BERSERK: Manga Volume 20 Reaction!
Added 2024-05-25 17:00:04 +0000 UTC**RIGHTEOUS HEADPHONE WARNINGS**
So there is quite a lot to go through this volume! Comments from viewers, articulating my thoughts on Miura at *this* point in the series, and of course...THE CONTENTS OF THIS VOLUME! Of which there is some insane things happening!
Everyone has choices to make...the question is: Are those choices going to have dire or rewarding consequences for our protagonists?! I've never been more nervous, y'all.
Thank you for watching with me and for all the support!
Comments
Ahh, thank you so much for the comment and kind words! I do LOVE Trigun so much as well! A CLASSIC! I am glad you enjoy the reactions and discussions! And it’s SUCH a romance at times, isn’t it? Is it still my comfort anime? Hmmm…that may be a question for later! Berserk is DEFINITELY a roller coaster of highs and lows at this point! It’s definitely been a “destroyer” in a lot of senses, but is well-written and drawn enough to keep me coming back. The SA can be really hard to get through, which is why the latest volumes are making me feel better about it. I feel as a reader, we struggle alongside Guts and move forward, hopefully to better fields! Thanks again!! :D
Romaniablack
2024-05-27 12:51:01 +0000 UTCI had a feeling the haters would end up in a hospital after seeing that Whiteboard flip! #noregrets, though; it felt good to get that out of my system after 20 volumes! #sorrynotsorry Ahhh, that idea of him sacrificing himself makes sense! That’s very interesting – and something I’ll have to connect to Volume 22, since I’ve read Volume 21 at this point but am still processing. 🙂 I do like the idea of Luca as this beacon of light and Nina clinging to her – Nina is such a good character fo there layers, despite her cowardice. And the fact that Luca accepts her for all her flaws because she knows that SHE isn’t perfect either, is great. As for the religious argument, y’all will have to be patient with me – one of the things I talked about in the intro and whiteboard-kun - I address this by the end of the arc next week. 🙂 Thanks for the comment! This helped a lot with framing Volume 22’s intro!
Romaniablack
2024-05-27 12:30:36 +0000 UTCThe white board flip to reveal a gaint wall of text about patriarchy probably caused some people to have a brain aneurysm. Romania, you need to be more responsible. How many people are now in the hospital recovering from an aneurysm because of your actions???!!! The Egg apostle was some orphan at the bottom of the pit. And he had nothing. And experienced only darkness and despair. When the behelit activated, the Godhand asked him for a sacrifice. And he said he sacrificed "the world". But the revelation of the brand on his tongue revealed what he meant by "the world". He sacrificed himself. Its all he had to sacrifice. I suppose it means "the world" from his perception. Or in other words his own life. And so he offered himself as a sacrifice for his wish. The torch/flame in the dark the Egg apostle was talking about was actually very wise. He is saying that the light ends up illuminating the flaws of the person clinging to it. So to be specific to the Luca Nina storyline, Luca is always able to face fear to do what is just and moral. And Luca is able to put her self at risk for just, noble, and moral causes. And Nina clings to her. But then by comparison to Luca, Nina realizes how cowardly she is. How consumed by fear she is. She sells out Casca. She sells out Joachim. And she had Luca's life in her hands. And the only thing Nina could think about was letting go of Luca to save herself. And this conflict came to a climax after that cult orgy. Luca was dissapointed at what Nina was doing. And Nina's response was something like "YOU THINK YOU ARE SO HIGH AND NOBLE!!! YOU ARE A WHORE JUST LIKE ME!!!!" So yes, you are correct that the Egg apostle is making the argument that humans are just this evil that is clinging to light and growing even more bitter and ungrateful underneath it. But we the audience are supposed to figure out that its a certain type of arrangement that leads to that. One where the person clinging to the torch isn't critically evaluating themself. About the social commentary on religion. I don't think Miura's intention is to simply critique religion. Although clearly there is some of that going on. Miura is going one by one through every "honorable", "praised", "valued" position of society. And he is trying to show how simply making it to those positions does not make you a noble principled person. We see how filthy members of the royal family can be. We have seen the evil of rich people and rich nobles. We have even witnessed a hard working commoner working their way up the ladder. This is suppose to be the pinnacle of what our society views as "honorable" and "noble". And Miura made this person the biggest evil in the series. Many people in our society would respond to Miura by saying "Ok. Fine. Money. Fame. Power. Working hard. These things don't automatically make you a good person. But a priest, imam, rabbi is by definition and by the word of God a respectable, noble and honerable person!!" And so this is Miura's rebuttal to that. No, even religion does not automatically make one a good person. Instead, Miura chose one of the most despised and disrespected class to represent true nobility and honor. Luca, a prostitute. So in summary, I don't think the point of this arc is to say, "become an atheist!!!". You mentioned you are religious. So am I. I never felt like Berserk is telling me I shouldn't be religious.
A mere Almond
2024-05-26 19:57:27 +0000 UTCI just wanted to take a moment to give a semi-related, but very appreciated thanks - just finished up the final, Christmas episode of your 1997 Berserk reaction/discussions, over the course of the last 2 or 3 months, and they are so great! Thanks for not only covering something as taboo these days as Berserk would be (I imagine hardly any other content creators would consider it), but also doing it really blind - similar to my first experience watching it near release. I really respect your tackling Berserk and enjoy that you make it a point to react to other older anime too, like Trigun, and I'll probably go through those reactions soon! Your reactions to Berserk were really insightful, with fun discussions giving me a deeper look at the characters' personalities and behaviors from when I originally watched it. Saying time and time again that is Berserk is your comfort anime, singing the OP towards the last few episodes, and the reaction when Guts and Casca finally get together, after all the frustration and mis/lack of communication leading up to it - it really is up there with the best reactions I've seen, hard to imagine a better take on Berserk! I agree it's shocking how well written the romance is at times; to have you go from the first few episodes of saying you'd be disappointed if Casca and Guts became a thing (if it wasn't developed), to wanting more than anything for just that... such great writing and character development! But Berserk, this crazy show hit me hard with highs and lows. I still remember to this day how captivated I was by the story, all the characters, admiring Casca being a strong fighter/leader, and then going in blind to the last few episodes. What a summer child I was, not the least bit ready for the final episode. Berserk destroyed me in a way no other anime has, watching it before I built any walls from other "cruel" anime; I remember crying for Casca and not being able to fall asleep that night. The SA scene tormented me, laying in my bed unable to sleep at all, it really hurt. I'm truly sorry for anyone ever put into any kind of hurtful situation against their will. Which I think, maybe is the only redeeming thing about how Berserk handled it, not just glossing over it or putting it off-screen, so you don't have to see it. It's not treated as something you could ever see in a good light in any way or even just somewhat bad. It is terrible, evil, and wrong in every way. So yeah, thanks for these reactions, and I will continue this journey through new territory, as I never have read the manga, but have watched a bit of the subsequent anime quite a time ago, so I do have some recollection of what is coming, and I imagine there's all sorts of issues discussed with it (for better and worse, I'm guess mostly worse)! Hope to eventually catch up one day, loved your reactions from the anime!
L Freya
2024-05-26 11:44:29 +0000 UTC
