Berserk 312 - Girl of the Roaring Current

[BigSassy]

[Evil_Genius]Berserk_v35c312.rar

One of the funnier chapters in a while. I wish it didn't end with another "Till next time" break

[Deathbringer]

FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF-

Thanks for the release as always though.

[Maynard]

Perv chapter rofl
boobs, tentacle sex, naked women.
Btw, why do you translate his name as "Isidro"? I think it's better to call him "Isidoro", which is a real (italian) name. Just to know, ofc, not that it bothers me.
Thanks again EG.

[lon3vvolf]

Thanks EG as always.

"Till next time." nooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.

Are we going to have another female character join the cast? Looks like she is quite interested in the outside world. Sort of like Farnese when she saw how awesome Guts was. Is the sea god perhaps her father or a relative?

[Istvan]

On the one hand, Yay!! Thanks for another wonderful job, EG!

On the other hand, as some people have already noted, the "continues next time" is really sad. Sigh. Oh well.

[Starnum]

Btw, why do you translate his name as "Isidro"? I think it's better to call him "Isidoro", which is a real (italian) name. Just to know, ofc, not that it bothers me.
Thanks again EG.

"Isidro" is the official spelling of the character's name, it's Spanish.

[Rolos]

Yeah, I was just gonna say that. San Isidro (Saint Isidro) was a really popular saint in Chile, mainly due to the fact he's considered a patron of rain and harvests, and Chile used to be a primarily agricultural country.
Also, he was skinned alive, crucified and then beheaded. There are many hilarious jokes involving the different ways in which he could have died during the process (infections, being eaten by larvae, etc...).
I think Ilma is the sea god's high priestess, or something like that. I mean, she looks like the only non-assimilated human in the whole island.
It is also possible that she IS the sea god.

Anyway, thanks for the chapter guys!

[War Machine]

Goddammit, now I gotta get on with the direct download. Alright, gimme a few minutes...

Edit: Ok, here it is.

Direct download of this chapter is now available in the same place as always:

http://berserk.kicks-ass.net/

Go to the last page to find the latest chapter.

[The Prince]

Yeah, I was just gonna say that. San Isidro (Saint Isidro) was a really popular saint in Chile, mainly due to the fact he's considered a patron of rain and harvests, and Chile used to be a primarily agricultural country.
Also, he was skinned alive, crucified and then beheaded. There are many hilarious jokes involving the different ways in which he could have died during the process (infections, being eaten by larvae, etc...).
I think Ilma is the sea god's high priestess, or something like that. I mean, she looks like the only non-assimilated human in the whole island.
It is also possible that she IS the sea god.

Anyway, thanks for the chapter guys!

My initial impressions is that she is an apostle. Which may account for the unknown fate of the rest of the island and strange impression of village inhabitants. As we have seen not all apostles are evil outright, some are more or less tragic figures that have arisen due to unfortunate circumstances.

Though this chapter was somewhat upbeat, I feel that we will see Ilma being impaled by our hero at some point. And not by Isidro if that what people are thinking.....


Or perhaps Ilma may join Guts crew as an apostle. Representing the first apostle character that sides with Guts. I can imagine a scene where Guts finds Ilma and realizes she is an apostle. But Shierke and isidro are able to plead with Guts not to kill her and she eventaully becomes a new member of the party......

[rubberchicken]

I doubt Isma is related to the Cthulhu-people in the area (yeah, this village has "Innsmouth" written all over it). If she meant Isidro harm, she had plenty of opportunity to do so - for starters, she could just let him be taken by the things in the cave. My guess is that she's some older local god or spirit who's been displaced by whichever being has taken over the village.

[Istvan]

My initial impressions is that she is an apostle. Which may account for the unknown fate of the rest of the island and strange impression of village inhabitants. As we have seen not all apostles are evil outright, some are more or less tragic figures that have arisen due to unfortunate circumstances.

I disagree. All Apostles are evil, no exceptions. Now, they weren't all evil before they became Apostles (as you say, some were even fairly tragic figures), and some of them are better at hiding it than others, but all of them are evil or they wouldn't be Apostles.

