For a change of pace, you should read GTO. As adamant as i was about berserk, i am about GTO. Yeah it's slice of life, not shounen, not seinen, not Berserk, DB or OnePiece but a masterpiece in it's own right
Jesus christ, I hate that people keep using this quote as a literal interpretation when Guts as he is now would NOT share the same view he had in the past. Spoilers for the uninitiated. This was said by Guts at his lowest, crude, rough, just wanting to kill to vent. He thought as long as he died acting "in his own way", he'd be fine. He's already gone through so much, so why not at least go out swinging with nothing to lose? But Guts had everything to lose; his death would have meant Casca would have possibly stayed in her state until death. And over time when he gained more companions, he realized he can't just live out his battles in kamikaze mode, he needs to live so he can keep protecting them. He fought for something more than himself now - he had people who genuinely cared for him again. Compare that to the son who foolishly went for war, all for glory, or violence, or some selfish reason. That quote is not one to glamorize. It's the epitome of self entitlement and justifying one's terrible actions, no matter how awful they are. TLDR that quote sucks and people who keep using it without acknowledging the meaning behind it are well meaning I'm sure, but naïve.
The Silmarillion, Wheel of Time, Song of Ice and Fire, Guin Saga, Berserk.... There's just something about legendary fantasy where the original author doesn't finish them
There is a parallel in the artwork that's worth checking out: When Guts jumps off the boat to save Casca, there is a 2 page spread where he sees flashes of memories against a background of bubbles. Shortly after, he says the line "Even if we painstakingly piece together what was lost, it doesn't mean things will go back to normal". After piecing Casca's soul back together in the dreamscape, she has a nearly identical 2 page spread of memories drawn in the identical style.
You quoted Miura, not Guts. Guts says the same thing but less flowery. "Even if you force back what once was, it'll never be the same as before." Is what Guts says.
The fact that Guts coming out of the eclipse on the edge of death, gouged out eye and torn off arm is "relatively unscathed" says a lot about how horrific the eclipse really was
I think that's the most "scathed" Guts came out of a situation, both mentally and physically. He's never had that kind of permanent damage done before or since.
@@sub7se7en I meant relative to everyone else. Who either died completely lost it or both. The fact that the horrific state Guts was in is the best off of anyone says a lot
Kentaro Miura was a student of mythology so the character of Guts has many parallels with Norse mythology, particulary the armor of the berserker, the loss of his eye mirroring that of Odin sacrificing his eye for knowledge and his arm being lost mirroring the loss of Tyr's arm to the Fenris wolf. Really rivetting story if a bit long in the tooth. I hope that Miura's students are able to complete his magnum opus in a satisfying way.
Adding this so hopefully Mark sees it. Miura's best friend since he was 15, Kouji Mori, the mangaka of Holyland, and who Miura discussed the ending of Berserk with is going to supervise the continuation of the series with Miura's assistants focusing on the drawing. They're releasing the first of 6 chapters on 6/24/22 to finish up the Fantasia arc before starting a new one. BERSERK IS NOT DONE. MIURA'S LEGACY STILL LIVES ON.
@Real Talk Bro you are just a hater be quiet, Go read something else if you hate it so much but it was beyond good for the story in the future, and gut's struggle continues.
@@ZEHAHAHA9697 He didn't even give a opinion on why the Chapters aren't even good though, So that does make him a hater for not even saying why the chapters were bad 🤣
It’s been nearly a year without Miura and I appreciate Miura for giving us a magnum opus that’s not only good just in the manga industry but also in Literature in my opinion
In a way it's kind of poetic that the series ended with casca being cured an not with Griffith being defeated, it fits well with the theme of choosing what's most important.
Eh it’s not as bad as it could of been as satisfying for the journey but it’s clear this isn’t the ending and there is a lot left for these characters to reach Catharsis
When you think about it, the ending we did get is fairly sweet. Guts is in a land where he’s safe and surrounded by people he cares about and who cares about him. Meanwhile Griffith has achieved a hollow kingdom. If any of his subjects knew what he did, they would fear and hate him. His apostles, by their very nature, cannot be considered his companions. He is doomed to be alone for eternity. The closest thing to love he will ever experience is through the moonlight boy. But it is a feeling he knows he can’t truly feel. Guts won not by killing Griffith, but by being able to live a better life despite everything that’s happened, no longer needing to struggle
Berserk is the only manga whose story I have told my mother. She still remembers it four years later, despite having seen seldom pictures of it. Miura was among the greatest artists of his time; but his storytelling is even greater.
@@rodrigo-tj1gf I would and I did, we even watched all the anime renditions together multiple times. Granted not every mom is gonna be able to watch/read/understand something as graphic as berserk but I'm thankful that mine is, if you break it down she's just an older person with an open mind for these things which is understandably rare in boomers (my mom is 65 but she's the one who would watch horror movies with me as a kid I'm kinda lucky)
@@cloudbloom my mom is ok with violent movies but I’m sure she draws the line at any sexual violence in media. I wonder how she’d feel about this story😅
As an artist, I freaking love how a majority of the art is drawn and finished purely with pen. Rarely do you ever see it with layered shadow (black or decorated paper or sticker that you can lay on a panel as an alternative for using pen to add shading). Not saying that all work done by modern mangakas aren't good, but you can definitely see the incredible amount of time this author put in his work(again not saying other manga artists aren't good, but it's cool to see the use of pen in a versatile way)
As someone with no experience in arts, even I got the feeling that every line was done with love. Which is the only way I can describe the detail as even there are many manga that look great, only a handful feel this way. Vagabond is the other that comes to mind, and Gantz gave me that feeling but it's been so long since I last read it I'm not super sure.
Yeah a big chunk is but in the later stuff it becomes digital which honestly is incredible too Bc I mean how do you replicate that art style digitally seems crazy.
Theres a great stpry that I saw in an interview with his editor. They eventually got Muira some digital drawing equipment to make things easier for him, then one day the editor walks in to find Muira zoomed right into the picture drawing pixel by pixel and had to tell him off for working himself too hard. I love it because it shows what you saw in the pen strokes of his drawing. His dedication and time to his drawings.
You know I’m almost wondering if a proper adaptation of Berserk is even possible cause the thing with Miura is that his artwork was so detailed and so…cinematic if you will that it almost feels like an arduous if not impossible task for a studio to even attempt to replicate that style in animated format unless Miura did the design work himself which we know is not possible
@Anime School ShooterThe only way my name could have the kind of Implications yours does is if this was the Middle Ages…but it’s not Also learn proper grammatical structure it might actually help the possibility of people being able to take you seriously
1:10:55 When you mention Guts being Griffith's security blanket, my mind immediately tilted. Specifically, I asked myself, why would Griffith consciously or unconsciously find comfort and reassurance from having Guts by his side. The most obvious answer is that Guts is an absolute beast of a warrior; so, it's only natural for a Mercenary Commander to be reassured, heading into battle, knowing the best warrior on the field is fighting alongside him; however, I don't think that is why Guts reassures Griffith. Instead, I think Guts serves as a trophy and reminder (to Griffith) that "I [already] beat and subdued the best [warrior] the world has to offer," so from that perspective, Guts is a living reminder to Griffith that "there is nothing left to fear." Basically, Guts is a talisman for Griffith, much like the crimson Beleith, so long as he has Guts, Griffith is destined to succeed, always. Which is why, when Guts chose to leave, and then beat Griffith, all the fear, worry, and doubt that Griffith had forgotten about or suppressed, suddenly hit him like a freight train, and it just broke him.
Griffith’s perspective after first beating Guts: Guts is the best opponent the world has to offer, and I beat him and made him my servant. There is no one left who will ever be able to challenge me. (Thus Guts becomes another talisman for Griffith, like his crimson behelit.) Griffith’s perspective after Guts beats him: No! This can’t be. I beat him. He is mine. Just like the world will be mine. That’s because no one can beat Guts in a fight, except me, and Guts is mine! He can’t leave! He can’t beat me! He can’t leave me! He belongs to me like the world belongs to me! It’s impossible! You hear me? IMPOSSIBLE!!! (Losing Guts was like losing the behelit, and Griffith didn’t know how to deal; so, he slept with the princess as a way to reestablish his sense of control. If I can conquer her, I can conquer the kingdom and the world.)
@@Lumberyack105yup and it’s sad to see how Griffith blames Guts for the following consequences after Griffith sleeps with the princess from him not having his sword since it was broken in their battle and the band of the hawk being driven away not able to fight back. You can see when guts and everyone rescued Griffith how he places his hands around guts neck but unable to do anything with his anger
I think you are spot on, but I also think it's pretty clear that despite Griffith saying he doesn't *consider* them his friends, he was absolutely, 100% Guts' friend. Remember: "Of all the thousands of comrades, and tens of thousands of enemies... only you... made me forget my dream." Griffith's internal struggle was that he could not allow himself to be anything less than super-human, despite being imminently human. Part of that is what you're saying. Guts is a talisman that PROVES he's more than a regular human. But also, he has to struggle every day to keep the only person he feels comfortable opening up to at arms length. And because he didn't let Guts in, Guts left. And in that moment, Griffith felt all the human feelings in a way he couldn't cover with a mask.
Seeing Casca get her memories back I weeped as if I were watching a family member overcome this great thing. Watching this video returned me to so many thoughts and emotions. Kentaro Miuras work is truly one of kind and he will be deeply missed .
The baby is not casca and Griffith child it's actually guts child but Griffith corrupted the fetus with his seed And guts is the father of the moon night child this is why the child constantly saved guards like when he almost killed his team when he almost lost control over the armor when he was stuck inside of the sea god and couldn't find his way out Essentially the real reason why the egg of the perfect eat the moonlight child was out of sympathy not because it was part of the god hands plan because why would Griffiths go through a plan that would give him a huge weaknesses that all his enemies can easily exploit .
Yes and that's why Griffith saved Casca at the hill of swords and after put his hand on his heart,he realizes that he isn't perfect the emotions of the child are messing up his plans.
