Wounds made me think about what Slavoj Žižek said about Tarkovsky's cinema: 'Matter, rather than being opposed to Spirit, is its medium' There's a reason sex has been deemed sacred in so many cultures, and Miura showed us why in those two chapters: we're naked both physically and spiritually when we're with our lover. Only then can we experience true love, in accepting the wounds and imperfections and seeing beauty in them. Miura is eternal. A true genius that trascended the medium of manga.
It's also a great contrast to Griffith and the princess it's hollow and just Griffith going through the movements for no other reason than he needs relife and a consolation prize for losing Guts and while Guts impregnated Caska Giving birth to a new life Griffith just Finishes and leaves the next day no emotions involved god damn I live Berserk
Man I just love that the ONE person who managed to stop the infamous Black Swordsman's two year rampage was a dieing old man on his deathbed. He could see right through all the bullshit because of his wisdom and life experiences. Godo is my favorite minor character in the series for sure. He essentially saved Guts life and changed him and the story forever.
@@glummy909 "I like seeing the sparks of life disappear from an apostles eyes, as they realize that they were in fact my prey and not the other way around. It's my favorite thing ever, though their screems are a close 2nd" -The Black Swordsman probabaly
Shonen powerscalers would probably cite this as a real feat 😂😂 "pixel scaling the distance rickert's hand traveled we can calc his attack potency at 9x10^32 kilajoules of energy and 1.35 million times the speed of light" -seththeprogrammer, probably
The chapters where Schierke and Farnese are recovering pieces of Casca's soul...that really really stuck with me. Guts represented by the dog pulling Casca's Casket. This part really broke me and made me realize just how incredibly broken someone's soul can be that it just leaves the body. :'(
Chapter 22 "Campfire of Dreams" means so much to me and helped change my outlook on life. I used to be depressed and angry at where I was in my life feeling like I didn't have purpose and reading the conversation he has with Casca shook me. Guts being surrounded by people with Hope's and dreams for their future and him feeling like an outsider with no purpose of his own really hit home for me. His determination in the end to find his own goals and dreams helped motivate me to get out of the spiral I was in. I had plenty of brothers and sisters growing up but I was basically raised as an only child only meeting them when I was in my 20s so reading Berserk really taught me a lot of valuable lessons growing up. Hearing the news of the passing of Kentaro Miura shook me to my core in an unbelievable way that still has me processing it as I'm typing this. His lessons of struggle and perseverance will always live on with me and hopefully all of you. Thank you Miura & Rest In Peace.
Indeed, I am very disturbed by his death in a way that I've never felt with any kind of public figure. I've never actually felt sad or depressed by an actor/celebrity/artist/etc dying. But I am genuinely very saddened by Miura's passing :( Not to sound dramatic but it really doesn't feel real, especially because the community has joked endlessly about Miura dying before Berserk is finished... and now it actually fucking happened?? It wasn't supposed to actually happen... and if it did, we all thought it would be 20 years from now. It was just a joke Miura plz come back Honestly though how is this even real life, this is the worst fucking timeline I swear to god.
Two chapters after the eclipse, it's called sprint. (Not sure what number) Guts just runs and reminisce on all that he has lost. It was so powerful and relatable, the feeling of losing everything and just wanting to run away not really caring about where he just needed to run away.
This. I'm going to say the movies did a good adaptation of this scene. There is something so visceral and yet beautiful about it. The VA's scream of pain. It's so real. It makes me cry every time.
A beautiful parallel in "A Feeble Flame" is the parallel drawn with Guts' sword and Casca in "Wounds": If you recall in Wounds Casca took the place of Guts sword. All her life she wanted to become Griffith's sword at any cost. At the end of Wounds 2 there's a panel showing that as Guts is lying with Casca a memory of him rubbing in medicine with his sword beside him. She replaced the sword beside him as his emotional comfort. So instead of Griffith's sword she took the place of Guts' sword. Now fast forward to A Feeble Flame. Not only does Guts have to cope with not having the Dragonslayer, his physical sword. He has to cope with losing Casca, his emotional sword too. This is where the Miura excellently drives this point forward. Using Guts' physical vulnerability, he is able to force Guts' to deal with this emotional vulnerability too and question what his true goal should be. He is at a crossroads because in completely using his old sword he neglected his new one It's amazing how at multiple points in the story Miura is able to use Guts' sword to symbolize so many things
Just made another realization. During the Golden Age, Guts ended up becoming "Griffith's Sword" as well. When Guts left the Band of the Hawk, Griffith lost his "sword" too. And this was the reason Griffith got captured after making love to Charlotte. He lost his sword both physically and metaphorically
Chapter 221 "Companions" is one of my favorites. After reading so much about guts' rough journey with every terrible and heartbreaking thing that's happened to him, it's so emotional to finally see him trust in companions again thinking he'd never be able to. That comparison with his old companions on the last page hit hard. It was an awesome feeling seeing something good happening to guts for once.
Spring Flowers of Distant Days is my favourite, it felt like a dream while I was reading the manga. It branched out of the main story and showed a very beautiful and important moment in Guts’s past, it was very memorable to me
It's as though it distills the themes of the series into 3 self-contained chapters. It's what I show people to get them into the series for a reason. Utterly beautiful storytelling.
Man I give zero shits on guts getting his revenge or femto getting defeated. I just wanted to have a chapter where guts and casca getting back together or at least talking things out :(
And now, my dear "Justgerman Pleas excuse my writingstyle," you must live the rest of your days knowing that you will never see it. While retaining naught but a flickering flame of hope within the darkest depths of your consciousness that one day the assistants of Miura' will continue the story
I think if it does continue this will happen and Guts will probably still fight Griffith but instead of pure rage like before he'll have more of a cool head and fight methodically which may just lead to victory.
Love how you’re going about your tribute. My personal favorite is 354 (Awakening) as Casca’s dreamscape is my favorite part of the series. After that, Precious Thing (Griffith fountain monologue), Cracks in the Blade, Wounds, and the whole rest of the fucking story round out my list. What a god damn series.
