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Berserk main characters analysis Part Three: Griffith *Spoiler and Mature Content Warning*.

Griffith.And so we come to the third part of our analysis, this time covering the third link that ties the story of Berserk together. The charismatic, and ambitious Griffith.
*sigh*. I gotta be honest with you guys, I HATE this f***er, I mean honest to god, jump up and down HATE him. Not because he's an uninteresting character, but because he's the kind of person you NEVER want to get involved with. He's a self serving, manipulative, high functioning psychopath who will do anything, ANYthing, to get what he wants. In other words, he's the WORST kind of evil. And yet, for whatever reason, half of the Berserk fanbase just goes ga-ga over this guy. Seriously, there are people who will defend every single one of Griffith's actions, no matter how reprehensible. Hell, some won't even call him the series villain. Here, I will show why they are wrong. Oh and guys, for the sake of time, I am going to skip a lot of things that Griffith actually does (like I'm not going to mention how he murder's the Queen of Midland and her conspirators after they tried to kill him), but I'm going to just say enough to give you a basic idea of what kind of person he is. and as alway,  Spoiler and Mature Content Warning!!!!

Anyway, when we last left Guts, he had just left the Band of the Hawk. I told you that the reason for this was because of Griffith, but not because they had a disagreement or anything like that. No, Guts left because he wanted to become worthy of being Griffith's friend. No really. Rather than explain it, I'm just going to show you the moment Guts discovered what Griffith's definition of a "friend" is. Keep in mind, this scene happens immediately after Guts assassinates the heir of Midland's throne (and said heir's son, though that kinda happened by accident) on Griffith's orders:



This is the face that told me just how evil this bastard is.....Yeeeah, can you see why I don't like this guy? Guts at that point in the story has devoted his life to helping Griffith achieve his dream, and Griffith has the BALLS to say that he doesn't consider anyone his friend who doesn't have any dreams of his own? Yeah, no. F***ck you, Griffith. Though to be fair, at this point in the story, Guts still has no ambition of his own. He dosen't care about dreams, he's just enjoying killing people and the fact that he now has friends that actually care about him. He's pretty much the definition of what Griffith doesn't consider a friend. But regardless, this is what prompts Guts to eventually leave the Band of the Hawk, to find his own dream. Griffith, however, kinda has a cow about this.


The start of Griffith's dream. Griffith's Behlit.But before I get to that, I should probably back up and talk about Griffith himself. Normally this is where I would talk about the character's backstory, but in the case of Griffith, there really isn't that much to go on. Other than he was born a peasant and that he always dreamed of becoming a King, neither the Manga nor the anime has really offered up much on Griffith's past, or what could have made him into the scumbag we see when the story begins. What we do know, however, is that as a child, Griffith was given a strange crimson colored egg shaped pendent called a "Behelit" And that he was told that it would guide him to his destiny. And we know that when he came of age he formed the Band of the Hawk with Casca and some other secondary characters who I don't want to get into. What is important here is the Behlit, Griffith carried it with him as a good luck talisman pretty much all of his life. The importance of the Behlit is best summed up by this bit of foreshadowing:



Anyway, back to the present. Before Guts leaves the Band of the Hawk. Griffith tries to stop him in a scene that also reveals what kind of man he is. Basically, when Guts first joined the Hawks, Griffith said flat out that he was his to control and do with as he wishes. And that only death could free him from that control. Now that Guts wants to leave, well, as I said, Griffith's not happy about it. In fact it pisses him off. So, just like when he was recruited, Griffith challenges Guts to a duel. If Guts wins, he's free to go. This is a very revealing moment to me. Not only is Griffith manipulative, he's also controlling. To him, his comrades aren't people, they're toys. Toys that he controls and he's free to do whatever he wants to. He dosen't care about them. To him, they exist to solely to support him. Guts' may or not be the exception, and I say that because after Guts win the duel, Griffith becomes incredibly depressed. So depressed, that to console himself, or (and I suspect more likely) to reassert his manhood or something, he seduces (and has sex with) his bride to be, Midland's young Princess Charlotte. Some have viewed this scene as Griffith trying to speed up his plans for the throne. I completely disagree. Ya'll, as much as I hate him, Griffith isn't an idiot. He knows that if he's caught with the Princess before they are married, he'll get skinned alive and everything he worked for will be for nothing. No, this is someone who is depressed and trying to drown out his depression. Some have also viewed Griffith's depression and his actions here as him having romantic feelings for Guts. While there are scenes in the story that suggest that Griffith is at least bisexual, I doubt that he had any feelings of the sort for him. In my opinion, Griffith sees Guts' leaving as a betrayal. That despite his words, he did see Guts as a friend of sorts. But him leaving to live his own life and not support him and his dream? Nope, he's turning his back on me. We can't have that.

Anyway, Griffith is caught. And naturally, the King of Midland is very upset by his actions. He throws Griffith into the hands of the castle interrogator and brands the rest of the Band of the Hawk as traitors. Under Casca's leadership, they manage to flee Midland and hide out in the surrounding countryside. A year passes, and Guts eventually hears of Griffiths and the Band of the Hawks fate. And he rejoins them. Casca confronts him, and blames him for what happened to Griffith. But by then, she's tired, burdened by the mantel of leadership. Its also here that they officially become a couple (see video on the right).

