Episode 279

Aazealh

Administrator
Staff member
mike.william said:
The sea invasion wasn't shit compared to the land army, goddamn.

Actually Ganishka comments about it in the episode. He says that the naval attack was just a showy way to start the battle but that it wasn't all that important in the big picture, and that the final winner will be determined by the number of soldiers involved.

ironlung said:
Silat is still a normal human so I'm curious how he's going to react after seeing the pure destructive power of apostles (assuming we get some transformations this battle).

Well he's already seen enough in Wyndham I think, and in fact the Tapasa mention the fact supernatural powers are involved during their talk in this episode.

ironlung said:
We'll also get to find out if that Owen dude is really of any use in battle at all.

One thing I can tell you is that he doesn't think it's a good idea to fight the Kushans in such massive numbers. So far his judgement has proven to be correct. :void:

brinco said:
I mean Mule is a noble

And a kid, let's not forget about that. The context was also a bit particular when he pledged his sword to him, the atmosphere wasn't the same than now. But to come back to what you were saying, I don't think Owen will question Griffith's actions much either. At least not at first. He might be curious and notice the change in him (and in the Hawks), but he's seen the Falcon of Light in his dreams like all the others in Midland, and he's looking forward to being saved (see his recent talk with Guts and the ensuing monologue).

yota821 said:
Also, the Tapasa conversation had me a little curious. I wonder if Silat is considering to just sit back and passively watch, if not actively betray Ganishka (with the information he has)?

I wondered the exact same thing. Let's keep in mind that all they care about is the fate of their clan. They have no real loyalty to Ganishka or anybody else.

TheSkyTraveller said:
I don't have too many comments other than that was a whole lot of drawing some beautiful pages, a task which would have made me want to cry. :judo:

That's funny because Miura added something that translates like "(crying)" at the end of his comment in YA. :SK:

So, what happens in the episode in a few words: Owen comments on how Vritannis' whole garrison was annihilated in a single night, then he wonders how the Daka died. The Tapasa are wondering what course of action to take. Silat's pensive as shown in the panel and doesn't answer them. They're basically trying to get the most out of the situation, but are wary of putting the survival of their clan in the hands of monsters. Owen is uneasy about the coming clash, and Ganishka talks about what I mentioned earlier.
 
Aazealh said:
Actually Ganishka comments about it in the episode. He says that the naval attack was just a showy way to start the battle but that it wasn't all that important in the big picture, and that the final winner will be determined by the number of soldiers involved.

Yes. My interpretation of Ganishka's use of naval elements (besides offering an obstacle to our protagonists goal), served at least two objectives. First it served as a (somewhat) covert method of insertion for the Tiger Familiars (speculation on my part, I do not recall it ever being said exactly where the Tigers came from but I am assuming that they inserted into Vritannis with the other Familiars), as part of the attempt to eliminate the bulk of the City's Nobles. It also served as a brutal and demoralizing launch of the ground campaign. Not only are the Daka and Familiars formidable opponents to the average soldier, they are also far more terrifying in a visual and irrational sense* than a human soldier. Add the large amount of internal damage to the City itself, you have a target that is softened up fairly well before the main force even comes to bear.

*not that being afraid of the Daka is irrational, but their monstrous nature would evoke a visceral fear response that would likely not be present with a human foe of equal ability.
 

Billybob

Succumb to the will of the beast
Thanks for the episode. Very good, so much detail, I was very impressed, but I usually am with Berserk.

I look forward to the coming battle, and I hope Ganishka's got some tricks up his sleeve, I want to see a battle, not a slaughter!
 
Thank you Aaz and Saiya, thank you both very much... When the results are this great, how can anyone complain about the delay? Sweeter than sweet :beast:
 
S

smoke

Guest
This was probably the best-drawn episode of Berserk I've ever sen. The pure scale and detail of it all was really impressive. Other eps may have more dramatic-looking scenes or better shading/effects, but this made my jaw drop. Like this: :troll:
 
I gotta say I didnt expect to see Ganishka leave his fog to come out on the battle, especially with Griffith's Apostle army... then again as has been mentioned, this might be a true clash of super powers and perhaps we'll get a glimpse of Ganishka's apostle form, and even cooler, maybe some of Griffith's real power.
 

