Berserk is such a horrifyingly beautiful story. “There is no paradise you can escape to.” As someone who’s lost in their mind a lot, this line hits hard.
(smut bait am I?)Guts is a good metaphor for the great replacement theory we were a band of rebels fighting for a world of peace only to find that those we fought for want us gone.
In their world of peace my people are extinct an my band of rebels is sacrificed for "diversity" Griffith sacrificed his people for "divinity" he was once their saving light but when given the chance he truly is just another monster to be slayn.
To kill us with kindness a cowardly strategy by the same people who cancelled Kanye you know the ones with a bible with no god that only speaks of the meek inheriting the earth how an what do you think that means to inherit your earth to take your land. What do you honestly thin they mean when they say in their bible an whorship the idea that their god
After they kill us with kindness they will use a treaty of Versailles type attack on the black people starving them. They aren't as large of a intelligent threat an don't need a elaborate plan to get rid of. They won't even have the same community or intelligence as the Germans so they won't even fight back an even if they do they will he labeled the aggressors like everyone who defends them selves from the nomads with a mother land . Which doesn't make any sense btw.
I just recently caught up with Berserk and I'm shocked that the Lost Children arc is considered by some to be FILLER. Really shows how some people will go out of their way to underappreciate a story no matter how well-written it is.
Like I really don’t know how they would consider this filler, since in the end of this Arc Guts starts to tolerate puck and even allowing him to company him showing us that this Arc is canon.🐱
I like when Jill says "I think I'll try crying and shouting and biting my way through" cause not only does it show her own method of facing the reality of life, but also reflects what Guts feels deep down. No matter how strong he is, he is essentially doing exactly what Jill is doing, just a helpless person refusing to give up.
Lost children and the whole of the Conviction arc really connected with me and love this part of the story so much. I miss Jill and hope she's doing well away from her father hopefully.
Jill should have left with Guts. It would've made an interesting parallel to Griffith, who saved Casca when she was a preteen. Jill could've been the new Casca. 😅
@@edwardgaines6561 I don't know about that . Even as a kid, Caska had that dog in her to be able to kill the creepy count/ nobleman. Jill ended strong willed at the end of her arc but I can't see her keeping up with Guts' wild adventures. It's almost a miracle that Isidro could follow Guts.
Masked, when she is awakened from her trance by the broken egg, and Guts shows up, its a parallel. Guts was born from a corpse, and he sees the fetus curse. Those are very similar, and To me that is something Miura mastered, he picks these events as metaphors.
Seeing this; knowing what Guts went through with his "adoptive father"; knowing that Casca was sold off to pedophile nobleman; and hearing interviews about how the author, Miura, went through some abuse by his own dad; a part of me wants to see an ending where the cycle of abuse is broken. Guts and Casca, together and healed, and being the parents they needed when they were young to the next generation. Yes, the world of Berserk is dark. But it is about struggling against it. If there was no belief that something is worth it, then what is the point?
@shoopoop21 Desire isn't inherently bad. I want that ending, and I know that it is out of my hands to see it happen. Because of the latter, I'm mentally preparing myself for it not being so. But I want to have the strength to say what I want and potentially be disappointed. Assuming it always ends badly is a prison. It prevents one from seeing the light.
It would be a nice ending for sure, but sometimes things broken can't be mended. Guts is the last person who should ever hold something as precious as a child. He is not a rolemodel, not kind and the only lessons he could teach come from pain. “No matter how strong, for a human to fight a monster means he has submerged his humanity and transformed himself into a greater monster.” That's what Guts is, a monster. Even if he succeeds in killing Griffith, what would be left of him? Casca would still be lost to him, the only thing driving him has escaped him too and when the rage is finally leaving him and the apathy settles, then he might be as well dead. Guts is like a man lashing out, scraming at the world in hollowing pain, till it fades into silence by his dying breath. The only way for Guts to truly get his life back is not by killing Griffith, or by healing Casca, but by letting go. Letting go things that could never be. Letting go of the violence, of the rage and the unbearable pain. Thorfinn from Vinland, is a great example, that clinging onto pain and trauma doesn't resolve it. Or that revenge brings you nothing but misery and bitterness.
@@PSYMEDIC Yeah, but this ain't Vinland Saga, this is Berserk, in Midland you have to be a monster to survive, while in Vinland you can go do whatever you want. Also, Griffith keeps harassing Guts even after Guts already gave up on getting revenge. And also, ain't no one gon let go of a mf like Griffith after what he did to them.
@@rickkcir2 I'm pretty sure that not every inch in the wolrd of Beserk is war torn bloodbath. I'm also not against revenge, because f'ck Griffith, but what's the point if it is just self destruction? The massage of Vinland is pretty much applyable everywhere, it has nothing to do with giving up revenge, but destroying your life for it and chasing just one bloodbath after the other and ruining other caught up in it. The world of Beserk is probably not a complete hellscape, without a single redeeming feature, for Guts it is however and it is all he will ever allow himself to see. Guts way of life, is just no way of living man. Just living out of ravenous hatred with no dreams and no future. Guts is not fighting destiny to live, but to kill Griffith. It's funny how he wanted to stay as an equal beside him and carve a path of his own, yet he is still caught up again in his shadow with his whole life revolving around him. Beserk is probably one of my favorite pieces of fiction ever, but the mere though of someone being in his shoes makes my stomach churn.
Also Guts saying stick to Pikaf he actually heard the story and got the meaning of it the moral of the story ,wanting Jill to go back to what she has before she regrets her actions. Just like Guts left and lost everything he had. I LOVE how deep berserk goes. And i do believe Guts meant that he is quite wise for a dog of war.
No. There is no place where there is the ultimate paradise. The love we create is still a battlefield. Yes, it may be rewarding, but it still is very hard. To even understand the other person, we need to fight countless battles, which is also true for this person towards me. There is no paradise. But still our battles are worth fighting.