Not sure of the number, but in the chapter when Isidro saves Casca, I literally screamed and cheered because of the excitement and intensity. I’ve never come to love a character so quickly as I did with Isidro in that moment. It was a genius way to make him so damn likable, and I really think Isidro is underrated. Not necessarily my favorite chapter but a stand-out for sure.
leaping fish was so good imo, the perfect short and sweet chapter. everything from jerome and isidro actually being smart and resourceful, while keeping their goofy charm. the brief panels of farnese’s early conflicted feelings about guts, and the continued shock of seeing mozgus and his plan to burn casca, to the continuation of guts being so frantic cause he was about to lose casca again was intense as hell. isidro saving casca from the flames and then helping her dodge mozgus was one of his shining moments, and it led perfectly to the epic ass panels of guts storming down the tower through the spirits to stab mozgus
"i've never come to love a character so quickly as I did with Isidro in that moment." Wow, you actually just created a brand new sentence that not once in the entire history of mankind has ever been uttered. Impressive.
Spring Blossoms of Another Day are arguably my favorite chapters in the entire series, absolutely love Chitch and it shows who Guts truly is, as how he isn't even sure Chitch was real, Chitch is already dead, and yet he fights to win only to be able to bring Chitch's flower to the others. Made me cry like a baby when I read them.
I really thought we'd get a rosine chapter in this vid, but after watching I do agree there's too many good chapters and rosine just doesn't really belong in the top 10
Some of my favorite chapters have to be: Chapter 77 The Castle Chapter 72 Back Alley Boy Chapter 49 Infiltrating Windham(1) Chapter 17 Casca(3) Chapter 114 The Space Between Demon and Man Chapter 115 Firefly Chapter 116 The Way Home Chapter 335 The Divine Right of Kings
No Casca restoration chapter??? That smile on her face. And the amazing double spreads where she recalls all her memories as casca and then all her memories as elaine as she walks towards Guts in that beautiful dress. I would replace feeble flame with that, or perhaps the recent chapter with Skull Knight's eclipse. Purely for how huge of a revelation it was and how it was definitely the most important chapter leading up to Miura's death.
Backlighting by far is my favorite chapter. The moment Ganishka splits apart is where the world of Berserk changes so so drastically. And I love me some world building
I can't remember the title offhand, but the chapter in Fantasia where Shierke and Farnese go into Casca's subconscious. Similar to what you said about Griffith and the rarity of knowing what he's thinking, we've had almost no insight into Casca's ruined mind. But in this chapter, you see exactly how she feels about her situation, with no sugarcoating-she's a broken doll in a fucking coffin, being dragged across a wasteland by a mad dog who won't let her die...fuck, man. That one hit me hard. Easily a top 5 chapter for me
Hey Ryan :) I’m glad you are still doing better. Last week was rough and it actually meant a lot seeing you be upset with me. Your series on the apostles is what got me into the books and I cannot thank you enough. They have really touched me and taught me things that I didn’t know I could from a story and characters. I love it so much that I want to start live streaming just to talk about it like you. It’s just so amazing! Thank you again :)
Not a single chapter, but some of my favorites are chapters 305-307 at the climax to the Millennium Falcon Arc. How Miura combines his signature art style, complete lack of written words in all but the most specific cases, and endless procession of gorgeous two-page spreads to communicate the sheer awe and grandeur of the transforming world is nothing short of beautiful. The sheer power in each panel, one after another after another, over and over to show how important the Roar of the Astral World is...it's amazing and absolutely uses the strength of manga as a medium more than any other work I've ever seen. And that phrase from chapter 306, "Mankind's desire: Fantasia..." it gives me chills every time.
God of the abyss part 2 is one of my favorites , it's so abstract and weird and the concept of the idea of evil is so unique and terrifying to think about at the same time Precious things have properly the single most defining grifith moment with his dreams speech and what true friendship means to him not to mention that it was the beginning of his downfall I love the family vibes in the moonlight boy chapter it was so wholesome and so sad at the same time and skull knight,s final words to guts still hits hard to this very day The astral merge chapters are my personal favorites the chaotic insanity in that volume is something else even for berserk , the visualization of the unknown and unnatural through miura,s art work and imagery and seeing it unfold before our very eyes is truly a sight to behold
I really loves the "armament" chapter(chapter during aftermath of eclipse) because it shows how ruined guts' life is now and He probably won't ever be the same again.
Berserk will always be a classic and part of your success as a UA-camr, but you are my favorite manga commentator. I wish you read some other old classics and new to give your opinion. Fire Punch is a new devilman for me
Earlier today I was thinking of Falconia and how it would've been so cool, to see Miura's depiction of what Guts's reaction to arriving at Falconia would be.
You nailed the list of my favorite chapters in Berserk. Well done, Rye bread. Wounds is definitely is my favorite because, as you said, we hardly get to see the masculine protagonist show their vulnerable side or shed tears. The only time I can think of a hero doing that was I saw Rambo (I forget which one that was). Thanks for posting the good shit, Ryan. I hope you get a house soon.
Honestly I just re read the lost children and gonna re read everything just cus yk but lost children is my favorite arc easily for me the there is no paradise for you to escape to that quote is amazing but almost all chapter realy do have those life lessons or deep thinking ( i'm bad at wording my thoughts so hope u get what I mean lol) Berserk is just fucking amazing every chapter
My favorite chapter was Chapter 229, i really liked how Schierke brought back Guts' ego and reminded him what he was and what was important to him. Oh and also really fuckin cool art
Elf of the Blue Sky was always an underrated chapter in my opinion. It's not my favorite chapter, but to me it has some great dialogue between Guts and Jill, as well as the iconic panel where Gut's cloak surround Jill. All in all great stuff. Deciding on a favorite chapter is so hard but it would either be Morning Departure 3, Winter Journey 2, Cracks in the Blade, or Bubbles of Futility.