Griffith

With the streak of a tear, Like morning dew
Holy hell that's impressive, and it's so lush you could even miss it at first. Looks like Ganishka's going all in on this one, so if Griffith has that trump card up his sleave, now would be the time to play it. Whatever he does, he has the Pontiff to give it his blessing when the battles over.

"Monsters? Blasphemy! Griffith is aided by glorious angels sent from Heaven!"

Zodd, the angel. =)


P.S. In his cute rotund armor, Ganishka kind of reminds me of Gennon. Just saying. :guts:
 

Rhombaad

Video Game Time Traveler
smoke said:
Other eps may have more dramatic-looking scenes or better shading/effects, but this made my jaw drop. Like this:  :troll:

The panels with the thousands of shooting arrows has to be my favorite from this episode.  Reminded me of the arrow shooting scene from "Hero," actually.  But yeah, Miura really outdid himself in this episode.

"Griffith No More!" said:
P.S. In his cute rotund armor, Ganishka kind of reminds me of Gennon. Just saying. :guts:

Actually, that was the first thing I thought of when I saw him sitting there in it, too.
 
These great cavalry designs that Miura came up with made do a little digging, so here's a nice illustration that I found http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y298/GeorgeBethanis/trhqthr.jpg. the author of the image, Angus McBride, is said to be "one of the world's most respected historical illustrators" and the image itself represents Byzantine cavalry. It seems that Miura followed the design closely, right down to the tied up tails on the horses! Please note that I'm not trying to diminish his work I just found that this is yet another proof of how much work he puts into this manga. Also if this has been pointed out elswere I apologise, the search I did failed to show similar posts.
 

Pesmerga

This is going to be one hell of a party
WOW OHOH, this is going to be one hell of a party, the army is impressive and very organised, ganishka know how make them obey it's seems.

big THANKS to Aaz and saiya. :serpico:
 

Aazealh

Administrator
Staff member
jepn30 said:
My interpretation of Ganishka's use of naval elements (besides offering an obstacle to our protagonists goal), served at least two objectives.

In addition to what you said I'd point out that it destroyed the ships and a good part of the city, cutting the Holy See alliance's resources in case of a prolonged battle or siege. Not that I think it'll last very long seeing how it's going right now.

Billybob said:
I look forward to the coming battle, and I hope Ganishka's got some tricks up his sleeve, I want to see a battle, not a slaughter!

Well right now his army's slaughtering the Holy See alliance without the help of any trick. But yeah, I also wonder if he's got something to take care of the Neo Hawk's apostles. It would certainly be unwise of him not to.

"Griffith No More!" said:
Looks like Ganishka's going all in on this one, so if Griffith has that trump card up his sleave, now would be the time to play it.

Yeah, pretty much. There are so many Kushans that I wonder how he'll pull it off this time. With all these people assembled, he might finally reveal some of his power. Or has his own army grown huge with all those that already joined him?

"Griffith No More!" said:
In his cute rotund armor, Ganishka kind of reminds me of Gennon. Just saying.

Looks like everybody had the same thought. :guts:

vlad said:
It seems that Miura followed the design closely, right down to the tied up tails on the horses!

He often bases armors, weapons and such things on historical ones when it comes to armies. It's the same for the Kushans we see in volume 22 and 23 for example, you can check this thread if you want some insight on it. He has a lot of history books on which he bases himself, stuff with pictures from antique pieces of equipment that are in museums, etc. Other than that, I don't think Angus McBride himself is related save for the fact he also illustrates historical soldiers. Like you said it shows how much attention Miura pays to detail, but we already knew that. :beast:
 

Abstraction

Darkness is looking back at you
Aazealh said:
In addition to what you said I'd point out that it destroyed the ships and a good part of the city, cutting the Holy See alliance's resources in case of a prolonged battle or siege.

Your guys' points, and maybe even to cut off the retreat route to the ocean, by burning their ships. And to get the battle ships out of the way. Cause I think Vritannis would have a decent navy, being a world superpower.

I'm wondering if there was anything in Zodd saying, their mission was to get rid of the pishacha. (and then left the city? To reclaim Wyndam? With alot of the kushan out of the capitol, It makes me wonder) Because maybe Griffith only used his "monsters" when Ganishka used his.