[Deathbringer]

My initial impressions is that she is an apostle. Which may account for the unknown fate of the rest of the island and strange impression of village inhabitants. As we have seen not all apostles are evil outright, some are more or less tragic figures that have arisen due to unfortunate circumstances.

I disagree. All Apostles are evil, no exceptions. Now, they weren't all evil before they became Apostles (as you say, some were even fairly tragic figures), and some of them are better at hiding it than others, but all of them are evil or they wouldn't be Apostles.

If there's one Apostle i definitely wouldn't consider evil, it would be Irvine. There's nothing in his character behavior or personality that would make me think that he's especially evil in any way. Especially after going his way of saving Sonia in the Kushan War climax when she threw herself in the battlefield considering that they bonded back in the Hawk camps.

Hell, even his Apostle rebirth sacrifice is implied to have been something much more personal than the average apostle like the Slug Count or Ganishka. Maybe in the end, he sacrificed the ultimate prey he was hunting for or something.

[The Prince]

My initial impressions is that she is an apostle. Which may account for the unknown fate of the rest of the island and strange impression of village inhabitants. As we have seen not all apostles are evil outright, some are more or less tragic figures that have arisen due to unfortunate circumstances.

I disagree. All Apostles are evil, no exceptions. Now, they weren't all evil before they became Apostles (as you say, some were even fairly tragic figures), and some of them are better at hiding it than others, but all of them are evil or they wouldn't be Apostles.

Though I agree with the premise that to be an apostle an evil act is committed, I would imagine there have been incidents where people have been put in a situation where choices are made for the sake of self preservation and freeing oneself from suffering, as opposed choices manifested from that of greed and ambition. And in such cases the events of ones transformation are so tramatic that they hide their true nature deep within, and go about ones existence as if they were in some extreme denial. To the point that Ilma may not even know she is an apostle.....if she actually were one.

In the final moments of the Fairy apostle saga, I did not see an evil monster so much as a lost soul looking for her place in the world, as with the Egg apostle. And although I know its a stretch but in the playstation I video game, the Nico character that became the mandrake apostle certainly wasn't evil IMO. Miura wrote the story so I can only assume it to be part of the Berserk universe.

Also as was mentioned earlier there have been instances in the case of Irvine where an apostle appears noble in nature, where though they may have sold there soul to the devil so to speak, they appear to hold on to their humanity.

[DrPepperPro]

My initial impressions is that she is an apostle. Which may account for the unknown fate of the rest of the island and strange impression of village inhabitants. As we have seen not all apostles are evil outright, some are more or less tragic figures that have arisen due to unfortunate circumstances.

I disagree. All Apostles are evil, no exceptions. Now, they weren't all evil before they became Apostles (as you say, some were even fairly tragic figures), and some of them are better at hiding it than others, but all of them are evil or they wouldn't be Apostles.

Though I agree with your premise. I could imagine in certain cases the events of ones transformation are so tramatic that they hide their true nature deep within, and go about ones existence as if they were in some extreme denial. To the point that Ilma may not even know she is an apostle.....if she actually were one.

In the final moments of the Fairy apostle saga, I did not see an evil monster so much as a lost soul looking for her place in the world. And although I know its a stretch but in the playstation I video game, the Nico character that became the mandrake apostle certainly wasn't evil IMO. Miura wrote the story so I can only assume it to be part of the Berserk universe.

Also as was mentioned earlier there have been instances in the case of Irvine where an apostle appears noble in nature, where though they may have sold there soul to the devil so to speak, they appear to hold on to their humanity.

*Isma.

[the_cutter]

Kind thanks for the realease EG.

My initial impressions is that she is an apostle. Which may account for the unknown fate of the rest of the island and strange impression of village inhabitants. As we have seen not all apostles are evil outright, some are more or less tragic figures that have arisen due to unfortunate circumstances.

No way she's an Apostle, Schierke would have identified her evil od instantly in that case. She's obviously quite something. The fact that we have an "until next time" note makes me think that all hell's gonna break lose during the night and she's gonna play a big role.

If there's one Apostle i definitely wouldn't consider evil, it would be Irvine. There's nothing in his character behavior or personality that would make me think that he's especially evil in any way. Especially after going his way of saving Sonia in the Kushan War climax when she threw herself in the battlefield considering that they bonded back in the Hawk camps.