Thank you brother, from a distance I thought your profile pic was a beautiful hummingbird but upon closer inspection I now realize it's actually just blue eyes white dragon in a godzilla costume
I will probably change my mind a million different times, but here’s my list at this moment. 10. The berserker armor part 1 - guts 1st time getting the armor. Vol 26 9. Fissure - Femto/Skull Knight destroy Ganishka and create Fantasia. Vol 34 8. Main Culprits - Schierke and Farnese meet the Hawk of Darkness in Cascas dreamscape and guts dog form gets a power up. Vol 40 7. Blue Sky Elf - Jill begs Guts to take her with him, at the end he finally shows her kindness and reveals why he has to push everyone away. Vol 16 6. Bubbles of Futility- for all the reasons you mentioned. 5. Blaze Rod - the crew is trying to escape from Virtannis and Schierke summons the wheel of flame. This chapter really showed how much power magic can bring to the table (I know the flood at Enoch did as well but I liked this one better) Vol 31 4. Guts slays Slan - even though it was just one form of hers and not a permanent kill, it was nice to see Guts get a strike on one of the Godhand Vol 26 3. Guts and Griffith take on Zodd- the introduction of MFing Zodd and you see how far Guts will need to go to be able to stand toe to toe with an apostle. Vol 5 2. Guts and Zodd team up to take out Ganishka’s cloud form. Vol 32 1. Cracks in the blade. Probably the chapter that personally impacted me the most. Godoi talk about anger, revenge, hate, etc made me look at myself and deal with my own feelings of anger and resentment that I carried for many years. Anyway those are some of my favorite scenes from the series, but really I truly love all of it (even the boat ride, which I hated at first but have come around to after rereading the series multiple times). There is a ton of great philosophy and Wisdom sprinkled in the dark violent world that Miura created and I love every minute I get to spend inside it. Thank you Sensei Miura.
Dude, the way Guts' theme started playing as you started talking about Bonfire of Dreams....Chills. Good ol fashioned Guts and Casca chapters bring a tear to my eye. Edit: I made this before I finished, and I agree with your #1. So much. It's the most beautiful chapter Miura ever wrote.
Reunion on the hill of swords left me shook. I could feel the fury from Guts and the apathy from Griffith manifest off the page. So much was done in those short pages. Masterful work.
I don’t know how you could even begin to choose a top 10. We all have our favourites but when you start to get away from the top 3 it becomes so clouded of greatness that I couldn’t t even try. Number 1 has to be campfire of dreams it just means so much to me personally
Thank you for continuing to talk about Kentaro Miura manga Berserk!!! It definitely brings comfort as I've been following it for 21 years when I was 13 and now I am 34, I would encourage you to do a breakdown overview over the whole entire manga thus fair! But if you do or don't that's fine, still THANK YOU! 👏👏👏🙌🙏📣📣📣
My favorite chapter is definitely the bonfire of dreams, but a series of chapters I don’t see many people talk about, that are absolutely amazing, is “of snow and flame”, AKA farnesse’s and serpico’s backstory. Seeing the sad state serpico and his mother live in, how farnesse acted crazy to try to scare away people from her, that despite how harsh she treated him, serpico could never leave her, that despite everything he was still there for her. If there’s one thing miura never fails on, it’s backstory arcs, and that one is easily my favorite. The scene where serpico has to burn his own mother together with farnesse is easily one of the saddest on the entire manga. Love those two.
I loved the few chapters where guts is ordered to kill the guy and then he kills the kid by accident and it shows that he feels lime he’s killing his innocence and you see him visably messed up by what he did then he hears griffiths speach
Godammit I'm hopeless, I had no fucking chance fighting the tears when you talked about Wounds, had to awkwardly turn my head so that noone would notice at work 😳😅 That's an awesome top 10 btw, I'd say all of those are must-includes on a top list. I'd probably find at least 10 more though and never be able to narrow it down 😤
Thank you so much for the video! Berserk is always been my favorite manga of all time.. What about Chapter the sprint? I always find that chalter so emotional and so epic because it was the final chapter we see the old band of the hawk as a ghosts...
My favourite episode is Cracks in the Blade because it forced me to reflect on how my own instability was working in opposition to the good things left in my life.
Cracks in the blade is my favourite chapter. In a single chapter, Godot manages to break Guts' armor (also symbolized by the cracked equipment) to show that his quest for revenge is futile and selfish. That instead of facing the deaths of the band Guts chose rage and revenge, while abandoning the people he cared about. The Eclipse broke Caska, but it broke Guts too. There's a lot to be said there about masculinity and how some men process trauma, but overall I think the whole chapter is unparalleled in terms of writing, even within the series itself. And the icing on the cake is how good the art is, just looking at the line work on Godot's face for example and comparing to the last chapters, it feels like two different artists. Man I miss Godot. For the little amount of panel time he got he left a lasting impression. You know he's good when FromSoft keep making characters based on him.
Im not sure about the chapter number but its the chapter right after the defeat of Ganishka that does it for me. Most of the chapters you chose would be in my top 10 too but I would definitely include that chapter after Ganishkas defeat because the panels are just so beautiful that I couldnt believe them.
My favorites are 364 and 226. 226 because it has my favorite panel of all time, and 364 because it needs no explanation, a true masterpiece and not just because it’s Muiras last chapter.
the final chapter of guardians of desire the entire vol 3 is probably my favourite the count is a great villain and gut's final moments with theresia are heartbreaking
I never struggled to see the humanity in Griffith. I know others had said Griffith is just pure evil for what he did, he never cared for the man in his army, and the eclipse is his true character. From the story of the dead child soldier, to his relationship with guts, he’s very much empathetic it’s just that the thought of losing close ones is what makes him detach from the band of the hawks. When I think of the eclipse and I’m just amazed at the fact he’s hesitating, he just attempted to kill himself, he can never talk, lead am army, achieve his dreams and can hardly move, and then he’s offered godhood, most men wouldn’t even bother to hesitate if it meant even healing their body. It’s very understandable and I actually feel sorry for Griffith because, if the manga ended I can only image what would had happened to him if he died, now he’s a shell of his former self and what awaits him is a hallow life taking a backseat to his goals and ambitions or an eternity in the Abyss, tha to me is just a sad existence.