Well, to make a long story short, Guts finally realizes, that what he's been seeking his whole life wasn't a dream worthy of Griffith. But a family, a sense of belonging. And that he had had it all this time with the Hawks. They had given him everything he had ever wanted in life. Casca, similarly, has found in Guts the acceptance and love that she would have never gotten from Griffith, and through that she has rediscovered her femininity. Griffith had been the capstone that had held them all together, but now they've outgrown him. They have each other. Problem is that they don't realize the latter, and Guts agrees to help them rescue Griffith. And when they find him....you know what, I'm just gonna show you (sorry for the lack of subtitles guys, but this was the best clip I could find, watch):

      


                     
Griffith is all kinds of messed up (just to be tasteful). He's not a threat to anyone at this point. He can't even walk and his tounges been cut out. Yet, even after Guts, Casca and the others rescue him, Griffith can't let go of his dream, He can't even accept that Guts and Casca don't need him anymore, and that he's essentially lost his power over them, and the others. Once the other members of the Hawks discover Griffith's condition, they decide to call it a day and pursue other things. Casca, out of a sense of guilt, volunteers to take care of Griffith with Guts. Griffith tries to run away and...and then there's a solar eclipse, the Behlit wakes up, Griffith and the Hawks gut sucked into a hellish, nightmare dimension that is a gathering place for demons and then this happens (female nudity warning):

      



Griffith makes his choice. Griffith is reborn as Demon Lord Femto. These are the God Hands, God like Demon Lords that explain themselves to be the right hand of the divine, and they have appeared now at Griffith's call, because he's been chosen by fate to join their number. This is where Griffith's betrayal that I mentioned in the first post happens. In order to become one of their number and become a demon, he needs a sacrifice of someone close to him. Griffith, being the grateful bastard that he is (sarcasm) accepts. What happens next is a slaughter fest, demons kill and devour all of Hawks members one by one, save for Casca and Guts.

Guts survives.What happens next is so disturbing, I'm not even going to show it. The reborn Griffith then rapes Casca in a pool of their former comrades blood. Yeah, he has Demon's hold her down and everything. And in the Manga, you see it in explicit detail. This was one part of the story I really didn't understand for a while. Why did he do it? My friend who is a Berserk fanboy tried to pass it off as part of the ritual that turned him into a demon, but that's a fat load of BS. Why? Because his transformation was already complete when he did it, that's why! And where was Guts while this was going on, you might ask? Well he did try to stop it, he had to sever his own arm to do so. But he was then pinned down and forced to watch with one of his eyes gouged out. Now, from a narrative standpoint, this whole horrific chapter can be seen as a rebirth of Guts, Casca and Griffith. Well, ok, Griffith's rebirth isn't so much of a rebirth as it is his true self being manifest. He was always this evil, but now that evil has come out, and he is ready to unleash it upon the world. Guts rebirth is more symbolic, he was born amidst blood and death, and him surviving this can be seen as him being born again as an embodiment of rage that he becomes later in the series. It's a rebirth of Casca because, well, after this her mind is destroyed, reduced to the cognitive functions of a child to block out the events. And it can been seen as her character coming full circle. She was saved from being rapped by a nobleman by Griffith. Hell, she was practically raised by him. She idolized him, and this is how he repays her loyalty, by ruining her like that nobleman tried to do all those years ago. There are some fans out there who say that Casca actually LIKED what Griffith does to her. If you're one of those people, get away from my blog, YOU'RE A FUCKING PIG!  

But this brings us back to my original question, Why did Griffith rape her? Well the answer is that he did it out of spite. He saw what Casca and Guts meant to each other, and how he had lost his control over them, and how they didn't need him anymore. And this one act of sexual violence is him reasserting his authority over both of them in the most painful and brutal way possible. Guts and Casca do escape, and shortly thereafter, Guts begins his quest for revenge.

This is as far as I'm going to go when it comes to analysing these characters. Guys, this Manga is 37 volumes long and is as complex as any of Game of Thrones books. If I tried to look at everything, I would be here for the next two or three years. But I will give you a synopsis of what happens after this events, as well as my final thoughts on the series.

Tune in next week for that.

And I'm out. later guys.        
   

     

            

Berserk main characters analysis Part Two: Casca (Golden Age Arc). *Spoiler and Mature Content Warning*.

Before we get started, I have a bit of an announcement. I have started a Patreon page to help keep both this blog and my YouTube Channel alive. Don't worry, I'm not going to charge anything for anyone to see this blog or my videos, but I need a little help. I'm serious guys, I NEED your help to keep doing this. I don't like asking and I HATE begging for money, but I really have no choice now. I'm flat broke, and I can't find a job outside of this blog and Youtube. There is still my Amazon store if you rather buy something than donate to Patreon, but either way....guys, there's just no way for me to say this with any pride: Please, I know I don't deserve it but, please.... HELP ME .

