Most disturbing image(s) in Berserk (or other manga)

[Fenrisulfr]

If you have the opportunity to catch some books about myth and oral literature of Dark Ages and Medieval Ages then you'll see some really "juicy stories".

Oh I know that.

But you see, even before discovering Berserk, I was already a fan of Hokuto No Ken, that manga where Kenshiro literally explodes sadistic punks in a post apocalyptic world using some ancestral form of Kempo called Hokuto Shinken. Both mangas are known to be perhaps the most violent mangas out there. In Hokuto No Ken you don't have three pages without a gruesome death where a human being is cut to pieces or blown up in a fountain of guts, blood and intestines. Children in Hokuto No Ken are also tortured, hung or played with.
But even though Hokuto No Ken takes place in a postapocalyptic world where there are absolutely no laws (it's worse than the Middle Ages), the author Tetsuo Hara never went as far as showing rapes or sexual violence.

So when I started reading Berserk I wasn't prepared. I thought, "man it can't be worse than Hokuto No Ken"... No way it can be more violent, maybe as brutal, but can't be more.
I was right, it was not more violent, but violence in Berserk is a different form of violence. In Hokuto No Ken violence became fun, as you would see those cartoonish sadistic bad guys getting beaten to a pulp before biting the dust the way they deserve.

But in Berserk violence is dirty. Miura has the balls of showing a 9 year old in a humiliating position about to be assraped by a disgusing old guy who looks like an inbred. He has the balls of showing a satanic orgy which is clearly borderline with pornography (check the boards again, it's at times very explicit and you can even see the "member" in some fellatio), the absolutely horrific rape of the women by those Trolls standing in line to take their turn with them, before having their intestines ripped and being thrown into a mass grave. That must have been, to me, the most disgusting Berserk moment.

Honestly I dont know any manga that goes that far.

[Death&Rebirth]

Search for "laughing Vampire" and anything of that mangaka, specially the anthologies. One of his stories even had an anime adaptation, which was later banned because of it's violent content (so there's no realease to purchase, if i'm not mistaken). With some luck you can still catch the movie in YouTube or any other video site.

[Buuhan1]

Funny you mention that about the bible. I read a news article that some place (forgot where) was trying to get the bible labeled 18+ due to those certain things in it.

[hbi2k]

Honestly, I think that some fools trying to get Berserk banned in America would be about the best thing that could possibly happen. Because those kind of campaigns virtually NEVER succeed in the long run, and they ALWAYS bring a lot of publicity (read: increased sales and readership) to whatever they're ostensibly fighting against.

Anything that gets more people to read Berserk is a good thing in my book, so everyone, join the fight to get Berserk banned (and thus have more people read it) today!

(-:

[Istvan]

Honestly, I think that some fools trying to get Berserk banned in America would be about the best thing that could possibly happen. Because those kind of campaigns virtually NEVER succeed in the long run, and they ALWAYS bring a lot of publicity (read: increased sales and readership) to whatever they're ostensibly fighting against.

Anything that gets more people to read Berserk is a good thing in my book, so everyone, join the fight to get Berserk banned (and thus have more people read it) today!

(-:

Don't you dare. While you're undoubtably correct in the long term, in the short term such campaigns can be a real pain, and make it much harder (at least for some people in some areas) to access it. Berserk is too awesome for anyone (at least, anyone over age) to be denied access to it, even in the short term.

Besides, even leaving that aside, those campaigns tend to be seriously obnoxious.

[Buuhan1]

Yeah, and it could hurt other potential Berserk merchandise and other violent mangas from coming over here.

[reiketsu]

Berserk is full with gore because it was meant to be full with gore. There's nothing of much special behind this. Kentaro Miura wanted to display some medieval barbarism and some of the gruesome things that were done at that time. Quoting wikipedia "With over 29 million volumes sold, it is one of the most successful adult manga ever." and that's the most relevant point: it's an adult manga. Simply and plain. If you can't stand the heat, stay away from the fire.

It always seems ... that whatever the female character theres something sexual behind her ... except maybe Schierke(sp?) but even she got it in for Gutts ... almost every female character at one point

1.Got raped
2.Got their clothes ripped off
3. and super young

it might just be me, but I think Miura has had women trouble , iono ?



