Berserk is a Fantastic Story about the descent of one man for his dream, the tragedy of another at his betrayal and the search for higher purpose in the chaotic world that surrounds its characters. Set in the medieval period as a dark fantasy, it will give you a lot to think about. The characters are superb and expertly written, to the point where no conflict in the series feels artificial or underwhelming. While, later on it does introduce us with side-characters that are significantly weaker than the ones before (in Golden Age Arc), it never detracts too much from the story.
For the sake of this Review: I'm going to analyze the story, characters, and themes of Each Arc seperately. (Major Spoilers for Much of the Manga)
“𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐒𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐀𝐫𝐜” (黒い剣士篇) (𝐯𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐦𝐞 𝟏–𝟑):
We follow our Main Protagonist Guts, as he tries to battle otherworldly creatures called Apostles in his quest for Vengeance and Resistance. While I do like the Idea of starting a story from the middle, it gives the reader too much information. And in turn spoils the shock that’s at the end of the Next Arc. It’s also significantly weaker, although not bad, by any means. The Characters are introduced in a generic fashion which is all too common for a 90s Manga for this Period. However, it’s only 3 volumes so don’t let it discourage you. On its own it’s pretty good, but it massively undersells the story of Berserk.
7/10 (Decent start for a 90s Manga, but significantly weaker than the rest.)
“𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐧-𝐀𝐠𝐞 𝐀𝐫𝐜” (黄金時代篇) (𝐯𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐦𝐞 𝟑–𝟏𝟒):
(For Preface, this is going to be less of a Review and more of an Analysis of the Themes of the Golden Age Arc and my appreciation and fascination with them.)
To explain why this Arc is so brilliant, one can’t just summarize the themes of the Golden Age. I think of it as being important to explain the thematic development in relation to the Plot and Characters with each story beat. So bear with me here.
Our Story starts with a child born of a Corpse, adopted by a Man who although teaches him how to swing a Sword also sells him into Rape for Money and ends up getting killed by his hand accidentally. This marks the first major shift in Guts’ Character. The world is a terrible ugly place. People are uncaring, abusive and will do anything for their own selfish purposes for their own survival and the only thing He has that will protect him from that is his Sword.
Some 10 Years later, we see him dueling and fighting other swordsman for his income until he runs into the Band of the Hawk. Griffith being their Leader takes a liking to him and challenges him to duel where if Guts loses, he has to join the Hawks. Griffith succeeds and defeats Guts with minimal ease. Guts’ Character up until that point, shaped by his experiences is a general distant and aggressive attitude towards things, which is understandable.
After about 15-20 Chapters in, however, he grows closer and closer to members of the Hawk, and develops a very real connection with them. For a Moment it’s as if he’s not alone in this world, that he has people he can rely on, and trust. One of these Characters is Casca who ends up being a mirror reflection of Guts. Prone to Anger and a Cold Exterior with a great admiration for Griffith, she becomes envious of Guts when Griffith takes a liking to him and promotes him to higher rank due to his skill. However as time passes during the War, Guts and Casca realize that they have more in common than they initially thought. Both contemplating their purpose at that point in their lives and wondering if anything really matters, clinging onto whatever they can. With Casca clinging on to the Hope Griffith gave her early in her childhood when he rescued her from being raped and gave her a sword to defend herself and Guts clinging on to his Sword that kept him Alive for so long in face of a bleak harsh reality.
Eventually, Guts becomes significantly stronger while the Hawks are fighting as mercenaries in the War for Midland’s Army. There is however a sense of meaninglessness lingering in his head. He becomes famous for killing 100 men in Battle but in that very same battle, he swings his Sword contemplating whether there is any meaning to it at all. The Sword then becomes a Symbol for his Base Instinct, while: he himself – with his reason, questions the purpose of his instincts. In particular, the survival instinct which is repeatedly questioned. Is man’s entire purpose to fulfill the basic utilities for survival? Or is there something more to Man than Himself? Something higher to achieve and accomplish? A dream perhaps?
