History TearJerker / Berserk

* Chapter 359 expands a bit more on what is mentioned above. Casca seems to be doing just fine after her recovery. She’s changed her appearance, is getting along with the party, and she can still use a sword. But despite all of that -- [[{{Trigger}} she still can’t get too close to Guts without her memories of the Eclipse flooding back]]. Even though Casca ''wants'' to communicate with him, Guts won’t even ''face'' her. And then there's Casca’s breakdown when she remembers Judeau.

* Despite being [[CompleteMonster one of the most heinous characters in the whole story]], Emperor Ganishka's past is quite tragic. As a child, his unloving mother tried to poison him in favor of his younger brother taking the throne, which drove the young prince to kill his little brother in heartbroken rage, driving his mother to suicide as well. The pain of this betrayal would haunt Ganishka his entire life and turn him into a murderous paranoiac just to survive ascending the throne. While he still loved his son, even that faded when the prince tried to kill his own father out of fear, and Ganishka sacrificed his child to the GodHand in despair.

* Even [[SinisterMinister Father]] [[KnightTemplar Mozgus]] ends up being pitiful in his own way. While he completely deserves to die at this point, his final showdown with Guts begins with the mad Holyman [[BerserkerTears bawling his eyes out]] and swearing to avenge his fallen disciples, all of whom were deformed outcasts he took in and loved, even if thiis set them down a horrific path as torturers. For his many faults, Mozgus really did care for his men.

* Chapter 369 has Danan evacuate the fairies and supernatural beings of Elfhelm to the Astral Plane following Griffith destroying Skellig -- including an unwilling Isma, leaving a heartbroken Isidro holding her empty clothes after she DisappearsIntoLight.

** Meanwhile, outside of the room we can see Farnese crying [[ItsAllMyFault and blaming herself]] because she couldn't stop Griffith of taking out Casca, Serpico being concerned about her, Isidro deeply afflicted because of Isma's dissaperance, a desperate Roderick knocking on Gut's room, worried that he could do [[DrivenToSuicide something stupid]], and the whole crew discouraged and with several injured.

* Chapter 369 has Danan evacuate the fairies and supernatural beings of Elfhelm to the Astral Plane following Griffith destroying Skellig -- including an unwilling Isma, leaving a heartbroken Ishiro holding her empty clothes after she DisappearsIntoLight.

* Chapter 364 is not only tragic in the context of the story, but is also a meta-example, as this is the last chapter written by Kentaro Miura.

----

!Meta
* The very thing that the fans had begun to fear would happen for years, did indeed come to pass. On May 6, 2021, Kentaro Miura passed away due to a ruptured aorta, leaving ''Berserk'' unfinished for a year. Although, his team announced that the series will continue in his memory.
** The stated cause of death being a condition often caused by stress and high blood pressure makes the manga's history of [[ScheduleSlip delays]] and hiatuses even HarsherInHindsight.
** Kouji Mori, Miura's best friend and now the one in charge of ''Berserk'', has released a [[https://mangadex.org/chapter/19929f9d-a210-4fe4-91af-5ef3f2436328/1 one-shot manga in tribute to him]]. To say that it gets heartbreaking doesn't even come close to putting it.

* Chapter 370 has Guts alone in a room on the ship that saved him and the remaining people on the island utterly depressed and despondent, slumping on the floor. His sword, previously standing, has fallen to the floor, symbolizing his despair and lack of faith of his own capabilities.

* Chapter 364 is not only tragic in the context of the story, but is also a meta-example, as this is the last chapter written by Kentaro Miura... and possibly the last chapter of Berserk. [[note]]Not quite![[/note]]
** As Guts is training near a waterfall, he accidentally loses his grip on the [[{{BFS}} Dragonslayer]]. What makes this sad is this is the first time he has ever slipped up. Astonished, he throws a throwing knife at a hanging fruit… and misses. All his years of monster-slaying, all the foes he faced, [[DentedIron all that physical and mental strain is beginning to catch up with him]]. When he looks at the Dragonslayer, Guts realizes that the more he uses the cursed armor, the more dependent he becomes on it.

** Griffith's last words in the chapter and the tear down his face illuminates his ultimate tragedy - he got the kingdom he dreamed for, power beyond comprehension, and yet ''he cannot enjoy any of it'' because his DealWithTheDevil has robbed him of his ability to feel ''anything''. The only way that he can feel happiness is vicariously through the Demon Child, and even then that's only temporary, and he might not even be able to remember those feelings afterwards.
---> '''Griffith:''' I had a dream. Under the full moon, I was a child embraced by warmth. But when I wake from the dream, only a vague sense of longing remains… That, too, will soon disappear… with a single tear like morning dew.

* While technically not a ''Berserk'' chapter but still included within the volume, the chapter 364.5 is a heartbreaking eulogy to the late Miura from his best friend Kouji Mori, who has taken up the mantle as lead writer after Miura's death. The little chapter shows that the two were friends for most of their lives, drawing comics back in high school.

