Berserk 21
Posted: February 8, 2009 Filed under: Berserk 5 Comments »Man, it’s been so long since I’ve read this series. Leaving off at volume 20 killed me since I was expecting a Cenobite summons in this volume. I was rather disappointed with the way things actually played out as far as the demon-to-human world transfer goes, since it doesn’t get anywhere near as intense as things were in volume 13.
I can’t say I was totally disappointed, though. We do get a perfect depiction of the madness of crowds, and the gigantic mass of people do any number of terrible things as they try to flee the demons.
The final fight between Guts and Father Mozgus was suitably epic and involved a few different transformations and the aforementioned crowd calling for the sacrifice of the demon Guts. There’s some discussion on religion, but nothing too deep or embarassing, and mostly Guts just trying to get Father Mozgus to stop his zealous ravings and calls for punishment.
And… I wound up liking Isidro a little more than I thought I would. I’m not sure how I can like Isidro and dislike Puck during his comic bits, but Isidro definitely pulls his weight in the party. He seems to often do things for Guts in his place, and the way he pulls off a rescue in this volume is actually kind of clever.
Ahemmm… what?… you dislike Pirkaf? ;-))) Well, never mind, I also like Isidro but then I like all the characters in Berserk and I think this manga is getting better, although the Band of the Hawks story arc was one of the most amazing things ever written. Oh yes, I think this manga is that good. Simply the best.
Wow, I’m sorry, I totally transposed Pirkaf and Puck in my head. I even thought about how it was the same name you use when I was writing the post. I didn’t realize I was wrong until I looked him up just now to see if he was an elf or a faerie. I like him as a character, and I think it’s kind of awesome that Guts’ partner for this stuff is an elf.
But yes, I am totally in love with this series. I’ve been reading it in 5-volume bursts since the beginning of last year, and I’m sad it took me so long to pick it up. It’s one of the best there is, and the only thing I really have to compare it to is itself. That Band of the Hawks storyline will probably be one of my favorite stories in any comic ever.
Yes, it’s awesome.. and I pitty people who only saw it in an anime form. I simply hate Berserk anime because manga is that much better. I’d also hate Blade of the Immortal anime, I’m sure. But I’ll never ever see it. These two manga are so much exceptional that there’s no way they could be transformed into another medium.
I didn’t even know there had been a recent Berserk anime until I read a review of the manga that mentioned people being familiar with the series because of it. I was kind of blown away by that, since this is quite literally one of the best series I can think of and it seems like it would be popular because of the manga and not the other way around.
I do avoid anime adaptations for that reason, though. I am almost always disappointed because the manga is always better. I was actually thinking of picking up the Berserk anime since I couldn’t see how they could ruin the story, but it’s no good, eh?
[...] of Air Gear (Kuriousity) Connie on vols. 4 and 5 of Basara (Slightly Biased Manga) Connie on vols. 21 and 22 of Berserk (Slightly Biased Manga) Kris on vol. 1 of Blue Sheep Reverie (Manic About Manga) [...]