This is where we get Griffith. A man driven by a dream and his dream alone. A well-spoken young swordsman with ambitions higher than himself - who strives to reach the Royal Palace of Midland and climb up the ranks. Although, the Band of the Hawk are regular mercenaries, fighting in the War becomes for them an Opportunity to catch the King’s eye. In one of these battles they fight Nosferatu Zodd and the Fantasy Elements become clear, with Zodd foreshadowing what’s to come later. He sees the Behleit hanging from Griffith’s neck and tells Guts the following:
“If you think this man your friend, then know this. When you regard one another as brother and this man's ambition crumbles, it is your destiny to face your death. You cannot escape your fate!”
The expert foreshadowing is done near-perfectly. You are never told why or how Guts must face death when Griffith’s Ambition crumbles but it hints at the conclusion in such a way that it makes sense when it happens and doesn’t feel like it came out of left field, when it finally happens.
With the Battle of Doldery and other successful conquests, Griffith is finally allowed into the Palace and become Part of the Army despite his lower status as a Commoner. Subsequently, some of the Nobles take offense to this and therefore try to assassinate Griffith out of envy for his success. Griffith becomes close with the Princess and the King commands the Hawks to guard her at a trip. Once there, Griffith gets unexpectedly hit by a poison arrow. However, instead of piercing him it pierces the Behleit he wore and is saved thanks to it. Once Griffith realizes who it was that tried to assassinate him, he sends Guts on his first assassination mission, telling him that he is the only one he trusts with something like this. Guts agrees to do it for Griffith’s sake and it’s apparent that he considers him a good friend.
What happens afterwards is brilliant. In the mission for Guts to assassinate the Noble, he accidentally kills a child who happens to see him. This is the first time Guts ever killed someone so young and innocent. He tries to tragically comfort the child on his dying breaths and quickly leaves the scene in pure anxious misery and regret. The same night as the Assassination, Griffith is invited to Hall with the Princess. Guts comes running back, severely bruised after fighting off some of the guards with his face covered. And he stands there on the stairs looking at Griffith conversing with the Princess at the fountain up ahead. Casca is the first to see him and tries to cover his wound with a cloth, symbolizing his only real connection. Griffith, who up until this point, Guts thought of as his closest friends says the following (unbeknownst of Guts’ presence):
“While many can pursue their dreams in solitude, other dreams are like great storms blowing hundreds even thousands of dreams apart in their wake. Dreams breathe life into men, and can cage them in suffering. Men live and die by their dreams, but long after they've been abandoned, they still smolder deep in men's hearts. Some see nothing more than life and death. They are dead! For they have no dreams.”
The genius of this Line is that, it is the anti-thesis of what Guts had believed all his Life, up to that point. For according to Griffith, he in his worldview of only seeing nothing more than life and death is spiritually dead. To put it simply, he who lacks ambition is dead. Guts when hearing this realizes what his sense of dread has been mostly fueled by, and through Griffith he finally knows what was missing. But maybe he and Griffith are still Friends, right?
Well, in response to the Princess’ question about Griffith’s Friends and Comrades he answers:
“They are my able soldiers it's true, they are dedicated comrades who sacrifice themselves for my dream so that it might be real. But that does not make them friends. In my mind a true friend never relies on another's dream. The man, who would be my friend, must have his own reason for living, beyond me. And he should put his heart and soul into protecting his dream. He should never hesitate to defend it, even against me. For me to call a man my friend, he must be equal to me in all respects.”
This is what ultimately breaks Guts. Just after assassinating a Noble and killing a Kid for the sake of Griffith’s dream, he realizes what Griffith actually thinks of him and his type of lifestyle. And this is where Berserk really proves itself to be a Tragedy more well-written than Shakespeare. I know this sounds pretentious, but hear me out. The motivations of each character in relation to each other functions so brilliantly in pointing out the flaws in each one that it is impossible to think of any character development in The Golden Age Arc that comes across as forced or rushed. The motivations and changing perspectives feels so natural that you never question the change of character for all of them involved. Whilst also, it gives you a lot to think about in terms of man’s purpose and Guts’ position in the world in reference to Griffith.
