Where did Berserk hook you?

[The Herald]

For me, in the manga, it was Guts just banging that random demon chick, totally revibed what I had previously expected from the anime.

The manga is leaps and bounds cooler than the anime: it's sexy, edgy, gorey, and just plain fucking awesome. It's the fucking definition of awesome.

[Rolos]

Really? At first I thought the manga was kind of stupid. It was dark and edgy, that's for sure, but to me, Gutts seemed like yet another stereotypical antihero carrying the burden of his dark, dark past.
I liked the violence, it's extreme crudeness and total lack of standards. There was clearly nothing glorious to be found in battle. Not in this manga.
But that wasn't enough to draw me in. What made me realize that I was reading BER-fucking-SERK was Vargas's death and subsequent appearance in hell.
And that was merely for having being in contact with the Count. That was just cruel. It was injustice at it's best. A martyr in hell. *sniff* Beautiful.
And then came the first Griffith/Femto flashback.
At that point I was once again willing to have Miura's babies.

[Aetherfukz]

Really? At first I thought the manga was kind of stupid. It was dark and edgy, that's for sure, but to me, Gutts seemed like yet another stereotypical antihero carrying the burden of his dark, dark past.

I don't think Guts, before the Golden Age arc, and especially in the first volume of the manga, was an antihero. He was neither anti nor hero. Boning a demon chick before blowing her torso off with a handmounted cannon? Not very heroic, and indeed rather disturbing and creepy. Holding the (pre-?)teenage daughter of your enemies in front of you as a human shield? Repeatedly kicking an insulting the cute little elf that probably saved your life with his healing, um, stuff?

Granted, now, and probably since the time Goto told him that he was basically just running away burning his hate leaving Caska alone, hes pretty much the epitome of an antihero, while still being, for the crapsack world that Berserk is, a rather decent fellow. But whats great about this are two things for me: 1. that Guts (and to an extend, Griffith) defies the usualy (Anti-)Hero/Villian stereotypes, and 2. that Guts, or rather anyone in his nakama and most recurring characters, have extremly long, and plausible, and deep, character development.

That's why I love him. In a very manly non-homoerotic way.

[Born_Loser]

I think it's a werid relationship as well. Griffith is using Demons and actually settling and bringing peace to the world. Gutz, just by being there, makes everything worse. Even when they were all humans, even Gutz as a baby, just made everything worse, while Griffith, just being there, makes everything better. It's hard to find the right words to explain, but, i like to think that is what Gutz has that Griffith doesn't have, and what ultimately makes Gutz the stronger.
Gutz was forged like a sword, hammered and beaten time and time again.

[Aetherfukz]

I like to think that Griffith has followers fall for him because of what he says, what he looks like, and for what he dreams about.
Guts has people follow him for what he is and what he does. Huge difference. Somehow Guts feels more like one of us, while Griffith is like a very bad politician.

And somehow, Griffith is listed on tvtropes as a Complete Monster. I wholeheartedly disagree there. "A Complete Monster is not a villain you love to hate; a Complete Monster is a villain you hate to even think about. " - which would rather disqualify him there. For all the disgusting stuff he has done, he is still a Magnificent Bastard who - and that his kinda his only redeeming quality right now IMHO - treats everyone, be they demon, enemy or women - in his army exactly the same.

As Bruce Willis once said, "Any story where you have good guys versus bad guys can only be as smart as the intelligence of your baddest guy." - and Griffith certainly is, while a megalomanical, intelligent. And whats so disturbing is that somehow, in the very back of your head, you feel that what broke him could break anybody, for a whole year of inhuman torture kinda breaks people.

[Istvan]

I think it's a werid relationship as well. Griffith is using Demons and actually settling and bringing peace to the world.

Or at least pretending to bring peace to the world. Given the last couple of chapters, I don't think you can argue anymore that Griffith's actions are actually making the world better/more peaceful.

I like to think that Griffith has followers fall for him because of what he says, what he looks like, and for what he dreams about.
Guts has people follow him for what he is and what he does. Huge difference. Somehow Guts feels more like one of us, while Griffith is like a very bad politician.

