Berserk Chapter: 277

[TheDrizzit]

I'd be surprised to see them find a sailable boat after/during all this war in the city. Maybe Zodd will do his own thing and fly them to Elfheim or at least somewhere else safe. That would be something I would love to see. The way Zodd is kneeling before a fallen Guts makes me think a) that and b) (in some screwed up parallel universe-type situation) that Guts' body finally gave out and he passed and Zodd is kneeling in honor of him. ^_^

[Istvan]

It wouldn't actually be all that surprising if there are still a few usable boats around (not very many, of course). None of the boats on the docks probably survived, beyond maybe a rowboat or two, but it wouldn't be that unlikely for some ships to be anchored well off from shore (probably most of them were, given the number of ships that were in the area for the military build up) and since those ships would be scattered at a distance from each other, a few of them could quite easily have survived. The Kushans were focused on destroying the city, not hunting down each and every ship nearby.

[obi-pie]

ahh just got home from vakation its the best homecoming ever. had a cold beer checked mindwerks for the awsome new chapter. thanks for the translation. (the guts on zodds back page is fucking great)

[coungpow]

I believe that Rodrigo ( i think that's his name, the guy Magnifico tried to marry Farnese to.) has his ship anchored off shore. And from that picture Zodd looks like he is either being attacked or picked up either way i would say he and Guts aren't out of the forest yet... But I do hope they make it to Rodrigo's ship.

[Damien]

I can't add anything to this except that I'm quite disappointed of the series... it's just not exciting anymore and I feel like Miura's stretching the story with boring fillers.

True. I mean, we haven't even learnt much of anything regarding Griffith's thoughts or motive in sooooo long. He's featured so little since his rebirth, and that was how many years ago?

It has become bogged down in filler. We should be reaching some sort of point about now - but I guess Berserk is making Miura too much money to end anytime soon.

Can't wait for Berserk Z.

Well, I don't care much about Griffith or his motives since I think it's pretty clear he wants fo create his own kingdom - just like Geiserich did.

But what about reaching Elfsheim (?), what about healing Kjaska?
What about the identity and meaning of Skull Knight? What about Guts?
It's as if they were all pawns on some giant chessboard. There were Guts and Skull Knight on one side and the Godhand and Griffith on the other. Who are the godhand really? And will Guts be able to defeat them or at least get his revenge on Griffith?

That's what I'm interested in, not some meaningless fights with lightnings and monsters. That stupid **** has now been going on for almost 2 volumes if I recall it correctly - will it ever end?
As I see it, the last time something of interest has happened was back in Volume 29.

Taken from another message board that I frequently vist, what are you guys thoughts?

[42ndEndOfTheWorld]

Well, I don't care much about Griffith or his motives since I think it's pretty clear he wants fo create his own kingdom - just like Geiserich did.

But what about reaching Elfsheim (?), what about healing Kjaska?
What about the identity and meaning of Skull Knight? What about Guts?
It's as if they were all pawns on some giant chessboard. There were Guts and Skull Knight on one side and the Godhand and Griffith on the other. Who are the godhand really? And will Guts be able to defeat them or at least get his revenge on Griffith?

That's what I'm interested in, not some meaningless fights with lightnings and monsters. That stupid **** has now been going on for almost 2 volumes if I recall it correctly - will it ever end?
As I see it, the last time something of interest has happened was back in Volume 29.

Well, one can say that the whole lost children story arc did not contributed a thing to the main story. It was several volumes long. I think that real problem with most people is that they were indocrinated into berserk by downloading first 25 or so volumes from Hawks and read them all at once. Now they have to download it chapter by chapter, month after month, which is making them impatient.

I actually see lots of plot development in some recent chapters: we saw thunder emperor in all his glory, it was established that Shierke's ego can enter berserker armour and guide Guts (She can even cast spells from inside, which is huge improvement since Guts' body is way more durable so she can cast more), We saw Emperor offering Guts' a place in his armies (and Guts' badass response), it was established that Dragonslayer can now harm even the most powerful astral beings, we saw futher character development from Guts (he learned to trust Schierke and Serico).
If that is not plot development, then I do not know what is.

[Eldo]

I can say that the very people who say that are still reading Berserk right now. They complain and whine, but they still read it nevertheless.

Nobody complained about Lord of the Rings, that shit is massive and beats around the fucking bush all the time.

