Berserk

1PceXperience

Even in real life some people experience some really shit: like being imprisoned and raped for years and they are still sane. Those people normally have some kind of trauma, but overall they are pretty much sane!

Everyone's story is different (and I don't wanna delve to much into how one experiences rape) but I imagine that being raped, betrayed, and having all of your family being murdered by someone you've admired for decades [practically a hero figure to you] is bounds more traumatic than being harmed by a stranger. Fictional character or not, there's no way you can compare Casca's situation to the "norm" tragedy.

Why not both? Guts got raped and he still sane!

First off, no…. Guts is not sane. How many panels have we seen of Guts being tormented by his past tragedies (prior to and after the eclipse massacre). Guts doesn't even like people touching him. Please don't act as if Guts is stable. Jesus, Casca's family… her whole entire life.. just went up in flames in the most terrifying way. How do you expect any character from Berserk to recover from that? Do you think Guts wants to put Casca (the person that he fights day and night to protect even when she doesn't show any compassion back) through all of that? What loved one would do such a thing? Guts will do what's best, even if that means losing the love of Casca.

Bigivel

@1PceXperience:

Everyone's story is different (and I don't wanna delve to much into how one experiences rape) but I imagine that being raped, betrayed, and having all of your family being murdered by someone you've admired for decades [practically a hero figure to you] is bounds more traumatic than being harmed by a stranger. Fictional character or not, there's no way you can compare Casca's situation to the "norm" tragedy.

First off, no…. Guts is not sane. How many panels have we seen of Guts being tormented by his past tragedies (prior to and after the eclipse massacre). Guts doesn't even like people touching him. Please don't act as if Guts is stable. Jesus, Casca's family… her whole entire life.. just went up in flames in the most terrifying way. How do you expect any character from Berserk to recover from that? Do you think Guts wants to put Casca (the person that he fights day and night to protect even when she doesn't show any compassion back) through all of that? What loved one would do such a thing? Guts will do what's best, even if that means losing the love of Casca.

Your definition of sane is a little …
For you an insane(not sane) person is a person with trauma. For me an insane person is a person that can't live normally in society, and by normally I mean needing constantly help or being harmful to others without constant supervision.
In my definition Guts is a sane person, by yours he is just like Caska, insane.

When you're saying that Caska will get her memory back, the thing is that she never lost her memories. The fact that she seems to not remember anything has nothing to do with memory loss and is just a defense mechanism, just like it seems she doesn't know how to speak.
Because of her trauma, her brain "closed" some knowledge to protect her. Normally it would only be the bad memories that she doesn't want to remember, but the trauma was so big that she basically "closed" everything that she knew.
What I'm saying is that the Supposedly memory loss is part of her insanity, she is only insane because of the "Memory Loss", so to make her sane again she have to "Recover her memory", well maybe the Fairy King can selectively make what to make her "remember" or what not, but probably that wouldn't make any difference to her stability. Why? Because the small traumas(like fear of people touching her, like Guts) would still be there either she "remembered" it or not, given that traumas are of a unconscious nature and not conscious.
Basically, she became what she is now, because she couldn't accept what happened to her, so she ran away from her pain and hid everything deep inside her unconscious. To return to sanity she has to accept what happened and move forward.
I don't know if today in real life is possible to bring back a person with such a deep wound back to sanity, probably it isn't, but if it is, then it would be interesting to know how would that process be.

Robby

@Gia:

I just want it to go on a bi weekly/monthly schedule again.

It hasn't been on that sort of schedule in over a decade. (And its in a bi-weekly mag, so it will never be monthly.)

We get 3-4 chapter batches every couple months once Muira has a stockpile built up, for an average of one volume a year. That's all, and its never going to be faster than that again.

Gia Sado

@RobbyBevard:

It hasn't been on that sort of schedule in over a decade. (And its in a bi-weekly mag, so it will never be monthly.)

We get 3-4 chapter batches every couple months once Muira has a stockpile built up, for an average of one volume a year. That's all, and its never going to be faster than that again.