Whene Farnese wanted Gutts to lift the sword slowly I was like woah !? okaaaaaaaaaaaay ... or the goat dude with the serpent penis, its not so much the gore but some of that stuff ... with that being said still the best comic/manga I've read hands down ... I'm eagerl awaiting the next chapter as I'm sure you all are too ...............

In the medieval age the women were the most constact victim of rapery (does this word even exist?!) and alike. If an army invades a city, after kill most of the men they used to go and had fun with the women. Frankly, even during the Second Great War the red army did the same on the germany women. What's the surprise on all the rapes in that twisted medievl world?

Berserk had a heavier sexual appeal in the begin, but it's slowing down. Won't cease, because it's part of the manga.

And Farense was being possessed by a demon. And that goat guy as well.

Hope I just missed the sarcasm in your post... o_O

[Istvan]

Berserk is full with gore because it was meant to be full with gore. There's nothing of much special behind this. Kentaro Miura wanted to display some medieval barbarism and some of the gruesome things that were done at that time.

Uh, yeah. We know this. That doesn't mean that some of the depictions can't still be fairly disturbing to many people (as they are intended to be) or that we can't discuss which of them we find most disturbing. The fact that the depictions are entirely legitimate to the story, and are part of what makes the story as awesome as it is, in no way means that many people won't find them disturbing, even if they really like the series, and follow it obsessively.

[Starnum]

The scene of the zombie family in Albion, shown as the parents eating the children in full on gory detail, as awesome as it was I still find it a little disturbing. Though, I like to look at disturbing imagery, as long as it isn't real, that's one of the reasons I like Berserk. Of course the awesome plot is the main reason.

[Buuhan1]

I'm just really an odd person I guess....there's nothing in Berserk that bothered me, yet I can't even watch a horror movie which would have things less disturbing than Berserk does. Guess it's the "jump out scares" which get me, not gore or imagery.

[Starnum]

It's not the gore that was a little disturbing, it was the concept of two parents turning into zombies and then suddenly attacking and eating their own children. Yeah shit like that also morbidly fascinates me. Horribly twisted and gory fantasy is the best. As long as the plot is compelling, which Berserk is.

[Fuji Nagase]

It always seems ... that whatever the female character theres something sexual behind her ... except maybe Schierke(sp?) but even she got it in for Gutts ... almost every female character at one point

1.Got raped
2.Got their clothes ripped off
3. and super young

it might just be me, but I think Miura has had women trouble , iono ?



Whene Farnese wanted Gutts to lift the sword slowly I was like woah !? okaaaaaaaaaaaay ... or the goat dude with the serpent penis, its not so much the gore but some of that stuff ... with that being said still the best comic/manga I've read hands down ... I'm eagerl awaiting the next chapter as I'm sure you all are too ...............

i guess ill have to remind you of Schierke'ｓ mentor. Also farnese's mother, gut's mother, any girl from the new band of the hawk (excluding charolette of course). and i would hardly say that the ages of the women in berserk are all similar. Schrieke is so young and i always thought that because of that she wasnt any kind of love interest and she is powerful enough to be useful to thr group. her and guts make a good team because they have a more or less pure relationship that isnt poisened by love or anything. its kind of nice and simple that way.

and as for 'they always have something sexual about them'. id have to say that everyone does. both men and women have a sexual nature to them. in berserk look at all the men. most of them raped someone or got raped or had their clothes off. there are so many scenes with naked men and women, i'd hate to count which is more.

i love berserk's so called disturbing images because they dont hide whats thought of as 'ugly' and they are what i believe can be beautiful. the most difficult thing for me to read are the scenes when guts is being shunned by retarded caska. its really just hard to get through.


i think maybe im a bit like buuhan here. i hate horror movies but i love horror, violent, full of sex, and macabre manga. guts has to go through so much and when you imagine how he has to go through this in his RL;its his memories and reality...then it hits you how amazing of a character he is.


i always loved berserk for how outgoing it was. its the same reason i love happy mania. though i doubt any of you have read happy mania due to it being a manga for 20 something year old women having 'sex in the city' type situations (though a million times more funny and random). it was really insane for shojo because it has full on sex scenes and really...free expression about things like that.

i always love a mangaka who isnt afraid to draw anything.

berserk draws whatever is needed for it to amazing. all the rape and the violence and the insane sadness and hardship makes it stand out and because its drawn and written so well, it is recognized as truly a masterpiece.