Yeah I think that when people say that Griffith is a psychopath or 100% manipulative, I think they miss the point of his character. He was constantly struggling with the idea of viewing Guts as a friend and Guts as a tool. Psychologically he had to think of him as a tool like his other soldiers, otherwise the mental burden of everyone dying for his dream would be too much for him. It only clicked for him after he had endured the torture for a year and at that point he was already pretty messed up psychologically.
Yes he did care about his soldiers and his band of the hawk but in the end he chose his dream over them. He has the mentality of a selfish child who think he can get whatever he wants which was the entire theme character of Griffith pre the eclipse event. A great person will never sacrfice and mass murder his comrades no matter how great the person dream is fuck that dream then if it means killing them all. If Griffith choose to die with dignity he will be a hero and a martyr during that moment before the eclipse.
awesome list. agree with most of the list. I will put number 10 in my top 3. Simply because of that awesome double page panel where guts and Griffith are about to clash.
Cracks in the blade Precious things Bonfire of dreams Wounds The one where Guts is reflecting on things while sitting on the edge of the boat in the moonlight. And all the battles between Guts and Serpico.
May the video also be seen as another way to honor miura. And even if we never truly get to see an ending for Berserk, may this video show how thankful we are of all the beautiful contact miura already got to release for us to love and enjoy. And also.... may god rests miura’s soul... 😞
My Top 10: 10. Chapter 36: "The Morning Of Departure (3)" 9. Chapter 287: "Bubbles Of Futility" 8. Chapter 87: "Afterglow Of The Right Eye" 7. Chapter 130: "Feeble Flame" 6. Chapter 178: "Reunion On The Hill Of Swords" 5. Chapter 226: "Berserker Armor (2)" 4. Chapter 115: "Firefly" 3. Chapters 46 & 47: "Wounds" 2. Chapter 129: "Cracks In The Blade" 1. Chapter 22: "Campfire Of Dreams"
I feel like every time Miura wrote a chapter, he was telling himself that if this be the last chapter I write, it has to have the greatest value I can give it... and maybe that's why each one seems to give off this sense of purity, of rawness that no other story can really seem to touch so far.
I don't know the chapters name but the one where guts meets zod first was Epic for me because I had that feeling of "there are things in this manga i can not imagine"
Nah there isn't really any big spoilers. There's only two chapters from that arc or after and only really one has a meme spoiler (it's pretty epic though). You can skip from 7:10-9:15 if you wanna avoid that part
I always had some AU scenarios, the first one is if griffith actually did nothing wrong( those you says that griffith's action s are justified, I disagree) then griffith would be healed by judeuo ( think I spelled it wrong) guts and casca would start their own mercenaries called the berserker wolves. The second is if the snake baron, slug baron, rosine, wylad, and bazuzo Survived. The third one is if the band of the hawk members actually survived, then they would help guts fight griffith. The fourth one is if guts used the crimson behelit and became a godhand member and its griffith in the role of protagonist, where he might get the berserker armor, which theoretically would be shaped like a hawk. What are your ideas for AUs and what are your takes on mine?
Wounds made me think about what Slavoj Žižek said about Tarkovsky's cinema:
'Matter, rather than being opposed to Spirit, is its medium'
There's a reason sex has been deemed sacred in so many cultures, and Miura showed us why in those two chapters: we're naked both physically and spiritually when we're with our lover. Only then can we experience true love, in accepting the wounds and imperfections and seeing beauty in them.
Miura is eternal. A true genius that trascended the medium of manga.
It's also a great contrast to Griffith and the princess it's hollow and just Griffith going through the movements for no other reason than he needs relife and a consolation prize for losing Guts and while Guts impregnated Caska Giving birth to a new life Griffith just Finishes and leaves the next day no emotions involved god damn I live Berserk
faxxxxx
Now dis is a PROPER top ten video👌🏼
Man I just love that the ONE person who managed to stop the infamous Black Swordsman's two year rampage was a dieing old man on his deathbed. He could see right through all the bullshit because of his wisdom and life experiences. Godo is my favorite minor character in the series for sure. He essentially saved Guts life and changed him and the story forever.
What's funnier is that Godo basically told Guts that he liked the sparks metal made when forging and Guts took that shit seriously
@@glummy909 "I like seeing the sparks of life disappear from an apostles eyes, as they realize that they were in fact my prey and not the other way around. It's my favorite thing ever, though their screems are a close 2nd" -The Black Swordsman probabaly
Rickert's hand > Sword with the ability to rip through layers of reality
Shonen powerscalers would probably cite this as a real feat 😂😂 "pixel scaling the distance rickert's hand traveled we can calc his attack potency at 9x10^32 kilajoules of energy and 1.35 million times the speed of light" -seththeprogrammer, probably
@@whirlwind872 loooooooool
- Berserk Weapon Power rankings
*#1. Rickert's right hand*
SK's sword would like to have a word with you.
Rickerts hand dominates Ganishka’a Shiva form and causes the great roar of the astral world
There are so many masterful chapters in Berserk it’s insane.
If berserk post golden age ever gets a proper adaptation,
Rickert's slap scene deserves to be superbly animated and drawn.
The chapters where Schierke and Farnese are recovering pieces of Casca's soul...that really really stuck with me. Guts represented by the dog pulling Casca's Casket. This part really broke me and made me realize just how incredibly broken someone's soul can be that it just leaves the body. :'(
It calls me back when Casca used to call guts a dog
And now look at our dawg missing eye and no paw :((
Chapter 22 "Campfire of Dreams" means so much to me and helped change my outlook on life. I used to be depressed and angry at where I was in my life feeling like I didn't have purpose and reading the conversation he has with Casca shook me. Guts being surrounded by people with Hope's and dreams for their future and him feeling like an outsider with no purpose of his own really hit home for me. His determination in the end to find his own goals and dreams helped motivate me to get out of the spiral I was in.
