Berserk 22

Now, to try and simulate an authentic Young Animal experience, let me follow that review of Futari H with Berserk.  I really can’t simulate the experience well until we get the first volume of Detroit Metal City in English (which, by the way, I’m ridiculously excited about), and then you can add that to the list and follow it up with Chica Umino, even though Honey and Clover isn’t quite right for this scenario.

Obviously I love tangents.  What was I talking about again?  Berserk?  Yes.  After taking as long a break as I did from the series, I had forgotten Guts only has one eye.  It’s hard to break the illusion that he’s winking at me on every page, except remembering that it was clawed out in in a vicious demon-rape scene while his arm was being pulled off kind of takes the humor out of that.

Griffith re-appears at the very end of the last volume.  I have to say, this is much different than I had imagined.  I was thinking more along the lines of a hellish demon, but this whole situation is freakishly normal, and absolutely nothing is or can be normal in this series.  Guts comments on this normalcy with one of the best lines in the series: “The instant I saw him, I forgot my urge to kill.  And that can’t be.”  It… it just sums up Guts so well.

Guts, Griffith, and Zodd have a mini-confrontation around the swordsmith’s house where Griffith tries to put things back the way they were and Guts gets angry, exactly like he should since this whole “going back” thing is really, really weird.  Then Guts, Casca, and Puck start on a journey that I suspect will take awhile and will involve some horrible monsters since two sacrifices are traveling together.

Meanwhile, Griffith assembles a superstar team of around four guys that wipe out an army.  Now, violence against humans has been left alone for a few volumes, so seeing people’s heads blow up and guys getting sliced in half is sort of novel and once again very, very awesome.  The better image comes after all this is done, when the scene of the monsters kneeling among the carnage to pledge themselves to Griffith is described as divine.  I can’t adequately describe it here, but it was quite striking in context.

I have to say, as much as I dislike Griffith, I can sort of see where he’s going with this.  The man’s got a dream.  Killing all your friends to get it isn’t admirable in any way, shape, or form, but the man’s got a dream all the same.

I kind of wonder what direction things are going to go from here.  Clearly Griffith will be king of Midland in short order.  I’m not sure why he finds this preferable to being a Cenobite, but since he came back to do it and all, it will probably happen.  Now, will Guts find a safe place for Casca, then return and wipe out all these monsters that have pledged themselves to Griffith in order to take his revenge?  I can see that, but that almost seems too simple.  I do wonder.

There’s also a flashback and history for Farnese and her male companion in the back of the volume.  I was sort of hoping she wasn’t going to stick around since she seems kind of useless, and I have to say that the flashback did nothing to make me like her any more.  She’s actually far more terrible than I originally thought.