I just watched "Berserk" season 1 anime

[WizarDru]

Yeah... the end of the series is a big kick in the stones. It's interesting just watching how the last few episodes just begin this slow descent into horrible, horrible oblivion. It's the most mind-wrenchingly painful experience ever, but I just couldn't stop watching.

It sucks that Dark Horse won't catch up to the end for a while. The post-Black Sun part is what I want to read the most!

The comic version is actually less horrific, I think, for two reasons: 1) You've got the Skull Knight showing up, and fighting with Zodd. 2) You don't have the TV show's soundtrack, which still gives me the creeeps, as much as I like it.

The terrible thing is that you keep expecting them to pull out of the nose dive, and they never do. I remember when my friend first finished watching the show, a couple of years ago. He was so disturbed by it, he couldn't sleep that night until he'd found out what the hell had happened, and if that was truly supposed to be the end. I know that when he brought it over, AND had warned us, we still just sat speechless at the end of it.

We commonly refer to volume 17 as "How Gatsu got the Dragonslayer and Got his Groove Back." Oh, and some of my favorite characters don't appear until after the Black Sun event, namely Isidro (the boy thief) and Serpico (who manages to fight Gatsu and live to tell the tale...showing that a rogue CAN stand up to an Epic Fighter, if he's smart about it).

 

[JoeGKushner]

Always glad to see another join the fold.

That's my avatar character btw.

http://www.skullknight.net/index2.htm

http://www.thehawks.org/

http://www.thespectrum.net/berserk.shtml

http://www.geocities.com/Berserkanime/

http://www.physics.scsu.edu/~jobien/berserk/index.html

http://www.arcticnightfall.com/berserk/page.php?section=manga

Have some links.

The Dark Horse manga is good, but way too slow. Their message boards are pretty dead but every now and then I try to get a protest going at the extreme slowness of the book coming out in here. Japan is past vol 28 from what I can tell (I have a Mitsuwa market by my house that sells the originals.)

 

[Arnwyn]

Anyone know when in the chronology the Dreamcast game falls (if it does at all)? Puck is in it, IIRC.

 

[WizarDru]

(I have a Mitsuwa market by my house that sells the originals.)

Curse you, sir. Curse you.

 

[WizarDru]

Anyone know when in the chronology the Dreamcast game falls (if it does at all)? Puck is in it, IIRC.

IIRC, the Dreamcast game falls into the continuity between volumes 17 and 18. Technically, the Dreamcast game is canon, afaik, but since it's a self-contained story, it's easily missed. Some of the sites above have summaries of the game, which I found to be quite enjoyable, if a tad repetitive. The only complaint I had about the game was the Zodd was FAR too tough.

It's interesting in that the game, without the context of the manga, would probably be pretty confusing, in that Zodd's appearance doesn't make much sense, otherwise. The Behelit and apostles aren't explained and tons of other stuff...including the end-game cinematic cameo.

 

[JoeGKushner]

Curse you, sir. Curse you.

That's it. Give into the hate. Your hate makes you strong.

Now join the dark side!

 

[Arnwyn]

IIRC, the Dreamcast game falls into the continuity between volumes 17 and 18.

Thanks a bunch, WizarDru!

If you don't mind a second question, which volume does the "Black Sun over Midland" event start?

 

[WizarDru]

Thanks a bunch, WizarDru!

If you don't mind a second question, which volume does the "Black Sun over Midland" event start?

First, a correction. I checked, and the actual title of the Dreamcast game (in Japan, at any rate) is Millenium Falcon: Chapter of the Oblivion Herbs. It is a sub-chapter of the Millenium Falcon arc (pun intended, I'm sure), and takes place (according to Miura's canon) after Gatsu battles Zodd on the Hill of Swords, and before he is possessed and attacks Caska shortly thereafter (and the subsequent reuniting with Isidiro, Serpico and Farneze). That places it solidly in-between volumes 22 and 23, somewhere.

Now, as to your second question: The Black Sun over Midland event concludes the Golden Age story arc (begun in Volume 3!) and occurs over the space of volumes 12 and 13. The only chapter missing from the collections is the famed chapter 83, which is a conversation between Griffith and....ummmm, God. Maybe. It calls itself "The Idea of Evil" and other things. Can it be trusted? I dunno. It's a swirling conceptual vortex. You be the judge.

Technically, part of becoming Femto appears to be imbuing Griffith with the ability to traverse to a new realm of the five layers of reality that mortals are normally unable to experience. The Black Sun event (and the brands of sacrifice) mark how Gatsu and Caska have essentially moved one or two steps up the chain. Technically, they are spirits in the material world, which is why the apostles are drawn to them. The witch house exists in a place called the Interstice, which is different from the prime in that it......well, you get the idea.

According to Miura, when he started the Millenium Falcon story in volume 21 or so: "Now the tale of Beserk can REALLY begin....." So it's gonna run for a while. Apparently, while the anime wasn't hugely successful, it made the manga much more successful in it's own right, so it's all good.

 

[Aesmael]

Apparently, while the anime wasn't hugely successful, it made the manga much more successful in it's own right, so it's all good.

That is not entirely surprising, considering that its main function seems to be generating threads like this one.

 

[WizarDru]

Well, what's most suprising to me is how far the manga has gone, and how much the tone and direction has shifted.

Compare other series with this level of longevity, such as 3x3 eyes, Hokuto no Ken, Dragonball Z or Urusei Yatsura. Most shows stick with their pattern, and just roll with it. Beserk of the Golden Age arc is considerably different from the Beserk of the Binding Chains arc, both of which are considerably different the Beserk on a quest for Elfhelm.

Beserk could have just been about the Black Swordsman, and been very formulaic. It could have been just about the Band of the Hawk. Instead, it goes way beyond those and other topics, making one of the most complex mangas I know of.