I watched 3 hour and a half of a retrospective video for an unfinished manga that I already read and kept up to date for years upon years (even through the boat arc), and it was worth it, a great look back at this massive work of art
Moonlight child is Guts and Casca's son. Guts and Casca make love and the boy is conceived. Griffith commits the R and his demonic fluids corrupt the fetus. Casca miscarries the child and it lives on as a demon fetus. As the demon fetus, the boy follows both Guts and Casca along their journeys to give them warnings and protection. The egg of the perfect world, upon seeing the demon fetus, takes sympathy on him and brings him into the birth ceremony. The boy is then reborn inside of Griffiths new body and shares this vessel. On full moons the boy appears to Guts and Casca.
but... but i seen a video essay by tranquil that said griffith did NOTHING wrong, therefore if guts despises griffith he is just a salty hater apparently.
the part we're casca saw guts again after so long and had an emotional breakdown is what broke me he sacrificed so much to bring her back to her original self just for it to end with her unable to see him as he is but to see him as a monster is what hurts so damn much
Hey Mark, it seems like you hadn’t picked it up, but Casca was actually pregnant with Guts’ child. Griffiths action kind off corrupted the child. So the moonlight boy would be Guts, Casca and kinda Griffiths child.
One of the most emotional parts of Berserk for me was the scene right after a renewed Casca spars with the enchanted armor, and when she walks over to talk to Guts. Getting close to him, she doubles over in pain and when he comes around the tree she sees him and freaks out, and the look of pure sadness and despair on Guts' face filled me with immeasurable sadness. I felt so bad for him. For all the shit Guts went through, the fact that he still couldn't even be seen by the one he loves most without hurting her was easily the worst part for me.
Poor guts, I really feel bad for him that the girl he chose to lacerate with his teeth, had an emotional response. Gutted for him that she couldnt just silence her pain for him. The tragedy of men, that women have a response to their choices and makes them feel guilty.
@@SunXia I know this is low effort bait that intentionally ignored the point of the original comment, but I can't help but correct it anyway. Guts didn't really "choose" to do that. He was in the middle of a psychological breakdown. Casca reacts badly to seeing Guts because he's a direct reminder of the trauma from the Eclipse, not because he bit her that one time.
It's weird how the fact that it ended in such a sad way is still very much in tone with the series, life is not fair and sometimes things just sucks, but you got to keep going the best way you can
You got me into this series and I read it right along with you. It’s a fantastic series and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys amazing themes, action, adventure, and story.
One thing, at the beginning, the little girl who was a "demon" who brought them into a trap. No. She was a regular little girl, she was just possessed by an evil spirit, that happens a lot. Which made it all the more compelling when guts cleaved her in half. She wasn't a monster, just a victim of circumstance
I was about to say. I was very bothered when he called her a demon because i though that maybe I was the one who missunderstood, and it kinda took away a bit of the emotional impact. But thank god that wasnt the case.
Man the part where Casca got back to who she was made me sad in a happy way. And the relationship between Casca and Guts made me cry. The storytelling here is definitely the best I've ever experienced
3:03:31 I honestly don't think it's the child of Griffith and Casca, but rather of Guts and Casca. The reason it looked like that is due to the... action performed by Griffith during the eclipse and the unknown damage it could cause on a human body and, by extension, a human fetus. Whereas the fetus was transformed into the new vessel for Neo-Griffith, moonlight boy seems to be the quasi-physical manifestation of the fetus/child's original soul.
Yeah skull knight straight up says it’s Guts child, alotta people miss it since SK talks weird but double check the chapters just after the Eclipse, SK lays the whole situation down
Berserk has a special place in my heart. A challenging, yet introspective narrative that is more than the gratuitous violence, and the depressing, oppressive atmosphere the characters live in. It's a truly fascinating tale that was far ahead of its time. Guts is one of the best written protagonists in any manga I've read, and an inspiration to keep fighting against all odds. Berserk is a truly important piece of fiction, and is indeed the strongest dark fantasy out there. I've read this series on deployment after watching the original anime with my best friends... Kentaro Miura will be missed. Such a talented artist, and brilliant storyteller... Man...
Thank you so much for taking the time to make this. This story has also impacted my life and has even initiated a change in my life and heart throughout the last 3 years. As humans we all have struggles, tragedies, and suffering. These struggles can help us blossom into what we were always meant to be, serene, loving, selfless, caring, and warm to self and others or make us bitter, vengeful, fearful, angry, and hateful. Neither path is wrong but they just simply are. I'd argue that gut's evolution throughout the journey can be something that inspires people to become more conscious beings.
To say what Berserk means to me is something I'm still to this day trying to figure out myself, but one thing I can absolutely say that shook me, was seeing Guts go out of his way to protect Casca, because, I saw myself and my partner, who had had such a shitty past few years due to an mentally and emotionally abusive friendship she had with two other people that I myself had cut ties with shortly after, I'm on the way to help her heal from the pain she had to endure, and I saw myself in Guts. While I didn't have a childhood ANYWHERE near as rough as he did, I was a victim of bullying throughout my entire school life, I developed anger issues back then and my mental state was.. not good to put it lightly, but when I started college, my life started to improve for the better, and seeing Guts shed his Black Swordsman facade and learn how to open up to others around him, it broke me.. because that was where I was at during my life. Berserk was one of the stories I recently got into that told me that I was a strong person for not just looking out for myself, but to look out for those around me, and I cannot thank the late Kentaro Miura enough for making such a masterpiece
Rest in peace, Kentaro Miura. There will always be love in my heart for both you and your masterpiece, until the day I die and whatever is beyond that. Thank you.
The story of Berserk changed so many people, including myself for the better and I can never thank Miura enough. Rest in Peace and thank you Miura for creating a masterpiece of fiction. Also thank you Mark for making this video! ❤️ Edit: This is not the end fellow strugglers, berserk is back!!!
Berserk declines after Golden Age Arc. The Golden Age arc was truly its peak, but after that, it lost the realism which it tried to convey earlier. Moreover, the plot armor around Guts also kind of ruined the vibe of the story for me (I am not saying that other series do not have plot armor, but it simply does not work for Berserk, a series that tries to be so merciless and hitting from the beginning)... Berserk is a great incomplete story and Muira was a great mangaka. But at the same time, overhyping a series is also not justified..
I can agree with you on many things on that but overall the story does not do things like other stories would have such a meaningful story due to the fact that it truly shows you the heartache of the all of it and thank you for sharing your thoughts it's always interesting to hear other people's opinions 😄
@@the_joker_z I simply do not feel the heartache that u are talking about... For me, the series lacked that "oomph" moments, especially after golden age arc. It becomes a bland story, with an angry guy killing demons for the sake of his revenge... Also, the humor is just so off and awful in the latter part of the series, and characters like Ishidro are plain annoying... It does some good world exposition stuff in the Millenium Falcon arc, but then the fantasia arc turns it into a fairy tale...
Lost children feels like Miuras attempt to show that Guts spent some time as a side character mindlessly killing without much depth to him, then places him as the main character again when Guts is at the point to grow again. The ending of the arc where demonstrates his character changing again, even if its just a little bit.
One thing to note that I just noticed for the first time during the Guts/Griffith fight: Guts is vehement that no one touch him - he even shouts at Casca while she lay with him during his recovery - but after the fight, Griffith takes Guts' head in his hands in an almost gentle embrace, and Guts doesn't pull away or seem to react in any way. The first person and only person to truly overpower Guts. Powerful but subtle stuff.
Guts crying after the events of The Guardians of Despair has always been my biggest question going forward. And I mean that in the best way possible. No other story would make me ask so many questions about one simple yet perplexingly engaging way The biggest toughest guy we know with not a care in the world to the people around him is truly a big softie at heart with an equally as tragic and familiar experience as Therisia
I think it’s trying to show that despite all the snotty things that guts says, he still cares. He just doesn’t want to lose anyone else he cares about, so he tries his hardest to keep people away.
When I read Berserk, I was training jiu-jitsu. During grappling sessions, I would remember how Guts never gave up and gave his all until his body could no longer keep going and that's how I trained my mind. I didn't care if my body hurt, I pushed harder so my opponent would be in the same situation and pushed them to exhaustion. I felt like I was on crack lmao. I need to read it again
Honestly with the story of Casca and Guts, it's very beautiful but incredibly heartbreaking. And the way the story is laid out, it could go (in my opinion) one of two ways: 1. She stays with Guts and eventually heals from the trauma his presence ignites. 2. She will have to eventually leave Guts to have a better life and heal. Both of these options presents their own problems in her life going forward, and no-one would fault her for making either one of these decisions and that's what I love about it.
Personally I think the best course of action would be for for Casca to remain behind on Elfheim to focus on her healing only for her to return at a pivotal moment where Guts gets to his lowest (if his lowest can even go any lower).
I'm pretty sure she's going to stay with guts no matter what...one of the things casca was so mad about pre eclipse was guts leaving again so I think both will stay together but guts will try to tell casca to leave him behind etc which she won't like
Even if Berserk does continue from Miura's assistants and the studio I will always differentiate "Berserk" and "Kentaro Miura's Berserk" because there's no one who can craft a story like he did
Demon Child is Guts and Casca's kid corrupted by Femto. It was a fetus when it died, that's why it has that form. Eggmonster absorbed it and acted as an Uterus, to complete it's development into a full person, and Demon Child ressurected and Femto possessed it and uses it to manifest into physical world. Griffith uses the body of the child of Guts and Casca to manifest into the real world. Let that sink in for a minute. . . Their son's real form is the Moon Child btw, if that wasn't obvious already
I just realised that Griffith is the only God Hand member that still has some skin (literally) under the demon body. Maybe it was Miura's way of telling us that he still has some humanity in him.
late reply but this could be humanity in the less positive sense too, griffith could still have human emotions such as a desire or love for casca, or on the negative end a hatred for guts and this remaining humanity could play into his downfall
I hope his assistants will finish this masterpiece. They have learned so much by him and I'm 100% certain that if they want to continue it, that it will be great. If not it's also fine.
Nothing against the assistants but I think Miura is the only one who could finish this story satisfying. I hope that Miura kinda wrote the ending somewhere. That's the only way I can see this series continuing.
Yeah it would be fine if even they released the rest of the story in form of books to read at this point. Just to see how it all ends. Sure not having this amazing manga panels would let a lot of people down but I doubt anyone can capture the essence and atmosphere in those panels anyway.