Well either 3 things will happen, this continues and it never finishes, or he realizes that the amount of content needed to finish this manga properly is a hefty amount and resumes crunch work, or lastly, he comes up with a psuedo-half assed ending (which I think would never happen considering the quality of his work).

The only thing I can say is that a few years ago, he began to massively open up his berserk world with an extraordinary amount of high fantasy elements. I believe that we are only getting to the pinnacle of Griffith's dream. As large as that may seem, he still probably wants to explore this Elf Island for a while, and finally when Guts returns to Midland will the actual crux of the story begins. Guts definitely doesn't start climbing that impossible mountain to slay God Hand until they all return and the Caska problem is solved. My guess is something bad happens on Elf Island, but we'll see. There's just too much built up for no payoff.

There is still probably at least 25 more years left in this manga, providing his current schedule of releases.

Valnar

This post is deleted!

Nidhoeggr

Only read the manga.
While the first TV series was nice for its time, it also removed a lot of the supernatural elements and several important side characters which would confuse you once you switch.
And even though it is tempting, I advice you to never ever watch the movies.

Valnar

This post is deleted!

Robby

@Valnar:

Ok thanks, i started the manga and the first few chapters were a bit slow so i thot anime might be easier to go through

The anime skips the first three volumes almost entirely, and another one in the middle of it as well. It cuts a fair bit.

And the movies are even more compressed.

Just hang in there, the first arc is a little slow, but once the flashback starts up its great.

@Gia:

or he realizes that the amount of content needed to finish this manga properly is a hefty amount and resumes crunch work,

Sigh.
insert ramble about Muira working full time 18 hour days, not taking breaks, and just not being able to match the magazine's schedule due to the detail level of the art here

Gia Sado

@RobbyBevard:

The anime skips the first three volumes almost entirely, and another one in the middle of it as well. It cuts a fair bit.

And the movies are even more compressed.

Just hang in there, the first arc is a little slow, but once the flashback starts up its great.

Sigh.
insert ramble about Muira working full time 18 hour days, not taking breaks, and just not being able to match the magazine's schedule due to the detail level of the art here

Lol I know he works hard, his art has only improved over the years but for at least 15 of those 25 years he's had amazing art. This odd scheduling started around 2006, about halfway through that amazing quality of work. He has other priorities and that is perfectly fine. I would just love to read this manga more frequently, and that is my selfish ambition I know. If it happened to one piece, half of Japan wouldn't be able to take it lol.

@Valnar Watch the movies after you finished the Golden Age arc, or the flashback that starts 3 volumes in. That lasts for about 10 volumes. The movies are great in their own way, and trust me the last one in the trilogy is crazy.

Robby

@Gia:

Lol I know he works hard, his art has only improved over the years but for at least 15 of those 25 years he's had amazing art. This odd scheduling started around 2006, about halfway through that amazing quality of work. He has other priorities and that is perfectly fine. I would just love to read this manga more frequently, and that is my selfish ambition I know. If it happened to one piece, half of Japan wouldn't be able to take it lol.

That IS happening to OP now.

Oda is being forced to take one week off a month (or is being given 10 days to do his chapter instead of 7, either way) for health reasons.

Buuhan1

I really really miss my Berserk… I stopped reading at chapter 311: Solitary Island years ago. But I just can't bring myself to read anymore right now because of the delays, I know I'd probably burn through the current 22 chapters in no time then my withdrawl will kick into overtime again. It's crazy to think Berserk is only 2 months younger than me and with no end in sight.

Renegadesoul

Woah…A TITAN!...Lol that was really a nice chapter. Maybe that could explain Shingeki no Kyojin's titan transformation process. Hehe

Nidhoeggr

Haha, miura is really just doing whatever he wants in this miniseries and it shows. Prome letting Delos drink her "nectar", Nausicäa inspirations everywhere and now a titan.
A fun read and a welcome change for him as well, I guess. Hopefully he feels refreshed enough after this is over so he can enjoy working on Berserk just as much as we enjoy reading it.

Aohige_AP

Hot damn, this isn't a loli-Nausicaa, this is a loli-Earthmother-Goddess-Nausicaaa.