I'll agree...as long as by "bad politician" you mean the fact that he is totally self-serving ("evil politician" might actually be a better description in this case). Because his actual skills as a politician are amazing and top notch.

And whats so disturbing is that somehow, in the very back of your head, you feel that what broke him could break anybody, for a whole year of inhuman torture kinda breaks people.

I'm going to have to disagree here. What broke Griffith wasn't the year of torture, except indirectly. What initially broke Griffith was Guts, and the year of torture didn't, as far as I could tell, damage his mind any more than it was to begin with. They totally failed to break him. What the torture did was totally cripple him and leave him unable to persue his dream, as well as having lost Guts. If there'd been any way he still could have persued his dream by his own power after being tortured, even if he'd taken some damage if he at least hadn't been rendered totally helpless and unable to communicate, I think he would have spit in the God Hand's face and refused their offer. So the torture isn't what broke him. It was Guts and the total loss of his dream (which admittedly the torture had something to do with) that broke him.

[Aetherfukz]

I'll agree...as long as by "bad politician" you mean the fact that he is totally self-serving ("evil politician" might actually be a better description in this case). Because his actual skills as a politician are amazing and top notch.

Yeah, of course. Evil politician. Got my german mixed in there for a moment

I'm going to have to disagree here. What broke Griffith wasn't the year of torture, except indirectly. What initially broke Griffith was Guts, and the year of torture didn't, as far as I could tell, damage his mind any more than it was to begin with. They totally failed to break him. What the torture did was totally cripple him and leave him unable to persue his dream, as well as having lost Guts. If there'd been any way he still could have persued his dream by his own power after being tortured, even if he'd taken some damage if he at least hadn't been rendered totally helpless and unable to communicate, I think he would have spit in the God Hand's face and refused their offer. So the torture isn't what broke him. It was Guts and the total loss of his dream (which admittedly the torture had something to do with) that broke him.

You're right there. But still, with Guts leaving him, but without the torture, the eclipse would probably have never happened. Without Guts leaving him, but with the torture, I think that the eclipse would have happened. As you said, he chose the fate of the godhand because he was unable to pursue his dreams any longer in his bodily state.

Still, somewhere deep down Griffith had at least thought about laying down his dream, at least once, for a brief moment. I remember that scene in the anime, and I think the manga has it too at some point? Where he imagines himself sitting at a table, still his crippled self, getting spoonfed by his supposedly wife Caska, and seeing their son play around. I think that dream occured moments before the eclipse, and when he saw the behelit in his soup he snapped out of it. But still, I remember (at least in the anime) when he was in that dream, thinking basically "That's not so bad after all." before seeing the behelit.

[Born_Loser]