Not only that, but in that moment, the only true companionship Guts finds is with Casca as they both contemplate their relationship with Griffith realizing that with their qualities and their worldviews, he would not view them as friends, if he were aware. Griffith then symbolizes the Blind Ambition of Man, the Princess being one part of that puzzle, the palace being the other, and Casca symbolizing the Mirror Reflection of Guts’ struggles. As we get deeper into the Story. Guts who for all this time, symbolized the Survival Instinct through his Sword, then realizes that for him to be Griffith’s Friend in any true sense, ultimately has to leave the Band of the Hawk and follow his own Ambitions. Which at that point, he considers to be dueling with other Swordsmen. While it is a bit shaky, he views it as a good step to realizing his Purpose in Life.
The tragedy of it is that Griffith had finally come so close to his Goal, with barely any obstacles left, and just at that moment, Guts who he thought he considered his Friend, intends to leave. He stops Guts and tells him that just as how he got Guts into his hands through a Duel at the Start, that he must therefore beat him in a Duel to Leave. After a good 3-4 years of fighting in War, Guts finally beats Griffith in that Duel and this not only breaks Griffith’s Sword, it breaks Griffith himself. The Illusion of Griffith’s Ambition shattered. His Idea of Friendship contradicted by his own very actions. Maybe he truly did have a Friend. Maybe Guts was his only friend. Perhaps he saw this in Guts, that all along he wanted to strive for something more. Perhaps he was wrong in thinking that that was the only reason. After all, he had a friend he lost earlier in his childhood as well.
While Griffith indeed viewed his Ambition to be more important than anything else, in reality he always struggled with this concept himself. There is a scene earlier where Casca tries to comfort Griffith after she comes to realize that he sold himself into Prostitution just to support the Hawk. While Griffith does sacrifice his dignity for his Ambition, the Pain of it is immense and he is driven to self-harm because of it. The contradiction of the Man and his Blind Ambition is that while he does come to symbolize it, it’s not like it doesn’t way heavy on his Mind. He is, after all: Human. In a desperate attempt, he sneaks into the Princess’s Balcony and sleeps with the Princess. While it is never explicitly told why he does this, it is clear that it is done in desperation and perhaps in search of some level of comfort. Perhaps it could even be a case of Opportunism that we have seen from Griffith so far. To maybe pass on his seed, or accelerate the process for him to become King. This ends up being reckless on his part, as he is caught at his escape from the Princess’s Mansion.
What follows is a year of torture in a dungeon for Griffith, the Band of the Hawk becoming Public Enemy No. 1 and being on the run and all of this happening in Guts’ Absence partially due to Guts’ leaving. With Griffith imprisoned, Commander Casca becomes the leader of the Hawks and this is where Guts returns to find that his actions had that much of an effect on Griffith. Guts never realized how important he was to Griffith and this gets Casca to open up to him with her frustrations with him. At this point they realize how they both feel, and after some well-written romance followed by some love-making, they decide to rescue Griffith from the Royal Dungeon.
The Side-Characters at this point in the story, especially: Judeau, Corkus and Rickert are so fleshed out, that the stakes for the Band of the Hawk feel worth something. It’s not just some gimmick, they have personalities that are far more tangible than majority of main characters in most other series and so they feel like actual comrades that would exist.
And so, they build on the tragedy, When Guts and Casca finally rescue Griffith, it is revealed that Griffith is physically impaired for life and can never walk or talk again. Wrapped up in bandages, he appears as a Mummy, a former shell of himself. He’s lost so much of his dream, that he can no longer bear it. When Guts comes back to him, even though he has no strength, he tries to choke him with his feeble hands but ultimately is unable. While inside a carriage near Midland’s border, he overhears Casca talking to Guts about how Griffith won’t be able to recover. He then fully realizes what has happened. His Ambition isn’t only crushed, it is GONE. Forever. The Throne he so sought after since his early childhood. He shall never have it.