Miura doesn't make nearly as much money as much money as Kishimoto does with Naruto, or other various titles by mangakas.

[Sortep]

yeah and naruto is a piece of dogshit whereas berserk is really a masterpeice... when you can show your creative writing professor a manga and have their mind blown.... that is some shit

[Jon Maitreya]

In many ways you could say it was bogged down with filler, but as 42ndEndoftheWorld said - one could say the same about the Lost Children arc. I know several people who dislike the Millennium Falcon arc though simply because they see it as having a more 'generic fantasy' feeling than early Berserk did (as in magic armour and witches and trolls/ogres/etc).

But yeah - I agree that the feeling of pace and 'filler' is generated by having to wait 2-4-6+ weeks for a new chapter (though the last one was well worth the wait), and a lot of chapters, it is admitted, hve *very* little happen (e.g. Cchapters of purely Guts killing demon tigers/daka/etc) - however these are necessary in the bigger picture. Once all the chapters are compiled in a volume, or even if one has 4-5 chapters to read one after another the sense of 'filler' is greatly decreased.

Take Volume 11 (which I bought only yesterday) - in all honesty the entire volume was just a fight between Guts and Wyald, it was cool, but it was an entire volume for a fight, and I'm sure if we had to wait like 6 weeks between the chapters in it it would have seemed *very* drawn out. When they're together, it just seems like fast-paced continuous action and its really good to read.

When I first started reading Berserk the characters were already in Vritanis, so naturally it lost the pace it had once I caught up and had to wait for chapters. Fortunately no-matter how much I re-read Berserk it never gets old... somehow (unlike Lord of the Rings which I have never read more than once... and I was 11 at the time so that was like half my lifetime ago...)

[Starnum]

Yeah, so those guys on that other board, and anyone else who thinks Berserk has “filler” in it is a n00b, IMO. There is no filler in Berserk. If you want to see filler, go read that crap with the introduction of Sai and the reappearance of Sasuke in the Naruto manga. Everyone thinks they're a critic, but they’re not. Sadly, it’s true that some people can’t handle the pacing of waiting for new releases, and then start thinking there’s filler, when there’s clearly not. A well conducted fight, even one that spans multiple volumes, isn’t filler. I’ve read fights in Ippo that are two sometimes three whole volumes long, and haven’t heard any complaints there. If it’s good and entertaining, then no sweat. Filler is something you start crapping out when you become unsure of where your story is going, like what happened to Naruto there for a while. Miura obviously has his shit planned out well ahead of time. Hell, he even takes breaks when he needs time to compile everything, which is the honorable thing to do. That’s what the author of Naruto should’ve done, take a break until he figured out where he wanted to go next, instead of just putting out another crappy chapter each week. I’d take a break over filler any day. No, I’m sorry, there’s no filler in the Berserk manga, and that’s all there is to it.

[psi29a]

I have to interject and say that the pace is consistent throughout Berserk. As noted in the above post, most people are used to reading a volume consisting of 9 - 11 chapters and nocking them out rather quickly.

They are used to it and quickly go over the 'filler' and are let down/discouraged/etc when they realize that each chapter is 2-6 weeks in the making.

I don't see why this is a 'problem' because as far as I'm concerned they can go pack sand. The people that complain can either deal with it or not read Berserk.

Far be it for us to be fan-boys and girls and impose a view of how great Berserk is. Obviously Berserk is not for some people, and that is ok.

I think people's inherently greedy nature (thanks to capitalism) think they can change the world with their money. They get used getting their way for whatever reason and think they have every right to bitch. Well, that is ok to.

However, not here. This isn't the place to bitch. People coming to EG for translations don't pay a single cent, therefor do not get any 'right' to complain.

If they want to complain, they should write Miura directly. This is funny on many levels because obviously he is going to ignore the vocal 1% of the people that don't like his work because he is making money and the silent majority that do buy his works like what he does.

[MrFelony]

ya think about all the plot development that went on in all of the previous chapters/volumes of berserk. the intricate detail Muira put into those chapters is what developed this story into such a complex and human story it is. with out said "filler" this story would just be some less meaningful action packed extravaganza (which i think a lot of the "newbs" would prefer).

also if you notice, the way that muira writes, there is a lot of build up before something spectacular happens. think of this "filler" as foreplay. stop being selfish partners in the writer/reader relationship and enjoy a lil foreplay

[Libaax]

It takes long for something to happen these days in Berserk thats for sure.

