A review by sergek94
Berserk Volume 1 by Kentaro Miura

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

 

 “If I have to worry about the ants I crush beneath my feet, I couldn't even walk around”

Guts, more commonly known as The Black Swordsman, is known for his callous ruthlessness, and wielding his gigantic sword, he brings nothing but terror in his wake.He seems to fear no man, or demon, or spirit, or any entity, and despite how formidable his adversaries are, he always seems to come out on top. In this volume, we get a vague introduction to Guts, see how he's on a seemingly senseless murder spree, during which he ends up saving a fairy who becomes quite obsessed with him and follows him around everywhere, making him our main hero's sidekick who heals him and gives him seemingly unneeded emotional support, every time people are brutally slaughtered around Guts.


“I will never draw my sword for another man again, or be dangled by another mans dream. From now on, I will fight my own battles."

This volume has 3 chapters, and they don't really give much information regarding Guts's motivations. We can see that he's on some form of vendetta, and his vigilante-like behaviour must be coming from a much deeply seated wound.Despite his brutality, we do see that he is the protagonist of the story, after having murdered a group of thugs in a tavern and saved his new fairy friend, even though that little encounter led to The Snake Lord feeling threatened over his domain and unleashing hell (quite literally) in town as a response to Guts's transgression. We can see that Guts is some form of grimdark antihero character.


The world seems to be quite a cruel one, and this manga doesn't shy away from very graphic murder scenes.It nicely sets the stage for some grimdark dark fantasy and we get to have a limited exploration of this world and the creatures it holds, from spirits that animate the skeletons of the dead to snake demons. Apart from that, since this is the introductory volume, I didn't really get much depth out of it and haven't developed any relevant sentiments regarding the characters, and I'm mainly intrigued by the medieval-European inspired dark fantasy world, which is something we do see quite commonly in fantasy, but that atmosphere always has its charm and allure for me.I will be reading the next volume of this manga to see if I'm able to get more invested in the story, and I see this as a decent entry into this world.


 “In this world, is the destiny of mankind controlled by some transcendental entity or law? Is it like the hand of God hovering above? At least it is true that man has no control, even over his own will. Man takes up the sword in order to shield the small wound in his heart sustained in a far-off time beyond remembrance. Man wields the sword so that he may die smiling in some far-off time beyond perception.”