The lessons that we get from the Lost Children Arc alone are some of the most profound in the whole series and just in manga/fiction in general. In the end you cannot escape life, you must face it no matter how tough and horrifying and brutal it can be. And that lesson is more relevant today than ever. Excellent video as always, Masked Man! :)
Lost Children arc is one of the most underrated arcs across the manga I’ve read imo, alongside Substitute Shinigami and Lost Agent in Bleach, Greed Island in HxH, Baratie arc in One Piece, and others…
@@NinthShinigami baratie, arlong, and romance dawn are all pretty beloved by people. When people say they don’t like early on piece, most of the time they mainly mean orange town and syrup village.
Guts is portrayed as pretty much a slasher villain in parts of this arc. Rosine was perfectly happy living in her little pretend world of fairy tales, and then Guts is thrown in there like a fucking mangrenade. You know you've got a dark protagonist when even the villain, a demon who has children raped and murdered for her amusement, looks at him and goes: "The fuck is wrong with you?"
I’ve got to say Masked, After watching you for some years I’m extremely proud of the growth you’ve accomplished. This video format that you’ve come up with for the past several videos is really engaging and it’s good to see you’re still striving to be better. Keep up the great work man, love your stuff.
Last year was one of my worst years, heartbreak and depression took over and I found comfort in Berserk. Now during this year I’ve been hard at work developing myself physically and mentally still going strong and I’ve come back to Berserk with renewed energy. Berserk will always be a comfort zone for me as strange as that may sound; I’ve taken many lessons from Berserk and it picked me up when I was down. Struggle, Endure, Contend, these are the words that pushed me forward through the pain and now my efforts are bearing fruit and hopefully soon come to fruition. Rest In Peace Miura and thank you for your work
I think the lesson is quite the opposite. While they may not be a heaven, a paradise to escape to, you can find or rather make your own paradise. Guts realized all to late that his paradise was with the band of the hawk and later after the eclipse with Casca. He left them both times and it only led to more suffering. I think Miura's lesson is that paradise is in small moments every day, maybe because of your friends or companions, maybe because of the beauty of the place you are in or the mission you've undertaken. If you manage to find beauty in the midst of ugliness, peace in the middle of war and a few good people in a nation of evil, you've found paradise.
Dude you have touched my heart so many times with your well written and thoughtful insights into the wide sea of art. Sincerely from Mozambique all the respect my guy.🎉
I can't agree on that I know that Guts is a GOAT character doesn't mean that he didn't do anything wrong, he literally killed an innocent child in golden age arc.
Honestly I feel like the only way we can ever get an animated version of lost children is through fans, since I can’t really see any companies having the balls to adapt the entirety of this arc.🐱
Even Gut's fighting style serves a very distinct narrative and shows off his character. When you are thrust into a combat sport and forced to face off against a superior foe, you have to focus on defense and then gamble because you will for sure lose a fair fight and for you to even have a hope of winning, you need to gamble everything on a counter strike with everything you've got behind it or a near sui-side-eye-all all on submission attempt. This is Gut's entire fighting style against apostles. He focuses on either overwhelming his opponents with a bumrush, uses a cheap trick like surprise or a hidden weapon or he bets it all on a big and powerful counterattack. His entire style is plausible. Gut's is a child soldier and it shows in his adult self's fighting style.
I just found your channel this week. I’ve read all of Berserk up to the most recent chapter and it’s great to see more and more YTubers like yourself making videos of one of the best mangas ever written.
All the pixelart for this video was breathtaking I loved it all ❤❤❤ Also ty ty ty very much for covering my favorite arc of Berserk in a great refresher I really needed a reminder of its message
Even right on the edge of becoming a monster in human skin after all that's happened and what he's done to this point, Guts' unwavering humanity coming through in the end with his conversation with Jill is one of the best moments I've ever read. After all of the rage, threats, and scare tactics didn't work Guts simply wrapped the scared girl up in his cloak and calmly explained to her that he can't save her even if he wanted to, nobody can because fair or not the world is a cruel place and there will never be some paradise free from suffering. Everything from his demeanor to how Miura drew him softens in comparison to the monstrous panels we saw of him earlier in the arc. Guts in his own way saved Jill both by keeping her away from the hell he is forced to live with every single moment of his life and by giving her hope that maybe if she keeps fighting someday things might change for the better. Lost Children is such a beautiful arc man I love it so much.
I may never understand why I'm so drawn to reading and watching ABOUT Berserk without ever reading or watching "Berserk" maybe I just need to keep hearing the truth that you can't escape this life into a fairytale, that this world is cruel (but also beautiful) if we can just Struggle Endure Contend than maybe that will be enough? God I fucking hope so
Stories exist to see us through to the end, to remind us why we live, how being human is the best thing we can ask for, and how to challenge the darkness that will follow us at every step we take. To laugh, to cry, to yell, to pouring your soul out to the universe that created us. It's all there for us.
The Lost Children is my favorite arc in all of Berserk, and i think you really hit the nail on the head as to why. Also the Zelda music in the background was so fitting and perfectly complimented the tone, excellent choice
Honestly miura topped the golden age with an arc that most people look to and are Always reminded of when talking about berserk- The op millennium falcon arc and best berserk chapter
"The crushing weight of reality" is something modern people are sheltered from, myself included, ive only seen glimpses at it. I think its the cause of the conflict of the Western world at the moment.
Well. You have taken the first step. By recognizing you need to see more of it, to be prepared for what's coming, or at least try to prepare. Enjoy the ride while it lasts!
Morpheus: "This is your last chance. After this, there is no turning back. You take the blue pill - the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill - you stay in Wonderland, and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes. Remember, all I'm offering is the truth - nothing more."