This is when Griffith finally snaps and starts running the carriage by barely moving the ropes on the carriage, since in his weakened state, he cannot control it, he falls out of it, into the Lake, holding his Behleit up to the sky with Casca and Guts rushing towards him in sheer panic. Now, what happens next would be confusing if the foreshadowing with Zodd wasn’t there. So without expertly spoiling anything (in the context of the arc), you already know how everything is proceeding. The Behleit cries and screams in Agony as the Lake and Sky are turned red due to the Eclipse happening simultaneously. The cries of the Behleit conveying the Pain being felt by Griffith who has long lost his voice and the Color: Red symbolizing his State of Mind – that of Blood and Despair.
And Boom, we are transported to a bizarre horrific world, filled with Creatures similar to Zodd called Apostles. Everyone is stuck in complete shock including the viewer. We are introduced to the God-Hand that Griffith had called upon. See, long ago, Griffith made himself a Promise. A promise to accomplish his dream no matter what the cost. We see Griffith as a Child holding his Friend’s Corpse, on an incomplete bridge of corpses extended towards the Castle. The Castle symbolizing his Destination with the Corpses being the Path towards that End. So many countless comrades and friends dead due to his dream. The God-Hand member: Conrad talks to Young Griffith, telling simply and clearly: “You killed these People” with Griffith being shocked to find that he indeed was responsible for their Deaths. And so, what follows next is just a simple logical conclusion.
Premise 1: A Man’s Ambition should never be Abandoned, No matter what the cost.
Premise 2: My Ambitions are Responsible for Countless Deaths.
Premise 3: Those Deaths are the only reason why I got this far.
Premise 4: The only way left to realize this Ambition is more Death.
The Conclusion that follows is Obvious and this makes the Tragedy of Berserk all the more hard-hitting. The Apostles start slaughtering every member of the Band of the Hawk at Griffith’s Command as you are left to watch in horror as the side-characters you grew so attached to, are killed one by one. Pippin, Corkus, Judeau, Gaston, All Gone. Corkus dies alone in the Most Ironic Fashion. It’s unclear whether you should cry or laugh, that’s how bad his death is. Gaston dies in Guts’ arms almost as if symbolizing Guts’ Failure to save his troops, Pippin is already dead once they find him in the darkness and Judeau has one of the most tragic death scenes I have ever seen in Anime. His character is phenomenally written and him dying to save Casca, still stays with me.
But the Tragedy doesn’t end here. See, this is only Griffith’s Sacrifice. However, there’s one more puzzle to this piece missing. And that is Revenge. Griffith overhearing Casca and Guts talk while he’s alone in the carriage, also realizes that they are romantically involved. We see him day-dreaming about Casca, imagining her as his housewife while he’s lost all hope of regaining his ambition. He also blames Guts for his Ambition crumbling and falling apart. What this ends up in is the best way to enact revenge on Guts that he can possibly think of. And so we end the Eclipse with Griffith, now transformed into Femto raping Casca as Guts watches in horror with his one arm being eaten at by an Apostle and his right eye being pierced as he screams and struggles to move towards and rescue her. He ends up unsuccessful in stopping Femto from raping Casca, However, both of them are rescued from Death by Zod’s rival Skullknight who is introduced a few chapters earlier. But the tragedy doesn’t end. Casca becomes a Former shell of herself, now suffering from Complete Amnesia due to the Trauma and Guts being left alone again, just as he was at the start. His lost Eye and Arm symbolizing everyone he lost and with brands on both Casca and Guts, they are followed by the Dead everywhere. Casca symbolizes the burden from the Eclipse that Guts has to carry all his life. Griffith now as Femto; symbolizing the loss of humanity for the sake of ambition and Guts now having a clear purpose and End-Goal. That being protecting Casca and fighting the Apostles and opposing Griffith at all costs.
At the End of the Golden Age Arc, we have two Opposing Sides with their Own Purpose, defining their own Meaning in Life, set directly in Contrast to one another. The Black Swordsman and ‘The White Hawk. True Friends, True Enemies. Griffith sacrifices others for his sake, Guts sacrifices himself for others’ sake. Griffith defined his Purpose as things external to him – the Castle, the Princess, the Throne; things that don’t have any connection or relation with Griffith intrinsically. Whereas, Guts chose to define his Purpose as something internal to himself – protecting the Branded Girl and opposing Griffith at all costs. For the sake of the Love for his comrades and Revenge for what Griffith had done. Things that he simply can’t let go off, no matter what. The Sword at this point represents something more than just Survival. It is THE tool/means for realizing his Dream. No matter how many Monsters or Men he has to fight.