Here are the links to both Patreon and the store I hope you all will consider one or the other:

My Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/WillEnglish?ty=h

My Amazon Store: http://astore.amazon.com/awesostufffor-20 

Casca holding her own against Guts when they first met. 

Now That I've proven that I have no shame. Let's continue on with where we left off last week. And just like last time:  SPOILER ALERT!

When we last left Guts, he had just been recruited by Griffith into his company of mercenary, The Band of the Hawk, It's also here that we meet Casca,  the only woman in the company. But unlike Gut's adoptive mother, she's not the camp whore. No, she's second in command, and is as good with a sword as any of the men. Hell, when they first meet, she's able to hold her own against Guts, blow for blow. But anyway, that other thing that characterizes Casca, and this is a very important detail, is her undying loyalty to Griffith.
Why is she so loyal to him? Well to understand that, we need to go to her past.

Casca was born a peasant, and she accep Griffith gives child Casca a choice.ted that all of the hardships that peasants had to endure. Midland was (and still was by the time Guts joined the Band of the Hawk) in the middle of a Hundred Year War. And she had lived through crops getting trampled, people getting kidnapped, the pillaging, the slaughter, all of that. She was young and accepted being helpless. Then one day, a local Nobleman came and took her with him, promising her parents a better life for her....but in actuality all he wanted to do was rape her. He would have succeeded too, if Griffith hadn't been passing by and intervened. The strangest part about this whole scene is that he didn't actually save her, not the traditional sense. He threw his sword down and told her to make a choice. To simplify: she could be weak and accept her fate, or she could be strong and fight back.
Casca makes her choice. 
Casca chose the latter. Ever since that day, she has been at his side. Griffith had saved her life, and in return, she gave him everything, effectively throwing away her both her childhood and her femininity completely in exchange for the strength to stand on her own....except that's not what she's doing at all. Sure she becomes strong, but all of that strength she's gained was so that she could be of use to Griffith. She basically worships the man, and wants his attention, his love. Even though she kinda sorta knows that Griffith doesn't see her that way.  Still, she tries to be of use to him....and then Guts enters the picture.

Not to jump ahead, because I wanna talk about this more when we talk about Griffith, but the short of it is: Griffith starts to play favorites and favors Guts over the other members of the Band of the Hawk and Casca dosen't like this one little bit. And starts acting hostile towards him. But as the story progresses, she starts to open up to Guts, and probably for the first time in her life, starts to love someone who isn't Griffith, and in that process, she rediscovers her femininity. There's even this hilarious scene from both the anime and the Manga in where Casca wears a dress and everyone is shocked to see her in it.

  
Because it's so out of character. But anyway, things seem
to be going good, at this point. Guts and Casca are a couple (unofficially anyway), The Band of the Hawk has single handedly ended Midland's 100 year war and Griffith is set to marry Midland's Princess Charlotte and achieve his ambition of becoming King...and then Guts decides to leave the Band of the Hawk. Why did he do this? Because of Griffith.

Find out how next week, when we are finally gonna talk about him.


And I'm out guys, see you later.        

Berserk main characters analysis Part Two: Casca *Spoiler and Mature Content Warning*.

Before we get started, I have a bit of an announcement. I have started a Patreon page to help keep both this blog and my YouTube Channel alive. Don't worry, I'm not going to charge anything for anyone to see this blog or my videos, but I need a little help. I'm serious guys, I NEED your help to keep doing this. I don't like asking and I HATE begging for money, but I really have no choice now. I'm flat broke, and I can't find a job outside of this blog and Youtube. There is still my Amazon store if you rather buy something than donate to Patreon, but either way....guys, there's just no way for me to say this with any pride: Please, I know I don't deserve it but, please.... HELP ME .

Here are the links to both Patreon and the store I hope you all will consider one or the other:

My Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/WillEnglish?ty=h

My Amazon Store: http://astore.amazon.com/awesostufffor-20 

Casca holding her own against Guts when they first met. 

Now That I've proven that I have no shame. Let's continue on with where we left off last week. And just like last time:  SPOILER ALERT!

When we last left Guts, he had just been recruited by Griffith into his company of mercenary, The Band of the Hawk, It's also here that we meet Casca,  the only woman in the company. But unlike Gut's adoptive mother, she's not the camp whore. No, she's second in command, and is as good with a sword as any of the men. Hell, when they first meet, she's able to hold her own against Guts, blow for blow. But anyway, that other thing that characterizes Casca, and this is a very important detail, is her undying loyalty to Griffith.
Why is she so loyal to him? Well to understand that, we need to go to her past.