I had plenty of brothers and sisters growing up but I was basically raised as an only child only meeting them when I was in my 20s so reading Berserk really taught me a lot of valuable lessons growing up. Hearing the news of the passing of Kentaro Miura shook me to my core in an unbelievable way that still has me processing it as I'm typing this. His lessons of struggle and perseverance will always live on with me and hopefully all of you.
Thank you Miura & Rest In Peace.
Indeed, I am very disturbed by his death in a way that I've never felt with any kind of public figure. I've never actually felt sad or depressed by an actor/celebrity/artist/etc dying. But I am genuinely very saddened by Miura's passing :( Not to sound dramatic but it really doesn't feel real, especially because the community has joked endlessly about Miura dying before Berserk is finished... and now it actually fucking happened?? It wasn't supposed to actually happen... and if it did, we all thought it would be 20 years from now. It was just a joke Miura plz come back
Honestly though how is this even real life, this is the worst fucking timeline I swear to god.
@@whirlwind872 Same, guts's struggle and Miura's death, when I finished the manga i cried a bit, I can't explain why. (Sorry if i sounded edgy)
Two chapters after the eclipse, it's called sprint. (Not sure what number) Guts just runs and reminisce on all that he has lost. It was so powerful and relatable, the feeling of losing everything and just wanting to run away not really caring about where he just needed to run away.
This. I'm going to say the movies did a good adaptation of this scene. There is something so visceral and yet beautiful about it. The VA's scream of pain. It's so real. It makes me cry every time.
Sprint was like a punch in the gut
Yeah The Sprint has always been one of my faves as well, so damn powerful 😤😢✊
A beautiful parallel in "A Feeble Flame" is the parallel drawn with Guts' sword and Casca in "Wounds":
If you recall in Wounds Casca took the place of Guts sword. All her life she wanted to become Griffith's sword at any cost. At the end of Wounds 2 there's a panel showing that as Guts is lying with Casca a memory of him rubbing in medicine with his sword beside him. She replaced the sword beside him as his emotional comfort. So instead of Griffith's sword she took the place of Guts' sword.
Now fast forward to A Feeble Flame. Not only does Guts have to cope with not having the Dragonslayer, his physical sword. He has to cope with losing Casca, his emotional sword too. This is where the Miura excellently drives this point forward. Using Guts' physical vulnerability, he is able to force Guts' to deal with this emotional vulnerability too and question what his true goal should be. He is at a crossroads because in completely using his old sword he neglected his new one
It's amazing how at multiple points in the story Miura is able to use Guts' sword to symbolize so many things
Just made another realization. During the Golden Age, Guts ended up becoming "Griffith's Sword" as well. When Guts left the Band of the Hawk, Griffith lost his "sword" too. And this was the reason Griffith got captured after making love to Charlotte. He lost his sword both physically and metaphorically
I remember reading this part and realizing the meaning behind it. Very first “holy shit miura is a genius” moment
Chapter 221 "Companions" is one of my favorites. After reading so much about guts' rough journey with every terrible and heartbreaking thing that's happened to him, it's so emotional to finally see him trust in companions again thinking he'd never be able to. That comparison with his old companions on the last page hit hard. It was an awesome feeling seeing something good happening to guts for once.
YES! That last page brought me to tears, VERY peowerful indeed 😤😢✊
My favorite chapters are Spring Flowers of Distant Days, Chitch is my favorite character aside from berk man she's so adorable😭
Can you tell me in what volume these chapters are from?
@@freedomman5147 volume 38
@@freedomman5147 chapter 329, possibly in volume 37 maybe?
Whoops I didn't see Simon's comment, volume 38 it is then😁
@@Spirate_0 Thank you
Spring Flowers of Distant Days is my favourite, it felt like a dream while I was reading the manga. It branched out of the main story and showed a very beautiful and important moment in Guts’s past, it was very memorable to me
It's as though it distills the themes of the series into 3 self-contained chapters. It's what I show people to get them into the series for a reason. Utterly beautiful storytelling.
the whole manga 😍
Man I give zero shits on guts getting his revenge or femto getting defeated. I just wanted to have a chapter where guts and casca getting back together or at least talking things out :(
Yo same that would be great character development marital
And now, my dear "Justgerman Pleas excuse my writingstyle," you must live the rest of your days knowing that you will never see it. While retaining naught but a flickering flame of hope within the darkest depths of your consciousness that one day the assistants of Miura' will continue the story
@@whirlwind872 hasn't it been confirmed that they would continue it
@@whirlwind872 I hope so
I think if it does continue this will happen and Guts will probably still fight Griffith but instead of pure rage like before he'll have more of a cool head and fight methodically which may just lead to victory.
Casca’s safe, Guts is with her and they’re new family, RIP Miura.
Love how you’re going about your tribute. My personal favorite is 354 (Awakening) as Casca’s dreamscape is my favorite part of the series.
After that, Precious Thing (Griffith fountain monologue), Cracks in the Blade, Wounds, and the whole rest of the fucking story round out my list. What a god damn series.
Not sure of the number, but in the chapter when Isidro saves Casca, I literally screamed and cheered because of the excitement and intensity. I’ve never come to love a character so quickly as I did with Isidro in that moment. It was a genius way to make him so damn likable, and I really think Isidro is underrated.
Not necessarily my favorite chapter but a stand-out for sure.
leaping fish was so good imo, the perfect short and sweet chapter. everything from jerome and isidro actually being smart and resourceful, while keeping their goofy charm. the brief panels of farnese’s early conflicted feelings about guts, and the continued shock of seeing mozgus and his plan to burn casca, to the continuation of guts being so frantic cause he was about to lose casca again was intense as hell. isidro saving casca from the flames and then helping her dodge mozgus was one of his shining moments, and it led perfectly to the epic ass panels of guts storming down the tower through the spirits to stab mozgus
"i've never come to love a character so quickly as I did with Isidro in that moment."
Wow, you actually just created a brand new sentence that not once in the entire history of mankind has ever been uttered. Impressive.