I absolutely hope they don't. Not that they wouldn't be capable of doing a good job, but it wouldn't be Miura's, and Berserk would end up not being the story Miura wanted to tell for these 30 years. Besides, it ended on a too crucial moment of the story to simply continue. HOW THE FUCK do you write the next chapter? They would have to understand Guts, Griffith, Casca and the whole party as well as Miura did, and I just don't think this is possible. IDK, I'd rather they leave it as the masterpiece it is than they do something that, even if it turns out awesome, is not truly Berserk
@@MultiWar22 I understand your point but you have to understand that there are assistants that worked with Miura since beginning. Idk if you know but they made a manga called "Duranki" and it looks sooo similar to the artstyle of Miura. Do you really think that Miura wasn't aware of his health condition and prayed that he will be okay? He isn't dumb and gave as much knowledge to his assistants as possible to perhaps finish his story. I hope you understand my point. I just am optimistic whether it will stay like that or gets a continuation. Have a nice day
When I was younger I used to always imagined that this series would have both a good ending and a bad ending one involving Guts and one involving Griffith both taking place after the main story with the good ending showing Gut’s life after the main story and the bad ending showing Griffith’s life after the main story with him ruling with no one to stop him with years going by. I used to imagine that these two endings would be one of those things where it’s up to interpretation on which is canon and which is not
it has been a wild ride. I discovered anime in the late 90s, and later mange in 2002 with my first job on the summer i graduated high school at an anime store in the mall. I absorbed it like crazy and loved it. I came from a D&D, LOTS of Warhammer fantasy and loved all things fantasy. Berserk was an instant hit with me, and I loved it immediately. It has been fun to see the title grow, back then not too many Anime and Manga fans in the US knew about it or gave it a try. Now to see the outpour of love for kentaro, and the fandom of berserk grow over the years has been a true blessing. I am so happy so many people love this series as much as I do now.
I have read berserk manga 3 times from the beginning to the end and it was worth every single second.Just spending time looking at the amazingly detailed drawings by kentaro over and over to truly appreciate its beauty and the hardwork that was put into it.Truly a masterpiece
This was a special watch. Thank you Mark for taking the time to write, the editors for working on this, and to everyone who watches this through. I hope people come to understand, if they don't already, just how much of a treasure this series is.
Really great massive review. I'm glad you had your editors to help you through the journey, that must have felt nice with them setting you up to enjoy the story beats to the greatest effect. This story of Berserk was something else, and since reading it I don't know if I'll ever feel the same while consuming other stories again. This work changed me, or made me wake up to a dormant part of my humanity, something that I think was always there. Truly a masterwork of artforms. Rest in peace Kentaro Miura. PS: My head cannon makes me think that Griffith became so powerful that he came into our world and killed Kentaro Miura, so that he could live in his fantasy world uninterrupted.
i’m honestly a little disappointed Mark didn’t talk about Guts and Casca’s coming together scene in more detail. It represents more than the differences between them and Griffith and Charlotte. Both Guts and Casca are victims of SA and has trauma from those experiences. Guts’ trauma from that is the reason he doesn’t like being touched and Casca’s experience is the reason she was so obsessed with protecting Griffith, because he was the one who saved her. But in that moment, those two allow eachother to become vulnerable with one another and come to terms with their shared trauma. To me, the golden age arc focuses on humanity and that scene of guts and casca at the waterfall is the most human scene in the arc imo. Those two hurt and lonely people finally coming together and being able to comfort and connect to each other despite their past experiences. It’s beautiful.
@@xiiir838 mock me if you wish, curse me if you must. i'm saying this because of something we all share but express differently and it's called having _standards._
Loved getting notifications for each new entry in this series! One thing I feel needs to be said is that Skull Knight specifies that the demon infant is Guts and Casca's child, just corrupted by Griffith. I interpret the Moonlight Child as being the true physical form of the child, had they never been corrupted except for the power it wields. That said, I do see the parallels with Griffith in terms of playfulness and I heard someone compare Guts and his kid mock-sparring with sticks to Guts and Griffith's first meeting. Though personally, I think that's an aesthetic resonance and just natural childishness and father-child bonding, and not evidence for the idea that the Child is Griffith in any way apart from its power.
Berserk is still the only manga to ever make me cry. It will forever be a permanent inspiration in my own concepts and ideas and I am grateful that it will get the ending it deserves but I’m saddened Kentaro won’t get to see his masterpiece complete
Thank you Totally Not Mark for this outstanding visual essay into a work that still never ceases to have a profound impact on my life, and for the beautiful send-off for Miura-Sensei at the end. I am in happy silent tears that I was ever able to experience something quite like this, I have been reading Berserk since I was 16 and I am now almost 35. Miura's incredibly human story telling, through many years of mental health conditions, has helped shape me into the man I've always wanted to be, his art continues to inspire me to soar to even greater heights with my own. Even though you've only relatively recently experienced this epic, I know from your videos and the passion you exude that you experienced it as deeply as the rest of us who struggled through it all release by release. So proud of all that you do and the genuine love and appreciation you have for the art you review
I don’t typically comment but this was a truly beautiful tribute to the work of Kentaro Miura. Amazing job and thank you for a walk down memory lane. #ripkentaro
May well be one of if not the greatest manga in history. So much hurt, endurance, heartbreak, suffering, loss, dedication, betrayal, and defiance all wrapped up in amazing storytelling. Berserk is on another level of awesome that I can’t truly put into words.
Thank you for this series man, it was like experiencing Berserk for the first time again but vicariously through you. Always love seeing people discover this masterpiece.
Oh wow.. A full review of Berserk containing all your previous reviews (+ the last arc) with added content?! Sounds cool to me. Also the animations look great!
Miura lives through your content and through all of the fandom, this series has changed me forever and many millions like me, I’m going to read it again I guess
Lost Children was, for me, not only an excellent piece of story telling, but an essential part of Guts’ character development. Without Lost Children he doesn’t make the decision to return to Casca. It’s only when he makes the decision to give up everything to find and protect her that he starts to overcome his trauma.
RIP Kentaro Miura, you have written one of the greatest story that will be ever told in the medium of Manga. I hope you this get a proper anime adaptation in the future with no budget issues. Sad that this masterpiece doesn't have a proper ending though...
Correction, one of the greatest stories in any medium, period! It has inspired hundreds of other stories over the years in varying mediums, and it will continue to do so.
When I started University I was an engineering major, and quickly realized I did not want to do it, I had spent my whole middle school and high school studying to become an engineer, I took programming, advanced STEM classes, the whole nine yards. So when I switched majors I felt kind of lost in life, and wasn't really sure with what I wanted to from then on out. I had a good family and friends that supported me, but in retrospect I was probably waiting for some to tell me "Hey you should do X, you would be really good at X". Ironically I started reading Berzerk around the same time, and when I got to the part where Guts left the Band of the Hawk, it was kind of a wake up call to me, no one was gonna tell me what to do I needed to make that decision for my self. So I switched majors to accounting, got a masters in it eventually, and now work in a great office, and doing something I truly love. While I'm sure eventually I would have made that decision on my own, Berzerk gave the the kick in the ass I needed at the time. Berzerk taught me even after you make a decision you will struggle for it. Nothing will fall into your lap, and just magically work out. There were countless times when I questioned if I was making a mistake, did I make the right choice, am I wasting my time? Berzerk is not my favorite piece of media, hell its not even my favorite manga this series will always have a special place in my heart.
I find it crazy to actually keep track of Guts' age through the story, like he met Griffith when he was 15, left the band at 18, eclipse at 19, during the conviction arc he's 21 or so... like HE'S SO YOUNG which actually lends a lot to the realism in the choices he makes throughout. OF COURSE he mellows out as it comes toward the final arc(s) he's literally becoming a full adult.
And especially with the berserker armor sapping away his vitality, even at the end when he's maybe 23-24 he starts to look almost middle aged. It's a great way to show that all that fighting, struggling and pain are taking a heavy toll on the man after such a relatively short period of time
let me put the claim here in writing because i have said it so many times. Berserk is the greatest work of art humanity has produced, in my opinion. may your memory be a blessing Kentaro Miura
I personally love the Lost Children arc because it gave me what I wanted, which was a look into how this world has grown more horrible after the events of the Eclipse. It’s a glimpse into the consequences of what Guts has endured with the full context of the Golden Age, which The Black Swordsman didn’t give us. But, to be honest, there isn’t a chapter in Berserk I don’t like.
What Guts need to realize is at this point it's not just between him and Griffith there's other people in the fight pretty much everyone in the world is battling the idea of evil so he should be like everyone else and live with the people he loves because there will always be someone to oppose Griffith and if the moonlight boy is Griffiths good in him he could very well grow to be as strong Griffith. It's not a mission that can be done alone the world is at stake meaning everyone has to fight for their lives.
Idk if you've talked about it before, but I highly recommend you cover Vinland Saga. The message it gives is amazing and it's storytelling is top-tier.
Im glad you mentioned the saying “i could care less” because that phrase bothers me so much, its supposed to be “i couldn’t care less” but for some reason everyone says it the other way which pisses me off way more than it should
My starting point into the world of Berserk was through the Dreamcast game. I’ve watched the Golden Age arc film trilogy many years later and watched the anime adaptation in 2016. At the time, I didn’t even realize that they did another season of it. Fast forward to 2021, I randomly rewatched the Golden Arc film trilogy and fell in love with the series. I couldn’t get enough of it. I watched the 97 anime adaptation of it which filled in some of the holes that were missing in the film trilogy. I also watched the 2017 adaptation which was better than the 2016, by not that much. Disappointed by the lack of animation adaptations beyond the Conviction arc, I started watching a couple of TH-camrs’ analysis on the subsequent arcs. Soon after, Kentaro Miura suddenly passes away. Wow, completely devastated as I was completely obsessed with his masterpiece. Overall, it’s fantastic series that I’d highly recommend.
Its realy impressive how far u and ur team have come in terms of music the entire production rly and how you manage to express ur thoughts. I rly loved it when u said: Guts struggle is the savage heart of the story. Don't get me wrong when u started making these vids they were already good but now they a rly outstanding, reminding me a lot of the work of super eyepatch wolf. Realy well done.