Casca was born a peasant, and she accep Griffith gives child Casca a choice.ted that all of the hardships that peasants had to endure. Midland was (and still was by the time Guts joined the Band of the Hawk) in the middle of a Hundred Year War. And she had lived through crops getting trampled, people getting kidnapped, the pillaging, the slaughter, all of that. She was young and accepted being helpless. Then one day, a local Nobleman came and took her with him, promising her parents a better life for her....but in actuality all he wanted to do was rape her. He would have succeeded too, if Griffith hadn't been passing by and intervened. The strangest part about this whole scene is that he didn't actually save her, not the traditional sense. He threw his sword down and told her to make a choice. To simplify: she could be weak and accept her fate, or she could be strong and fight back.
Casca makes her choice. 
Casca chose the latter. Ever since that day, she has been at his side. Griffith had saved her life, and in return, she gave him everything, effectively throwing away her both her childhood and her femininity completely in exchange for the strength to stand on her own....except that's not what she's doing at all. Sure she becomes strong, but all of that strength she's gained was so that she could be of use to Griffith. She basically worships the man, and wants his attention, his love. Even though she kinda sorta knows that Griffith doesn't see her that way.  Still, she tries to be of use to him....and then Guts enters the picture.

Not to jump ahead, because I wanna talk about this more when we talk about Griffith, but the short of it is: Griffith starts to play favorites and favors Guts over the other members of the Band of the Hawk and Casca dosen't like this one little bit. And starts acting hostile towards him. But as the story progresses, she starts to open up to Guts, and probably for the first time in her life, starts to love someone who isn't Griffith, and in that process, she rediscovers her femininity. There's even this hilarious scene from both the anime and the Manga in where Casca wears a dress and everyone is shocked to see her in it.

  
Because it's so out of character. But anyway, things seem
to be going good, at this point. Guts and Casca are a couple (unofficially anyway), The Band of the Hawk has single handedly ended Midland's 100 year war and Griffith is set to marry Midland's Princess Charlotte and achieve his ambition of becoming King...and then Guts decides to leave the Band of the Hawk. Why did he do this? Because of Griffith.

Find out how next week, when we are finally gonna talk about him.


And I'm out guys, see you later.        

Berserk main characters analysis Part One:Introduction and Guts (Golden Age Arc) *Spoiler Warning* .

This is one topic I've wanted to cover ever since I woke this blog back up. Yes, because I'm an anime and manga fan, but more so because of how fascinating Berserk as a series actually is. Even so, I held off on doing it since I know that many who actually read this blog aren't THAT interested in all the nerdy stuff I talk about (or if they are, they don't tell me. Seriously who do I gotta bribe to fill up my comments section? *laughs* kidding), and I wanted to let what I had to say cook in my noggin until it came out as a piping hot thought. Weather that time is now, I don't know. But I'm gonna talk about it anyway. Also guys, I can't analysis any aspect of this series without spoiling it, so if you don't want spoilers, turn away now.  Oh, and some of the pictures I'm using for this are actually pretty violent and disturbing. You've been warned.    

Berserk's first volume cover. featuring Guts.Anyway, for those who don't know, Berserk  is a Dark Fantasy manga (Japanese Comic Books) series created by artist Kentaro Miura, Set in a familiar medieval Europe inspired Fantasy setting called 'Midland' the plot revolves around a demon slayer named Guts and his quest for revenge against His former Commander/best friend, Griffith, who betrayed and sacrificed his former comrades, The Band of the Hawk, to demons in exchange for power (more on that later). I first heard about it from a friend of mine who fanboyed over this series to the point of obnoxiousness and kinda turned me off it for a while. That is until I spoke some other friends who were more moderate fans, and based on their recommendations, I decided to check out the manga....all 37 volumes of it. Yeah, Berserk began serialization in 1989 and despite its length, there's still no end in sight. But that's neither here nor there.

What is there, however, is a rich, complex, mature Dark Fantasy that I've often compared to The Song of Ice and Fire series (AKA Game of Thrones), at least in terms of scope. And also in terms of its characters. Now, Just like game of thrones, Berserk has a lot of major and minor characters with there own stories. But it's generally agreed that the three characters that drive the story are Guts, his comrade in arms and lover Casca and their former commander Griffith . And its these three characters that we are going to be focusing on. I don't want to go into too much depth, but there is a lot to talk about and with these three characters alone. So for the sake of my own sanity, here's what I'm going to do, I'm going to break this up into multiple parts. Each part will introduce a character, and each part after will expand upon the previous one, and then I'll wrap it up with my own opinion on ach once the other parts are done. Lets start with our star, Guts.

Gut's birth. From left to right: Casca, Guts and Griffith. Gut's past is darker than any you might find in a George R. R. Martin story. His village was massacred and he was born from the corpse of his mother...who was hang from a tree. No really. Somehow not dying from hitting the ground or the elements, Guts was discovered by a band of roaming mercenaries and adopted by the camp whore...who then died of disease some short years later. having nowhere else to turn, Guts was taken under the wing of the mercenary leader Gambino. Who taught him how use a sword from the age of 6, and abused Guts in ways that I don't wanna talk about. Anyway, to skip ahead a bit, After Guts killed a crazed Gambino in self-defense, he became a lone mercenary. Until he was discovered by Griffith and recruited into The Band of the Hawk. I don't want this analysis to sound like a Wiki page, but this information is important to understanding Guts as a character. When he is recruited by Griffith, Guts is the very definition of a lone wolf, All he does is go around from battle to battle, fighting and killing as much as he wants. He has no ambition, no direction, and he doesn't seem to want any. His best friend is his sword and he doesn't want any others...until he meets Casca, Griffith and the rest of the Band of the Hawk. They would be his first taste of camaraderie and friendship, and even love. This leads us nicely into part two, where we will talk about Casca and her relationship with Guts and how it changes the both of them....next week.