@@whirlwind872 what can I say? I love the kiddo
Spring Blossoms of Another Day are arguably my favorite chapters in the entire series, absolutely love Chitch and it shows who Guts truly is, as how he isn't even sure Chitch was real, Chitch is already dead, and yet he fights to win only to be able to bring Chitch's flower to the others. Made me cry like a baby when I read them.
How to make a good, short and meaningful mini filler arc
I'm personally quite a fan of "bubbles of futility", and also, every chapter involving Rosine. She was SUCH a good antagonist.
I fuckin hated Nina more than Rosine and I really hated Rosine at first
Ah, Rosine!
Rosine was great my favorite fight
@@SippingVino I hate both😂
I really thought we'd get a rosine chapter in this vid, but after watching I do agree there's too many good chapters and rosine just doesn't really belong in the top 10
Im here with ya bro... We will fight casualty together.
Some of my favorite chapters have to be:
Chapter 77 The Castle
Chapter 72 Back Alley Boy
Chapter 49 Infiltrating Windham(1)
Chapter 17 Casca(3)
Chapter 114 The Space Between Demon and Man
Chapter 115 Firefly
Chapter 116 The Way Home
Chapter 335 The Divine Right of Kings
No Casca restoration chapter??? That smile on her face. And the amazing double spreads where she recalls all her memories as casca and then all her memories as elaine as she walks towards Guts in that beautiful dress. I would replace feeble flame with that, or perhaps the recent chapter with Skull Knight's eclipse. Purely for how huge of a revelation it was and how it was definitely the most important chapter leading up to Miura's death.
Backlighting by far is my favorite chapter. The moment Ganishka splits apart is where the world of Berserk changes so so drastically. And I love me some world building
I can't remember the title offhand, but the chapter in Fantasia where Shierke and Farnese go into Casca's subconscious. Similar to what you said about Griffith and the rarity of knowing what he's thinking, we've had almost no insight into Casca's ruined mind. But in this chapter, you see exactly how she feels about her situation, with no sugarcoating-she's a broken doll in a fucking coffin, being dragged across a wasteland by a mad dog who won't let her die...fuck, man. That one hit me hard. Easily a top 5 chapter for me
Cracks in The Blade will always be my #1
For me that's 2nd
i just got my first 3 volumes of berserk, i read it all online already but im starting my collection now lol.
Hey Ryan :) I’m glad you are still doing better. Last week was rough and it actually meant a lot seeing you be upset with me. Your series on the apostles is what got me into the books and I cannot thank you enough. They have really touched me and taught me things that I didn’t know I could from a story and characters. I love it so much that I want to start live streaming just to talk about it like you. It’s just so amazing! Thank you again :)
Not a single chapter, but some of my favorites are chapters 305-307 at the climax to the Millennium Falcon Arc. How Miura combines his signature art style, complete lack of written words in all but the most specific cases, and endless procession of gorgeous two-page spreads to communicate the sheer awe and grandeur of the transforming world is nothing short of beautiful. The sheer power in each panel, one after another after another, over and over to show how important the Roar of the Astral World is...it's amazing and absolutely uses the strength of manga as a medium more than any other work I've ever seen. And that phrase from chapter 306, "Mankind's desire: Fantasia..." it gives me chills every time.
Was literally giving my favourite chapters a thought earlier today, can’t wait to see your thoughts!
God of the abyss part 2 is one of my favorites , it's so abstract and weird and the concept of the idea of evil is so unique and terrifying to think about at the same time
Precious things have properly the single most defining grifith moment with his dreams speech and what true friendship means to him not to mention that it was the beginning of his downfall
I love the family vibes in the moonlight boy chapter it was so wholesome and so sad at the same time and skull knight,s final words to guts still hits hard to this very day
The astral merge chapters are my personal favorites the chaotic insanity in that volume is something else even for berserk , the visualization of the unknown and unnatural through miura,s art work and imagery and seeing it unfold before our very eyes is truly a sight to behold
Cracks in the blade is my personal favorite
I really loves the "armament" chapter(chapter during aftermath of eclipse) because it shows how ruined guts' life is now and He probably won't ever be the same again.
The reunion at the hill of swords was so intense. And the fight that follows with zodd is probably my favorite fight in the manga.
Rest in peace Kentaro Miura.
Thank your for everything
Berserk will always be a classic and part of your success as a UA-camr, but you are my favorite manga commentator. I wish you read some other old classics and new to give your opinion. Fire Punch is a new devilman for me
Mirua left his mark on millions.
Earlier today I was thinking of Falconia and how it would've been so cool, to see Miura's depiction of what Guts's reaction to arriving at Falconia would be.
You forgot to mention the last panel of Bubbles of Futility where Guts is standing alone withought any weapons or equipment staring at the night sky
You nailed the list of my favorite chapters in Berserk. Well done, Rye bread. Wounds is definitely is my favorite because, as you said, we hardly get to see the masculine protagonist show their vulnerable side or shed tears. The only time I can think of a hero doing that was I saw Rambo (I forget which one that was). Thanks for posting the good shit, Ryan. I hope you get a house soon.
1.Wounds 1 and 2
2. Cracks in the blade
3. The sprint.
My god I could go on and on about these chapters! Just sooooooo damn good!
This video gave me chills
Honestly I just re read the lost children and gonna re read everything just cus yk but lost children is my favorite arc easily for me the there is no paradise for you to escape to that quote is amazing but almost all chapter realy do have those life lessons or deep thinking ( i'm bad at wording my thoughts so hope u get what I mean lol)
Berserk is just fucking amazing every chapter
My favorite chapter was Chapter 229, i really liked how Schierke brought back Guts' ego and reminded him what he was and what was important to him. Oh and also really fuckin cool art
Elf of the Blue Sky was always an underrated chapter in my opinion. It's not my favorite chapter, but to me it has some great dialogue between Guts and Jill, as well as the iconic panel where Gut's cloak surround Jill. All in all great stuff. Deciding on a favorite chapter is so hard but it would either be Morning Departure 3, Winter Journey 2, Cracks in the Blade, or Bubbles of Futility.