I think you are right about Gutz(I know, i spell it with a z instead of an s. I like spelling it this way.) leaving was what broke Griffith. What was the first thing Griffit did when Gutz left ? Commit political suicide. If Gutz hadn't left, Griffith would have totally bided his time to assassinate the king and take the princess' hand. On the other hand... the torture DID have a big effect on him. Honestly, If i had been crippled the same way Griffith was, even to a lesser degree, even without the torture... I'd probably make a pact with demons to regain what I'd lost. I have a lot of experience with spinal cord injuries, and honestly, i would pick death over that. How my brother held on for nearly 9 years and kept sane, i cannot even imagine. How anyone can lose such a large part of their life just blows my mind. I'd probably have made a pact with the demons after the castration alone! (That's also why i'll never neutre an animal i have. Is it any wonder dogs snap and hurt people, we cut their balls off!)
Well, I really do think Griffith is. Unless I have missed the last few chapters, I havn't read any in a while... but It seems like Griffith is rebuilding the kingdom, and sending his demon hordes to push the Kushan's out of Midland. He could be sending his human subjects to the slaughter, but he's sending his most elite demons to fight. Sure, he's making war with the Kushans, but... the Kushans invaded, they got it coming. Griffith even seems to be keeping his demons in-line and not-eating the humans. What Griffith did to the Band(and Caska) is utterly unforgivable, but he really seems to be doing good as the White Hawk. He's filled a despaired people with hope, and is bringing them together. Now, he means to be King by any means neccessary, but what I can't fathom, is what will he do once he is king ? Once he passifies the Kushans and stands in his castle crowned as king, will he just turn to his demon hordes and go, "Allright, there's the people. Feasting time! Smoke 'em if you got 'em!" Hard to think he would just do that, why go through all the hassle of unifying people to be king over them, just to send them to the butcher once you are king ? Honestly, I just can't figure the new Griffith out. It's rare that I can't predict something like this, which is one of the things that makes Berserk even more astounding. I couldn't predict it from Episode 1. It's always certain that Gutz will indeed survive, that's a no-brainer. I honestly didn't expect him to survive the Ecplise though, nor Caska. I didn't even know Caska survived it until i read the manga.
That was actually the major #1 thing that made me read the manga. Sure, I was interested in the rest of the story, but I really wanted to know exactly how Gutz survived. But from the get go, i didn't know how things would go. Honestly, during the anime, i kept thinking, "Okay... it's gotta switch out of flashback mode, any minute now.... any minute now...." It blew my mind when i realized, "Whoa, the whole show is pretty much one giant flashback!" But that's just one of the things that fascinated me once the hooks were already in. Shows I can't predict(and i am VERY good at predicting shows) tend to be my favorites.
Ohhyeah! Going back to Griffith for a minute. There was one thing about him just before the ecplipse. He wasn't really totally broken, either. When he's in the water and cuts himself to open up the Belit, he sees hia friends coming to save him, and he yells, "Run away! Go back!" Griffith is truly a fascinating character, love talking about him.

[Born_Loser]

Ohh yeah, HBI2k made a really good point in his abridged commentary on the episode, is that in that scene were Griffith was sitting at the table married to Caska(And raising Gutz children). That was actually the thought that broke him and made him say "yes" to join the God Hand. The thought of just being an ordinary person living an ordinary and peaceful life happily with a beautiful woman(and raising another man's children...) broke him.

[Aetherfukz]

Ohh yeah, HBI2k made a really good point in his abridged commentary on the episode, is that in that scene were Griffith was sitting at the table married to Caska(And raising Gutz children). That was actually the thought that broke him and made him say "yes" to join the God Hand. The thought of just being an ordinary person living an ordinary and peaceful life happily with a beautiful woman(and raising another man's children...) broke him.

Interesting.

[The Herald]

I never thought that the boy in that scene was Guts' son, but Griffith's son, just being named Guts. The dog was named Pippin.

[Born_Loser]

I never thought that the boy in that scene was Guts' son, but Griffith's son, just being named Guts. The dog was named Pippin.

You see, that's what I thought too.. but you know, when a man is turned over to the hands of a torturer, what do ya suppose is the first thing he's going to cut off ? I'll give you a hint, there's two of them, and they both just hang around in the same bag all day. (I think HBI2k even mentioned that..) but it makes perfect sense. Griffith can't have kids, and Gutz and Caska already got freaky, so the children in that scene were his.

[Istvan]

Ohh yeah, HBI2k made a really good point in his abridged commentary on the episode, is that in that scene were Griffith was sitting at the table married to Caska(And raising Gutz children). That was actually the thought that broke him and made him say "yes" to join the God Hand. The thought of just being an ordinary person living an ordinary and peaceful life happily with a beautiful woman(and raising another man's children...) broke him.

I agree. I think it's important to note that immediatly after envisioning such a future, Griffith tries to kill himself. I don't think he believed for a second that such a future (the only future left to him) was acceptable...for all that he tried to convince himself otherwise. Of course, he didn't really want to die either, hence the fact that he jerked aside at the last moment. The will to live, to achieve his dream was too powerful to allow him to die, but he'd rather die than live the boring, pointless life that was all that was left to him.

[GutsFTW]

It had kept me hooked right until the end of the Eclipse.But after that,honestly,it got a bit boring.

[Rolos]

You mean you found the Berserk manga boring?