Miura being the Master that he is, builds this Premise from the Ground up in such an intricate way that the Themes are conveyed coherently without any kind of forcedness while still remaining deeply complex and building characters that have realistic personalities and motivations while also having complex reasons for living. With drama and suspense at its height, the Eclipse truly marks the Climax of the entire Berserk Manga with its conclusion resulting in developing the most fleshed out conflict that I have ever read.
10/10 (Possibly, The Most Well-Written Tragedy in all of Fiction)
“𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐧 𝐀𝐫𝐜” (ロスト・チルドレン篇) (𝐯𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐦𝐞 𝟏𝟒–𝟏𝟔):
The Lost Children Arc, while being really short at about 2 Volumes long, is the most Underrated Arc in Berserk. Because it doesn’t have a Grand-Epic Tale involving some Huge Conflict, it is easy to see why this Arc is less talked about, however it perfectly mirrors Guts’ childhood struggles and trauma in its side characters while also giving us some breathing time after the horrific tragedy that is the previous chapters.
We are reintroduced to Puck, who was Guts’ sidekick in the first few chapters, however, Puck is way funnier here than he was in those previous chapters. It’s not only that but his inclusion makes perfect sense. Rickert being the only member of the Hawk that was not present during the Eclipse, is met by Puck who then leads him to Godot, who was Guts’ Blacksmith for the period when he left the Band of the Hawk. Rickert then begins to work there and after a time-skip we see his Character fully matured. He also serves as a Symbol for the Last remaining memory of the Hawk that Guts can rely on.
The Conflict of the Arc centers on a Village where children are disappearing and Elves are terrorizing its people. We are introduced to Jill who is abused by her Father and lives with an incompetent mother, who can’t protect both her and herself. This situation is something that the children from that village all want to escape from, and as we are revealed, through cocooning, these children are turned into elves and subsequently haunt the village as a form of Revenge. Which draws an interesting parallel to Guts’ own revenge.
There’s also the prevailing theme of Escapism. Becoming Pseudo-Apostles and assuming Elf-like forms, the children intend to escape from their harsh situations at home. The Symbolism and Imagery with Elves is all intentional. The Children find their escape in a form of a Fairy Tale, quite literally. Jill’s best friend Rosine, the antagonist, is just a Child who wants escape from her Misery. The Parallels between Rosine and Jill, and that of Guts and Griffith are presented in subtext of the Narrative - specifically through the use of the Behleit and Rosine sacrificing her Parents.
We also find out that the Children kill each other for their Entertainment and that the Fairy Tale Aspect is just an Illusion through which Jill is initially drawn into it. This disturbs her and she refuses and makes it easier for the Audience to stomach Guts’ fighting them and ultimately defeating them.
By the end, we are given a resolution for Jill quite similar to what we are given for Guts. That being to face the hardships of Life, head on. Instead of running away from them. Which expertly ties us into the Conflict of the Next Arc. See, there was something lurking in the background Guts was running away from, all this time…
9/10 (Extremely Sublime, yet Simple Story)
“𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐀𝐫𝐜” (断罪篇) (𝐯𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐦𝐞 𝟏𝟔–𝟐𝟏):
…Casca – the Symbol of the weight Guts’ has to carry. In the previous Arc, Guts leaves her at Godot’s place but because of the Brand he has to keep her confined for her safety. A Mute Casca with no memories or reason obviously hates this and runs away. Guts now has to find her and eventually runs in the Holy Iron Chain Knights.