I think the most depressing thing is that even if Guts dies, he gets to rest but actually doesn't because he is a sacrifice and will end in the vortex of souls to suffer forever again.
The Lost Children is one of my favorite arcs. It is such a sharp contrast with Guts the philosopher from the Golden Age. Guts is still filled with rage, seeking revenge because he can't deal with losing Casca yet. He is alone, trapped in a hellish existence, having not yet met his future companions. It is Guts in his darkest hour, flailing away at any Apostle he can find, but without purpose and it is eroding his humanity piece by piece. At his lowest, but just before he finds some degree of purpose and friendship. Beautiful story. His "There is no paradise for you to escape to" is truly iconic.
I love the Lost Children Arc. Your thought on why its not adapted as an anime is probably correct, and I can't wait for markreymer's lost children arc animation as well. Thank you for bringing the Lost Children Arc to the spotlight!
Mask, you never cease to amaze me with your Berserk essays, but mixing Berserk with Chrono Trigger's OST was a very, very low move! Now I'll have to re-re-re-read the manga with that OST and perhaps fit some other old JRPG OSTS in the mix to get even deeper feelings!
31:26 I might be trippin' but when I see this and think about it-- this panel kinda looks like the inverse of Griffith's dream during the Eclipse when he's changing, where he saw Guts and the castle. Only here, the real Guts (ofc) is moving away to prevent Jill from believing that false vision that Griffith believed in.
I haven’t read the manga yet. I watched the 1990s anime which was amazing I already bought the first volume and now after the eclipse I’m ready to read. Seeing different memes and edits got me interested in Berserk and wow was I blown away. Gonna try to catch up so I could finish watching ur vid!
20:20 That reaction from Jill is not just because she witnessed an elf being chased while yelling "adult attack!". The elf who is actually yelling "Adult Attack!" is the one who is giving the chasing, and pushes the other elf down. After yelling that out, he stung through the body of the other elf, piercing him from between his legs, in a way which emulates r*p&. Hence why Jill's reaction was gutural. I don't know why that fucking panel of the elf piercing another elf was left out, but I remembered it from the stomach churn it gave me, and this video just brought up again. 10/10 analysis
Thank you for covering my favorite arc in berserk. It takes a extremely good writer and artist to depict such evil and yet still feel hope for life. Our lives can be very bad with challenges and struggles that are demoralizing, yet we can fight against them and try to make things better.
4:00 I think we can all agree, if they do another Berserk adaptation with it having an adult audience ALL the arcs need to be adapted especially the Fairy Children Arc. Every arc has a thing that Guts learned about the world especially the characters that join him on his journey.
Guts and Jill both undergo a similar character arc during Conviction. Both have left something (Jill has left home, Guts has left Casca). Both are living a delusion (Jill that she can escape to a fantasy world, Guts that he can avenge the horrors of the eclipse by defeating all enemies before him). Both realize the fallacies of their current worldviews and both move on with a conviction to struggle onwards. In Jill's case she knows she can return home and "cry and shout and bite and that might change something." For Guts, he learns from a dying friend in a cabin near a hill of swords that he "escaped to something comfortable" while keeping his sadness from "the one [he] loved." Then not many chapters later, as he reunites with Casca, Guts says he "won't leave her again." For me, Lost Children isn't a detour from the main story or a side quest for Guts. It's a fundamental thematic foundation for the Conviction Arc and by extension the rest of Berserk to this point.
Reminds me of a quote from David Boreanaz's Seal Team: "You have to fight inside the wire just as hard as you do outside". For context, "the wire" here refers to the separation between the characters' civilian lives and their lives as special forces soldiers.
Seldom do I come across a story that can make me shiver in paralyzing fear, cry in raving depression, and smile in blissful happiness. Berzerk remains my favorite manga ever, and the original golden age anime my favorite show. At a glance, I thought it was the classic ¨Humanity is the real monster¨ and ¨Everyone is evil¨ but it´s so much more than that. It´s a beautiful tale about morality, humanity, and dealing with an unforgiving world. In most stories, I can look at one area and say ¨it would be sick to be there!¨ I never found myself saying that with Berzerk, because even before the eclipse, it is almost a literal hell. Every character doesn´t actually feel like they are happy; there just trying to get by, doing what it takes to see tomorrow. But even when faced with the most dire and hellish of circumstances, they have to find a way. It´s that fire, the unwillingness to lay down and die, that strikes me the most. This isn´t a happy story with a happy ending: its a pure, unfiltered view of trying to survive in a world that doesn´t give a shit about you. It´s dark, It´s gritty, It´s monstrous. It´s a masterpiece.
This arc is equally badass, savage, and interesting as it heartbreaking, with such strong morals behind it all, lost children has to be my favorite story telling in all of fiction
The image of Guts looking down on Jill as she cries is I think one of the most beautiful and evocative visuals Miura ever drew. It is Guts giving words to the truth of the harsh reality that they both live in, but it is one of the few moments in the arc where Guts looks human and not like a monster. He looks like the Guts we once knew that resides underneath so many layers of callousness and rage due to everything that he's been through. It is the one moment in which he shows humanity to Jill. It is the one moment in which he shows HIMSELF to Jill. For a second, he isnt the blackswordsman, or a slayer of apostles. Hes Guts, a lost child. Just like Jill. His whole life from his birth to now has been a battlefield. Fighting for every breath hes taken. And for the first time in a long time, he shows that to someone. Because he can see Jill needs it. I think to some extent, he needs it too. He cant take her with him because that would resign her to the fate he lives with everyday. And he wouldnt wish that on anyone. But for a brief moment, he allows her to truly see him. Its one of the most tender moments in all the series and part of what makes Guts one of the best characters ever written. Miura understood the human condition and knew how to write about it so well.
finished reading through berserk last night for the first time, its imo the greatest piece of fiction ive ever read, played, or watched. sad it never got finished, but peak took time and ofc the unfortunate passing of kentaro miura
Another way to look at the "I won't stop my sword" line is Guts saying that he'll kill Roseanne as he stopped in the village when Jill ran out to confront her
Yo wouldn't it be crazy if Terisia and Jill somehow ended up in falconia and met up there and talked about Guts Imagine dude that be some next level writing They may even meet up with casca as we know she hangs around the children there
This reminds me of galaxy quest where those green elf like creatures attack the weak injured elf. I felt a strong return of a child hood emotion i haven't felt in a while.