I'm so glad that you stuck with this story until it's end! Thank for covering this wonderful story and i'm really glad that you got something positive out of it.
You know something really interesting? Guts said in the black swordsman arc “I don’t like elves, and I don’t like you” foreshadowing his first encounter with chitch. I find that just beautiful.
Guts as a character is really relatable to me. Sure, i haven’t been through a quarter of the shit he’s been through, but I found myself connecting to him through his struggle against fate itself. Ive had a hell of an upbringing that I don’t want to get into, but as was said in this video, I feel like ive been walking with a limp my whole life. Just in the past handful of years, ive had to work my way through rough situations. Situations where I coulda easily been left homeless, or at the very least penniless, if I had just sat down and given up. Ive moved house 4 times over the past 4 years, simply because shit keeps going wrong. But I can’t bring myself to lay down and die, for whatever reason. Berserk really helped me realize this and, as cheesy as it is, I think helped me keep pushing on. Sometimes I feel as though I’m fighting against fate itself, just as Guts is. I mean, I’m not hunted by actual demons or nothin, but day to day life is rough. Right when I start to get comfortable, and think I can finally improve my life, something happens and I gotta scrap it all and try again. But fuck it, why not just live life just to spite life? I’m so glad berserk is going to continue. I wish Mori and all of Gaga the best of luck. Also, I hope Theresia comes back. I want to see her on her own quest for revenge, turned into the same kind of monster Guts was in Guardians of Desire, so that Guts has to look at the actions of his old self in the eyes. It would be such an interesting character moment. I hope it happens.
Not even 5 minutes in and I'm hooked.. It's 9PM in Chicago.. Thankfully it's a Saturday so I can binge it! Just discovered your channel as well sooo... *LIKED AND SUBSCRIBED!!!!!!!!*
Berserk is truly a masterpiece (as is this video), and as just a random commenter, I'd like to give my thoughts on Guts and Griffith (and provide a series recommendation). I look at Griffith and Guts as two parallel lines. As brought up time and time again, Guts is a struggler, against fate, other people, leadership, enemies, friends, the world. He is like many people in the real world, as it is through coming into contact and conflict with others that we might know ourselves. Guts takes the road less traveled, the harder path, because it is right. Even in his moments of weakness, he preserves towards good, and in the back half of the series, we can see him build something "real". Real connections, real friendships, his walls are beginning to come down, the venire of the wolf maybe not beginning to fade, but fighting now hopefully for something other than rage. Griffith is also a man who struggles, but when presented with the shortest road, would take it. Many times you would see this justified in various sections of "The Golden Age". Your morals, comrades, those who you fight against, the shortest path towards your dream is worth it. This is exemplified through the pile of corpses we see Griffith standing upon, and can be surmised as "No price too great to pay". The cumulation of this mentality, mixed with the rage and betrayal he felt from Guts with The Eclipse is a cumulation of everything Griffith stands for. Your "friends" are a small price to pay, especially if it means a shorter walk to the gates of the kingdom. Griffith's kingdom is one built on sacrifice yes, but not a "real" sacrifice. What did Griffith lose in this case? He clearly thought the price of "friendship" was easily worth paying when given the option, especially that of Guts. Griffith took a shortcut, that while one might argue lead to less bloodshed, we can see that at the end of the day, in Falconia, those people died regardless outside the city walls. Griffith simply circumvented his own struggle. I feel that Rickert more than anyone else in this series is "the common man" and helps represent the reader. We understand Griffith's dream, and more than anything else, we understood the people who wished to share in his dream. Those who would call themselves his comrades, his friends, his allies. And he threw them screaming into the maelstrom, allowing them not to fight for him, but to simply die for him, to be consumed by him. Rickert, left alone and without guidance, without understanding why Griffith did what he did, when confronted with the truth, acts in righteous justification. The "Band of the Hawk" was not created to die for Griffith, or for his dream. They wanted to fight, to struggle, to realize that dream and themselves through conflict, a turning of ideals however small, lighting their bonfires together to take the world to torch and create something new, and Griffith snuffed it out. I believe that this is the irreconcilable difference between Guts and Griffith. Griffith cannot be redeemed, he is a dark angel, fallen from the grace he had as the leader of the Band of the Hawk. He rides on dark wings, leading a kingdom built upon deceit, lies, and forced circumstances prompted by "fate". He had a choice to take a more difficult road, and chose his rage. Guts when presented with the choice of indulging in his rage, and saving something, chose the latter. It's a harder road for sure, and he struggles on it even with people. Griffith gives into the dream of his kingdom, while Guts forces himself (poorly at times) and others, to try and face the truth. I don't think as long as this fundamental juxtaposition between the characters existed, could there truly be peace among them. Because the only place for peace in this new world is under Griffith's rule, and he does not allow for those who deviate from his grand design. And so there is no freedom for those who would swim against the current of fate, to make their own destiny. Thank you for the video Mark, it was really great. Berserk is one of, if not my favorite manga of all time. As a person, I have trouble confronting things at times, and Berserk was a series that was instrumental in realizing that I needed to really try and embrace those conflicts at times, otherwise I would be unable to grow, so I'm glad that you love this series as much as I do. If you'd like suggestions of a similar nature in themes and tones, I would highly recommend "Monster", by Naoki Urasawa. While not necessarily as action packed as many of the other series you present on your channel, I find it's themes to be fantastic.
The travel through Casca's mind made by Farnese and Shierke is outstanding. To think I used to despise Farnese, now she is next to Casca among my favourite Female Characters! What a redemption arc she had!!
One of the thing I like about Berserk is that each characters are not made redundant. They are there for a reason and plays a very important role. The dynamics between each characters in Guts travelling band are just awesome.
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You'll need to read Vagabond if you want other manga with amazing artwork.
the OVAs were kinda good. impossible to capture the essence of a manga which descended its genre.
Berserk great manga and enjoy the story and Guts as a character.
For a change of pace, you should read GTO. As adamant as i was about berserk, i am about GTO. Yeah it's slice of life, not shounen, not seinen, not Berserk, DB or OnePiece but a masterpiece in it's own right
Is this your previous berserk reviews put together or an entirely new multi hour video? I don’t have time to watch it yet.
_"He died doing what he wanted, no matter what, right? I bet he was_ *_happy."_*
Thank you, for everything, rest in peace Kentaro Miura
Forever my favorite quote from beserk, and it came so early on in the manga
Jesus christ, I hate that people keep using this quote as a literal interpretation when Guts as he is now would NOT share the same view he had in the past. Spoilers for the uninitiated.
This was said by Guts at his lowest, crude, rough, just wanting to kill to vent. He thought as long as he died acting "in his own way", he'd be fine. He's already gone through so much, so why not at least go out swinging with nothing to lose?
But Guts had everything to lose; his death would have meant Casca would have possibly stayed in her state until death. And over time when he gained more companions, he realized he can't just live out his battles in kamikaze mode, he needs to live so he can keep protecting them. He fought for something more than himself now - he had people who genuinely cared for him again. Compare that to the son who foolishly went for war, all for glory, or violence, or some selfish reason.
That quote is not one to glamorize. It's the epitome of self entitlement and justifying one's terrible actions, no matter how awful they are.
TLDR that quote sucks and people who keep using it without acknowledging the meaning behind it are well meaning I'm sure, but naïve.
@@jakkaj6803 dang, Thank You for enlighting this knowledge upon us. I never bothered to look at it until now ,this makes much more sense
@@jakkaj6803 Well said, I cringe everytime people use it in a positive way
Thank you Miura
The fact that this work doesn't have an ending is a crime of fate.
It was all in the flow of causality which is honestly pretty sad RIP Miura it’s been nearly a year without you
i think it's really fitting to be honest. it was a pretty good place to end despite everything
The Silmarillion, Wheel of Time, Song of Ice and Fire, Guin Saga, Berserk....
There's just something about legendary fantasy where the original author doesn't finish them
I think his editors know the gist of the story so they could continue it and they’re thinking about it
@@obinator9065 that's very bitter sweet
There is a parallel in the artwork that's worth checking out: When Guts jumps off the boat to save Casca, there is a 2 page spread where he sees flashes of memories against a background of bubbles. Shortly after, he says the line "Even if we painstakingly piece together what was lost, it doesn't mean things will go back to normal". After piecing Casca's soul back together in the dreamscape, she has a nearly identical 2 page spread of memories drawn in the identical style.
Very well said.
@@maineman5757 omg its guts guys
@@maineman5757 Hi Guts keep up the hard work we are alot of people supporting you
You quoted Miura, not Guts. Guts says the same thing but less flowery.
"Even if you force back what once was, it'll never be the same as before." Is what Guts says.
The fact that Guts coming out of the eclipse on the edge of death, gouged out eye and torn off arm is "relatively unscathed" says a lot about how horrific the eclipse really was
I think that's the most "scathed" Guts came out of a situation, both mentally and physically. He's never had that kind of permanent damage done before or since.
@@sub7se7en I meant relative to everyone else. Who either died completely lost it or both.
The fact that the horrific state Guts was in is the best off of anyone says a lot
Kentaro Miura was a student of mythology so the character of Guts has many parallels with Norse mythology, particulary the armor of the berserker, the loss of his eye mirroring that of Odin sacrificing his eye for knowledge and his arm being lost mirroring the loss of Tyr's arm to the Fenris wolf. Really rivetting story if a bit long in the tooth. I hope that Miura's students are able to complete his magnum opus in a satisfying way.
@@sub7se7enI’d say losing your senses and getting impaled by your own armor several times is worse, but that’s just my opinion.
Judos death was very sad. He was a legend
Adding this so hopefully Mark sees it.
Miura's best friend since he was 15, Kouji Mori, the mangaka of Holyland, and who Miura discussed the ending of Berserk with is going to supervise the continuation of the series with Miura's assistants focusing on the drawing. They're releasing the first of 6 chapters on 6/24/22 to finish up the Fantasia arc before starting a new one.
BERSERK IS NOT DONE. MIURA'S LEGACY STILL LIVES ON.
Thank god!!
@Real Talk there was barely any dialogue, can you elaborate ?