From there, the Themes become intensely focused on criticizing Organized Religion (specifically Catholicism) – although it’s not overtly called that. This isn’t one-sided however, with characters such as Azan representing the genuinely religious that symbolize the Good, although it is apparent with Mozgus and the role they play in the conflict. Casca is taken in by Prostitutes, and this is the first time in Berserk where we get Weak Side Characters. (Isidro is one of them and then there are the Prostitutes.) It’s not because they are prostitutes but because their characterization is poorly done. Specifically: "The Strong Independent Prostitute" - So liberating, however poorly written character. There is some genuinely hilarious things such as: the incompetent prostitute taking an incompetent man into overt devil worship and sexual orgies inside a cave right below the Holy See’s nose, Casca being thought of as a witch due to her Brand attracting Demons and Pretty much: Everything dealing with Mozgus. Oh, how much I love Mozgus!
Mozgus is basically the type of villain that is so cartoonishly insane that you can’t but love how crazy he is. While Griffith had a human side, Mozgus’ most human characteristic: is his intensely devout praying methods, with him comedically smashing his face into the ground. And quoting commandments removed from context in odd ways from what seems to be: Berserk’s version of the Bible. But there’s also another Character, who although is given very little dialogue expertly functions to show us a more morally complex villain – that being ‘The Crow’. Who suffered from Photo-Sensitivity, but was saved by Mozgus and given a Purpose as being an executioner of Heretics. It is not hard to see why people would do it and consider it good. Mozgus taught him to not abhor his mutative condition but view it as a gift from God and it makes sense why he would do such.
There’s also Farnese and Serpico. Although they seem a bit generic at first, it’s shown to us clearly that Serpico has far more going on than he initially lets on, and Farnese serves to highlight a point that Miura tries to make with her character. That is, that the effects of Fear in one’s environment are far more frightening than that of some distant threat. In this case, the Rape-Horse (and I know how absurd this sounds) is supposed to be far more frightening than the Idea of God that Farnese distracts herself with. While I disagree with him, this is what the scene represents philosophically.
And it makes me wonder… How insane does one man have to be to come up with this Shit? 🤔
The Conviction Arc’s conflict is extremely entertaining, while it does have themes relating to Organized Religion, it favors rising absurdity and drama over thought-provoking story-telling. This is fine but it definitely feels like Berserk has taken a turn from its more mellow and contemplative tone. Although we do return to it by the End of the Arc. The Conviction Arc has a Great Ending. We are finally re-introduced to Griffith, who returns as if he were an Angel from the Sky, with light emanating from him. The White Hawk shining with Grace, who has returned to fulfill his Promise.
8.5/10 (Highly Entertaining Arc with a Few Flaws)
“𝐅𝐚𝐥𝐜𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐮𝐦 𝐄𝐦𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐀𝐫𝐜” (断罪篇) (𝐯𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐦𝐞 𝟐𝟐–𝟑𝟓):
For the First time since the end of the Lost Children Arc, the story-telling becomes less bombastic and more thoughtful and intricately written (until it becomes bombastic again). Griffith returns and we finally have a confrontation between him and Guts for the first time since the Eclipse. The entire scene of dialogue is brilliantly written. From Guts confronting Griffith for his actions during the Eclipse to Griffith’s blunt response. “I understand if you hate me, but know: that this is the man I am…” “Nothing has changed.” The entire dynamic between them feels just as good as it did back in the Golden Age and it’s satisfying, finally seeing it. With all the Symbolism and Anticipation surrounding the Hawk in the Previous Arc all building up to this. It’s nicely done.
However, there’s one more piece to this Puzzle and this one becomes a problem later in the Manga. I dislike how Casca is turned Mute and by this point of the story – it’s really quite annoying since about 4 years have passed and she somehow can’t speak a word or comprehend anything with her reason. I understand making her forget everything but I don’t understand why Miura had to make her mentally a child. To me, it’s an incomprehensible writing decision and one that hinders the Story by making Casca a plot device instead of a Character.
Despite that, Miura still makes the first couple of volumes effective in communicating the emotional disconnect between Casca and Guts. While definitely hindered by the plot, it is successful in creating an air of desperation for Guts as he is finally forced to let Farnese and Serpico join him in his Journey. But that’s the tip of the Iceberg. We are told Farnese and Serpico’s Backstory from Serpico’s perspective and it is genuinely one of the most; well-written parts of the manga. Not only are we given concrete motivations for Serpico, a huge amount of weight both Characters carry, but we are also given a whole lot of insight into Farnese’ psychology allowing us to empathize with both characters while also seeing their flaws and basically seeing them for what they are. That being – morally complicated characters with real human flaws, going from cruelty to empathy in ways that would put most writers to shame.