During my initial reading of berserk, I considered conviction to be my favorite arc in the story. I also am one to lump lost children into conviction, liking lost children to the first half, as the events in godo’s cabin or of the tower don’t really flow well without it. And while I love both “halves” equally, lost children was the part of the story where I really fell in love with it Parts of golden age kept my attention and kept me interested and gave me enough to keep going, but lost children was when berserk became my favorite manga. The outright carnage and brutality in this arc really appeased the monkey side of my brain, showing the depths guts would go to avenge the band, Jill’s quote of not being able to tell who the real monster rung loud. But the long term beauty is there’s so much to unpack. Every revisit to lost children recontexualizes later aspects of the story. The biggest of which is guts’s quote of being no paradise to escape to, coming back in a big way with the eventual destruction of elfheim. This arc was never filler. And its importance to the story can’t be stated enough. There’s always something to be gained with a re-read of lost children.
been thinking recently that attack on titan is just Isayama's own Berserk ending theory, where Griffith has perfect future sight upon ascending into godhood, and from that point on his goals can lie far into the future, this is essentially his story. And all he made sure of was that Guts and Casca lived. They were deeply wounded but he knows with 100% certainty that they will be rescued by skull knight etc and of course evil means can serve good ends or whatever the saying is
Thank you for creating this. I've only cried twice reading Manga: 1) Naruto #383 2) Berserk: Lost Children. Miura did an excellent job humanizing the inhuman with regards to Rosine. She's a victim taken advantage of. Does it excuse what she did? No, but man...
An extremely beautiful analysis. That being said, reading Griff as being anything other than one either jill or rosisine is kind of awkward. This is definitely the most amazing manga arc ever written but it is deeper than youve described if you dont see the griff parallels to griff's story and peekaf. In fact Guts and Griff are both Peekafs.
"There is no paradise to escape to, there is only battlefields" My favorite quote from ALL of Berserk and maybe even manga - Lost children is gold
At that point in the story, that's all he sees in his existence as a response to the Eclipse and carrying the brand.
The battlefield is Guts paradise.
He should’ve kept that in mind when getting to Elfhelm.
But what about the magic of working with others to make a better world, to get the world look more like paradise?
Why? It’s completely incorrect and illogical 😂
Berserk is such a horrifyingly beautiful story. “There is no paradise you can escape to.” As someone who’s lost in their mind a lot, this line hits hard.
(smut bait am I?)Guts is a good metaphor for the great replacement theory we were a band of rebels fighting for a world of peace only to find that those we fought for want us gone.
In their world of peace my people are extinct an my band of rebels is sacrificed for "diversity" Griffith sacrificed his people for "divinity" he was once their saving light but when given the chance he truly is just another monster to be slayn.
To kill us with kindness a cowardly strategy by the same people who cancelled Kanye you know the ones with a bible with no god that only speaks of the meek inheriting the earth how an what do you think that means to inherit your earth to take your land. What do you honestly thin they mean when they say in their bible an whorship the idea that their god
After they kill us with kindness they will use a treaty of Versailles type attack on the black people starving them. They aren't as large of a intelligent threat an don't need a elaborate plan to get rid of. They won't even have the same community or intelligence as the Germans so they won't even fight back an even if they do they will he labeled the aggressors like everyone who defends them selves from the nomads with a mother land . Which doesn't make any sense btw.
Just like gaza is labeled the aggressors
I just recently caught up with Berserk and I'm shocked that the Lost Children arc is considered by some to be FILLER. Really shows how some people will go out of their way to underappreciate a story no matter how well-written it is.
Like I really don’t know how they would consider this filler, since in the end of this Arc Guts starts to tolerate puck and even allowing him to company him showing us that this Arc is canon.🐱
Lost children is such a beautiful arc.
It’s probably my favorite arc. It shows how much revenge can blind a person making them lose
Their humanity.
Its one of my favorite arcs.
Lost children arc is incredible idk why people hate on it
I like when Jill says "I think I'll try crying and shouting and biting my way through" cause not only does it show her own method of facing the reality of life, but also reflects what Guts feels deep down. No matter how strong he is, he is essentially doing exactly what Jill is doing, just a helpless person refusing to give up.
Lost children and the whole of the Conviction arc really connected with me and love this part of the story so much. I miss Jill and hope she's doing well away from her father hopefully.
I really want to see her again - as well Thereisa!
Conviction arc was not that good, man
Jill should have left with Guts. It would've made an interesting parallel to Griffith, who saved Casca when she was a preteen. Jill could've been the new Casca. 😅
@@edwardgaines6561 She needs some xp to level up, first before joining the main party
@@edwardgaines6561 I don't know about that .
Even as a kid, Caska had that dog in her to be able to kill the creepy count/ nobleman.
Jill ended strong willed at the end of her arc but I can't see her keeping up with Guts' wild adventures.
It's almost a miracle that Isidro could follow Guts.
Masked, when she is awakened from her trance by the broken egg, and Guts shows up, its a parallel. Guts was born from a corpse, and he sees the fetus curse. Those are very similar, and To me that is something Miura mastered, he picks these events as metaphors.
Guts is the quotes "fight fire with fire" and "stare long enough into the abyss, and it stares back at you" impersonated.
