Berserk

Double shit.

It's hard to believe that this day has finally come.

I wouldn't count our chickens before they hatch though. We have no idea what Caska will be like once she wakes up.

You want to know what I find really interesting?

The dog fights the hawk as hard as it can, but is woefully outmatched even with the Dragonslayer and Berserker Armor. But then Farnese and Schierke reunite Casca with her heart, represented by her son, and the hawk vanishes and the dog is saved.

Will it really be Guts who is the key to taking Griffith down?

But the sun is inside Griffith, isn't he? Embodying him, along with the Eggman?

Perhaps that's the point. Griffith is untouchable at this point; even if Guts could kill his way through the Godhand, there's five of them and they won't just get in line to get slaughtered. Plus, there's a multitude of people/Apostles even before that would happen who revere Griffith as the next best thing since sliced bread.

Guts earlier seemed to be fairly mellow when discussing Griffith (I forget when exactly, but I think it was before the party arrived in the Not!Vatican? It's been a while) and I don't think Casca would be gearing up to go and fight the bird right from the get go either. The best she - and Guts, probably - can do at this point is to move on with their lives.

Of course, since conflict is the name of the game for any self-respecting narrative, you can count on that Behelit Guts has been carrying for 20+ years now to come into play...

So I realized that at this stage, if the good guys want more than a Pyrrhic victory, it doesn't matter if they can defeat Griffith. They need to expose him first, otherwise all killing him does is give him a PR victory and probably throw the world into chaos too.

Any ideas for how that could be pulled off? If Miura remembers she exists I think Theresia could be helpful here, considering she knows his double identity; there was that thing about "true names," remember...

This is inside Caska's mind. I don't think it speaks anything for the real confrontation with Griffith.

I don't know if Berserk is the kind of series where you'd have an ending where everything would go that well.

Well, Miura has said that he doesn't intend on a Downer Ending.

I'm guessing a Bittersweet Ending.

He said a "non-grim ending." I'm guessing bittersweet, yes. He also said in the same statement he's unlikely to kill Guts himself, which surprised me.

I just realized, this whole time, Griffith has been chasing a Shining City On A Hill.

• The good news: The ritual was a complete success, Casca is sane again and remembers everything. She also gets a sweet new Valkyrie-esque outfit from the Elf Queen.

• The bad news: It now seems she's either afraid of Guts, or horrified at the scarred, demonic-armor-wearing thing he's become since she lost her sanity.

• The worst news: Hiatus.

That's... about what I expected, to be honest.

As for hiatus: [EXPLETIVE DELETED]!!!!

Holy shit that panel of Griffith's tortured body hit me like a ton of bricks. The super realistic lighting and meticulous craftsmanship makes it probably Miura's best work since his recent style change. Super strong visual storytelling, A+

I don't mind the hiatus. I just feel so incredibly glad that Casca is finally back.

To be more specific, people from SK.net have posted a short translation and the gist of it is that Caska, upon waking up, only remembered things up until they were going to go rescue Griffith. As she walked further to go meet Guts she started remembering more and more and that explains the horrible images we see.

edited 20th Mar '18 5:52:52 PM by Draghinazzo

Currently on volume 28 of my Berserk read through. Want to pick up the pace on my reading a little. Berserker armor was one of the most hype scenes in manga I've ever seen.

Oh, so it wasn't Guts specifically that triggered it?

I think that's also part of it. Once the scanlation is done we should know for sure.

It would be interesting to juxtapose that last picture of Griffith with how he is now.

What a crazy chapter. It's sort of surreal to think that it's actually happening.

I was almost weirded out by how it seemed to go without a hitch, with Casca just waking up and starting to talk to Farnese and Schierke. Of course, the end of the chapter showed that it wasn't going to be that simple.

This hiatus has the best chances of killing me, I think.

…At least he took his hiatus after Casca woke up. I'm thankful for that. >.> It's also quite remarquable how Miura manages to convey Casca's majestic appearance just with a slight change in the eyes.

Now I really wonder how Griffith even survived with so much skin and muscle missing…

At Volume 29 of Berserk now. Volume 28 was amazing as I've come to expect from this series.

Some interesting preliminary translations indicate that Casca sees her insane self as essentially a different person, whom she calls "Elaine," her alias from Albion. It's already catching on as a Fan Nickname.

So, let's review 2018:

• Goku and Freeza fought as allies
• Ken Kaneki and Touka tied the knot
• And now Casca has regained her sanity

Hmm. Maybe the Straw Hats will find One Piece this year.

edited 20th Apr '18 6:55:39 AM by Soble

Chapter 356 spoilers: what an incredible troll by Miura, we're switching back to Griffith. No Guts or Casca in this chapter.

edited 24th Apr '18 8:32:48 AM by zsmg