Before we go, I want to quickly bust a myth that has built up around Guts over the years. It's something that my Berserk fanboy friend told me and, I've heard it from other fans around the internet as well. First take a look at this:

   

Could this be the sword that birthed Dragonslayer?   That, dear reader, is Gut's iconic sword, Dragonslayer. A massive 400 pound slab of iron and steel that Guts wields after Griffith's betrayal. Since their debut, Guts and Dragonslayer have influenced countless other characters with similar weapons, most famously Cloud Strife and his Buster Sword from the game Final Fantasy VII. The fans and several reputable sources say that Guts was the first anime and/or manga (some would even argue the first in the whole of fiction) character to use such a ridiculously oversized weapons. Well, I am here to tell you that that is completely wrong. While it's impossible to pinpoint exactly when or what series first used giant swords, Kentaro Miura himself has often cited a manga series from 1978 called Pygmalion as having an oversized sword. Could this series be where he got the idea? I don't know, but considering that the 1970's are often remembered as the "Golden Age of Manga," it's not outside the realm of possibility. And of course there are historical two handed swords, like the Scottish Claymore, and the possibility of an oversized weapon in other fantasy literature, but I don't want to get into that. The point is, Berserk wasn't the first manga to have oversized weapons. It merely popularized them.

That's all from me for now, see you in part 2.     

                         

Berserk main characters analysis Part One:Introduction and Guts *Spoiler Warning* .

This is one topic I've wanted to cover ever since I woke this blog back up. Yes, because I'm an anime and manga fan, but more so because of how fascinating Berserk as a series actually is. Even so, I held off on doing it since I know that many who actually read this blog aren't THAT interested in all the nerdy stuff I talk about (or if they are, they don't tell me. Seriously who do I gotta bribe to fill up my comments section? *laughs* kidding), and I wanted to let what I had to say cook in my noggin until it came out as a piping hot thought. Weather that time is now, I don't know. But I'm gonna talk about it anyway. Also guys, I can't analysis any aspect of this series without spoiling it, so if you don't want spoilers, turn away now.  Oh, and some of the pictures I'm using for this are actually pretty violent and disturbing. You've been warned.    

Berserk's first volume cover. featuring Guts.Anyway, for those who don't know, Berserk  is a Dark Fantasy manga (Japanese Comic Books) series created by artist Kentaro Miura, Set in a familiar medieval Europe inspired Fantasy setting called 'Midland' the plot revolves around a demon slayer named Guts and his quest for revenge against His former Commander/best friend, Griffith, who betrayed and sacrificed his former comrades, The Band of the Hawk, to demons in exchange for power (more on that later). I first heard about it from a friend of mine who fanboyed over this series to the point of obnoxiousness and kinda turned me off it for a while. That is until I spoke some other friends who were more moderate fans, and based on their recommendations, I decided to check out the manga....all 37 volumes of it. Yeah, Berserk began serialization in 1989 and despite its length, there's still no end in sight. But that's neither here nor there.

What is there, however, is a rich, complex, mature Dark Fantasy that I've often compared to The Song of Ice and Fire series (AKA Game of Thrones), at least in terms of scope. And also in terms of its characters. Now, Just like game of thrones, Berserk has a lot of major and minor characters with there own stories. But it's generally agreed that the three characters that drive the story are Guts, his comrade in arms and lover Casca and their former commander Griffith . And its these three characters that we are going to be focusing on. I don't want to go into too much depth, but there is a lot to talk about and with these three characters alone. So for the sake of my own sanity, here's what I'm going to do, I'm going to break this up into multiple parts. Each part will introduce a character, and each part after will expand upon the previous one, and then I'll wrap it up with my own opinion on ach once the other parts are done. Lets start with our star, Guts.

Gut's birth. From left to right: Casca, Guts and Griffith. Gut's past is darker than any you might find in a George R. R. Martin story. His village was massacred and he was born from the corpse of his mother...who was hang from a tree. No really. Somehow not dying from hitting the ground or the elements, Guts was discovered by a band of roaming mercenaries and adopted by the camp whore...who then died of disease some short years later. having nowhere else to turn, Guts was taken under the wing of the mercenary leader Gambino. Who taught him how use a sword from the age of 6, and abused Guts in ways that I don't wanna talk about. Anyway, to skip ahead a bit, After Guts killed a crazed Gambino in self-defense, he became a lone mercenary. Until he was discovered by Griffith and recruited into The Band of the Hawk. I don't want this analysis to sound like a Wiki page, but this information is important to understanding Guts as a character. When he is recruited by Griffith, Guts is the very definition of a lone wolf, All he does is go around from battle to battle, fighting and killing as much as he wants. He has no ambition, no direction, and he doesn't seem to want any. His best friend is his sword and he doesn't want any others...until he meets Casca, Griffith and the rest of the Band of the Hawk. They would be his first taste of camaraderie and friendship, and even love. This leads us nicely into part two, where we will talk about Casca and her relationship with Guts and how it changes the both of them....next week.