[papasith]

the only thing i have ever found boreing honestly in the manga is this whole large build up of the kushan army vs griffith's army (release times are probably at fault, might be more enjoyable in a solid read through)

[GutsFTW]

You mean you found the Berserk manga boring?

You misunderstood what I was trying to say.Just the few chapters following the eclipse were boring but since I was still angry at what Griffith/Femto did,it didn't bother me much.

[Thanatos]

Right from the start of the manga when Gatts was fucking the demon chick. If that wasn't awesome enough he takes his hand cannon and blows her head off. hellz yeah!

[madonnalal]

I had known the reputation of the manga and anime and I wanted to check it out. However some of my friends had already seen the anime and told me that the ending was disappointing and I would probably like the manga better. I started reading it but I didn't get hooked until I got to Guts's backstory, how he was born and raised. After that, I got really emotionally invested in the story and spent all of my waking hours reading or thinking about Berserk. I still haven't sat down and watched the whole anime but I really enjoyed hbi2k's abridged series because it catered to the people who had read the manga but appreciated the anime series. I also really love the PS2 game. It's the only video game that I've ever tried to play multiple times. Hack 'em Slash 'em button mashers are the best

[Mail]

I first saw Berserk while browsing through the anime section in blockbuster. This was right about when I started getting into anime/manga and I was looking for interesting titles. Berserk caught my eye. I really liked the anime, but when it was over I just sat there for around twenty minutes staring at the screen thinking ".....it's over? THAT CAN'T BE IT!" Being new to the Japanese comic scene, it never occurred to me that there might be a manga.

--> Flash forward a year or so.

I am now into manga/anime. I'm browsing for new titles to check out when I see Berserk. I stare at the title, rub my eyes, clean my glasses and check again. Lo and behold, it's still there. A few clicks later and I find the first chapters. I begin to read.

--> Flash forward a week or so.

I look up from my computer, grainy-eyed and more than a little dazed. I have no clear recollection of the past week other than reading Berserk. Despite this, I feel better than I have in a long time. I'm used to anime being more shallow than its manga, but the Berserk anime was good considering its lack of animation budget so I didn't expect the manga to be very different. I was completely blown away. Berserk was hands down the best manga I had ever read. The premise is great, the art is amazing, and the story is superb. It's got just the right mix of action and depth of story.

Um. Yeaaaah....so I kinda went off on a tangent there. Anyone who doesn't want to read my rambling feel free to disregard the above.
Anyways. Berserk hooked me at episode 1 of the anime. Bigass sword + Bigass Snake Demon + Dude w/cannon arm = win.

[Istvan]

You meant that Berserk hooked you "at episode one of the anime", right?

[Mail]

Edited for accuracy

[Bato]

I got hooked when I walked in on my brother watching the anime. It was the scene when Guts saved Casca from Adon Coborlwitz (General of Blue Whale Ultra Heavy...)
Big Sword, Hot chick, A loudmouth getting pwnd. I watched the anime non-stop then went for the manga.

[The Herald]

The story of my first watching Berserk was a little silly. My friend was having a party and decided to rent out the first dvds of all these different anime from the local video store. Berserk was one of them, along with Blue Seed and Argentosoma and a bunch of others. We never got around to watching Berserk and none of them were interested in watching it so when I went home I took it with me. I watched it and wasn't quite hooked yet, wasn't until the love-scene between Casca and Guts, but was interested to go rent the next dvd. It just kept getting better and better and I rented the last 3 dvds at once, watching them in a row, all excited, only to have that thrown back in my face when the eclipse happened. It wasn't until two years later when I was bored out of my mind in my dorm in England that I discovered the Manga. It was a relief to find out there was something after the eclipse, but I still loved and accepted Berserk for what the anime gave us.

[Sandman]

I was hooked right as the dragonslayer came forth... it was like "holy shit what the fuck??? That sword is huge!!!!" I know it is most of anime first Berserker's hook point, but if I was to have read the manga first it would have been the first chapter when the count eats the little boys insides then guts fucks him up