Hell, even his Apostle rebirth sacrifice is implied to have been something much more personal than the average apostle like the Slug Count or Ganishka. Maybe in the end, he sacrificed the ultimate prey he was hunting for or something.

Berserk doesn't offer an easy way out like other lesser manga. It's all awesomely muddled. Femto has just saved pretty much all of Midland. Guts was amazingly nasty in the beginnings. Clear-cut evil? Indeed it can be argued that in some cases it isn't exacly clear. However, apostles are messengers of the five, an evil existence and even their good deeds knowingly or unknowingly serve the God Hand in one way or another. They willingly accepted evil as a part of them and if Femto orders every single one of them's going to start eating babies with no second thoughts. Yes, Irvine saved Sonia, because she accepted him and other apostles without any problems and it was indeed noble of him. Yet that [with her outburst] was the impulse that made the rest accept them too and now Femto has a free ride with regards to the fact that he's the Lord of them nasty buggers. The stage is setup for the "Guts vs. the whole world" scenario nicely.

[papasith]

i dont think she is an apostle so much as a result of griffith changing the world to be closer to a fairy land esc world. heck Apostles might be small time compared to stuff that may of resulted from that.

[Vivioch]

Apostle? I highly doubt it. Apostles eat humans, Isma was cooking a soup (or whatever it is) out of fish. You can clearly see two bowls of it on page 17. Why would she pour herself some if shes an apostle? Skullknight said that most of the apostles Guts would meet would serve Femto. Clearly Isma doesnt as shes not living in Falconia. We know that the apostles under Femto dont eat humans, but they are reluctant about it. If she were an apostle she would be a rogue one and have no obligations to avoid eating humans. Why would she bother healing Isidro if shes going to eat him? Why is the astral image Schierke sees so different from anything weve seen before? Why would an apostle have a barrier placed on their door? Isma being an apostle would be inconsistent and bad writing, and Miura is a god so Im inclined to think hes got a much better idea. What with the merging and all, its far more likely she is a type of astral being that hasnt been previously encountered.

I agree about apostles being small time as well. Other than say Zodd, Irvine, Locus, Rakshas, and Borkov lol. Not Grunbeld though, that fool got trounced. I mean we have no idea what types of servants the rest of the godhand have. Just take a look at Ubik's weird assortment of creatures. It seems fairly obvious that there are going to be much more dangerous enemies than apostles in the Fantasia arc.

[kazper]

i think she´s kind of apostle, cause if you see Miura point of view, is hard to say humans good and apostles evil, when you see the apostles actions they mostly obey their instints and desires (apart of femto's orders), zodd with his desires of fight, ganishka with his desire of power, irvine just follow his instints as a hunter, locus his pride as a knight, likewise the baron, the count, rosine, mozgus, wyald, etc, so you can't said that they are completly evil, every apostle is quite complex in his own way, and i like to see irma join guts group as apostle, or as whatever she is, and remember

Skullknight said that most of the apostles Guts would meet would serve Femto.

most doesn't mean all, and if she doesn't eat human flesh is cause there isn't any human in the island and isn't the only food that an apostle could eat, remember that even femto eat the cake that princess charlotte bake

[DrPepperPro]

Seriously, are people really trying to argue that she's an apostle? It's ridiculous. Merging of the worlds and all that.

[The Herald]

Rehearsal end super early, Men's Ice Hockey wins Gold adding a 14th gold medal to Canada's record, and there's a new Berserk chapter?

BEST DAY EVER
GO CANADA!!!

P.S. Thanks EG for the release.

[Istvan]

I'm not sure why Irvine saving Sonia is being viewed as a noble/good act. I saw it more as him being loyal to Griffith. He knows that Sonia is an important source of power for Griffith, he had the ability to save her, so he did. It's not as if he was risking his life or anything.

