Note: this will probably be of little interest to anyone, but I felt like I'd work thru my feelings on Berserk here.
I finished what I planned on reading of Berserk. Which is thru volume 22. 21 is where the "Conviction" arc ended, and the "Falcon" arc is where it is supposed to start getting weak...but 22 was sort of in between, so I read it too.
Opinions.... I liked it a whole lot!
I usually don't read Manga, and the only other ones I have read are Akira (masterpiece), Domu (really liked it), Lone Wolf and Cub 1-4 (liked it OK, but got repetitive fast), Ghost in the Shell (didn't like it at all...very different tone from the movie. Liked the art), Blade of the Immortal vol...I can't remember (thought it was pretty, but dull), and I think vol. 1 of Battle Royale (it was OK). So, I'm not really into manga, as you can tell. Much more into Western comics.
That being said, this did have some tropes and things in manga, that I'm not fond of (decompression, weird JP humor that I don't quite get, generally a very light read, gets a bit overly soap opera-y at times). But all that aside, I was way into it. Loved the action for the most part, although sometimes it seemed to be so sketchy I couldn't make out what was happening, fully. The art was pretty awesome, overall. Loved the mix of medieval and occult stuff. Wasn't too keen on the homoerotic love triangle, but it was compelling.
I found it to be a very enjoyable read on average, but it blew me away on a couple of occasions. Mainly the endings of the "The Golden Age" arc, and the "Conviction" arc. The Golden Age ending was truly wild, and I was really knocked down by how awesome it was. Conviction's was really exciting, but it couldn't really top Golden Age's, just due to how much time Golden Age put into building up the characters and then all that happened to them. It was pretty emotional.
I did have some issues when Puck came back in the Lost Children arc. I don't recall him being so Roger Rabbit-y in the Black Swordsman arc, and he was a source of frustration for me, despite liking him in the first arc. I was relieved when they introduced that kid for comedy relief, and it seemed to tone down the emphasis on Puck. And the kid (can't remember his name) fit better, humor-wise.
The hentai stuff was a bit shocking, at times. I know the book starts with Guts screwing some monster chick, but it seemed to want to top itself a few times. First, the sex scene between...umm...no spoilers...two main characters. He seemed to put as much effort and time into that screwing scene as he did in most of the most epic battles.
It was a bit cathardic, but was pretty gratuitous. I don't have much to say on it, as I knew that going in.
THEN, the orgy scenes in Conviction seemed to cross into hentai territory. Like with what it was willing to show. Before the genitals would be kind of sketchy, and I felt he was doing that so he could "get away with it", but the stuff in that scene was a lot more graphic. You could clearly see the double penetration, and blow job stuff going on. It was a bit eyebrow raising. I'm a little unclear on how Japan rates and sells stuff. But this seemed X-rated at times, and I'm not sure where they sell this in stores or whatever.
Anyway, that was just me going over my thoughts about it. I really enjoyed it. I wouldn't put it up with Akira, as that is probably my 4th favorite comic ever, but it was really awesome stuff. Unfortunately, I can't get any of my friends to read it. The only one I know that would be sort of into comics like that doesn't really like manga at all, and this has enough of the tropes and stuff where he would probably be turned off pretty fast by it. Which is a shame, and I would love to discuss it with some people around here. Not happening.
I've been reading a lot of comics lately, and the only thing that topped the climax to the Golden Age arc, was the climax to Jonathan Hickman's Fantastic Four arc (which I think melted some of my brain, with how epic it was).
Not much else to add, as I know it's a favorite amongst manga fans, and I'm just adding to it's praise. But Akira was still better, and it's almost like it's such a cliche of how good Akira is, that people don't mention it. They want to mention something a "bit" less well known. Then again, it could be that people just watched the anime, and skipped the manga (wrong decision). Akira's manga takes it to another level in volumes 4 and 5. Exhilarating stuff.
Anyway, that's it. Great stuff. Very glad I got to read it. Things in my life are quite dark right now, so the escapism was much appreciated.
Everything will surely be ok!
