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Reviews tagging 'War'

Berserk, Volume 18 by Kentaro Miura

41 reviews

adventurous challenging dark sad tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

The first 3 volumes of Kentaro Miura’s Berserk set an unbelievable high watermark going forward. Its pages are filled with the most sublime and horrifying dark fantasy storytelling ever written. His art is simply some of the most jaw dropping and horrific imagery you can imagine. And yet it doesn’t repel you as it reader it makes you insatiable for more. You have to see what happens next. 

Guts as a main character starts out about as unlikeable as a “hero” can be. But by the end of the of Berserk’s first arc you get a taste of the rage and hatred that fuels him. You get these compelling glimpses into how he can be so callous and stand offish to the innocent and endangered around him (not that it makes his behavior excusable really just understandable). And as the second arc just barely begins and we see even just the tip of the iceberg of the pain, loss, and suffering that he’s endured it makes sense all the more how he can be the way that he is. 

This is a reread for me but I was just as captivated and horrified as I was the first time around. If you are at all a fan of horror, video games like Dark Souls, or the work of Clive Barker then Berserk is a must read series. 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
adventurous dark sad fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

The beginning of one of the best mangas out there. If you can handle the trigger warnings I encourage you to read the incredible story Miura-sensei was able to give us in his life.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
adventurous dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

I love this world and the little droplets of information it gives us. Puck is the audience surrogate to help us understand the world and Guts as a character. At first, we are just shown how bleak the world is from Guts' prespective and
as soon as you meet someone knew, they quickly die a gruesome death.
It isn't until volume 3 (within this Deluxe volume) where we get a deeper look into some other characters and how Guts interacts with them, Puck being our moral compass throughout it. I absolutely love how the relationship between Guts and
Griffith
gets delivered, only leaving more questions behind. I can't wait to keep reading.

My only critisim is over Puck. The only reason he exists is to be the audience surrogate and comedic relief, otherwise it feels like watching an abusive relationship where Puck can't bring himself to leave after constantly being upset over Guts' actions. I suspect Puck will eventually get a bigger part later in the series.
The women are also drawn to all look 12 lmao

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
adventurous challenging dark emotional tense slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

This is a brutal series, there is no getting around that. No one in this is happy, and everything's awful. Horrid violence is the norm, and war is always going on in a fantasy setting. But it is CAPTIVATING. There's a glint of something more under the surface with Guts, even as he goes to act like he's nothing more than a violent dog off his leash, willing to bite at anything that moves. He and his massive sword are on the hunt for evil, and plans to stomp and slice it out, consequences be damned. Near the end of this collection, in what would be the third volume, we get the beginning of his story, from just after his birth to a child, and it's just as grueling as his adulthood. It doesn't excuse all he does, nor does the story seem to be trying to do that with the backstory. They just try to show why he's the near monster he is now, and we only see the beginning steps of it at that. 

I've considered reading this for years and years and kept away because of the violence, but while that is brutal and crushing and disgusting, it at least feels like it does that in service of showing this awful world that they exist in. But if you feel like it would be a no go for you on that front, absolutely skip out. I think watching more horror movies over the years kinda made me ready for a story with this presentation. Now I finally did and I'm absolutely glad I did. This feels like if it's more than just the violence, it could be an incredible story.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
dark sad fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
dark sad tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
dark mysterious tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Berserk is challenging, horrifying, inspirational and at times hopeful. I have never read anything that matches the brutal fantasy world created by Kentaro Muira. This will be remembered for generations as the genre defining epic of Dark Fantasy.

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