Maybe Griffith's human force is enough to deal with the Kushans, (even though this scale blows the Doldrey Campaign outta the water) being that it's Griffith/Femto leading them. Maybe it is about time we saw more of what Griffith's capable of. Also, being that it's night time, maybe he'll have the apostles attack a flank that's in the shadows. Or once Ganishka goes fog form again, it will make it even more harder to see the apostles figthing in the distance.
 

Aazealh

Administrator
Staff member
Abstraction said:
maybe even to cut off the retreat route to the ocean, by burning their ships. And to get the battle ships out of the way. Cause I think Vritannis would have a decent navy, being a world superpower.

Well I don't think the ships would have been enough for everybody to flee, but yeah it basically cut off the city from the outside. I also don't think the battleships would have been of much use for the oncoming battle, so destroying them was more optional or maybe for future conflicts. However I don't know why you call Vritannis a world superpower. It's just a big maritime town that the Holy See alliance chose to establish its temporary HQ in before marching on Midland, but in itself it doesn't compare to the forces involved (whole countries...). It's not a superpower at all.

Abstraction said:
I'm wondering if there was anything in Zodd saying, their mission was to get rid of the pishacha. (and then left the city? To reclaim Wyndam? With alot of the kushan out of the capitol, It makes me wonder) Because maybe Griffith only used his "monsters" when Ganishka used his.

I think they just had to kill the Pishacha roaming the streets of the city, then retreat and wait for the huge Kushan army to show itself. I don't think they'll go attack Wyndham right now, it's not just 20 minutes away, and defeating Ganishka and his forces is their main goal. Once he's out taking back Wyndham won't be a problem.

Abstraction said:
Also, being that it's night time, maybe he'll have the apostles attack a flank that's in the shadows.

It's not night time. The sun rose behind Griffith as Guts' band rowed toward their ship.
 
Aazealh said:
I think they just had to kill the Pishacha roaming the streets of the city, then retreat and wait for the huge Kushan army to show itself. I don't think they'll go attack Wyndham right now, it's not just 20 minutes away, and defeating Ganishka and his forces is their main goal. Once he's out taking back Wyndham won't be a problem.

Agreed. Plus I doubt Zodd would stray too far from Griffith's side.

I don't think we'll see any transformations of the Apostles during his battle (altho I could be very wrong). IMO, if they were all to transform now, it would spook pretty much everyone in Vritannis. Apostles are strong enough in their 'human' form and right now Ganishka's army, while enormous, is comprised almost entirely of humans....(unless the elephants do their thing and walk upright), so the outcome of a normal human against an apostle in 'human' form is a no brainer. If anything I think this will showcase how powerful the Neo-Hawks are and basically make them look unstoppable.

Then again is Ganishka uses his magic and the Neo-Hawks take the apostle form...then foget what I just said.

As for Silat...I don't kno what he and the Tapasa are conversing about. So I'd like to wait or the translation before I ponder about him.....ah fuck it I'll ponder anyways. After what he saw that night (mentioned in ep's 230-233), it's def a matter of time before he decides to betray Ganishka...but I can't see it happening now. What's he gonna do, walk up to the Neo-Hawks or anyone else in Vritannis and ask to join them? He's Kushan and Kushans aren't really to well liked as of the moment.
I wonder how the four Tapasa would fair against an apostle? I'd geek the fuck out if Zodd went up against them.
Come to think of it, no way they'd join the Neo-Hawks, they tried to capture Griffith the day all the apostles assmebled to serve him.
So...who knows with Silat and his gang. I hope they eventually join up with Guts.
 

Aazealh

Administrator
Staff member
Check out the cover of volume 31 (Guts in the armor with the helmet on)! No excuse not to buy it right away!

NOCOMPROMISE.jpg
 
thanks for the release Saiya... and I thought the Kushan were only going to attack from the sea, I guess I should have been thinking about the big picture :guts:
 

CnC

Ad Oculos
Aazealh said:
Check out the cover of volume 31 (Guts in the armor with the helmet on)! No excuse not to buy it right away!

Thanks.

The volume cover is kind of hard to see, but it looks pretty cool.

And seeing all those spreads together. wow. I'm honestly surprised Miura finished in that break.
 
S

Some Guy

Guest
Thanks Aazealh

I can't rememper the last time there had been so many 2 page speards in one episode.

If Ganishka is defeated (which seems likely), I hope he is at least able to take out one of Griffith's apostle generals, as to not look like a complete loser.

And GUTS RETURNS!!