This hole arc in this city has been so so but still i woulndt call any part of Berserk filler.


The problem right now is that the mangaka gets stuck in places.



They need to leave this city so the story can progress.


Berserk isnt my nr.1 manga anymore due the fact it has had some so so parts lately and my nr.2 manga Hajime No Ippo has been better than ever lately.

Still Berserk at its best in the arcs before the eclipse no manga has ever been that good.


I wish they could leave and go to Elfhiem sometime so the story can get going again.

[Istvan]

It takes long for something to happen these days in Berserk thats for sure.

This hole arc in this city has been so so but still i woulndt call any part of Berserk filler.


The problem right now is that the mangaka gets stuck in places.



They need to leave this city so the story can progress.


Berserk isnt my nr.1 manga anymore due the fact it has had some so so parts lately and my nr.2 manga Hajime No Ippo has been better than ever lately.

Still Berserk at its best in the arcs before the eclipse no manga has ever been that good.


I wish they could leave and go to Elfhiem sometime so the story can get going again.

It has always taken a while for anything to happen in Berserk, for the simple reason that the author spends a lot of time providing details on various things, and building up gradually. While this can occasionally be frustrating, while waiting for the next chapter, it's what makes Berserk great. If "things happened faster" Berserk would be a far less wonderful manga, because things would be less developed.

On another note, I hope that the voyage to Elfheim takes a month or so(manga time) since it will probably take at least that long for Guts to heal after this latest battle, even with the help of elf dust.

[absofflab]

For the most part, I don't think that any part of Berserk is filler in terms of story detail. Every last bit of the story has made the overall story that much more compelling. And the pacing is...well, it's utterly amazing. I don't think anyone would have had such a strong connection with the old Hawks if their personalities weren't properly built up over 10 volumes. That being said, I do feel, from time to time, that Miura's visual depiction of certain elements of torture and brutality to linger on just a tiny bit too much. I realize that he's trying properly evoke a certain atmosphere of horror and shock (and God, does he ever succeed at that!), but I do feel that he then blunts the initial jarring and horrifying sensation by showing too much of the scene. A couple of things come to mind immediately: the insect children's "mock" battle and Mozgus's chamber of horrors. Those scenes were very effective, but I found that the last page or two of either one just...dulled it somewhat. I honestly felt that one or two pages' worth of trimming would've made it more effective.

And this feeling has nothing to do with length - I think very long is fine so long as it serves the storytelling purpose. I mean, my favourite book trilogy is Lord of the Rings, and one of the reasons I love it so much is because of the sheer depth of it. The guy invented an entire language and put it in the appendix! It was great! Also, on a manga level, Slam Dunk is something I like almost as much as Berserk, and that one truly decompresses time - a span of about an hour in Slam Dunk story time can take three+ volumes to tell, but it works very effectively. And I certainly think that's also the case for Berserk. I just wish that in certain circumstances, he'd cut the angle away just a bit sooner (horror fan that I am, I really love that frightened sensation to last).

[Libaax]

It takes long for something to happen these days in Berserk thats for sure.

This hole arc in this city has been so so but still i woulndt call any part of Berserk filler.


The problem right now is that the mangaka gets stuck in places.



They need to leave this city so the story can progress.


Berserk isnt my nr.1 manga anymore due the fact it has had some so so parts lately and my nr.2 manga Hajime No Ippo has been better than ever lately.

Still Berserk at its best in the arcs before the eclipse no manga has ever been that good.


I wish they could leave and go to Elfhiem sometime so the story can get going again.

It has always taken a while for anything to happen in Berserk, for the simple reason that the author spends a lot of time providing details on various things, and building up gradually. While this can occasionally be frustrating, while waiting for the next chapter, it's what makes Berserk great. If "things happened faster" Berserk would be a far less wonderful manga, because things would be less developed.

On another note, I hope that the voyage to Elfheim takes a month or so(manga time) since it will probably take at least that long for Guts to heal after this latest battle, even with the help of elf dust.

It takes longer than before, i know Berserk always took sometime to get things done.

Maybe he is thinking more about what will happen in the next arc which is why this is slower.


I hope Elfhiem arc doesnt take a year in manga time to get going like this arc feels like.