Hope you have a good day Ryan and everyone
You too buddy. 👊🤝
Thank you brother, from a distance I thought your profile pic was a beautiful hummingbird but upon closer inspection I now realize it's actually just blue eyes white dragon in a godzilla costume
Thank you! And I hope you have a good day, too! :)
I will probably change my mind a million different times, but here’s my list at this moment.
10. The berserker armor part 1 - guts 1st time getting the armor. Vol 26
9. Fissure - Femto/Skull Knight destroy Ganishka and create Fantasia. Vol 34
8. Main Culprits - Schierke and Farnese meet the Hawk of Darkness in Cascas dreamscape and guts dog form gets a power up. Vol 40
7. Blue Sky Elf - Jill begs Guts to take her with him, at the end he finally shows her kindness and reveals why he has to push everyone away. Vol 16
6. Bubbles of Futility- for all the reasons you mentioned.
5. Blaze Rod - the crew is trying to escape from Virtannis and Schierke summons the wheel of flame. This chapter really showed how much power magic can bring to the table (I know the flood at Enoch did as well but I liked this one better) Vol 31
4. Guts slays Slan - even though it was just one form of hers and not a permanent kill, it was nice to see Guts get a strike on one of the Godhand Vol 26
3. Guts and Griffith take on Zodd- the introduction of MFing Zodd and you see how far Guts will need to go to be able to stand toe to toe with an apostle. Vol 5
2. Guts and Zodd team up to take out Ganishka’s cloud form. Vol 32
1. Cracks in the blade. Probably the chapter that personally impacted me the most. Godoi talk about anger, revenge, hate, etc made me look at myself and deal with my own feelings of anger and resentment that I carried for many years.
Anyway those are some of my favorite scenes from the series, but really I truly love all of it (even the boat ride, which I hated at first but have come around to after rereading the series multiple times). There is a ton of great philosophy and Wisdom sprinkled in the dark violent world that Miura created and I love every minute I get to spend inside it. Thank you Sensei Miura.
I respect the list brother but many I ask why guts vs zodd on hill of swords
Dude, the way Guts' theme started playing as you started talking about Bonfire of Dreams....Chills. Good ol fashioned Guts and Casca chapters bring a tear to my eye.
Edit: I made this before I finished, and I agree with your #1. So much. It's the most beautiful chapter Miura ever wrote.
Reunion on the hill of swords left me shook. I could feel the fury from Guts and the apathy from Griffith manifest off the page. So much was done in those short pages. Masterful work.
I don’t know how you could even begin to choose a top 10. We all have our favourites but when you start to get away from the top 3 it becomes so clouded of greatness that I couldn’t t even try. Number 1 has to be campfire of dreams it just means so much to me personally
Thank you for continuing to talk about Kentaro Miura manga Berserk!!! It definitely brings comfort as I've been following it for 21 years when I was 13 and now I am 34, I would encourage you to do a breakdown overview over the whole entire manga thus fair! But if you do or don't that's fine, still THANK YOU! 👏👏👏🙌🙏📣📣📣
My favorite chapter is definitely the bonfire of dreams, but a series of chapters I don’t see many people talk about, that are absolutely amazing, is “of snow and flame”, AKA farnesse’s and serpico’s backstory. Seeing the sad state serpico and his mother live in, how farnesse acted crazy to try to scare away people from her, that despite how harsh she treated him, serpico could never leave her, that despite everything he was still there for her. If there’s one thing miura never fails on, it’s backstory arcs, and that one is easily my favorite. The scene where serpico has to burn his own mother together with farnesse is easily one of the saddest on the entire manga. Love those two.
My all time favorite chapter from Berserk and all manga is at the end of volume 27 in the beach
I'm sure this was a hard video to do, so thanks for doing this for the fan base
I could not hold myself together reading 364
it was genuinely the first time something I read made me cry the way I do at weddings and funerals
The feels I felt going through berserk again after the legend’s passing🥺🥺
In Wounds, Guts and Casca don't just have sex, they come together. Right now. Over Miura...
I loved the few chapters where guts is ordered to kill the guy and then he kills the kid by accident and it shows that he feels lime he’s killing his innocence and you see him visably messed up by what he did then he hears griffiths speach
Rickert; truly a weapon to surpass Metal Gear....
Godammit I'm hopeless, I had no fucking chance fighting the tears when you talked about Wounds, had to awkwardly turn my head so that noone would notice at work 😳😅
That's an awesome top 10 btw, I'd say all of those are must-includes on a top list. I'd probably find at least 10 more though and never be able to narrow it down 😤
Cracks in the blade is my favorite chapter its such a classic it gave me a feeling I genuinely never had.
Thank you so much for the video! Berserk is always been my favorite manga of all time..
What about Chapter the sprint? I always find that chalter so emotional and so epic because it was the final chapter we see the old band of the hawk as a ghosts...
My favourite episode is Cracks in the Blade because it forced me to reflect on how my own instability was working in opposition to the good things left in my life.
I think my favorite chapter is either Zodd’s introduction or the chapter Judeau died
Realiferyan chap.129 and 130 are so good!
Cracks in the blade is my favourite chapter. In a single chapter, Godot manages to break Guts' armor (also symbolized by the cracked equipment) to show that his quest for revenge is futile and selfish. That instead of facing the deaths of the band Guts chose rage and revenge, while abandoning the people he cared about. The Eclipse broke Caska, but it broke Guts too.
There's a lot to be said there about masculinity and how some men process trauma, but overall I think the whole chapter is unparalleled in terms of writing, even within the series itself.
And the icing on the cake is how good the art is, just looking at the line work on Godot's face for example and comparing to the last chapters, it feels like two different artists.
Man I miss Godot. For the little amount of panel time he got he left a lasting impression. You know he's good when FromSoft keep making characters based on him.