[Eedze]

I think i was most shocked at the scene when Gutts is struggling with his inner demon. Its right after his meeting with Grifith after he descends to earth. Gutts loses Casca for a short moment and when he hears her scream, he runs towards her finding her covered with blood in the middle of the corpses of the man who try to rape her. Gutts seeing casca covered in blood loses himself to his demon and then the demon bites off Casca's breast and tears her apart. when Gutts wins his struggle with the demon, he sees his bitemark on Casca's breast.

[Starnum]

Yeah, that was a pretty interesting part. I can only imagine how difficult that must have been for him.

[Fuji Nagase]

yeah. those are really hard to read in my opinon... T.T


ah! if forgot to mention:

'it might just be me, but I think Miura has had women trouble , iono ?'

you want to know mangaka who has trouble with women? In an interview Junji Ito said that the idea for Tomie stems from his fear of women, hahahaha!

[Selrahc]

i do not know if anyone mentioned it already but i just finished reading Blame! and that had some amazing yet disturbing imagery. I thought that that manga was one of the few that I have read recently and gone WTF!!? I love how the artist draws perspectives and his almost cinematic compositions, truly amazing to see drawn. I think i need to start reading Biomega now so i can compare the two of them.

[Aetherfukz]

There are indeed a lot of very disturbing images in Berserk, championed by all the rape scenes, especially involving the Black Dog Knights and the mutilation of their victims. Also the whole eclipse is disgusting and gross.

But for me, the single most disturbing scene is the one where Judeo dies. I have always really liked him throughout the story, with his witty attitude and a philosophers touch on him. And so far, his death is the only one I have ever witnessed (in all fiction spanning all media) which we as the reader/viewer get to see through his own eyes. We even get to read his last thoughts, the thoughts of a dying man... "are those my last words?"... always run a shiver down my spine.

[Fuji Nagase]

yeah. Miura is a genius.



i think there is some joke going around about how Biomega, Blame and noise..(all the ones by that mangaka) basically have the same story or at least so similar and hard to translate that people started to consider all those manga one basic story. the art is amazing. i always was impressed in how much line work and the design quality the comics had. ive always wanted to cosplay someone from his comics. for some reason i find myself relating mpd psycho and biomega..i think the human mutilation maybe. its kind of the same mindset i think. but berserk is more organic than those.

Unline most manga, the main character of berserk doesnt always have his inner dialogue running rampant. sometimes you have no idea what he is thinking and the reader must imput it. but when Miura gives it to us, we are thankful because it is truly guts and really great writing. when his inner demon comes up by the fire and tries to temp guts to kill caska and there is that picture of him biting her neak as she looks at him in his dream..that is the kind of thing i find distubing. what he saw last with his right eye was terrible, and those images haunt guts and rightly so, haunt the audience. its the honest and raw expiriences that are the most disturbing because when things are the most honest we can relate to them and then its real. from the pages to our life, berserk disturbs us. and that is one reason why it is amazing.

...sigh. hopefully that made some sense.

[The Prince]

Yeah, that was a pretty interesting part. I can only imagine how difficult that must have been for him.

The scene where the Black Dog Knights's cavalry are showcasing the dismembered bodies of the families that just previously were kind in helping the Griffith rescue party was pretty bad. Not just because of the violence but the cruelty of it all, because Miura (only for a page or two) made the reader get to know and like the girl and family who got butchered. Seeing their limless torso's posted up as if it were a cavalry flag, just a few pages alter, was pretty obnoxious.

Also, seeing the little girl and Priest father meet gruesome ends in the caravan, in the first few chapters of the storyline caught me off guard. And the fact that Guts didn't even seem to care or show compassion made me even more upset. In fact, that incident made me rather disdain Guts character up until halfway through the Golden Age arc of the Manga. If I hadn't scene the anime, I don't know if I would have continued on with the manga. But I guess looking back at it, the depth of character in reality is what has made Berserk so great.