I can't tell if it is the same image used in episode 272, but it looks real similar.
 
Wow! So amazing!

I absolutely love the art and design of Ganishka's carriage. It reminded me of the Juggernaut that they wheeled around in India back in the day.

The Kushan people/culture is so amazing. They army is incredible. A question though... I'm stupid and blind but was the fabled land general shown in the episode? I remember seeing the army and a human leading them but I didn't know if he was the general or not.

And while I'm on this Kushan High, LOL.... Any chance Griffith might actually lose against the might of the Kushans and Ganishka? :troll:
 

Walter

Administrator
Staff member
I don't need to say it, and I usually don't, but this episode was awesome. It's so cool to see the world of Berserk take off in this kind of direction: a truly epic war with all these major players (minus Guts and co.) on the field. I can't wait for the coming episodes. This is going to be amazing.
 

CnC

Ad Oculos
Walter said:
I don't need to say it, and I usually don't, but this episode was awesome. It's so cool to see the world of Berserk take off in this kind of direction: a truly epic war with all these major players (minus Guts and co.) on the field. I can't wait for the coming episodes. This is going to be amazing.

Those who were complaining of the lack of war/strategy since Golden Age have nothing to say now, I'm sure. This battle's going to be epic.
 

Aazealh

Administrator
Staff member
Knight o' Skeleton said:
I can't rememper the last time there had been so many 2 page speards in one episode.

Episode 175. :badbone:

Knight o' Skeleton said:
I can't tell if it is the same image used in episode 272, but it looks real similar.

It's probably not the exact same since it's a painting, but yeah they do look similar.

Sushi Fish said:
I'm stupid and blind but was the fabled land general shown in the episode?

Nope. All that was shown is that Ganishka is leading the troops himself; we might see his general(s) later on.

Sushi Fish said:
And while I'm on this Kushan High, LOL.... Any chance Griffith might actually lose against the might of the Kushans and Ganishka?

Anything's possible. Ganishka's army is huge and right now they look invincible. I don't think Griffith (and probably his future new allies) will lose, but nothing prevents you from rooting for the Kushans if you want to. :daiba:

CnC said:
Those who were complaining of the lack of war/strategy since Golden Age have nothing to say now, I'm sure.

Oh don't worry, I'm sure people will still complain. They'll say the politic stuff is boring, and that the mass scale battles aren't moving the plot along. They'll say they want to see Guts and not Griffith, or that they want to see more magic. And finally they'll say they want the trolls back and that it was the best part of the last 10 volumes. No matter what happens, people always find something to complain about, even if it's what they said they wanted the year before. In the same vein, they'll adore tomorrow what they don't like today.
 

Abstraction

Darkness is looking back at you
Aazealh said:
However I don't know why you call Vritannis a world superpower. It's just a big maritime town that the Holy See alliance chose to establish its temporary HQ in before marching on Midland, but in itself it doesn't compare to the forces involved (whole countries...). It's not a superpower at all.

Maybe a bad chioce of words... But I just figured I'd call them that because they're the staging point for this epic war. And the city's Secretariat, Politiano, is next in line to be the pope, (supposedly). The Vandimion family has a high reputation, (that it needs to uphold now more than ever) and has a shit load of money. Their city deals in international trade, and apparently Ganishka needs this great force, to attempt to take it over.

So they may not be a super power to today's standards, but compared to Enoch they are. :guts:

I remember reading something along the lines of, if you weren't backed by the Vandimion family in war, then you probably shouldn't fight? I can't remember, or find it in volume 29, where I think it's in.

Aazealh said:
I think they just had to kill the Pishacha roaming the streets of the city, then retreat and wait for the huge Kushan army to show itself. I don't think they'll go attack Wyndham right now, it's not just 20 minutes away, and defeating Ganishka and his forces is their main goal. Once he's out taking back Wyndham won't be a problem.

Yeah, It would be too fast paced for them to go for Midland now, too I suppose.

Aazealh said:
It's not night time. The sun rose behind Griffith as Guts' band rowed toward their ship.

DOOHH! :beast:
 

Rhombaad

Video Game Time Traveler
Aazealh said:
Check out the cover of volume 31 (Guts in the armor with the helmet on)! No excuse not to buy it right away!

Thanks, Aazealh. The cover for volume 31 looks pretty good, although it's a little hard to see.
 
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