Seeing this; knowing what Guts went through with his "adoptive father"; knowing that Casca was sold off to pedophile nobleman; and hearing interviews about how the author, Miura, went through some abuse by his own dad; a part of me wants to see an ending where the cycle of abuse is broken. Guts and Casca, together and healed, and being the parents they needed when they were young to the next generation.
Yes, the world of Berserk is dark. But it is about struggling against it. If there was no belief that something is worth it, then what is the point?
Your desire for the world to be as such will be your undoing. Cormack McCarthy wrote in the same sphere, and that's him paraphrased.
@shoopoop21 Desire isn't inherently bad. I want that ending, and I know that it is out of my hands to see it happen. Because of the latter, I'm mentally preparing myself for it not being so. But I want to have the strength to say what I want and potentially be disappointed. Assuming it always ends badly is a prison. It prevents one from seeing the light.
It would be a nice ending for sure, but sometimes things broken can't be mended.
Guts is the last person who should ever hold something as precious as a child.
He is not a rolemodel, not kind and the only lessons he could teach come from pain.
“No matter how strong, for a human to fight a monster means he has submerged his humanity and transformed himself into a greater monster.”
That's what Guts is, a monster. Even if he succeeds in killing Griffith, what would be left of him?
Casca would still be lost to him, the only thing driving him has escaped him too and when the rage is finally leaving him and the apathy settles, then he might be as well dead.
Guts is like a man lashing out, scraming at the world in hollowing pain, till it fades into silence by his dying breath.
The only way for Guts to truly get his life back is not by killing Griffith, or by healing Casca, but by letting go.
Letting go things that could never be. Letting go of the violence, of the rage and the unbearable pain.
Thorfinn from Vinland, is a great example, that clinging onto pain and trauma doesn't resolve it. Or that revenge brings you nothing but misery and bitterness.
@@PSYMEDIC Yeah, but this ain't Vinland Saga, this is Berserk, in Midland you have to be a monster to survive, while in Vinland you can go do whatever you want. Also, Griffith keeps harassing Guts even after Guts already gave up on getting revenge. And also, ain't no one gon let go of a mf like Griffith after what he did to them.
@@rickkcir2 I'm pretty sure that not every inch in the wolrd of Beserk is war torn bloodbath.
I'm also not against revenge, because f'ck Griffith, but what's the point if it is just self destruction? The massage of Vinland is pretty much applyable everywhere, it has nothing to do with giving up revenge, but destroying your life for it and chasing just one bloodbath after the other and ruining other caught up in it.
The world of Beserk is probably not a complete hellscape, without a single redeeming feature, for Guts it is however and it is all he will ever allow himself to see.
Guts way of life, is just no way of living man. Just living out of ravenous hatred with no dreams and no future.
Guts is not fighting destiny to live, but to kill Griffith. It's funny how he wanted to stay as an equal beside him and carve a path of his own, yet he is still caught up again in his shadow with his whole life revolving around him.
Beserk is probably one of my favorite pieces of fiction ever, but the mere though of someone being in his shoes makes my stomach churn.
Also Guts saying stick to Pikaf he actually heard the story and got the meaning of it the moral of the story ,wanting Jill to go back to what she has before she regrets her actions.
Just like Guts left and lost everything he had.
I LOVE how deep berserk goes.
And i do believe Guts meant that he is quite wise for a dog of war.
Guts lost his family because he left (wasn’t his fault entirely) It makes sense he would say that
There is at least one place we find paradise: in the love we create with others.
Faxx
Amen
No. There is no place where there is the ultimate paradise. The love we create is still a battlefield. Yes, it may be rewarding, but it still is very hard. To even understand the other person, we need to fight countless battles, which is also true for this person towards me.
There is no paradise. But still our battles are worth fighting.
@@azorious950 the purpose of fighting
Jesus Christ gives that paradise
The funny thing is her village was either raided by the kushan right afterwards or overflown with trolls and other astral monsters later on
A part of me is scared to see what may of happened to her 😢
@The_Natalist her guts got ruined 😢
"There is no paradise for you to escape to" is my favorite quote of all time
The lessons that we get from the Lost Children Arc alone are some of the most profound in the whole series and just in manga/fiction in general. In the end you cannot escape life, you must face it no matter how tough and horrifying and brutal it can be. And that lesson is more relevant today than ever. Excellent video as always, Masked Man! :)
Your philosophical videos are the best. My favorite was on “failure”, that video is your best.
Lost Children arc is one of the most underrated arcs across the manga I’ve read imo, alongside Substitute Shinigami and Lost Agent in Bleach, Greed Island in HxH, Baratie arc in One Piece, and others…
Who hates on baratie?
@@bruis1527 idk who exactly all I know is I’ve seen people online that downplay it a lot for it being an early One Piece arc
@@NinthShinigami baratie, arlong, and romance dawn are all pretty beloved by people. When people say they don’t like early on piece, most of the time they mainly mean orange town and syrup village.
Greed island was A**
lost agent is just bad
Guts is portrayed as pretty much a slasher villain in parts of this arc. Rosine was perfectly happy living in her little pretend world of fairy tales, and then Guts is thrown in there like a fucking mangrenade. You know you've got a dark protagonist when even the villain, a demon who has children raped and murdered for her amusement, looks at him and goes:
"The fuck is wrong with you?"
The terror in her eyes when she stabbed Guts face tells everything.....
Wait what, r^ped where and when?
@@AK-bf2ho elf childs in panel "adult's attack"
@@AK-bf2ho Sodomized to death with a stinger, yes.
@@AK-bf2hothat’s what it was.
I’ve got to say Masked,
After watching you for some years I’m extremely proud of the growth you’ve accomplished. This video format that you’ve come up with for the past several videos is really engaging and it’s good to see you’re still striving to be better. Keep up the great work man, love your stuff.
