Slightly Biased Manga

The one thing I’ve liked so far is that, ever since the flashback started, the fantasy elements have been almost completely cut out.  In the present, Guts is fighting horrible mutated monsters and is being followed around by a faerie, but these things don’t exist in the past.  So far, the only hints that these things even exist in the world have been the Nosferatu and the dust that Judeau gave to Guts to heal his wounds.  Well, and the egg that Griffith wears.  And then suddenly, because things are starting to fall apart, we have all sorts of hints.  Last volume it was the prophecy Guts listened to, and then in this volume, we once again see monsters, fantasy creatures, and all sorts of other things.  I suppose since an immortal monster was the only enemy that Guts has been unable to defeat so far, it’s appropriate here since now you know shit is really hitting the fan.

This volume is mostly concerned with the rescue of Griffith.  The Princess helps, and as everyone (Pippin and Judeau included with Guts and Casca, along with the Princess and a maid) descends into the basement of the tower where Griffith is being held, the Princess tells a history of her kingdom.  Apparently the tower is the oldest part, and the hole was there before the kingdom was.  It was a relic from the kingdom that had been there before, which had been totally wiped off the map.  That king’s ruler?  None other than the one who had warned Guts before he had his reunion.

Like I said, I have no imagination.  What that little man did to Griffith was totally unexpected.  They didn’t show his face, which I thought was a nice touch.  He seems to still have hair, but even Guts is repulsed by whatever they did to his face.  The little man took pretty much everything from Griffith that made him important, though.  One wonders how that will work itself out.  It seems Griffith is perhaps not mad at Guts about what happened, though.

Of course the small party runs into trouble as they escape.  Specifically, assassins are sent after them.  I liked that Judeau proved himself more useful than everyone other than Guts, basically.  I actually like him quite a bit, he’s talented (but not overly talented) and he’s not all doom-and-gloom like every other character in the series is.

Anything else?  Well, it looks like the King, for whatever reason, has an unending supply of monsters on hand to send after the Hawks.  Next up is the Wolfman, apparently.