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Berserk is a manga series set in medieval Europe which is one of the most successful work in the dark fantasy genre.
Berserk is an immortal monument of the dark fantasy genre and a model for this genre.
Author Miura has succeeded in this fertile dark fantasy land not many people have explored.
Each chapter of this dark fantasy series looms with its own stories, making them so relatable, which is at the core of Berserk’s success. Berserk paved the way for a series of dark fantasy works deeply influenced by Berserk.
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Black Warrior – Guts
Berserk is set in the medieval European world. The main character is Guts, a black warrior whose life is full of countless misfortunes. Thanks to that, he almost lost his humanity.
Being a child born from the hanging corpse of an unnamed mother, his adoptive parents thought that he was a bad omen. He had to live in fear and rejection of the world, having his own adoptive father betray him.
After finding his comrades, the Falcon Army, he was once again betrayed by those he considered his comrades.
Just as he is slowly losing himself after a series of bad events, he meets the companion—that’s the name readers use to refer to the third family of Guts.
The Companions are people with dark and painful lives and pasts who meet and protect and care for each other. It was these wonderful teammates who gave Guts’ humanity back so he wouldn’t indulge in bloody killings.
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Perhaps people with rejected human experiences have unwittingly linked these characters together. They saved each other from their personal darkness.
Thanks to the Companion, Guts remembered what it felt like to trust and be trusted. He remembered what it was like to be friends. He remembered life without hatred and suffering.
Guts had to express his feelings; he thought he would never be able to watch the sunset with such ease. He thought he would never be able to sleep through the long night. Perhaps, since having the Companion, Guts knows what true life is.
After months of solitude spent fighting relentlessly with the apostles, Guts still has to fight the monsters hidden deep within. His new comrades, members of the Companion, who from the same unfortunate life have reintroduced humanity in his person.
With the sudden departure of the late author Kentaro Miura, this is probably an extremely happy ending for the long journey of all the characters in the series.
Dark fantasy world
Berserk built up a fantasy world with characters carrying the power to control the universe, called God Hand.
It is set in a fantasy world with elves, gnomes, dragons and more mythical creatures. It has pagan religious organizations and heresies, with the desolation of poverty-stricken cities. Not to mention, the scenes of death on the battlefield and mysteries in the murky forest canopy full of dangers. Of course, there are the nobility living in luxury and political intrigue as well. Then we have refugee caravans in search of a peaceful place.
Berserk is a manga series immersed in a dark color with no way out, but the characters in it are just like small fish trying to struggle in despair to change their own destiny.
Every life in Berserk is subject to the flow of cause and effect. The line of cause and effect affects the entire circuit of the work, all the events occurring in the work.
Those who can control these chained events are the God Hand or their supreme lord – the Lord of the Abyss. They can see through the flow of cause and effect. They’re able to predict possible events in the future to carry out their malicious plots.
Epicurus – an ancient Greek philosopher once said that Either God wants to prevent evil, but cannot prevent it, or he can prevent it but does not want to, or cannot.
If He wants but cannot, then He is powerless. If possible without wanting, then he is the Evil One. Whether he wants to or not, he can’t, so he is both powerless and evil. But if he wants and can, why doesn’t he?
Even if God is not omnipotent, can God’s minions grasp everything? Fate governs everything. Small fish like Guts will not be able to do anything. No matter how outstanding they are, they cannot change the flow of cause and effect.
However, Miura still creates characters who try to change the flow of fate, like Guts or Casca.
Humanity in Berserk
Humanity is what distinguishes humans from other species. It sets them apart from animals, plants, or demons, and without humanity, they are not human.
There will be difficult times that bring us down, and there will be harsh realities that make us despair.
Then you will trade humanity to achieve your ambitions in inhuman ways. Or you will take what you have to continue the life of a human being despite decay or suffering?
Guts after the tragedy of the night of the eclipse, left his lover Casca deranged because of terrible memories, he immersed himself in killing apostles to avenge his friend. He had unknowingly turned himself into the demon of hatred.
As Friedrich Nietzsche said, He who fights monsters must take care not to become a monster himself. And when you look too long into the abyss, the abyss will also open its eyes to you. Guts has become a demon like the ones he hunts.
Contrary to the bloodthirsty image of Guts before, at the end of the series, we have seen weakness in him. His tears are the eternal proof of humanity in him. Guts’ tears planted his humanity back. After all, only we ourselves can save ourselves from what is damned.
Author Miura has presented a world that is very similar to what is happening in reality. We roll around in life with no space and reasons that make us tired. Even if we don’t want to, difficulties will still come, and sadness will still cling.
The series has not received much attention in Asia but has received a very warm reception from readers in the US and UK. This is probably due to its culturally appropriate setting.
Sadly, the series will have to stop forever with the death of the mangaka. This is a huge regret for fans of the manga genre in general and fans of Berserk in particular who are unable to accept the accidental ending of the series.
We don’t know if Berserk has really ended or not, but with Berserk’s appearance and stopping, it has also created a dark fantasy monument in the manga world.
Maybe the following is the appearance of a series of manga series working on this genre, but perhaps Berserk is immortal. And if you’re a fan of this amazing manga, you might be interested in our Berserk-based designs at the Berserk Merch official website: https://berserkshop.com/
