.

That's my feeling, anyway. It doesn't really bother me, but I think it's fun to muse on.
 

Aazealh

Administrator
Staff member
llafnwod said:
(apparently, according to this summary)

It seems to me that your entire train of thought is based on an interpretation (the fact Grunbeld showed himself in his apostle form to tons of people who lived to tell about it) that I think should be taken with a grain of salt. I believe the wiser course of action is to not upend what had been established until now before we get more details. And even then, really, this remains a side-story from a third party, so whatever discrepancies it might contain should be viewed with skepticism in my opinion.
 

Griffith

With the streak of a tear, Like morning dew
Aazealh said:
really, this remains a side-story from a third party, so whatever discrepancies it might contain should be viewed with skepticism in my opinion.

Now you're talkin'. :guts:

It's the Berserk EU, folks! Let's deal with it... by putting it over there somewhere. No, not there. In that corner. Behind those boxes. But if we have to acknowledge it, however it fits in the bigger picture, I do hope it's at least good. I didn't imagine that Grunbeld had made his name so prominently after his transformation, but I suppose it makes sense. I figured like others he was already famous for his heroics, and perhaps that's still the case, and allegedly fell in battle (at least that's what I recall from Mule's encounter with him). Kinda lame if you couldn't even make your name pre-Apostle, Grunny. :daiba:
 
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