@Real Talk Bro you are just a hater be quiet, Go read something else if you hate it so much but it was beyond good for the story in the future, and gut's struggle continues.
@@requiem5277 so much for differing opinions.
@@ZEHAHAHA9697 He didn't even give a opinion on why the Chapters aren't even good though, So that does make him a hater for not even saying why the chapters were bad 🤣
It was much to big to be called a video.
Massive, thick, heavy, and far too long.
Indeed, it was like a feature length movie.
Myura from Heaven: Parry this feelings you filthy casual(with a sarcastic tone and smiling).
Underrated comment
W comment..
almigthy loli laughing
Almighty Loli did a video on the falcon arc for 8 hours. This is nothing lol.
It’s been nearly a year without Miura and I appreciate Miura for giving us a magnum opus that’s not only good just in the manga industry but also in Literature in my opinion
Fuck... It really has been a year...
You spelled literature wrong. You meant Literature
@Anime School Shooter Bruh how many times are you gonna continue this shtick
@Anime School Shooter what crimes?
@Anime School Shooter Whatever Toei shill
In a way it's kind of poetic that the series ended with casca being cured an not with Griffith being defeated, it fits well with the theme of choosing what's most important.
Choosing a simple life of protecting those closest over feeding the never-ending cycle of revenge
That's such a sweet way to put it ;;
Eh it’s not as bad as it could of been as satisfying for the journey but it’s clear this isn’t the ending and there is a lot left for these characters to reach Catharsis
you're probably right, but still I would've loved to have seen the Godhand rendered in two by the Dragon Slayer...
@@newflesh666 I prefer a more ironic death like them being eaten alive by other demons just like they did to so many people
One of my favorite quotes from Berserk comes from the chapter "Cracks in the blade": Hate is a place where a man who cannot face his sadness goes.
When you think about it, the ending we did get is fairly sweet. Guts is in a land where he’s safe and surrounded by people he cares about and who cares about him. Meanwhile Griffith has achieved a hollow kingdom. If any of his subjects knew what he did, they would fear and hate him. His apostles, by their very nature, cannot be considered his companions. He is doomed to be alone for eternity. The closest thing to love he will ever experience is through the moonlight boy. But it is a feeling he knows he can’t truly feel. Guts won not by killing Griffith, but by being able to live a better life despite everything that’s happened, no longer needing to struggle
griffith doesn’t care though, he doesn’t have any feelings as a godhand. which is what he meant by “it seems… I am… free…”
@@lemonfridge4192 that’s how I interpreted his final words in 364
It's just a quiet before the storm.
If you seen them new chapters let's just say he's struggling
@@lemonfridge4192 but times a bitch
Berserk is the only manga whose story I have told my mother. She still remembers it four years later, despite having seen seldom pictures of it.
Miura was among the greatest artists of his time; but his storytelling is even greater.
I actually got my mom to read it and watch all the anime adaptations, it's one of her favorites
What ??? Who the hell would show berserk to their mom???
@@rodrigo-tj1gf I did not show it, I told her the story over a few weeks as one would tell a long tale.
@@rodrigo-tj1gf I would and I did, we even watched all the anime renditions together multiple times. Granted not every mom is gonna be able to watch/read/understand something as graphic as berserk but I'm thankful that mine is, if you break it down she's just an older person with an open mind for these things which is understandably rare in boomers (my mom is 65 but she's the one who would watch horror movies with me as a kid I'm kinda lucky)
@@cloudbloom my mom is ok with violent movies but I’m sure she draws the line at any sexual violence in media. I wonder how she’d feel about this story😅
As an artist, I freaking love how a majority of the art is drawn and finished purely with pen. Rarely do you ever see it with layered shadow (black or decorated paper or sticker that you can lay on a panel as an alternative for using pen to add shading). Not saying that all work done by modern mangakas aren't good, but you can definitely see the incredible amount of time this author put in his work(again not saying other manga artists aren't good, but it's cool to see the use of pen in a versatile way)
As someone with no experience in arts, even I got the feeling that every line was done with love. Which is the only way I can describe the detail as even there are many manga that look great, only a handful feel this way.
Vagabond is the other that comes to mind, and Gantz gave me that feeling but it's been so long since I last read it I'm not super sure.
Yeah a big chunk is but in the later stuff it becomes digital which honestly is incredible too Bc I mean how do you replicate that art style digitally seems crazy.
@Anime School Shooter bot
I just learned something I could use...
Theres a great stpry that I saw in an interview with his editor. They eventually got Muira some digital drawing equipment to make things easier for him, then one day the editor walks in to find Muira zoomed right into the picture drawing pixel by pixel and had to tell him off for working himself too hard.
I love it because it shows what you saw in the pen strokes of his drawing. His dedication and time to his drawings.
I pray for the day that this masterpiece finally gets a good anime that follows the entire story
I don’t which anime studio would do it I don’t want MAPPA to do it because they won’t see their families anymore
You know I’m almost wondering if a proper adaptation of Berserk is even possible cause the thing with Miura is that his artwork was so detailed and so…cinematic if you will that it almost feels like an arduous if not impossible task for a studio to even attempt to replicate that style in animated format unless Miura did the design work himself which we know is not possible
same with Tokyo ghoul
@Anime School Shooter One has to wonder what crimes you’ve committed with a name like that dude
@Anime School ShooterThe only way my name could have the kind of Implications yours does is if this was the Middle Ages…but it’s not
Also learn proper grammatical structure it might actually help the possibility of people being able to take you seriously
1:10:55 When you mention Guts being Griffith's security blanket, my mind immediately tilted. Specifically, I asked myself, why would Griffith consciously or unconsciously find comfort and reassurance from having Guts by his side. The most obvious answer is that Guts is an absolute beast of a warrior; so, it's only natural for a Mercenary Commander to be reassured, heading into battle, knowing the best warrior on the field is fighting alongside him; however, I don't think that is why Guts reassures Griffith. Instead, I think Guts serves as a trophy and reminder (to Griffith) that "I [already] beat and subdued the best [warrior] the world has to offer," so from that perspective, Guts is a living reminder to Griffith that "there is nothing left to fear." Basically, Guts is a talisman for Griffith, much like the crimson Beleith, so long as he has Guts, Griffith is destined to succeed, always. Which is why, when Guts chose to leave, and then beat Griffith, all the fear, worry, and doubt that Griffith had forgotten about or suppressed, suddenly hit him like a freight train, and it just broke him.
A great theory.
Griffith’s perspective after first beating Guts:
Guts is the best opponent the world has to offer, and I beat him and made him my servant. There is no one left who will ever be able to challenge me. (Thus Guts becomes another talisman for Griffith, like his crimson behelit.)
Griffith’s perspective after Guts beats him:
No! This can’t be. I beat him. He is mine. Just like the world will be mine. That’s because no one can beat Guts in a fight, except me, and Guts is mine! He can’t leave! He can’t beat me! He can’t leave me! He belongs to me like the world belongs to me! It’s impossible! You hear me? IMPOSSIBLE!!!
(Losing Guts was like losing the behelit, and Griffith didn’t know how to deal; so, he slept with the princess as a way to reestablish his sense of control. If I can conquer her, I can conquer the kingdom and the world.)
@@Lumberyack105yup and it’s sad to see how Griffith blames Guts for the following consequences after Griffith sleeps with the princess from him not having his sword since it was broken in their battle and the band of the hawk being driven away not able to fight back. You can see when guts and everyone rescued Griffith how he places his hands around guts neck but unable to do anything with his anger
I think you are spot on, but I also think it's pretty clear that despite Griffith saying he doesn't *consider* them his friends, he was absolutely, 100% Guts' friend. Remember: "Of all the thousands of comrades, and tens of thousands of enemies... only you... made me forget my dream."
Griffith's internal struggle was that he could not allow himself to be anything less than super-human, despite being imminently human. Part of that is what you're saying. Guts is a talisman that PROVES he's more than a regular human. But also, he has to struggle every day to keep the only person he feels comfortable opening up to at arms length. And because he didn't let Guts in, Guts left. And in that moment, Griffith felt all the human feelings in a way he couldn't cover with a mask.
@@ANunes06 100%
Seeing Casca get her memories back I weeped as if I were watching a family member overcome this great thing. Watching this video returned me to so many thoughts and emotions. Kentaro Miuras work is truly one of kind and he will be deeply missed .
That panel is my headcannon end of the series
yes you're wrong, the foetus/moon child is Guts and Casca's son.
But yeah it got corrupted by Griffith.
Yes.
The baby is not casca and Griffith child it's actually guts child but Griffith corrupted the fetus with his seed
And guts is the father of the moon night child this is why the child constantly saved guards like when he almost killed his team when he almost lost control over the armor when he was stuck inside of the sea god and couldn't find his way out
Essentially the real reason why the egg of the perfect eat the moonlight child was out of sympathy not because it was part of the god hands plan because why would Griffiths go through a plan that would give him a huge weaknesses that all his enemies can easily exploit .
Finally, someone who gets it
🙏
Yes and that's why Griffith saved Casca at the hill of swords and after put his hand on his heart,he realizes that he isn't perfect the emotions of the child are messing up his plans.
Holy shit it all makes sense now
If you didn’t say I was going to because the implications of this would f^
The masterpiece of a series that is Berserk will live on so long as we strugglers keep it alive. And by God, that is what we will do
@Anime School Shooter what crimes?
@@Slavic_Snake not reading it sooner, gurararararara
@@tobluetoblack better late then never.
Well said
"If you meet with God, tell him I want to be alone."
I watched 3 hour and a half of a retrospective video for an unfinished manga that I already read and kept up to date for years upon years (even through the boat arc), and it was worth it, a great look back at this massive work of art
Finished watching this video and immediately got a notification saying that Berserk was being continued, feels GOOD.
So we can expect a new chapter soon?
@@JuiceD2958 We are getting new chapters on 24th of june, tomorrow for me.
@@ashgaarxd no am talking about the anime.
@@JuiceD2958 Berserk is never going to get a proper anime adaptation
@@LuisSierra42 i will make one myself
I'm sad Berserk is over but it's still a Amazing story
Wonder if they'll reveal Kentaro Miura's intended ending for Berserk like Robert Jordan's intended ending for Wheel of Time.