On the other hand, I'll agree that a number of Apostles show elements of humanity, and don't come across as pure evil (for example the fairy Apostle before she dies, or the Slug Count when he refuses to sacrifice his daughter to save his life) but that doesn't stop me from considering them as evil. One thing I like about Berserk is its realism and complexity, which includes how believable the characters are. Even very evil individuals can often have at least a few redeaming characteristics and positive personality traits, and the Apostles reflect that. Although I do think they're unquestionably evil, they're not necessarily "pure" evil - which is good because having a large number of "pure" evil villians tends to be both unrealistic and boring.

[War Machine]

I suppose you can consider the apostles evil if you say that the source of their power is the Idea of Evil, but I've always seen apostles as deformed humans, capable of committing atrocious acts because they no longer see themselves (physically or psychologically) as humans anymore. The God Hand simply taps into their mind to keep their emotions spiraling continuously without end so that, over time, they gain a completely obedient apostle, capable of anything. There have been humans in the story who have done far more despicable acts than certain apostles, so to differentiate humans and apostles by saying that apostles are just evil is oversimplifying everything.

I agree with DrPepperPro on this. WIth the merging of the worlds, Isma could be anything.

[The Prince]

I'm not sure why Irvine saving Sonia is being viewed as a noble/good act. I saw it more as him being loyal to Griffith. He knows that Sonia is an important source of power for Griffith, he had the ability to save her, so he did. It's not as if he was risking his life or anything.

His actions came in the midst of battle, how can you say Irvin wasn't putting himself in harms way to save Sonia? In fact up to that point this was the only situation dire enough we've seen so far, that Irvin found it necessarry to switch to his apostle form.

There is other evidence to suggest that Irvin's actions for saving Sonia was personal in nature, and that the relationship/bond between Irvine and Sonia goes beyond simply blind loyalty toward Griffith.

There is the scene where Irvine and Sonia share a very intimate exchange by a fire that concludes with Irvin covering a sleeping Sonia up with a blanket that is very telling. Though it was a very subtle act, his only motivation in that case would have been to provide comfort to a little girl he cared for.

[Istvan]

I suppose you can consider the apostles evil if you say that the source of their power is the Idea of Evil, but I've always seen apostles as deformed humans, capable of committing atrocious acts because they no longer see themselves (physically or psychologically) as humans anymore. The God Hand simply taps into their mind to keep their emotions spiraling continuously without end so that, over time, they gain a completely obedient apostle, capable of anything. There have been humans in the story who have done far more despicable acts than certain apostles, so to differentiate humans and apostles by saying that apostles are just evil is oversimplifying everything.

I'm not differentiating anything here. The fact that all Apostles are evil in no way means that humans can't be just as evil (with perhaps a given human being more evil than a given Apostle). Also, I'm not saying that Apostles are "just" evil (a big part of my last post was explaining the opposite), and can't care for people, as the Slug Count cared for his daughter, the elf Apostle cared for Jill, and (maybe) Irvine cared for Sonia. Even extremely evil people can have those they care for and treat well.

Also, the reason I label Apostles as evil isn't simply because Idea is the source of their powers. Rather, it's because of the ceremony they have to go through to get those powers, and the way that said ceremony changes their personality. Simply the act itself of sacrificing a loved one(s) to demons would be enough to alter anyone, but based on Griffith's expierence the ceremony seems to actually use the souls of the dead to transform the Apostle/God's Hand member, altering their self into a somewhat "more evil" version (hence the fact that so many Apostles enjoy eating human flesh, for example). Even simply looking at their character, I don't think there's a single Apostle we've truly learned much about in this story that one could label as "not evil."

[Rolos]

Apostles in Berserk are so inherently egoistic no mentally healthy human could possibly understand them. That's what's so wrong with them. They are basically superpowered sociopaths. They become that way the very moment they decide to sacrifice the part of their humanity that allowed them to empathize and value other humans as their equals.
Just look at Rosine (Rosinu, Roshinu, whatever). She simply didn't care how much suffering she caused everyone else, as long as she was alright. She did care about Jill, but that's the exception that confirms the rule. Apostles are capable of caring for others, it just doesn't come out naturally.
But that was only valid until Griffith was reborn into the physical world. From that moment on everything changed, including the nature of apostles.
That's why Daiba was so shocked at the Battle of Wynham (that's the name of Midland's capital, right?), when he saw apostles genuinely caring for their human comrades.