"no liking berserk doesn't make you a sigma anon"
-Nuts from berk
Um this is a fake quote!! Nuts would never say that.
Nuts from jerk
Who cares
shut up ffs
Damn I was literally shivering when Nuts said to Cruts, “I’m coming inside”
Nuts from berk is my inspiration. My favourite quote of his "im going berserk: the golden age arc". Makes me cry to this day.
Brought me to tears man..
relatable
literally me
So true twin
this joke was funny the first time I seen it but when everybody uses it just to get likes it really does get old fast im sorry im such a party pooper
I’ve never witnessed such awesome editing as this one.
Theres no paradise for you to run away to
To date probably the one line thats hit me harder than any other I've ever read
Last year was one of my worst years, heartbreak and depression took over and I found comfort in Berserk. Now during this year I’ve been hard at work developing myself physically and mentally still going strong and I’ve come back to Berserk with renewed energy. Berserk will always be a comfort zone for me as strange as that may sound; I’ve taken many lessons from Berserk and it picked me up when I was down. Struggle, Endure, Contend, these are the words that pushed me forward through the pain and now my efforts are bearing fruit and hopefully soon come to fruition. Rest In Peace Miura and thank you for your work
That A Link to the Past text sound gave me flashbacks.
Mixing some of my favorite things
I mean an arc about kids after Gut’s kid got corrupted by Griffith. Just hits hard.
I think the lesson is quite the opposite. While they may not be a heaven, a paradise to escape to, you can find or rather make your own paradise.
Guts realized all to late that his paradise was with the band of the hawk and later after the eclipse with Casca.
He left them both times and it only led to more suffering.
I think Miura's lesson is that paradise is in small moments every day, maybe because of your friends or companions, maybe because of the beauty of the place you are in or the mission you've undertaken.
If you manage to find beauty in the midst of ugliness, peace in the middle of war and a few good people in a nation of evil, you've found paradise.
Dude you have touched my heart so many times with your well written and thoughtful insights into the wide sea of art. Sincerely from Mozambique all the respect my guy.🎉
Guts did nothing wrong
-sun tzu
Objection!
Objection over ruled!!
I can't agree on that I know that Guts is a GOAT character doesn't mean that he didn't do anything wrong, he literally killed an innocent child in golden age arc.
Well i mainly meant that guts didnt do anything wrong by leaving the band of hawk that made griffith go crazy..
These stretch of chapters in berserk are the ones that personally impacted me the most. Not the biggest berserk fan now, but i still love it.
Honestly I feel like the only way we can ever get an animated version of lost children is through fans, since I can’t really see any companies having the balls to adapt the entirety of this arc.🐱
Yep. Hopefully that arc will be fanmade before I die.
Glad to see more berserk content
Even Gut's fighting style serves a very distinct narrative and shows off his character.
When you are thrust into a combat sport and forced to face off against a superior foe, you have to focus on defense and then gamble because you will for sure lose a fair fight and for you to even have a hope of winning, you need to gamble everything on a counter strike with everything you've got behind it or a near sui-side-eye-all all on submission attempt. This is Gut's entire fighting style against apostles. He focuses on either overwhelming his opponents with a bumrush, uses a cheap trick like surprise or a hidden weapon or he bets it all on a big and powerful counterattack. His entire style is plausible. Gut's is a child soldier and it shows in his adult self's fighting style.
This new video game editing style is super cool, I find that it makes the video a lot more engaging!
Good stuff masked man!
I just found your channel this week. I’ve read all of Berserk up to the most recent chapter and it’s great to see more and more YTubers like yourself making videos of one of the best mangas ever written.
All the pixelart for this video was breathtaking I loved it all ❤❤❤
Also ty ty ty very much for covering my favorite arc of Berserk in a great refresher I really needed a reminder of its message
Even right on the edge of becoming a monster in human skin after all that's happened and what he's done to this point, Guts' unwavering humanity coming through in the end with his conversation with Jill is one of the best moments I've ever read. After all of the rage, threats, and scare tactics didn't work Guts simply wrapped the scared girl up in his cloak and calmly explained to her that he can't save her even if he wanted to, nobody can because fair or not the world is a cruel place and there will never be some paradise free from suffering. Everything from his demeanor to how Miura drew him softens in comparison to the monstrous panels we saw of him earlier in the arc. Guts in his own way saved Jill both by keeping her away from the hell he is forced to live with every single moment of his life and by giving her hope that maybe if she keeps fighting someday things might change for the better. Lost Children is such a beautiful arc man I love it so much.
I may never understand why I'm so drawn to reading and watching ABOUT Berserk without ever reading or watching "Berserk"
maybe I just need to keep hearing the truth
that you can't escape this life into a fairytale, that this world is cruel (but also beautiful)
if we can just Struggle
Endure
Contend
than maybe that will be enough?
God I fucking hope so
Stories exist to see us through to the end, to remind us why we live, how being human is the best thing we can ask for, and how to challenge the darkness that will follow us at every step we take. To laugh, to cry, to yell, to pouring your soul out to the universe that created us. It's all there for us.
The Lost Children is my favorite arc in all of Berserk, and i think you really hit the nail on the head as to why. Also the Zelda music in the background was so fitting and perfectly complimented the tone, excellent choice
Honestly miura topped the golden age with an arc that most people look to and are Always reminded of when talking about berserk- The op millennium falcon arc and best berserk chapter
Man, i forgot how dark it actually was, such a detailed analysis of my favourite arc. Well done!
I be randomly thinking during the day how great this video is man you outdid yourself. It hit home for me
In this arc, guts almost lose his humanity, and beast of darkness appears in the conviction arc.
"The crushing weight of reality" is something modern people are sheltered from, myself included, ive only seen glimpses at it. I think its the cause of the conflict of the Western world at the moment.