Before we go, I want to quickly bust a myth that has built up around Guts over the years. It's something that my Berserk fanboy friend told me and, I've heard it from other fans around the internet as well. First take a look at these:

   

Could this be the sword that birthed Dragonslayer?   That, dear reader, is Gut's iconic sword, Dragonslayer. A massive 400 pound slab of iron and steel that Guts wields after Griffith's betrayal, and pretty much for the rest of the series. Since their debut, Guts and Dragonslayer have influenced countless other characters with similar weapons, most famously Cloud Strife and his Buster Sword from the game Final Fantasy VII. The fans and several reputable sources say that Guts was the first anime and/or manga (some would even argue the first in the whole of fiction) character to use such a ridiculously oversized weapon. Well, I am here to tell you that that is completely wrong. While it's impossible to pinpoint exactly when or what series first used giant swords, Kentaro Miura himself has often cited a manga series from 1978 called Pygmalion as having an oversized sword. Could this series be where he got the idea? I don't know, but considering that the 1970's is often remembered as the "Golden Age of Manga," it's not outside the realm of possibility. And of course there are historical two handed swords, like the Scottish Claymore, and the possibility of an oversized weapon in other fantasy literature, but I don't want to get into that. The point is, Berserk wasn't the first manga to have such weapon. It merely popularized the idea.

That's all from me for now, see you in part 2.     

                         

The Furthest Shore (Earthsea Cycle): First impressions.

click this picture to buy the book
for yourself.I have very conflicting opinions when it comes to giving first impressions on things. On the one hand I like doing it because I can still give my opinions on something as I'm experiencing them. On the other hand, the opinion I give might turn out to be an incompletely thought and is much harder to pin down objectively. In the case of  The Furthest Shore, I've yet to read the entire book, and so I have to urge you to take what I say about it with A LOT of salt and consider it as an incomplete thought.
Anyway, The Furthest Shore is the third book in Ursula K. Le Guin's Earthsea series. And thankfully, unlike The Tomb of Atuan  Ged is once again a central character...but he's still not the main character. No, this time the main character is a Prince named Arren from the kingdom of  Enland. Who has come to visit Ged, now Archmage of Roke's magic university, to discuss with him a very dire matter. Magic seems to be dying from the world and nobody knows why. Ged takes it upon himself to go forth with Arren and solve the mystery. I'm not real sure what to make of Arren, personally. He's basically a male version of Tenar from the last book, at least in the sense that he's almost completely ignorant of the world outside of his homeland. but the other side of this, and his entire reason for staying in the story so far, is that he's irrationally smitten with Ged and wants to learn from him. Granted, that's what I would want to do, but still. Hell, he begs early on to stay at Roke and become his page/servent. Now, I know that that's a common theme in this series, they're all coming of age stories. But it feels like Le Guin is
Ged AKA Sparrowhawk.repeating herself just a bit. at least so far. I will have to get back to you on how Arren develops; but for now let's take a quick look at Ged. He hasn't changed all that much from the second book, save that he's physically older now, and has become Archmage of Roke's school of magic. That's where he was always going to end up. There was no question about that. But the question I have is...where can his development as a character go from here? Realistically, there's really no more reason for him to be in the story at this point. He's fulfilled his dream, he's the Archmage, a leader that's looked up too and respected around the world. And so far, there's no all powerful Dark Lord Sauron-type character for him to defeat. and he's already overcame his greatest character flaw, his arrogance, in the first book. So where exactly can he go from here, besides just being a mentor? I dunno, I honestly couldn't tell you at this point. And that's one reason I want to keep going. To see where he's gonna end up...at least until I can get my hands on The Other Wind.


Anyway, Overall, I am enjoying this story. I can't wait to see what happens next. And when I do, then I'll give my complete thoughts on the series as a whole.
And I'm out. Later.

                     

The People VS Digital Homicide

I know that a lot of people who actually follow this blog aren't gamers and probably don't know who the hell Digital Homicide (also sometimes known as Imminent Uprising) is. Well, the short answer is that; Digital Homicide LLC is an Arizona based independent video game studio best known for making terrible games on the PC, and for being in a, quite frankly, embarrassing dick measuring blood feud with professional Video Game Journalist and Youtube personality, Jim Sterling. Why are they in said feud, you ask? Well, and you won't even believe me when I say this, It's because Jim didn't like their games....no really, that's the actual reason. But rather than show some semblance of professionalism and, ya know, learn from it and move on, Digital Homicide decided to have one of the most idiotic (and stupendous) public fits ever undertaken by 30-something year old men and go on the attack.