Nausicaa would never do this "Listen and choose wisely, foolish mortals!" schtick, but I kinda find it hot.

Mickamott

There's going to be some sort of epilogue bonus chapter in the March 14th issue, so this means the earliest possible return of Berserk is March 28th… hopefully.

Phoenix-TMF

The sooner the better.

I just hope Miura's art didn't decline.

Robby

@Phoenix-TMF:

The sooner the better.

I just hope Miura's art didn't decline.

…he's been doing a different story, but the art's been his normal standard in it. Why would you be worried about his art declining after it being consistent for over twenty five years?

He isn't Togashi.

benjamminbrown

^ Yeah, the amazing art in this story should only be getting you pumped for how awesome the new Berserk chapters will be.

Mickamott

Here are some comments from Miura that he posted along with each chapter, they're on the left hand side.

!

Porcelainpot

Apart from the bonus chapter, is Gigantomakhia now over?
Anyway, I enjoyed it. I'm not sure if it was all draw at once then released over a period of time, but if that isn't the fact then Miura managing to pump out long chapters like these with stupidly good double pages that quickly is really, really impressive. I hope it bodes well for Berserk.
Random scene of a 8-something year old girl flashing herself to a man just really threw me off though. I liked to think Miura would stay away from at least the iffier manga tropes (I guess loli and flashing are pretty common in manga I read), but can't be helped. I'm not sure, but iirc there are couple of scenes like that in Berserk.

Lorce

Just finished my Berserk marathon which I started a week ago… Finally got around to reading it, and I'm glad I did... I always knew it was something special from all the good reviews and feedback of it, but I didn't expect it to be that good... the art is just crazy detailed, and the fights very action packed, with good story and evreything... I just can't see Guts fighting Griffih... how would that even work... well Miura would know how to handle it I'm sure

Just asking, when did the last chapter (Chapter 333) come out? I just wanna see how long it's been on hiatsu now

Nidhoeggr

End 2012/Beginning 2013.

Guts got on the ship nearly eight years ago.

Robby

@Porcelainpot:

I'm not sure if it was all draw at once then released over a period of time, but if that isn't the fact then Miura managing to pump out long chapters like these with stupidly good double pages that quickly is really, really impressive. I hope it bodes well for Berserk.

No, its pretty clear this side series is why we had the longest Berserk break ever. Took him about a year to do those chapters… and they waited till they were all done to release them in rapid succession. No faster, just a longer publishing hiatus.

@Lorce:

Just asking, when did the last chapter (Chapter 333) come out? I just wanna see how long it's been on hiatsu now

Its a weird question since he did his side project last year, so its been a while since the last Berserk chapter, but his actual output was still about the same. Usually its about 4 months between releases, then we get 3-4 in a row. He manages a volume of content (roughly 10 chapters) a year usually. Just think of it as a monthly comic and that helps a lot.

Aaronrules380

Berserk is returning April 11 http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2014-03-10/berserk-manga-slated-to-resume-on-april-11

Mickamott

Great, hopefully he's completed some chapters already so we can get a steady stream once he comes back - or at least more than the usual four chapters.

Now that there's a firm date I think I'll ration the remaining four chapters of Berserk that I haven't read yet over the next month, in preparation for it's return.

zym

Best news of the year!

Louis-1988

Hallelujah! Hopefully Miura doesn't go anywhere for a while this time.

Black Leg

Oh hey the new chapter comes out on my birthday, I hope Guts and the gang finally get to the fireworks factory

Nidhoeggr

So I get both a new Berserk chapter and the third Souls gama aka "Berserk, the 3d Metroidvania RPG" in April? Great.

rereboy

@Nidhoeggr:

So I get both a new Berserk chapter and the third Souls gama aka "Berserk, the 3d Metroidvania RPG" in April? Great.

Awesome

Purple Hermit

Wow, I need to play Dark Souls… as well as 2.

Also, I need a system that has Dark Souls on it.