Well. You have taken the first step.
By recognizing you need to see more of it, to be prepared for what's coming, or at least try to prepare.
Enjoy the ride while it lasts!
Morpheus: "This is your last chance. After this, there is no turning back. You take the blue pill - the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill - you stay in Wonderland, and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes. Remember, all I'm offering is the truth - nothing more."
Just finished this arc yesterday, great impressions on the arc, masked
I think the most depressing thing is that even if Guts dies, he gets to rest but actually doesn't because he is a sacrifice and will end in the vortex of souls to suffer forever again.
Another banger vid with an incredible style. Damn
And of course, it's about my fav Berserk arc. Great vid man. Really
You deserve more credit for your music choices
The Lost Children is one of my favorite arcs. It is such a sharp contrast with Guts the philosopher from the Golden Age. Guts is still filled with rage, seeking revenge because he can't deal with losing Casca yet. He is alone, trapped in a hellish existence, having not yet met his future companions. It is Guts in his darkest hour, flailing away at any Apostle he can find, but without purpose and it is eroding his humanity piece by piece. At his lowest, but just before he finds some degree of purpose and friendship. Beautiful story. His "There is no paradise for you to escape to" is truly iconic.
I love the Lost Children Arc. Your thought on why its not adapted as an anime is probably correct, and I can't wait for markreymer's lost children arc animation as well. Thank you for bringing the Lost Children Arc to the spotlight!
This is by far the best analyzation of the lost children arc, I look forward to more, I can never get enough of your berserk content🙏
you making my tear drop again because of berserk. great video btw
Mask, you never cease to amaze me with your Berserk essays, but mixing Berserk with Chrono Trigger's OST was a very, very low move! Now I'll have to re-re-re-read the manga with that OST and perhaps fit some other old JRPG OSTS in the mix to get even deeper feelings!
Pokémon Mystery Dungeon Explorers of Sky OST would also work
Chasm Cave would fit well
And Distortion World from Platinum
@@SMCwasTaken Thanks! I never played any of those games, but I will certainly
check those OSTs 😊
I absolutely love Lost Children, it sickens me when I see people call this arc “filler”, and I’ve seen a lot of people say that.
31:26 I might be trippin' but when I see this and think about it-- this panel kinda looks like the inverse of Griffith's dream during the Eclipse when he's changing, where he saw Guts and the castle. Only here, the real Guts (ofc) is moving away to prevent Jill from believing that false vision that Griffith believed in.
Words cannot express how much I love the lost children arc. It's easily in my top 3 behind conviction and golden age.
I haven’t read the manga yet. I watched the 1990s anime which was amazing I already bought the first volume and now after the eclipse I’m ready to read. Seeing different memes and edits got me interested in Berserk and wow was I blown away. Gonna try to catch up so I could finish watching ur vid!
Your music choices in the this video are absolutely kino.
He should've used Pokémon Mystery Dungeon Explorers of Sky OST
Chasm Cave would fit well with this video
20:20 That reaction from Jill is not just because she witnessed an elf being chased while yelling "adult attack!". The elf who is actually yelling "Adult Attack!" is the one who is giving the chasing, and pushes the other elf down. After yelling that out, he stung through the body of the other elf, piercing him from between his legs, in a way which emulates r*p&. Hence why Jill's reaction was gutural.
I don't know why that fucking panel of the elf piercing another elf was left out, but I remembered it from the stomach churn it gave me, and this video just brought up again.
10/10 analysis
I am so glad this arc is talked about more and more. Its by far one of the best arcs in the entire manga.
‘’Swaying inside the blaze he was the one who looked more like a terrifying monster”
My favourite Beserk quote
Best way to follow up your best is with the best seinen in history; Berserk!
Thank you for covering my favorite arc in berserk. It takes a extremely good writer and artist to depict such evil and yet still feel hope for life. Our lives can be very bad with challenges and struggles that are demoralizing, yet we can fight against them and try to make things better.
4:00 I think we can all agree, if they do another Berserk adaptation with it having an adult audience ALL the arcs need to be adapted especially the Fairy Children Arc. Every arc has a thing that Guts learned about the world especially the characters that join him on his journey.
You did such a great job on this video. The content the delivery. Well done I loved it. Thank you 🙏🏼
this is by far one of the best berserk videos I have ever seen
Daddy finally dropped
🙏
Banger video and killer soundtrack choice, it made me enjoy everything way more👍🏻
Guts and Jill both undergo a similar character arc during Conviction. Both have left something (Jill has left home, Guts has left Casca). Both are living a delusion (Jill that she can escape to a fantasy world, Guts that he can avenge the horrors of the eclipse by defeating all enemies before him). Both realize the fallacies of their current worldviews and both move on with a conviction to struggle onwards. In Jill's case she knows she can return home and "cry and shout and bite and that might change something." For Guts, he learns from a dying friend in a cabin near a hill of swords that he "escaped to something comfortable" while keeping his sadness from "the one [he] loved." Then not many chapters later, as he reunites with Casca, Guts says he "won't leave her again."
For me, Lost Children isn't a detour from the main story or a side quest for Guts. It's a fundamental thematic foundation for the Conviction Arc and by extension the rest of Berserk to this point.
I’ve missed you’re work, glad to see you’re up and posting again
Reminds me of a quote from David Boreanaz's Seal Team: "You have to fight inside the wire just as hard as you do outside". For context, "the wire" here refers to the separation between the characters' civilian lives and their lives as special forces soldiers.
So glad you saw Allinall's animation. It's an incredible adaptation of the Guts vs Rosine fight
I love all the Chrono Trigger musical choices. Melding wondrous stories together. Bravo.