*an
His only crime, was a crime of love.
Berserk isn't over they are releasing the final volume in November
@@Ichijoe91 All the chapters have been released already
Moonlight child is Guts and Casca's son.
Guts and Casca make love and the boy is conceived. Griffith commits the R and his demonic fluids corrupt the fetus. Casca miscarries the child and it lives on as a demon fetus. As the demon fetus, the boy follows both Guts and Casca along their journeys to give them warnings and protection. The egg of the perfect world, upon seeing the demon fetus, takes sympathy on him and brings him into the birth ceremony. The boy is then reborn inside of Griffiths new body and shares this vessel. On full moons the boy appears to Guts and Casca.
More reasons to despise griffith
but... but i seen a video essay by tranquil that said griffith did NOTHING wrong, therefore if guts despises griffith he is just a salty hater apparently.
@@bringinthedope5929 no
I wish u were right,but yea no
@@mishameskhi734 care to elaborate
Finished or not, Berserk is one of the best works of fiction of all time.
the part we're casca saw guts again after so long and had an emotional breakdown is what broke me he sacrificed so much to bring her back to her original self just for it to end with her unable to see him as he is but to see him as a monster is what hurts so damn much
Hey Mark, it seems like you hadn’t picked it up, but Casca was actually pregnant with Guts’ child. Griffiths action kind off corrupted the child. So the moonlight boy would be Guts, Casca and kinda Griffiths child.
One of the most emotional parts of Berserk for me was the scene right after a renewed Casca spars with the enchanted armor, and when she walks over to talk to Guts. Getting close to him, she doubles over in pain and when he comes around the tree she sees him and freaks out, and the look of pure sadness and despair on Guts' face filled me with immeasurable sadness. I felt so bad for him. For all the shit Guts went through, the fact that he still couldn't even be seen by the one he loves most without hurting her was easily the worst part for me.
Poor guts, I really feel bad for him that the girl he chose to lacerate with his teeth, had an emotional response. Gutted for him that she couldnt just silence her pain for him. The tragedy of men, that women have a response to their choices and makes them feel guilty.
@@SunXia I bet you have lots of friends and are very fun at parties
@@SunXia I know this is low effort bait that intentionally ignored the point of the original comment, but I can't help but correct it anyway. Guts didn't really "choose" to do that. He was in the middle of a psychological breakdown. Casca reacts badly to seeing Guts because he's a direct reminder of the trauma from the Eclipse, not because he bit her that one time.
@@SunXia Touch grass
Yea, it's a horrible story.
It's weird how the fact that it ended in such a sad way is still very much in tone with the series, life is not fair and sometimes things just sucks, but you got to keep going the best way you can
well put. I also saw Griffith tears as K.Miura own ones, knowing that itswhere it has to leave the story and this world.
You got me into this series and I read it right along with you. It’s a fantastic series and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys amazing themes, action, adventure, and story.
I got into the series thanks to Death Battle Guts vs Nightmare
One thing, at the beginning, the little girl who was a "demon" who brought them into a trap. No. She was a regular little girl, she was just possessed by an evil spirit, that happens a lot. Which made it all the more compelling when guts cleaved her in half. She wasn't a monster, just a victim of circumstance
I was about to say. I was very bothered when he called her a demon because i though that maybe I was the one who missunderstood, and it kinda took away a bit of the emotional impact. But thank god that wasnt the case.
Man the part where Casca got back to who she was made me sad in a happy way. And the relationship between Casca and Guts made me cry. The storytelling here is definitely the best I've ever experienced
3:03:31 I honestly don't think it's the child of Griffith and Casca, but rather of Guts and Casca. The reason it looked like that is due to the... action performed by Griffith during the eclipse and the unknown damage it could cause on a human body and, by extension, a human fetus. Whereas the fetus was transformed into the new vessel for Neo-Griffith, moonlight boy seems to be the quasi-physical manifestation of the fetus/child's original soul.
Yeah casca's probably already pregnant before eclipse happened
Yeah skull knight straight up says it’s Guts child, alotta people miss it since SK talks weird but double check the chapters just after the Eclipse, SK lays the whole situation down
Yes. Moonboy is essentially how their kid would've looked like if griffith wasn't doing a bill Cosby impression
schierke also says its gutts child. I think somewhere around the getting cascas mind back chapters
Berserk has a special place in my heart. A challenging, yet introspective narrative that is more than the gratuitous violence, and the depressing, oppressive atmosphere the characters live in. It's a truly fascinating tale that was far ahead of its time. Guts is one of the best written protagonists in any manga I've read, and an inspiration to keep fighting against all odds. Berserk is a truly important piece of fiction, and is indeed the strongest dark fantasy out there.
I've read this series on deployment after watching the original anime with my best friends...
Kentaro Miura will be missed. Such a talented artist, and brilliant storyteller...
Man...
Casca's Dream is the best arc/story ever. It's perfect.
Thank you so much for taking the time to make this. This story has also impacted my life and has even initiated a change in my life and heart throughout the last 3 years. As humans we all have struggles, tragedies, and suffering. These struggles can help us blossom into what we were always meant to be, serene, loving, selfless, caring, and warm to self and others or make us bitter, vengeful, fearful, angry, and hateful. Neither path is wrong but they just simply are. I'd argue that gut's evolution throughout the journey can be something that inspires people to become more conscious beings.
To say what Berserk means to me is something I'm still to this day trying to figure out myself, but one thing I can absolutely say that shook me, was seeing Guts go out of his way to protect Casca, because, I saw myself and my partner, who had had such a shitty past few years due to an mentally and emotionally abusive friendship she had with two other people that I myself had cut ties with shortly after, I'm on the way to help her heal from the pain she had to endure, and I saw myself in Guts.
While I didn't have a childhood ANYWHERE near as rough as he did, I was a victim of bullying throughout my entire school life, I developed anger issues back then and my mental state was.. not good to put it lightly, but when I started college, my life started to improve for the better, and seeing Guts shed his Black Swordsman facade and learn how to open up to others around him, it broke me.. because that was where I was at during my life.
Berserk was one of the stories I recently got into that told me that I was a strong person for not just looking out for myself, but to look out for those around me, and I cannot thank the late Kentaro Miura enough for making such a masterpiece
Such a beautiful comment. I hope you and your partner have great futures
Rest in peace, Kentaro Miura. There will always be love in my heart for both you and your masterpiece, until the day I die and whatever is beyond that. Thank you.
The story of Berserk changed so many people, including myself for the better and I can never thank Miura enough. Rest in Peace and thank you Miura for creating a masterpiece of fiction. Also thank you Mark for making this video! ❤️
Edit: This is not the end fellow strugglers, berserk is back!!!
W Rick
I feel the same way
Berserk declines after Golden Age Arc. The Golden Age arc was truly its peak, but after that, it lost the realism which it tried to convey earlier. Moreover, the plot armor around Guts also kind of ruined the vibe of the story for me (I am not saying that other series do not have plot armor, but it simply does not work for Berserk, a series that tries to be so merciless and hitting from the beginning)... Berserk is a great incomplete story and Muira was a great mangaka. But at the same time, overhyping a series is also not justified..
I can agree with you on many things on that but overall the story does not do things like other stories would have such a meaningful story due to the fact that it truly shows you the heartache of the all of it and thank you for sharing your thoughts it's always interesting to hear other people's opinions 😄
@@the_joker_z I simply do not feel the heartache that u are talking about... For me, the series lacked that "oomph" moments, especially after golden age arc. It becomes a bland story, with an angry guy killing demons for the sake of his revenge... Also, the humor is just so off and awful in the latter part of the series, and characters like Ishidro are plain annoying... It does some good world exposition stuff in the Millenium Falcon arc, but then the fantasia arc turns it into a fairy tale...
I still have so many conflicting feelings about Miura's passing, It's been almost a year and I don't think I've wrapped my head around it.
Same. It still pains me.
Lost children feels like Miuras attempt to show that Guts spent some time as a side character mindlessly killing without much depth to him, then places him as the main character again when Guts is at the point to grow again. The ending of the arc where demonstrates his character changing again, even if its just a little bit.
One thing to note that I just noticed for the first time during the Guts/Griffith fight: Guts is vehement that no one touch him - he even shouts at Casca while she lay with him during his recovery - but after the fight, Griffith takes Guts' head in his hands in an almost gentle embrace, and Guts doesn't pull away or seem to react in any way. The first person and only person to truly overpower Guts. Powerful but subtle stuff.
Guts crying after the events of The Guardians of Despair has always been my biggest question going forward. And I mean that in the best way possible. No other story would make me ask so many questions about one simple yet perplexingly engaging way
The biggest toughest guy we know with not a care in the world to the people around him is truly a big softie at heart with an equally as tragic and familiar experience as Therisia
I think it’s trying to show that despite all the snotty things that guts says, he still cares. He just doesn’t want to lose anyone else he cares about, so he tries his hardest to keep people away.
I never there would be a time when reviews would be longer than a lot of the movies nowadays
There's just so much to say about Berserk
Same. But there are a ton of vids here Yt that recap & review show that are like 7 hrs long. A lot of them are great too.
Berserk Lore is deep as hell tho
That shot of casca tearing up just thinking about guts always makes me tear up as well..
ITS BACK BABY!!! BERSERK IS BACK
When I read Berserk, I was training jiu-jitsu. During grappling sessions, I would remember how Guts never gave up and gave his all until his body could no longer keep going and that's how I trained my mind. I didn't care if my body hurt, I pushed harder so my opponent would be in the same situation and pushed them to exhaustion. I felt like I was on crack lmao. I need to read it again
Honestly with the story of Casca and Guts, it's very beautiful but incredibly heartbreaking. And the way the story is laid out, it could go (in my opinion) one of two ways:
1. She stays with Guts and eventually heals from the trauma his presence ignites.
2. She will have to eventually leave Guts to have a better life and heal.
Both of these options presents their own problems in her life going forward, and no-one would fault her for making either one of these decisions and that's what I love about it.
Personally I think the best course of action would be for for Casca to remain behind on Elfheim to focus on her healing only for her to return at a pivotal moment where Guts gets to his lowest (if his lowest can even go any lower).
