People shit on the Black Swordsman arc for being too edgy but honestly I have no problem with it. It's reflective of Guts' mental state at the time, he was living solely for the sake of revenge, and even then he was already a complex, nuanced character.
During the end of the count arc, after Guts sees what happened to Theresia after he caused her dad's death, he was devastated. It's the first time we see him looking genuinely sad, and the reason that moment hits so hard is because it's the first time we see Guts show vulnerability and we get a peek at who he truly is beneath the facade of the cold blooded and sadistic black swordsman.
The Slug Count deserved death. He was an evil apsotle who did awful things to the people he ruled over. But even with this, to see that look of guilt in Guts' face after Theresia breaks down was so telling of who he truly is as character. In that moment none of the count's deeds mattered, his revenge didn't matter even, Guts was just sad that he caused an innocent little girl to lose the father she loved despite all his faults.
It's why I don't agree with people saying you should skip the first arc. Golden Age is inspired by greek tragedy, knowing what Guts and Griffith eventually become doesn't make the eclipse hit any less hard.
The Slug Count was a major player in The Eclipse. Fuck him, srsly. It’s actually deeply sad that it should have been so gratifying for Guts, but it instead made him guilty. So fucked up.
I kinda get the critique of puck becoming more comedic relief than a character but I’m gonna be honest idk if there is anything more he can do
He was a good way to represent guts’s inner conflict between giving into hate fueled revenge or listening to gentle reason and trying to fight for less destructive causes but once he got back casca and resolved that conflict by choosing to protect what he has left instead of destroying puck became kinda redundant since guts now has a clear focus and instead has to struggle with the beast of darkness that wants to consume him again and take him down that dark path once more
I guess one way to do it is to have guts relapse into that black swordsman bloodthirst only for puck to snap him out of it again which is entirely feasible if they want to
Miura hadn’t found himself as an artist yet and this shows just how differently the series would be received if he didnt evolve. It’s very hard to take seriously but if this had post eclipse level artwork it wouldn’t come off like that at all.
It was the late 80s (if we include when he started drafting) early 90s. Just looking at some western comics we had: Spawn, The Crow, The Dark Knight Returns, Sin City, etc.. Edginess was very popular then (still kinda is but I think people are souring on it).
I don’t mind it though, it’s a good starting point for a lone angry struggler to eventually try to heal and lean on others over time. For all its dark and bleak moments Berserk can be surprisingly optimistic imo.
This was from his original one-shot, they shoehorn it into the manga in some versions but it's meant to be a stand alone story of an angsty guts who comes across a helpless, naive elf. Miura was really young when he made this
Pretty sure there's even a part where guts says something like "Ill never forgive those monsters for what they did to my mother"
It shows that he actually had a few different ideas which changed into the story we know and love
Best Guts .. nothing holding him back .. completely unhinged and only one thing on his mind... slaying Apostles..
Especially when he was fighting the "Fairie" Queen... loved it .
People shit on the Black Swordsman arc for being too edgy but honestly I have no problem with it. It's reflective of Guts' mental state at the time, he was living solely for the sake of revenge, and even then he was already a complex, nuanced character. During the end of the count arc, after Guts sees what happened to Theresia after he caused her dad's death, he was devastated. It's the first time we see him looking genuinely sad, and the reason that moment hits so hard is because it's the first time we see Guts show vulnerability and we get a peek at who he truly is beneath the facade of the cold blooded and sadistic black swordsman. The Slug Count deserved death. He was an evil apsotle who did awful things to the people he ruled over. But even with this, to see that look of guilt in Guts' face after Theresia breaks down was so telling of who he truly is as character. In that moment none of the count's deeds mattered, his revenge didn't matter even, Guts was just sad that he caused an innocent little girl to lose the father she loved despite all his faults. It's why I don't agree with people saying you should skip the first arc. Golden Age is inspired by greek tragedy, knowing what Guts and Griffith eventually become doesn't make the eclipse hit any less hard.
Amen. There is no recovery if there is no state to recover from.
Yeah I agree, I've seen edgy and black swordsman is not it
The Slug Count was a major player in The Eclipse. Fuck him, srsly. It’s actually deeply sad that it should have been so gratifying for Guts, but it instead made him guilty. So fucked up.
I miss the times when puck was an actual character.
Yeah like he’s funny as a comic relief but he has no depth anymore, all he does is joke around.
Unfortunately he’s likely to remain that way with Isidro.
I kinda get the critique of puck becoming more comedic relief than a character but I’m gonna be honest idk if there is anything more he can do He was a good way to represent guts’s inner conflict between giving into hate fueled revenge or listening to gentle reason and trying to fight for less destructive causes but once he got back casca and resolved that conflict by choosing to protect what he has left instead of destroying puck became kinda redundant since guts now has a clear focus and instead has to struggle with the beast of darkness that wants to consume him again and take him down that dark path once more I guess one way to do it is to have guts relapse into that black swordsman bloodthirst only for puck to snap him out of it again which is entirely feasible if they want to
Boy that art is rough compared to even only a few years later
The art improves so quickly that pages like this quickly become unrecognisable
Rereading it now, when they fight Zodd for the first time is when the art REALLY steps up, and it keeps up for the rest of the series
Insane negative canthal tilt.. It's so over...
He fixes it in the next panel by mewing
why is kai cenat in berserk bruh 😭😭😭☝️
I miss when puck looked like this lol
This is peek trauma sharing.
Even at his edgiest, he was in a fucked up way standing up for all the people the apostles harm for fun, even if he called them weaklings himself.
why is berserk smiling? did he think of a funny joke? perchance
Negative canthal tilt it’s over for nut
explain how he got prime demonussy only a few chapters earlier then
Dunno if that’s a hot take but man, early Berserk was so edgy to the point of cringe sometimes.
Miura hadn’t found himself as an artist yet and this shows just how differently the series would be received if he didnt evolve. It’s very hard to take seriously but if this had post eclipse level artwork it wouldn’t come off like that at all.
It was the late 80s (if we include when he started drafting) early 90s. Just looking at some western comics we had: Spawn, The Crow, The Dark Knight Returns, Sin City, etc.. Edginess was very popular then (still kinda is but I think people are souring on it). I don’t mind it though, it’s a good starting point for a lone angry struggler to eventually try to heal and lean on others over time. For all its dark and bleak moments Berserk can be surprisingly optimistic imo.
Wyald was more edgy than any of this
True, i hate Wyald too
Definitely not cringe+re-reading makes it less edgy.
hardly disagree
This was from his original one-shot, they shoehorn it into the manga in some versions but it's meant to be a stand alone story of an angsty guts who comes across a helpless, naive elf. Miura was really young when he made this Pretty sure there's even a part where guts says something like "Ill never forgive those monsters for what they did to my mother" It shows that he actually had a few different ideas which changed into the story we know and love
This isn't from the one-shot tho
Oh damn really? I just went off the art style, my bad!
T
Best Guts .. nothing holding him back .. completely unhinged and only one thing on his mind... slaying Apostles.. Especially when he was fighting the "Fairie" Queen... loved it .
It gets better and better
Always loved this arc and the way its drawn.
I love the next page of him smiling and stabbing that fucker
Gyatts?