I don't have time to go into an extensive history of their break down, As that would take all day, and Jim Sterling himself has already excellently documented this on his own (see videos on the right and above). However, it is worth noting that, as part of this little tantrum, Digital Homicide has tried censor Jim's criticism via a false copyright claim, slandered him (to his face I might add), and leveled false allegations at him. Class act. "Ok," some of you are thinking, "This company is pretty immature. But why tell us about what amounts to a private dispute?"

Well dear reader, on March 16th of this year, Digital Homicide decided to up the stupid scale. And by that I mean, that Digital Homicide finally snapped, and formally filed a lawsuit against Jim Sterling. Yes, these cry babies are actually going to sue a critic because he didn't like their products. I can't make this up. And not just sue him, oh no. They want $10 million dollars from him. What case could they possibly have? Well, according to an article on Kotaku,  Homicide is accusing Jim of  "assault", "libel", and "slander." Insisting that his continued negative coverage of their games has damaged their company's reputation. When asked by Kotaku about the suit, Digital Homicide's co-founder, Robert Romine, said that Jim had crossed a line with (and I quote) "continued coverage and harassment of every single title we have ever posted." the article goes on to say that "Romine also said he recently received a package full of feces in the mail, despite “multiple requests private and public to the individual [Sterling] to inform his subscriber base to stop harassing me.”

....Ok, Robert, let me explain some things to you. Number 1) Jim, did NOT send people to harass you. Jim has NO CONTROL over what his fans do. Hell, if I recall correctly, in his video covering your game, Temper Tantrum 2,  he publicly stated that he doesn't support harassment and that they shouldn't do that shit. Number 2). Jim didn't destroy your reputation, you did that yourself with your own self-destructive, petulant behavior, all because some critic did their job and gave his opinion on your work. If you react this horribly to criticism, then you SHOULD NOT BE IN THIS BUSINESS.

But more disturbing, Dear Readers, is what this lawsuit could mean. Ya'll, try to picture it for a second, what kind of precedent would this lawsuit set if Digital Homicide won (however unlikely that would be). It could establish a way for other malicious creators and, more disturbingly, big corporations, to legally censor criticisms. "Oh, I don't like what this person said about my work, I'm going to sue them. Hell, Digital Homicide successfully sued Jim Sterling." And it won't stop at Youtube or video game critics, either. No, it will spread to Books, movies, any and everything. News outlets, and other reviewers would be too afraid to publish bad reviews because they don't want to be sued. All because one studio got butthurt that no one liked their game. That's the kind of precedent you're trying to set, Digital Homicide. Whether you intended it or not, if your case gets to a Court Room and you win, You will be instrumental in bringing about Big Brother. I don't want that to happen, Nobody wants that to happen. But if my guess about you is right, then you'll plow ahead anyway, blinded by the sheer idiot righteousness of your cause.

I will be including a link to Jim Sterling's Patreon page at the end of this post if anyone wants to donate and help him fight these scum bags.

We're on your side, Jim. Give them hell.

 https://www.patreon.com/jimquisition?ty=h    

That's all for me, Thank you for reading. Later.    

        

One more month...

Till this darkness hits me like a walrus. I can't wait.

Wizard of Earthsea And Tomb of Atuan: First Impressions.