@@Drums_of_Liberation
Never thought, like that and it could work for the story presented. Dope idea Pierce😁.
I'm pretty sure she's going to stay with guts no matter what...one of the things casca was so mad about pre eclipse was guts leaving again so I think both will stay together but guts will try to tell casca to leave him behind etc which she won't like
Every time I see the reunion of a recovered Casca and Guts, I feel myself hurt and choke on welling tears. It’s a sad, but understandable, moment
Even if Berserk does continue from Miura's assistants and the studio I will always differentiate "Berserk" and "Kentaro Miura's Berserk" because there's no one who can craft a story like he did
And not just to properly Google about it!
XD
Demon Child is Guts and Casca's kid corrupted by Femto. It was a fetus when it died, that's why it has that form.
Eggmonster absorbed it and acted as an Uterus, to complete it's development into a full person, and Demon Child ressurected and Femto possessed it and uses it to manifest into physical world.
Griffith uses the body of the child of Guts and Casca to manifest into the real world.
Let that sink in for a minute.
.
.
Their son's real form is the Moon Child btw, if that wasn't obvious already
I just realised that Griffith is the only God Hand member that still has some skin (literally) under the demon body. Maybe it was Miura's way of telling us that he still has some humanity in him.
late reply but this could be humanity in the less positive sense too, griffith could still have human emotions such as a desire or love for casca, or on the negative end a hatred for guts and this remaining humanity could play into his downfall
The Moonlight boy is guts and casca’s kid but he was corrupted by Griffith. It makes me hate Griffith more
I hope his assistants will finish this masterpiece. They have learned so much by him and I'm 100% certain that if they want to continue it, that it will be great. If not it's also fine.
Even if they don't finish the manga I hope some details on what the ending Miura intended was even if it's not complete.
Nothing against the assistants but I think Miura is the only one who could finish this story satisfying. I hope that Miura kinda wrote the ending somewhere. That's the only way I can see this series continuing.
Yeah it would be fine if even they released the rest of the story in form of books to read at this point. Just to see how it all ends. Sure not having this amazing manga panels would let a lot of people down but I doubt anyone can capture the essence and atmosphere in those panels anyway.
I absolutely hope they don't. Not that they wouldn't be capable of doing a good job, but it wouldn't be Miura's, and Berserk would end up not being the story Miura wanted to tell for these 30 years. Besides, it ended on a too crucial moment of the story to simply continue. HOW THE FUCK do you write the next chapter? They would have to understand Guts, Griffith, Casca and the whole party as well as Miura did, and I just don't think this is possible. IDK, I'd rather they leave it as the masterpiece it is than they do something that, even if it turns out awesome, is not truly Berserk
@@MultiWar22 I understand your point but you have to understand that there are assistants that worked with Miura since beginning. Idk if you know but they made a manga called "Duranki" and it looks sooo similar to the artstyle of Miura. Do you really think that Miura wasn't aware of his health condition and prayed that he will be okay? He isn't dumb and gave as much knowledge to his assistants as possible to perhaps finish his story. I hope you understand my point. I just am optimistic whether it will stay like that or gets a continuation. Have a nice day
When I was younger I used to always imagined that this series would have both a good ending and a bad ending one involving Guts and one involving Griffith both taking place after the main story with the good ending showing Gut’s life after the main story and the bad ending showing Griffith’s life after the main story with him ruling with no one to stop him with years going by. I used to imagine that these two endings would be one of those things where it’s up to interpretation on which is canon and which is not
it has been a wild ride. I discovered anime in the late 90s, and later mange in 2002 with my first job on the summer i graduated high school at an anime store in the mall. I absorbed it like crazy and loved it. I came from a D&D, LOTS of Warhammer fantasy and loved all things fantasy. Berserk was an instant hit with me, and I loved it immediately. It has been fun to see the title grow, back then not too many Anime and Manga fans in the US knew about it or gave it a try. Now to see the outpour of love for kentaro, and the fandom of berserk grow over the years has been a true blessing. I am so happy so many people love this series as much as I do now.
I have read berserk manga 3 times from the beginning to the end and it was worth every single second.Just spending time looking at the amazingly detailed drawings by kentaro over and over to truly appreciate its beauty and the hardwork that was put into it.Truly a masterpiece
This was a special watch. Thank you Mark for taking the time to write, the editors for working on this, and to everyone who watches this through.
I hope people come to understand, if they don't already, just how much of a treasure this series is.
Man... everytime I see teary-eyed Casca, I just get so teary-eyed myself.
It has all been worth it for that singular panel.
Reading berserk was easily the best decision I made in my life so far, it was a great ride
#thankyoumiura
Really great massive review.
I'm glad you had your editors to help you through the journey, that must have felt nice with them setting you up to enjoy the story beats to the greatest effect.
This story of Berserk was something else, and since reading it I don't know if I'll ever feel the same while consuming other stories again. This work changed me, or made me wake up to a dormant part of my humanity, something that I think was always there. Truly a masterwork of artforms. Rest in peace Kentaro Miura.
PS: My head cannon makes me think that Griffith became so powerful that he came into our world and killed Kentaro Miura, so that he could live in his fantasy world uninterrupted.
*GRIFFITH!!!!!*
i’m honestly a little disappointed Mark didn’t talk about Guts and Casca’s coming together scene in more detail. It represents more than the differences between them and Griffith and Charlotte.
Both Guts and Casca are victims of SA and has trauma from those experiences. Guts’ trauma from that is the reason he doesn’t like being touched and Casca’s experience is the reason she was so obsessed with protecting Griffith, because he was the one who saved her.
But in that moment, those two allow eachother to become vulnerable with one another and come to terms with their shared trauma. To me, the golden age arc focuses on humanity and that scene of guts and casca at the waterfall is the most human scene in the arc imo. Those two hurt and lonely people finally coming together and being able to comfort and connect to each other despite their past experiences. It’s beautiful.
when people only care about the hardcore ultraviolent action scenes and detailed artstyle more than themes or message of the story..
@@tutubism You're not special for liking that scene, dude
@@xiiir838 mock me if you wish, curse me if you must. i'm saying this because of something we all share but express differently and it's called having _standards._
Ah yes, both of my favorite Irish anime video essayists uploaded multiple hour long videos about Berserk in the same month. What a time to be alive.
Who's the other one?
@@TheFoxyKevinT Super eyepatch Wolf. Check him out if you haven’t, his content is amazing.
Super Eyepatch Wolf: I have the longest analytical tribute to Miura’s masterwork!
Mark:
TheAlmightyLoli: *chuckles in the distance
@@protoaltus laughs in 24 hours
Loved getting notifications for each new entry in this series! One thing I feel needs to be said is that Skull Knight specifies that the demon infant is Guts and Casca's child, just corrupted by Griffith. I interpret the Moonlight Child as being the true physical form of the child, had they never been corrupted except for the power it wields. That said, I do see the parallels with Griffith in terms of playfulness and I heard someone compare Guts and his kid mock-sparring with sticks to Guts and Griffith's first meeting. Though personally, I think that's an aesthetic resonance and just natural childishness and father-child bonding, and not evidence for the idea that the Child is Griffith in any way apart from its power.
The father and son bonding is meant to remind us of gambino and guts if gambino was a good father
@@Miuranger1 Oh, nice spot there.
I can simply state that this is the best Berserk review you can find on this medium.
Berserk is still the only manga to ever make me cry. It will forever be a permanent inspiration in my own concepts and ideas and I am grateful that it will get the ending it deserves but I’m saddened Kentaro won’t get to see his masterpiece complete
Thank you Totally Not Mark for this outstanding visual essay into a work that still never ceases to have a profound impact on my life, and for the beautiful send-off for Miura-Sensei at the end. I am in happy silent tears that I was ever able to experience something quite like this, I have been reading Berserk since I was 16 and I am now almost 35.
Miura's incredibly human story telling, through many years of mental health conditions, has helped shape me into the man I've always wanted to be, his art continues to inspire me to soar to even greater heights with my own. Even though you've only relatively recently experienced this epic, I know from your videos and the passion you exude that you experienced it as deeply as the rest of us who struggled through it all release by release.
So proud of all that you do and the genuine love and appreciation you have for the art you review
I don’t typically comment but this was a truly beautiful tribute to the work of Kentaro Miura. Amazing job and thank you for a walk down memory lane. #ripkentaro
May well be one of if not the greatest manga in history. So much hurt, endurance, heartbreak, suffering, loss, dedication, betrayal, and defiance all wrapped up in amazing storytelling. Berserk is on another level of awesome that I can’t truly put into words.
Who's back now that they've announced Berserk will be continued? I pray Miuras great work will be continued with respect and passion.
Zodd teaming up with Guts' panel is so fucking legendary.
Thank you for this series man, it was like experiencing Berserk for the first time again but vicariously through you. Always love seeing people discover this masterpiece.
Oh wow.. A full review of Berserk containing all your previous reviews (+ the last arc) with added content?! Sounds cool to me. Also the animations look great!
Miura lives through your content and through all of the fandom, this series has changed me forever and many millions like me, I’m going to read it again I guess
Kentaro Miura's Eternity: BERSERK
Monty Oum's Eternity: (fan)RWBY & Dead Fantasy
thumbnail aged horribly and I'm so happy
Lost Children was, for me, not only an excellent piece of story telling, but an essential part of Guts’ character development. Without Lost Children he doesn’t make the decision to return to Casca. It’s only when he makes the decision to give up everything to find and protect her that he starts to overcome his trauma.
RIP Kentaro Miura, you have written one of the greatest story that will be ever told in the medium of Manga. I hope you this get a proper anime adaptation in the future with no budget issues. Sad that this masterpiece doesn't have a proper ending though...
Correction, one of the greatest stories in any medium, period! It has inspired hundreds of other stories over the years in varying mediums, and it will continue to do so.
@@DeepbloodFang true!
When I started University I was an engineering major, and quickly realized I did not want to do it, I had spent my whole middle school and high school studying to become an engineer, I took programming, advanced STEM classes, the whole nine yards. So when I switched majors I felt kind of lost in life, and wasn't really sure with what I wanted to from then on out. I had a good family and friends that supported me, but in retrospect I was probably waiting for some to tell me "Hey you should do X, you would be really good at X".