Nidhoeggr

Not to mention the fourth season of Game Of Thrones, with some of my favourite scenes from the books. Truly a good month for fans of good fantasy.

zym

Why did you have to mention souls. Now I have to get back the grind. I know off topic but fantastic game.

Mickamott

The bonus chapter of Gigantomakhia confirmed that we'll see more of Rickert's group when they enter Falconia in chapter 334, as previously assumed based upon the vol. 37 preview.

!
Can't wait!

EDIT: Next Berserk chapter after April 11th will be the May 23rd issue of YA. Not the best but at least we're getting chapters again.

redon

BERSERK 334 RAW

http://www.sendspace.com/file/z0f1jt
http://exstorage.net/download/e99b9b546f8c08e49afad8cecc9cf40a9bcedf935783f15399cd8a0d66c36703

Single pictures.

http://imgur.com/a/Tsebn#0

Next chapter in Young Animal #11 on sale 23th May.

Sâuza

I guess it's just tits for now.

! And maybe some of Ganishka's army remnants ?

'ko

wow Miura's art is really amazing. I'm in awe every time a new chapter comes out.
So glad Berserk is back

Enzeru

I've been thinking about finally picking this up. But before I do so, I'd like to ask about the scans' quality. Would you guys recommend importing the English volumes or are the scanlations decent enough? Thanks.

Porcelainpot

@Enzeru:

I've been thinking about finally picking this up. But before I do so, I'd like to ask about the scans' quality. Would you guys recommend importing the English volumes or are the scanlations decent enough? Thanks.

As someone who has been collecting the volumes for the last couple of years and is only up to the 13th … the volumes are sometimes incredibly expensive and hard to obtain. Volume 13 cost around £50 when I got it, and that was after a while of waiting for the cheapest price I could get. IIRC, it was second hand, but I'm not too sure. Anyway, most volumes are around the 10-15 £/$ area, but you'll occasionally come across a really expensive one that you have to wait to get relatively cheaply.

The scan quality on the site I originally read it on was pretty atrocious, so there isn't really a perfect way of reading them.

Enzeru

@Porcelainpot:

As someone who has been collecting the volumes for the last couple of years and is only up to the 13th … the volumes are sometimes incredibly expensive and hard to obtain. Volume 13 cost around £50 when I got it, and that was after a while of waiting for the cheapest price I could get. IIRC, it was second hand, but I'm not too sure. Anyway, most volumes are around the 10-15 £/$ area, but you'll occasionally come across a really expensive one that you have to wait to get relatively cheaply.

The scan quality on the site I originally read it on was pretty atrocious, so there isn't really a perfect way of reading them.

Is it that hard to purchase the volumes? I randomly checked the prices on Amazon US for volumes 1 and 2, and they were <10$. Now you've made me curious. Gimme a sec.

Alright, only vol 1 is less than ten bucks. All the others are around 11-13$ which isn't that cheap I admit. Taking shipping and possible proxy fees into account I could be looking at quite the number there…

Porcelainpot

@Enzeru:

Is it that hard to purchase the volumes? I randomly checked the prices on Amazon US for volumes 1 and 2, and they were <10$. Now you've made me curious. Gimme a sec.

Checked myself and can't actually find any really expensive ones. That's kind of infuriating because if I had only waited a bit longer to buy my own, I could've cut down on so much money lol
Anyway, that means go wild. Not that £/$10 is particularly great for a single volume, but it could be worse.

Louis-1988

@Enzeru:

I've been thinking about finally picking this up. But before I do so, I'd like to ask about the scans' quality. Would you guys recommend importing the English volumes or are the scanlations decent enough? Thanks.

You won't regret picking it!

The scan quality is… abysmal on a good day and the trans job is subpar at best. I'd recommend picking up the volumes if you can afford them.

You can find them all for 45% off here: http://www.instocktrades.com/search/Berserk

Silverblade

@Enzeru:

I've been thinking about finally picking this up. But before I do so, I'd like to ask about the scans' quality. Would you guys recommend importing the English volumes or are the scanlations decent enough? Thanks.