Way back in the Stone Age, I wrote a blog post giving a very brief history of Fantasy Literature. Well, OK, it was more about "Epic Fantasy Literature" than the genre as a whole, but....actually now that I think about it, I really should go back and change the title of that post. But anyway, In that post I mentioned several books series that helped shape the genre as we understand it to day, one of which was Ursula K. Le Guin's Earthsea series, which at the time I hadn't read (I'm so sorry ^_^;). But since then, I have acquired the first five books (the fifth being the short story collection 'Tales of Earthsea') and I'm working my way through them. I've only completed the first two books so far, so I'm not prepared to do a review of the entire series yet, but I will give my thoughts on what I have read so far. Also, this post is going to be a bit of a text wall becuase there's some construction going on in my room/Office and I am typing this on the Blogger app on my IPad, which kinda sucks for adding pictures and such. So, yeah, sorry about that.
Anyway, for those who don't know, the first book in this series is entitled, "A Wizard of Earthsea," which was originally published in 1968. To simplify, the story is about a young man named Ged, later known to the world as Sparrowhawk, who at an early age is shown to be strongly gifted in magic and is trained as a Mage, first by his Aunt. Then by Mage living on the same Island named, Ogion, who teaches him about the balance (basically the idea that magic can go against the course of nature) and then finally he is sent to the Wizard School on the Island of Roke. There he thrives, excelling in all of his studies, and is admired by his fellow students and teachers alike. He becomes powerful, proud, arrogent. And it's arrogance, as it so offten does, that gets him into trouble. One night, in response to a rivals challenge, he casts a spell that accidentally rips apart the fabric of reality and unleashes a shadow monster from the realm of the dead, that attacks him and scars his face. Although he survives, and the rip he created is closed by the Mages that run the school. The creature escapes into the world and starts hunting Ged. The rest of the book deals with Ged trying to get away from this thing.
The closest modern, and most obvious, parallel I can think of are the Harry Potter Books, but even that's is a poor comparison. Becuase while both books deal with magic and sorcerer, that's where the simalarites end. Ged isn't some special chosen hero like Harry, he's just a normal boy who happens to be really gifted with magic and has something of a superiority complex. And while one could make the argument that Ged is something of a Mary Sue becuase of this (I mean he turns back an invading army before he ever meets Ogion for goodness sake) I actually think that this is one instance in where this makes him work as a character. The overarching theme of this book (and probably the entire series) is "Finding yourself"(AKA a coming of age story), And the pompous arrogance and seeming perfection that Ged shows in the early chapters makes his humbling and subsequent journey all the more poinant. It's a powerful message to send, particularly for the Young Adult audience that the books were targeting. It also explains why Ged is largely absent from the second book.
Yeah, in the second book, 'The Tomb of Atuan', Ged dosen't even show up until half-way through the book. The first book was an open and shut self-contained story, at least in my opinion, and Ged's character development is more or less complete by the end of it. Realizing this, Le Guin introduced a new main character, a girl named Tenar, who is basically kidnapped by one of the major religious institutions of this universe and dedicated as its new high priestess. There, she is forcibly isolated and  brainwashed into this faiths evil ways, and even orders prisoners to be executed via starvation and thrown into the massive Underground Labyrinth inhabitaed by the dark beings known as the "Nameless Ones." You can probably see where this is going, and you would be correct in assuming that she manages to break free of all of that with Ged's help. 
Thematically, Tomb of Atuan kinda dose retread the same ground as A Wizard of Earthsea, namely, it's another coming of age story, with Ged in the role of Mentor rather than hero. Although he doesn't teach Tenar any magic, he shows her something more valuable, how to be herself. With that said, I do have to say that it is the weaker of the two books, mostly becuase I didn't really get much of a sense that Tenar was basically a hostage. Supposedly, she gradually comes to accept her exsistance in this religion. But to me, it seemed like there was no gradual about it, she just kinda goes along with it and dosen't really do much of anything against it until she meets Ged. I am willing to admit that this was probably by design, though. As Tenar was taken into this faith at a very young age, and would therefore grow up without ever realizing that what she was being taught was evil. So in that sense, it not only shows her "coming of age", it also shows the dangers of blindly following something and not thinking for yourself. I also think that A Wizard of Earthsea just has a better fleshed out story than Tomb of Atuan. 
With that said, however, I also think that Tenar is a better character, mostly becuase I think she's more identifyable than Ged. Ged was/is a magic prodigy with the power of the universe at his finger tips who gets humbled by his own hubris, Where as Tenar is more of an "Every man/woman" whose story is realalistic enough that everyone can identify with it more easily. At least in my opinion. 
There are plenty more to these books that I'm not touching on here. I know that I have't talked about the magic system in this universe, nor the power of names concept, or even Le Guin's prose style (which I still haven't made up my mind about). But that's ok, I only wanted to give my first impression about the series so far. And overall, I like it. And can't wait to see how it will play out. If you have the chance, yeah, check this one out.       And with that, I'm out. See you all later. 

Random musings: Feel the Bern.

Senator Sanders. So, today was the Georgia primary and, unsurprisingly (or surprisingly, depending on how you look at it). I went out and voted for one of the Presidential Candidates. But who did I vote for? Well, and I know several people will probably hate me for this, but I went with Bernie Sanders.  Now some might be thinking, why would I, as an American, vote for the self-proclaimed socialist? Well the answer is actually quite simple(and I'm sure that I'm not alone in saying this)....He's pretty much the only politician (outside of Senator Zell Miller and maybe former Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue) who makes any sense to me. I don't religiously follow politics, when I can help it, but I do watch the news, and I feel like I am as well informed as anybody, and even with that limited exposure, Sander's is still the only one who makes any sense to me. And if that makes me a socialist then....oh wait, what's that I hear? I think it's the sound of me not caring what label others put on me.

I'm not going to pretend that I agree with everything that Sander's believes in. I for one think that America should lead the fight against ISIS and utterly destroy them, whereas Sanders, while rightly calling ISIS evil and also wanting it destroyed, wants us to take a more supportive role. And I'm not entirely on board with his views on Global Warming. I am, however, on board with his views of the economy, education, healthcare and his opposition to the disgusting Trans-Pacific Trade agreement, and I have to applaud him on his support for LGBT rights (something I personally feel very strongly about).

I don't have time to go through, list and explain everything that Sanders believes in (that's what the Wikipedia page is for) But the point I'm trying to make here is that Sander's views closely mirror my own. And for me that's extremely rare, hell almost unheard of. I've said on this blog once before that I don't take stock on either side of politics, I still don't. But this is the only time, really, in my adult life that I've actually felt strongly enough about a candidate to willing vote for him. Which was not really the case with all the elections I participated in. But will he actually win? I dunno. We'll have to wait and see.

Either way, good luck sir.

And for my readers, I SWEAR this is the last political post. We can move on now. lol. Thank you for reading. See you later.