[Wandering_Mystic]

It's Elfhelm, peoples, fyi. (erufu herumu). And people sure complain a lot. I've got nothing against complaining, but we've been seeing tons of action in the last bunch of chapters, action we all KNEW had to happen because of the previous foreshadowing of the pre-invasion forces and the conversations with Sonia. Yes they need to get out soon, and guess what: if the title is any indication, it looks like they will in the very next chapter.

I've been wanting them to move on too, but I acknowledge that feeling as coming from my own wishes for the well being of Guts and crew, and not so much as an expert opinion on plot development. Now that Guts is travelling with some nobles of clout, it makes it more believable to me that he can actually travel across the oceans in his search (ocean travelling is much more restrictive than wandering on land, and a certain amount of financial backing woud be necessary to be at all plausible, unless he were to team up with pirates or something)

[LordMune]

I think that real problem with most people is that they were indocrinated into berserk by downloading first 25 or so volumes from Hawks and read them all at once. Now they have to download it chapter by chapter, month after month, which is making them impatient.

I am compelled to agree, and then go off on a tangent- having 'read' (lol pretty pictures and indecipherable kanji) the latest tankoubon, vol 30, I must say it is a different beast from the separate chapters. The pacing comes into a very different light.
I wouldn't say waiting for the volumes rather than Young Animal issues makes for greater enjoyment of Berserk, but it is a slightly different experience.

[Libaax]

It's Elfhelm, peoples, fyi. (erufu herumu). And people sure complain a lot. I've got nothing against complaining, but we've been seeing tons of action in the last bunch of chapters, action we all KNEW had to happen because of the previous foreshadowing of the pre-invasion forces and the conversations with Sonia. Yes they need to get out soon, and guess what: if the title is any indication, it looks like they will in the very next chapter.

I've been wanting them to move on too, but I acknowledge that feeling as coming from my own wishes for the well being of Guts and crew, and not so much as an expert opinion on plot development. Now that Guts is travelling with some nobles of clout, it makes it more believable to me that he can actually travel across the oceans in his search (ocean travelling is much more restrictive than wandering on land, and a certain amount of financial backing woud be necessary to be at all plausible, unless he were to team up with pirates or something)

Or he could just hijack a ship, i mean doesnt people think he is a massmurderer?

[Khelegond]

It's Elfhelm, peoples, fyi. (erufu herumu). And people sure complain a lot. I've got nothing against complaining, but we've been seeing tons of action in the last bunch of chapters, action we all KNEW had to happen because of the previous foreshadowing of the pre-invasion forces and the conversations with Sonia. Yes they need to get out soon, and guess what: if the title is any indication, it looks like they will in the very next chapter.

I've been wanting them to move on too, but I acknowledge that feeling as coming from my own wishes for the well being of Guts and crew, and not so much as an expert opinion on plot development. Now that Guts is travelling with some nobles of clout, it makes it more believable to me that he can actually travel across the oceans in his search (ocean travelling is much more restrictive than wandering on land, and a certain amount of financial backing woud be necessary to be at all plausible, unless he were to team up with pirates or something)

Or he could just hijack a ship, i mean doesnt people think he is a massmurderer?

Well, a ship usually needs dozens of sailors. Now, try to exchange some dozen of trained men for a few people, mostly women and children.

Won't work

[Libaax]

He could scare the sailors to work the ship for them

[Starnum]

Well, a ship usually needs dozens of sailors. Now, try to exchange some dozen of trained men for a few people, mostly women and children.

Won't work

Well, it depends on the size of the ship really. I mean, I'm no sailor, but even a decent size ship doesn't really require even a single dozen people to sail it. That's what all of my friends in the know have told me anyway. *shrugs*

[Istvan]

He could scare the sailors to work the ship for them

And they could wait till they got well out to sea, then refuse to obey him anymore, safe in the knowledge that if he killed them, he'd just be left to slowly die at see since I strongly doubt that Guts knows how to sail, and it is sort of a skilled labor. As a general rule, it's a bad idea to try to force/threaten people into doing something when they can kill you by simply refusing. Guts is far to smart to do something like that.

[Eldo]

There would probably be a Berserk release tomorrow, in 24 hours time. Yeah. So stay tuned.

Now stop asking me about release dates, god, people has been pestering me back and forth on IRC. I'm nearly going to put everyone on /ignore.

[Deathbringer]

Haha Eldo, i feel for you man...

Thanks for the update, can´t wait.