First 200+ chapters have been done by the legendary group, Hawks. They started Berserk in times immemorial, so the early scanlations aren't great but it gets better soon enough. The rest of the series is done by Evil Genius who also do their best work. Furthermore, Random Scans have redone several volumes in higher quality. Also you can find few scans of the official English edition around.

But if you find the Dark Horse edition available, go for it without a second thought.

Robby

The only problem witht he Dark Horse editions is they've let them lapse out of print… so random volumes are hard to find and expensive.

Makes me wish all the more I'd been getting them as they came out... but I already had all the Japanese volumes...

Enzeru

I'll probably end up loving the series, try to get the next volume, and realize that say vol 27 is like 90 bucks new lol

Thanks for the detailed answers, everyone. Managed to answer all my questions splendidly.

garonne

how far along in the series would you guys say it is close to ending?

if there is any info that would be helpful, if not an educated guess would also be welcomed.

Bigivel

@garonne:

how far along in the series would you guys say it is close to ending?

if there is any info that would be helpful, if not an educated guess would also be welcomed.

It the least the series needs 3 more arcs, and that would be ending it too fast: Falconia Arc, Fairy Arc, Guts vs Griffith Arc. Assuming those will have at least 20 chapters each and that each year Berserk makes 10 chapters, than at least 6 more years.

–- Update From New Post Merge ---

@Enzeru:

I'll probably end up loving the series, try to get the next volume, and realize that say vol 27 is like 90 bucks new lol

Thanks for the detailed answers, everyone. Managed to answer all my questions splendidly.

About the good quality scans, from direct scans from Dark Horse volumes to Scanlations groups high quality scans, you can find them in http://bakabt.me/. You will have to sign up first and the first few days you will not be able to have access to all of their content, so I don't know if berserk is included at the beginning or not, but they have it.

Robby

@garonne:

how far along in the series would you guys say it is close to ending?

if there is any info that would be helpful, if not an educated guess would also be welcomed.

No telling how long it has to go… but its definitely nowhere near ending. (I think in interviews its been implied halfway to 2/3 done, but hell if I can remember where I saw that or find it again.) What Griffith did in the last arc, while making things a million times worse, DID provide a shortcut to the resolution if need be.

Even if its finale just skipped most of the plot threads and didn't deal with the other god hands and jumped right to Guts vs Griffith, it'd take another 50 or 60 chapters to do the absolute bare minimum or the stuff that NEEDS to be adressed. And at the author's pace...

Basically, even if its rushed we're looking at close to 7-10 years. If the author continues to take his time and do the story proper, it's going to be his life's work and take another 20 or 30 years. Especially if he slows down even more as he gets older. (And he's been doing it since the 80's!)

it's nowhere near ending, basically. (Comparitively, OP can be gauged to be 10-15 years to go.)

Nidhoeggr

Given the pacing I'd say Besrerk needs at least 100 chapters more. Maybe even 150 or longer.
Think about it:
Not a single God Hand has been slain.
We have the entire Elfheim story section before us.
Subplots of important support characters are not entirely resolved yet (Silat, Farnese, Azad, Serpico, all the kids).
The entire Skullknight & Void/Gaiseric and the old kingdom plotline hasn't advance since 200 chapters.
The Zodd and Griffith fights who will at least take up to a dozen chapters each.
Falconia's arc and the epilogue itself are still not touched upon.
The entire officer crew of the new Band of the Hawk and their history.

I place my bet at around 25 years.

Silverblade

! I remember seeing a relatively recent statement from Miura about the stage of the story in this thread, but I don't recall the wording to properly search for it. So have this little bit instead:

So, what Miura said about the God Hand.He was asked about their origin story, and he essentially said it would be shown soon enough. But he added that for him, "soon" meant around a year. That being said, he's currently working on the manuscript for it, so we know it's something we can really look forward to.He said he saw the movie of course, he thanked the director very much and said he was impressed. He draws around a page per day. He also jokingly added that since the manga is long running, he's making efforts to live long enough to finish it. At first he expected it to end during his 20s, then his 30s, and now he's even prepared for it to last until his 60s if necessary.