With the introduction of Magic in Berserk, this is where the story starts to suffer from Narrative Conveniences and Unneeded Exposition Dumps. Schierke herself is a decently written character. Not too interesting but passable. Flora, her mentor despite being in the story for much less is instantly intriguing. I like how they never tell us much about her relationship with Skull-Knight, instead we are left to wonder in this vague manner making guesses from visual ques and presentation. Perhaps Skull-Knight and Flora were similar to Guts and Casca. Perhaps they had similar fates. Maybe they were platonic friends, maybe they were lovers, who knows? The ambiguity here is honestly great.
She helps out Guts a great deal, although we are never told the motivations for both her and Skull-Knight, what is clear is their mutual opposition to The God-Hand and the fact that Skull-Knight used to be human but was consumed by his Armor. Something that might have some relation to the Berserker Armor. And all of this being left vague was a great decision.
There is a good deal of visual ques and symbolism used all throughout. Specifically in terms of Griffith’s Messiah Complex from the Golden Age becoming a symbolic reality and Gut’s Rage and Anger consuming his Soul until we are finally introduced to the Berserker Armor which represents the breaking point of that. Rage, Anger, Hate, Recklessness and Lack of Control all being bottled up into one armor. Much like how Guts previously symbolized his Survival through his Sword, he now begins to symbolize his Vengeance and Anger (Or; which could be in other words, described as: his dream of avenging his comrades by defeating Griffith) being bottled up and caged in his Newfound Armor. Griffith despite being in Human Form, still a member of the God-Hand has complete control over fate.
It’s as if he were the Main Protagonist of Some Fantasy Novel with Plot Armor. But what makes Berserk, so well written in terms of this, is that Griffith is – in fact, NOT a Hero or Savior. Rather that is the facade, as is the Implication. But the Irony is that he will be viewed as a Hero, regardless. Saving Midland at such a time of Crisis and Desperation for the Land. With the King dead and the Kushan slowly taking over Parts of Midland, here comes the White Hawk with shining grace and great power, to defeat the Mad King of the Kushan Empire. With Children and Holy Men having dreams of the white hawk flying in the skies and defeating the darkness. Prophecy of him in Oracles and Holy Books. Griffith basically assumes the role of the Messiah.
However, this is not the suffering servant, this is the King, the Lord who will rescue his people from persecution. It is either the Jewish Interpretation or The Second Coming of the Prophesied Messiah that Griffith in this particular Arc seems to be based on. What’s interesting is that his Foil: Ganishka, comes to explicitly represent: Shiva, the God of Destruction. While already being an Apostle, he transforms into a God-like State. In it, he comes to represent all of irrationality and chaos. Griffith in contrast to this represents, the Logos: Christ/Messiah. The Divine Reason Vs Divine Irrationality. The Final Showdown of the Arc is quite literally, the Pagan Forces of Irrational Gods being defeated by the One True Logos. In a microcosm, Miura presents us with the Ultimate Irony of Religious Conflict. We are given flashes into Ganishka’s past for a short moment. Living in Paranoia and being left in a state of moral isolation in his castle it makes sense why he would pursue Power and Domination in such a way but it also functions as a Mirror for Griffith. All his pursuit for Power, Glory was ultimately for nothing. But yet, in another light, it could simple be said, that those pursuits and dreams were crushed by a bigger dream, that being Griffith.
Now that I’ve discussed everything I liked from this Arc, let’s talk about everything I disliked. The Humor in this Arc, especially near the middle-portion is bad. Some of it hits but most of it doesn’t. Puck makes like 40-50 of the same Yoda jokes and Star Wars references. Isidro is annoying and Ivalera is one of the laziest written characters I’ve seen in Berserk. She’s basically Puck but female. That’s so dumb. As Conviction and Lost Children Arc proved: just one Chestnut Puck is enough for good humor. Not to mention, Good humor needs contrast.