Ironically I started reading Berzerk around the same time, and when I got to the part where Guts left the Band of the Hawk, it was kind of a wake up call to me, no one was gonna tell me what to do I needed to make that decision for my self. So I switched majors to accounting, got a masters in it eventually, and now work in a great office, and doing something I truly love.
While I'm sure eventually I would have made that decision on my own, Berzerk gave the the kick in the ass I needed at the time. Berzerk taught me even after you make a decision you will struggle for it. Nothing will fall into your lap, and just magically work out. There were countless times when I questioned if I was making a mistake, did I make the right choice, am I wasting my time? Berzerk is not my favorite piece of media, hell its not even my favorite manga this series will always have a special place in my heart.
I’m curious what did you end up choosing?
@@charlesmendez5156 accounting it is in the comment
Corridor of dream was so amazing. I swear it felt so good to see her wake up. I was waiting for 10 years at that point
Drinking game:
Drink everytime the word "favourite", "best" or "one of the best" is used
I am so grateful to be alive during this time period where Berserk is a thing, I have no words to describe how deeply I feel about Berserk
I find it crazy to actually keep track of Guts' age through the story, like he met Griffith when he was 15, left the band at 18, eclipse at 19, during the conviction arc he's 21 or so... like HE'S SO YOUNG which actually lends a lot to the realism in the choices he makes throughout. OF COURSE he mellows out as it comes toward the final arc(s) he's literally becoming a full adult.
Literal... Character Growth.
And especially with the berserker armor sapping away his vitality, even at the end when he's maybe 23-24 he starts to look almost middle aged. It's a great way to show that all that fighting, struggling and pain are taking a heavy toll on the man after such a relatively short period of time
let me put the claim here in writing because i have said it so many times. Berserk is the greatest work of art humanity has produced, in my opinion. may your memory be a blessing Kentaro Miura
Just finished reading Berserk an hour ago or so.
Rest in Peace Kentaro Miura. Thank you for letting me experience this manga.
I personally love the Lost Children arc because it gave me what I wanted, which was a look into how this world has grown more horrible after the events of the Eclipse. It’s a glimpse into the consequences of what Guts has endured with the full context of the Golden Age, which The Black Swordsman didn’t give us.
But, to be honest, there isn’t a chapter in Berserk I don’t like.
What Guts need to realize is at this point it's not just between him and Griffith there's other people in the fight pretty much everyone in the world is battling the idea of evil so he should be like everyone else and live with the people he loves because there will always be someone to oppose Griffith and if the moonlight boy is Griffiths good in him he could very well grow to be as strong Griffith. It's not a mission that can be done alone the world is at stake meaning everyone has to fight for their lives.
Idk if you've talked about it before, but I highly recommend you cover Vinland Saga. The message it gives is amazing and it's storytelling is top-tier.
My favorite story of all time. Really glad you read it and have been making videos about berk👌
Now more than ever Berserk deserves a perfect anime adaptation
Im glad you mentioned the saying “i could care less” because that phrase bothers me so much, its supposed to be “i couldn’t care less” but for some reason everyone says it the other way which pisses me off way more than it should
My starting point into the world of Berserk was through the Dreamcast game. I’ve watched the Golden Age arc film trilogy many years later and watched the anime adaptation in 2016. At the time, I didn’t even realize that they did another season of it.
Fast forward to 2021, I randomly rewatched the Golden Arc film trilogy and fell in love with the series. I couldn’t get enough of it. I watched the 97 anime adaptation of it which filled in some of the holes that were missing in the film trilogy. I also watched the 2017 adaptation which was better than the 2016, by not that much.
Disappointed by the lack of animation adaptations beyond the Conviction arc, I started watching a couple of TH-camrs’ analysis on the subsequent arcs.
Soon after, Kentaro Miura suddenly passes away. Wow, completely devastated as I was completely obsessed with his masterpiece.
Overall, it’s fantastic series that I’d highly recommend.
Its realy impressive how far u and ur team have come in terms of music the entire production rly and how you manage to express ur thoughts. I rly loved it when u said: Guts struggle is the savage heart of the story. Don't get me wrong when u started making these vids they were already good but now they a rly outstanding, reminding me a lot of the work of super eyepatch wolf. Realy well done.
I'm so glad that you stuck with this story until it's end!
Thank for covering this wonderful story and i'm really glad that you got something positive out of it.
You know something really interesting? Guts said in the black swordsman arc “I don’t like elves, and I don’t like you” foreshadowing his first encounter with chitch. I find that just beautiful.
Miura didn't even decided how to implement the Golden Age arc at that time. That was something to make him feel edgy not pre planned.
@@Shairaaj_who cares, for someone going through the story, it doesn't break continuity, and is still in a way a foreshadow.
Guts as a character is really relatable to me. Sure, i haven’t been through a quarter of the shit he’s been through, but I found myself connecting to him through his struggle against fate itself.
Ive had a hell of an upbringing that I don’t want to get into, but as was said in this video, I feel like ive been walking with a limp my whole life. Just in the past handful of years, ive had to work my way through rough situations. Situations where I coulda easily been left homeless, or at the very least penniless, if I had just sat down and given up. Ive moved house 4 times over the past 4 years, simply because shit keeps going wrong. But I can’t bring myself to lay down and die, for whatever reason.
Berserk really helped me realize this and, as cheesy as it is, I think helped me keep pushing on. Sometimes I feel as though I’m fighting against fate itself, just as Guts is. I mean, I’m not hunted by actual demons or nothin, but day to day life is rough. Right when I start to get comfortable, and think I can finally improve my life, something happens and I gotta scrap it all and try again. But fuck it, why not just live life just to spite life?
I’m so glad berserk is going to continue. I wish Mori and all of Gaga the best of luck.
Also, I hope Theresia comes back. I want to see her on her own quest for revenge, turned into the same kind of monster Guts was in Guardians of Desire, so that Guts has to look at the actions of his old self in the eyes. It would be such an interesting character moment. I hope it happens.
Not even 5 minutes in and I'm hooked.. It's 9PM in Chicago.. Thankfully it's a Saturday so I can binge it! Just discovered your channel as well sooo...
*LIKED AND SUBSCRIBED!!!!!!!!*
Berserk is truly a masterpiece (as is this video), and as just a random commenter, I'd like to give my thoughts on Guts and Griffith (and provide a series recommendation).
I look at Griffith and Guts as two parallel lines. As brought up time and time again, Guts is a struggler, against fate, other people, leadership, enemies, friends, the world. He is like many people in the real world, as it is through coming into contact and conflict with others that we might know ourselves. Guts takes the road less traveled, the harder path, because it is right. Even in his moments of weakness, he preserves towards good, and in the back half of the series, we can see him build something "real". Real connections, real friendships, his walls are beginning to come down, the venire of the wolf maybe not beginning to fade, but fighting now hopefully for something other than rage.
Griffith is also a man who struggles, but when presented with the shortest road, would take it. Many times you would see this justified in various sections of "The Golden Age". Your morals, comrades, those who you fight against, the shortest path towards your dream is worth it. This is exemplified through the pile of corpses we see Griffith standing upon, and can be surmised as "No price too great to pay". The cumulation of this mentality, mixed with the rage and betrayal he felt from Guts with The Eclipse is a cumulation of everything Griffith stands for. Your "friends" are a small price to pay, especially if it means a shorter walk to the gates of the kingdom. Griffith's kingdom is one built on sacrifice yes, but not a "real" sacrifice. What did Griffith lose in this case? He clearly thought the price of "friendship" was easily worth paying when given the option, especially that of Guts. Griffith took a shortcut, that while one might argue lead to less bloodshed, we can see that at the end of the day, in Falconia, those people died regardless outside the city walls. Griffith simply circumvented his own struggle.
I feel that Rickert more than anyone else in this series is "the common man" and helps represent the reader. We understand Griffith's dream, and more than anything else, we understood the people who wished to share in his dream. Those who would call themselves his comrades, his friends, his allies. And he threw them screaming into the maelstrom, allowing them not to fight for him, but to simply die for him, to be consumed by him. Rickert, left alone and without guidance, without understanding why Griffith did what he did, when confronted with the truth, acts in righteous justification. The "Band of the Hawk" was not created to die for Griffith, or for his dream. They wanted to fight, to struggle, to realize that dream and themselves through conflict, a turning of ideals however small, lighting their bonfires together to take the world to torch and create something new, and Griffith snuffed it out.
I believe that this is the irreconcilable difference between Guts and Griffith. Griffith cannot be redeemed, he is a dark angel, fallen from the grace he had as the leader of the Band of the Hawk. He rides on dark wings, leading a kingdom built upon deceit, lies, and forced circumstances prompted by "fate". He had a choice to take a more difficult road, and chose his rage. Guts when presented with the choice of indulging in his rage, and saving something, chose the latter. It's a harder road for sure, and he struggles on it even with people. Griffith gives into the dream of his kingdom, while Guts forces himself (poorly at times) and others, to try and face the truth. I don't think as long as this fundamental juxtaposition between the characters existed, could there truly be peace among them. Because the only place for peace in this new world is under Griffith's rule, and he does not allow for those who deviate from his grand design. And so there is no freedom for those who would swim against the current of fate, to make their own destiny.
Thank you for the video Mark, it was really great. Berserk is one of, if not my favorite manga of all time. As a person, I have trouble confronting things at times, and Berserk was a series that was instrumental in realizing that I needed to really try and embrace those conflicts at times, otherwise I would be unable to grow, so I'm glad that you love this series as much as I do. If you'd like suggestions of a similar nature in themes and tones, I would highly recommend "Monster", by Naoki Urasawa. While not necessarily as action packed as many of the other series you present on your channel, I find it's themes to be fantastic.
The travel through Casca's mind made by Farnese and Shierke is outstanding. To think I used to despise Farnese, now she is next to Casca among my favourite Female Characters! What a redemption arc she had!!
What timing this is, only yesterday i finished my first read of this amazing series
One of the thing I like about Berserk is that each characters are not made redundant. They are there for a reason and plays a very important role. The dynamics between each characters in Guts travelling band are just awesome.