Berserk is a long-time running manga created and illustrated by Kentaro Miura. The story surrounds a swordsman named Guts as he traverses a dark-fantasy world filled with demons and magic. This compelling story explores amazing world-building, character growth, and awesome fight scenes.
Unfortunately, in 2021, Miura passed away. Since then, his best friend Kouji Mori has been working to continue the story. Recently, two new chapters have been released. It’s been many years since Berserk has had a consistent upload schedule due to Miura’s health condition hindering his ability to work. The publishing of chapters 379 and 380 just a few weeks apart is a monumental achievement for fans of the series!
Berserk is one of my absolute favorite pieces of media EVER. It has completely altered my life and brought me so much comfort in times of agony. To commemorate this, I’ve tattooed the brand of sacrifice on my neck, just like the protagonist Guts.
[SPOILERS AHEAD]
The two new chapters take place after Casca (lover of Guts) has been kidnapped by Griffith (main antagonist). Guts, his companions (Farnase, Serpico, Schierke, Isidoro, etc.), the residents of Skellig (the island that Puck is from), and the ship crew, all depart from Skellig after the traumatizing event. They are later raided by the Kushan army after entering their territory. Guts, stricken with indescribable grief, has surrendered his will to live, and thus is unable to defend his friends.
They are brought to the mainland and are forced to join the army to help support the war the Kushan are about to start against Griffith’s kingdom. However, before much else can happen, they are ambushed by a malevolent spirit called Rakshas. The Kushan citizens and the main characters defend against him and kill the demons he summons. Rakshas escapes and comes upon Guts, who is isolated away in a prison from the rest of the cast.
An important character defining moment occurs when Guts does not defend himself from Rakshas. Rather, he embraces death. One of the main leaders of the Kushan empire, Silat, kills Rakshas before Guts is injured. He confronts Guts, bewildered by this sudden change of character.
This moment helps demonstrate the helpless state Guts has been left in after he was unable to protect Casca from the man who irreparably ruined their entire world. His sword, which has been his lone companion and savior for his entire life, was unable to help in the moment he needed it most. When all looked like it was perfect, it was taken away from him. This leaves him in a state where he cannot recover. By the end of chapter 380, we are updated on Schierke’s efforts to find Casca– which are proving to be progressing quite well as she stumbles into Falconia (the kingdom of Griffith).
Overall, the story is progressing well without Miura’s guidance. The only thing that bothers me is that it feels somewhat scatter-brained. Everything is progressing too quickly. Fights that would often take quite a while are filled with talking, close calls instead of actual danger, and little to no action. It feels like they’re trying to bring the story to an end as soon as possible by laying down the basic plot and events instead of building on it like an actual story. This would be a reasonable criticism if it weren’t for the circumstances of Miura’s death. They are understandably trying to finish this story (that has been in progress since 1989) as quickly as possible. They’re doing a decent job of keeping up with every character during the events (the story has a MASSIVE cast that is even bigger now that they’re all together in one area). But another criticism/question(s) is: what was the reason for Rakshas’ sudden attack? Why is Isidoro suddenly fleeing on his own instead of staying with the rest of the cast? Hopefully these questions will be answered later on in upcoming chapters!
Overall, I just wanted to talk about this a little bit! It’s really hard to find fans that are up to date on the manga. It’s extremely hard to read, super long, and doesn’t have an end in sight! So it’s sometimes nice to just talk into the void instead.
I highly recommend reading Berserk or watching the original TV series from 1997!
Featured Image: https://lekmanga.net/manga/berserk/380/
Guts During Eclipse: https://gamerant.com/will-berserk-ever-get-the-anime-it-deserves/
Kentaro Miura and his characters: https://www.cbr.com/kentaro-miura-berserk-creator-trivia-fun-facts
Brand of Sacrifice: https://x.com/Willxman12/status/1386407379961454593
Casca being Kidnapped and Fallen Guts: https://readberserk.com/chapter/berserk-chapter-371/
Rest of Chapter Panels: https://readberserk.com/chapter/berserk-chapter-380/
Isolated Guts: https://jonahwrites.blog/2018/10/25/day-224-guts-berserk/