[Aetherfukz]

Now saying that Guts didn't care for the death of the little girl is really cruel. First, he warned the priest before joining the two of them, and only got on board because the priest insisted. When you stop to let a hitchhiker in your car and he tells you "No thanks man, I am haunted by demons" I would sure drive the hell away from him as fast as I could. The priest insisted so it was part of his fault.

Anyway about the girl: First Guts was stabbed by her because he couldn't bear killing her although she was dead already and possessed. And he looked away when slashing her in two, and Guts never looked away from mindless violence.

[The Prince]

Now saying that Guts didn't care for the death of the little girl is really cruel. First, he warned the priest before joining the two of them, and only got on board because the priest insisted. When you stop to let a hitchhiker in your car and he tells you "No thanks man, I am haunted by demons" I would sure drive the hell away from him as fast as I could. The priest insisted so it was part of his fault.

Anyway about the girl: First Guts was stabbed by her because he couldn't bear killing her although she was dead already and possessed. And he looked away when slashing her in two, and Guts never looked away from mindless violence.

I know, your probably right.

But when he laughed, when Puck began to say "It wasn't your fault". And said that they deserved what happened to them because they were "weak" upset me some. Especially because the family seemed very kind, espcially the girl. And how could you expect those two would have the slightest idea about how "cursed" Guts was?

Anyway, in the long run, I had come come to understand Guts true emotions were anything but apathy. Maybe I was just upset that there wasn't more closure to the deaths of the family. No big deal though.....

[Aetherfukz]

Well IMHO it really was their own fault. Guts clearly stated that a) he didn't get along well with priests and b) the darkness haunted him. Now I can see a priest wanting to help a person who is haunted by "darkness" but in a priest, non-fighting way. But the priest didn't do anything like that - he just wanted to give a guy in the rain a ride along.
And yeah, the girl was nice, with her offering him wine, and giggling after and such. It's always tragic when children die in war. And I don't think Guts likes it when children and women die, get raped and mutilated and so on. But does he care about them? Dunno. I think at the start he cared probably. But after years of fighting the darkness he stopped probably. Anything else would probably destroy him from within. If he cared about every one of the innocent victims he couldn't stride his path, he would become one of the victims himself. Collateral Damage that's the word for it. Tragic? Yes. Neccesary? No. Unavoidable? Much so.

As you said apathy discribes it pretty good.

And also, Guts (or rather was, before he got the berserker armor) a good strategic fighter, and as the saying goes, everything is fair in love and war. When he fought the count he didn't hesitate to use his (the counts) daughter as hostage so he could get a clean hit in. And as he says to Isidro "On the battlefield even a child is a legitimate weapon."

[Istvan]

It's always tragic when children die in war. And I don't think Guts likes it when children and women die, get raped and mutilated and so on. But does he care about them? Dunno. I think at the start he cared probably. But after years of fighting the darkness he stopped probably. Anything else would probably destroy him from within. If he cared about every one of the innocent victims he couldn't stride his path, he would become one of the victims himself. Collateral Damage that's the word for it. Tragic? Yes. Neccesary? No. Unavoidable? Much so.

As you said apathy discribes it pretty good.

Actually, to me it seemed more as if he were trying to force himself to be apathetic. After these horrible things happen, and he starts talking about how it's their own fault (reacuring theme) it seemed to me that he was trying to convince himself of what he was saying, so that it wouldn't hurt. This would also explain the acts of kindness (which he pretends aren't) that he occasionally displays. Not saying that he isn't a very cold, ruthless individual, just that he's perhaps not as much of one as he likes to pretend that he is.

[Aetherfukz]

I totally second that emotion.

[Fuji Nagase]

now i would never want to associate the word angsty with guts..but in this case what you are all talking about it basically just classic angsty guy syndrome. that to me is about the most simple aspect of guts. the more complicated ones to me are the ones that seem to be really specific to him only. and those ones have a much stronger effect on me and i think are a bigger part of his personality.