And Mario Galaxy
Seldom do I come across a story that can make me shiver in paralyzing fear, cry in raving depression, and smile in blissful happiness. Berzerk remains my favorite manga ever, and the original golden age anime my favorite show. At a glance, I thought it was the classic ¨Humanity is the real monster¨ and ¨Everyone is evil¨ but it´s so much more than that. It´s a beautiful tale about morality, humanity, and dealing with an unforgiving world. In most stories, I can look at one area and say ¨it would be sick to be there!¨ I never found myself saying that with Berzerk, because even before the eclipse, it is almost a literal hell. Every character doesn´t actually feel like they are happy; there just trying to get by, doing what it takes to see tomorrow. But even when faced with the most dire and hellish of circumstances, they have to find a way. It´s that fire, the unwillingness to lay down and die, that strikes me the most. This isn´t a happy story with a happy ending: its a pure, unfiltered view of trying to survive in a world that doesn´t give a shit about you. It´s dark, It´s gritty, It´s monstrous. It´s a masterpiece.
This arc is equally badass, savage, and interesting as it heartbreaking, with such strong morals behind it all, lost children has to be my favorite story telling in all of fiction
your style of video improved amazingly over the years feels good seeing the early berserk videos to current one
The image of Guts looking down on Jill as she cries is I think one of the most beautiful and evocative visuals Miura ever drew. It is Guts giving words to the truth of the harsh reality that they both live in, but it is one of the few moments in the arc where Guts looks human and not like a monster. He looks like the Guts we once knew that resides underneath so many layers of callousness and rage due to everything that he's been through. It is the one moment in which he shows humanity to Jill. It is the one moment in which he shows HIMSELF to Jill. For a second, he isnt the blackswordsman, or a slayer of apostles. Hes Guts, a lost child. Just like Jill. His whole life from his birth to now has been a battlefield. Fighting for every breath hes taken. And for the first time in a long time, he shows that to someone. Because he can see Jill needs it. I think to some extent, he needs it too. He cant take her with him because that would resign her to the fate he lives with everyday. And he wouldnt wish that on anyone.
But for a brief moment, he allows her to truly see him. Its one of the most tender moments in all the series and part of what makes Guts one of the best characters ever written. Miura understood the human condition and knew how to write about it so well.
finished reading through berserk last night for the first time, its imo the greatest piece of fiction ive ever read, played, or watched. sad it never got finished, but peak took time and ofc the unfortunate passing of kentaro miura
Another way to look at the "I won't stop my sword" line is Guts saying that he'll kill Roseanne as he stopped in the village when Jill ran out to confront her
Yo wouldn't it be crazy if Terisia and Jill somehow ended up in falconia and met up there and talked about Guts
Imagine dude that be some next level writing
They may even meet up with casca as we know she hangs around the children there
This arc will for sure get an adaptation there’s so much dark messed up stuff out there this will get it’s time
Good choice in background music all around!
I was thinking "what the hell does adult attack even m-"
And then I too threw up.
great video and amazing editing! lost children has my favorite part of the manga since the moment I read it.
This reminds me of galaxy quest where those green elf like creatures attack the weak injured elf. I felt a strong return of a child hood emotion i haven't felt in a while.
Amazing. Never knew Twilight Princess' OST would fit Berserk so well. Please do all remaining arcs the same justice!
Music selection is so on point. The cherry on top.
this is such a well-written and well-edited video holy shit awesome job!
I listen to the Forest Temple music while I read Berserk too. The music from Resident Evil and Mortal Kombat 9 fits too lol
Them bangers go crazyyyy
Lost Children is my favorite arc and sets the tone for the overall message of Berserk. I don't think you can understand what Berserk IS without it.
“There is now paradise for you to escape too…” that line hit me like a truck
Fantastic video essay borther,my favorite arc for a reason!!!
I can't believe it took me this long to realize the lost children arc is based off of peter pan (neverland)
Incredible video. Ending had me crying.
Fantastic video! One of my favorite parts of the series
During my initial reading of berserk, I considered conviction to be my favorite arc in the story. I also am one to lump lost children into conviction, liking lost children to the first half, as the events in godo’s cabin or of the tower don’t really flow well without it. And while I love both “halves” equally, lost children was the part of the story where I really fell in love with it Parts of golden age kept my attention and kept me interested and gave me enough to keep going, but lost children was when berserk became my favorite manga. The outright carnage and brutality in this arc really appeased the monkey side of my brain, showing the depths guts would go to avenge the band, Jill’s quote of not being able to tell who the real monster rung loud. But the long term beauty is there’s so much to unpack. Every revisit to lost children recontexualizes later aspects of the story. The biggest of which is guts’s quote of being no paradise to escape to, coming back in a big way with the eventual destruction of elfheim. This arc was never filler. And its importance to the story can’t be stated enough. There’s always something to be gained with a re-read of lost children.
Thank you for putting so much work into your videos.
been thinking recently that attack on titan is just Isayama's own Berserk ending theory, where Griffith has perfect future sight upon ascending into godhood, and from that point on his goals can lie far into the future, this is essentially his story. And all he made sure of was that Guts and Casca lived. They were deeply wounded but he knows with 100% certainty that they will be rescued by skull knight etc and of course evil means can serve good ends or whatever the saying is
Thank you for creating this. I've only cried twice reading Manga: 1) Naruto #383 2) Berserk: Lost Children. Miura did an excellent job humanizing the inhuman with regards to Rosine. She's a victim taken advantage of. Does it excuse what she did? No, but man...
The Zelda music throughout this video is such a good choice. It fits so well.
The chrono trigger music 🤌🏽 great video
An extremely beautiful analysis. That being said, reading Griff as being anything other than one either jill or rosisine is kind of awkward. This is definitely the most amazing manga arc ever written but it is deeper than youve described if you dont see the griff parallels to griff's story and peekaf. In fact Guts and Griff are both Peekafs.