I hope one day Guts and Casca can be happy
Im not sure about the chapter number but its the chapter right after the defeat of Ganishka that does it for me. Most of the chapters you chose would be in my top 10 too but I would definitely include that chapter after Ganishkas defeat because the panels are just so beautiful that I couldnt believe them.
My favorites are 364 and 226. 226 because it has my favorite panel of all time, and 364 because it needs no explanation, a true masterpiece and not just because it’s Muiras last chapter.
the final chapter of guardians of desire
the entire vol 3 is probably my favourite
the count is a great villain and gut's final moments with theresia are heartbreaking
I never struggled to see the humanity in Griffith. I know others had said Griffith is just pure evil for what he did, he never cared for the man in his army, and the eclipse is his true character. From the story of the dead child soldier, to his relationship with guts, he’s very much empathetic it’s just that the thought of losing close ones is what makes him detach from the band of the hawks. When I think of the eclipse and I’m just amazed at the fact he’s hesitating, he just attempted to kill himself, he can never talk, lead am army, achieve his dreams and can hardly move, and then he’s offered godhood, most men wouldn’t even bother to hesitate if it meant even healing their body. It’s very understandable and I actually feel sorry for Griffith because, if the manga ended I can only image what would had happened to him if he died, now he’s a shell of his former self and what awaits him is a hallow life taking a backseat to his goals and ambitions or an eternity in the Abyss, tha to me is just a sad existence.
Yeah I think that when people say that Griffith is a psychopath or 100% manipulative, I think they miss the point of his character.
He was constantly struggling with the idea of viewing Guts as a friend and Guts as a tool. Psychologically he had to think of him as a tool like his other soldiers, otherwise the mental burden of everyone dying for his dream would be too much for him. It only clicked for him after he had endured the torture for a year and at that point he was already pretty messed up psychologically.
Yes he did care about his soldiers and his band of the hawk but in the end he chose his dream over them. He has the mentality of a selfish child who think he can get whatever he wants which was the entire theme character of Griffith pre the eclipse event. A great person will never sacrfice and mass murder his comrades no matter how great the person dream is fuck that dream then if it means killing them all. If Griffith choose to die with dignity he will be a hero and a martyr during that moment before the eclipse.
Nice video man. There are so many good chapters in this list. All good chapters. Hard to choose a favorite sometimes.
awesome list. agree with most of the list. I will put number 10 in my top 3. Simply because of that awesome double page panel where guts and Griffith are about to clash.
I agree with the number 1 pick. That chapter is so beautiful
Cracks in the blade
Precious things
Bonfire of dreams
Wounds
The one where Guts is reflecting on things while sitting on the edge of the boat in the moonlight.
And all the battles between Guts and Serpico.
May the video also be seen as another way to honor miura.
And even if we never truly get to see an ending for Berserk, may this video show how thankful we are of all the beautiful contact miura already got to release for us to love and enjoy.
And also.... may god rests miura’s soul... 😞
The chapter with the schnoz
The Bonfire of Dreams in the anime was so well done, the dub was really good
My Top 10:
10. Chapter 36: "The Morning Of Departure (3)"
9. Chapter 287: "Bubbles Of Futility"
8. Chapter 87: "Afterglow Of The Right Eye"
7. Chapter 130: "Feeble Flame"
6. Chapter 178: "Reunion On The Hill Of Swords"
5. Chapter 226: "Berserker Armor (2)"
4. Chapter 115: "Firefly"
3. Chapters 46 & 47: "Wounds"
2. Chapter 129: "Cracks In The Blade"
1. Chapter 22: "Campfire Of Dreams"
#ThankYouMiura
lots of love and respect from Australia
There is honestly no wrong answer when it comes to favorite chapters.
Any of them with the pirates are objectively worse than the rest of the story 😂
I feel like every time Miura wrote a chapter, he was telling himself that if this be the last chapter I write, it has to have the greatest value I can give it... and maybe that's why each one seems to give off this sense of purity, of rawness that no other story can really seem to touch so far.
this is exactly what i need right now
I don't know the chapters name but the one where guts meets zod first was Epic for me because I had that feeling of "there are things in this manga i can not imagine"
I get so fucking sad everytime I see anything Berserk related, RIP Miuta❤
I love how the bonfires in Dark Souls were 100% inspired by Berserk. What a beautiful chapter
The man, the myth, the absolute legend.
Cracks in the blade
I wanna watch it so badly but Idk if there will be spoilers since im on the first chapter of the hawk of the millennium empire arc
Nah there isn't really any big spoilers. There's only two chapters from that arc or after and only really one has a meme spoiler (it's pretty epic though). You can skip from 7:10-9:15 if you wanna avoid that part
Definitely don't watch the parts you haven't already read.
Spring flowers of distant days
Thank you for your thoughts!
Before I watch this video, my favourites are Bonfire of Dreams and the Broken Blade chapters, hopefully these are high on your list aswell lol
Ryan can you make a video about flight as a motif for freedom throughout berserk? It is a really strong and persistent motif/theme.
the order might vary slightly, with Cracks in the Blade being my #1, but overall those are among my favourite chapters too.
You should do a mellennium falcon arc analysis with masked man.
Guardians of desire for world building or bonfire of dreams for character
Serpico is way beyond Silat. Last I checked Silat gets humiliated by Guts every time, Serpico actually makes Guts got all out.
I always had some AU scenarios, the first one is if griffith actually did nothing wrong( those you says that griffith's action s are justified, I disagree) then griffith would be healed by judeuo ( think I spelled it wrong) guts and casca would start their own mercenaries called the berserker wolves. The second is if the snake baron, slug baron, rosine, wylad, and bazuzo Survived. The third one is if the band of the hawk members actually survived, then they would help guts fight griffith. The fourth one is if guts used the crimson behelit and became a godhand member and its griffith in the role of protagonist, where he might get the berserker armor, which theoretically would be shaped like a hawk. What are your ideas for AUs and what are your takes on mine?
From that panel, I’m starting to think that we represented Griffith when we killed Gael in DS3.
Nice video. Thank you. What is your opinion about contuniation of the assistant (maybe)? :)