Imagine watching Breaking Bad, and instead of ‘One’ Saul Goodman, you have ‘Three’ of them. It wouldn’t be nearly as funny. Instead it would become nauseating. That’s what basically happened here. The most interesting scene with Isidro is when the Old Man from; the Village that was being trolled; tells him an old story about himself. However that scene is completely undercut by Isidro being an annoying retard. And I know Puck makes fun of him for it but come on, even Puck can’t save it while making the same jokes like thirty times.
During the Middle Portion, Miura uses Casca to develop Guts and Farnese separately through different means, and while I like their development, what I don’t like is: reducing Casca to a Plot device instead of a Character. And I’m surprised as to why any genuine fan of Casca doesn’t have an Issue with it. Wouldn’t it be far more interesting to just give Casca a newer personality that’s a bit strange and functions in the same way Mute Casca does? Like sure, make her handicapped in some way, keep her in her amnesia state, but at least allow her to speak or convey emotions in a natural way instead of just having it be a child in an adult body.
Scheirke’s Magic Exposition Dumps in every Big Battle for Guts not only becomes redundant in explaining the same shit about ethereal bodies over and over again, it’s also fucking lazy writing because in the contexts of most of those scenes, she has no reason to just stand there and explain all this shit. It would be better if she just explained only things of importance to Guts directly after the battle. In addition to being Lazy it also ruins the flow and tension of the Fights. It also could’ve easily been reduced to a fraction of the text. Since most of the explanation is redundant.
This Arc has another major problem, and it’s how it mismanages screen-(or-rather-page)-time for its side characters. One thing the Golden Age Arc did really well was focus more on Rickert, Judeau, Corkus (having contrasting personalities and worldviews) far more than Gaston, Pippin and the rest, who blended more in the background. Even Godot was given appropriate time for his role in the story.
However, here: we get Ivalera and Isidro and how they drown out the humor and ruin the contrast that Puck created in the previous two arcs, in addition to how they are completely useless in the story.
There’s also Farnese’ Parents and some rushed plot development in Vritannis. When Farnese and Serpico are forced to return to the Vandimion Palace, we finally get some well-done character development (for Farnese and Serpico) following the “show don’t tell” rule… However, then we are introduced to Farnese’ Mother and she basically ruins it by explaining what every one of these scenes meant in relation to Farnese.
Like bro, Miura! We get it. We aren’t dumb. We understand the Story, explaining a character’s personality (mind you, one that we’ve been following for the past 50+ chapters) through exposition just ruins the otherwise good character development. It’s distracting and most importantly isn’t needed. There’s also how Farnese’ father completely breaks character out of nowhere without any prior foreshadowing because the plot required him to allow Farnese to go out to the Sea. It’s incredibly rushed and could’ve been handled with more care to character’s motivations.
Despite its Flaws, The Hawk of the Millennium Empire has its Moments of Brilliance, Some Great Character Development and is filled with Stunning Artwork with Scenes that will leave you enthralled and characters that will stick with you. Although it’s Mid-section could’ve been a bit better, it was overall a really Neat Arc. And its conclusion with Griffith basically merging both the World of Apostles and Humans was an interesting twist: creating Fantasia.
As the Jewish Scriptures prophesied, that the Messiah will one day come and establish his Kingdom on Earth, so did Griffith, the prophesied Hawk of Light for the people of Midland.
7.5/10 (A Very Good Arc despite all of its Flaws)
𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧:
The Story of Berserk is that of the Universal Struggle of Man against his Fate for a Higher Purpose. Guts as the Protagonist and Griffith as the Antagonist Represent two sides of that Same Coin. In a world such as ours, wrought with Suffering, Cruelty, Trauma, Loss, Fear, and Despair – the Struggle for a Higher Purpose and a Battle of our Free-Will against our Fate must go on. As such it may be fitting that the Story never reached its conclusion. Just as Man’s Struggle will never End, he must live on and live for something Greater.
So Far, I’d say Berserk gets a 9/10 from me. Stories with such depth and precision are rare and so Berserk is a Must-Read for any self-proclaimed fan of Dark Fantasy or Mature Story-telling in general.