* In Chapter 368, Griffith kidnaps an incapacitated Casca who was knocked out from the sheer stress of being near him and, while there is chaos around Elfhelm and Guts is surrounded by flesh eating blobs, all he can do is helplessly extend his arm out and watch Casca being taken away out of reach. The woman he has loved and protected throughout the majority of the manga post-Eclipse and has painstakingly searched for a method to heal her mind is gone, and there is nothing he can do at the moment but agonizingly stare into the sky.

** Kouji Mori, Kentaro Miura's best friend and now the one in charge of ''Berserk'', has released a [[https://mangadex.org/chapter/19929f9d-a210-4fe4-91af-5ef3f2436328/1 one-shot manga in tribute to Miura]]. To say that it gets heartbreaking doesn't even come close to putting it.

** The stated cause of death being a condition often caused by stress and high blood pressure makes the manga's history of [[ScheduleSlip delays]] and hiatuses even HarsherInHindsight.

* In Chapter 368 Griffith kidnaps an incapacitated Casca who was knocked out from the sheer stress of being near him and, while there is chaos around Elfheim and Guts is surrounded by flesh eating blobs, all he can do is helplessly extend his arm out and watch Casca being taken away out of reach. The woman he has loved and protected throughout the majority of the manga post-Eclipse and has painstakingly searched for a method to heal her mind is gone, and there is nothing he can do at the moment but agonizingly stare into the sky.

* This game is notable for expanding what was only touched upon briefly in the manga: Guts' fledgling bond with the mentally-regressed Casca before his [[EnemyWithin inner beast]] shattered it. See how she feels perfectly safe being wrapped in his arms, trusting him like an innocent child would trust her parent. It only makes the end of the game feel all the more bittersweet.... knowing that their beautiful, fragile relationship would soon come to an end, never to be repaired for the rest of Casca's time as a handicap.

* In Chapter 368 Griffith kidnaps an incapacitated Casca who was knocked out from the sheer stress of being near him and, while there is chaos around Elfheim and Guts is surrounded by flesh eating blobs, all he can do is helplessly extend his arm out and watch Casca being taken away out of reach. The woman he has loved and protected throughout the majority of the manga post-Eclipse and has painstakingly searched for a method to heal her mine is gone, and there is nothing he can do at the moment but agonizingly stare into the sky.

* Chapter 368 Griffith kidnaps an incapacitated Casca who was knocked out from the sheer stress of being near him and, while there is chaos around Elfheim and Guts is surrounded by flesh eating blobs, all he can do is helplessly extend his arm out and watch Casca being taken away out of reach. The woman he has loved and protected throughout the majority of the manga post-Eclipse and has painstakingly searched for a method to heal her mine is gone, and there is nothing he can do at the moment but agonizingly stare into the sky.

* There's something depressing and gut-wrenching about the story Casca narrates to Guts about how she joined Griffith's band and what they did in the early years. Casca tells of how Griffith showed genuine care for his soldiers, hoinh as far as to [[AFatherToHisMen get to know each and every one of them personally]]. You get a sense of how kind Griffith was early on with this. And then, the young child that followed Griffith wanting to serve as his knight [[HarmfulToMinors ends up perishing in a battle]]. Upon seeing his corpse, Griffith, for the first time since Casca met him, showed vulnerability, expressing sorrow for the unfair death of such an innocent.

* The very thing that the fans had begun to fear would happen for years, did indeed come to pass. On May 6, 2021, Kentaro Miura passed away due to a ruptured aorta, leaving ''Berserk'' unfinished and its fate uncertain.

* Chapter 364 is not only tragic in the context of the story, but is also a meta-example, as this is the last chapter written by Kentaro Miura... and possibly the last chapter of Berserk.

** Then, a few days later, Casca ends up catching sight of Griffith entering the bedchambers of Lord Gennon. The following morning, Casca sees Griffith washing himself on a Lake. When confronting him about what happened, Griffith declared that Gennon offered him money in exchange for sex. And Griffith accepted, telling Casca he found it the logical solution compared to leading his men into battle and losing more people. Then Griffith began to claw at his shoulders, still haunted by the events last night, while claiming, perhaps mostly to himself, that he did not feel any remorse for the men that died under his command, yet the sheer guilty, horrifed look on his face betrayed his true feelings. It was brief, and in the context of the story it makes what comes next much more painful, but it showed that, at least early on, Griffith 'truly cared' for his men.

[[caption-width-right:350:"Even if we painstakingly piece together something lost, it doesn't mean things will ever go back to how they were".]]

*** And Griffith's last words in the chapter and the tear down his face illuminates his ultimate tragedy - he got the kingdom he dreamed for, power beyond comprehension, and yet ''he cannot enjoy any of it'' because his DealWithTheDevil has robbed him of his ability to feel ''anything''. The only way that he can feel happiness is vicariously through the Demon Child, and even then that's only temporary, and he might not even be able to remember those feelings afterwards.
--> '''Griffith:''' I had a dream. Under the full moon, I was a child embraced by warmth. But when I wake from the dream, only a vague sense of longing remains… That, too, will soon disappear… with a single tear like morning dew.