Berserk Volume 10: Griffith is Found and it’s Not Looking Good

The first chapter of this volume is very mediocre in it’s lack of plot progression but it is an adorable chapter to look back on when you read the Eclipse. It’s made more clear here Guts and Casca are in love mainly and little hints of foreshadowing. The follow-up is superior in that we receive a refreshing Griffith chapter. We hone in on Griffith’s eternal thoughts and they’re enthralling. As he sees it, Guts destroyed him. Instead of becoming an ends to achieve his means, he mixed up the two and Guts became the means and he knows it. In Griffith’s vision, Guts played him and led him on so far then took it all away. He views Guts like Casca did. Selfish and unpredictable to the harm he will cause others, and by others I mean just Griffith. How I see it, he took on Casca’s view as a way to cope with his situation, and like Casca turned it all on Guts as if he knew their behavioral patterns and was their guardian. You could see it then as Griffith believing Guts as part of himself or part of his desires he himself willingly couldn’t separate and Guts abused that for his own experience, his own gain. In that way, in his solitude you realize what a friend is to Griffith. A future enemy.

As this volume continues we see Guts and Casca have funny flirtations, if it isn’t clear Berserk is a romance, as they go down searching for Griffith. After this, we focus in on Casca and Charlotte  and Miura highlights well their differences. Whereas Casca knows the real Griffith more than anyone except Guts, Charlotte is lost in a fairy tale as she was raised to be that way. She is naive of human beings as more than what they initially seem, leaving her romance with Griffith to be utterly imaginary. Later, a truly touching moment arises when Casca holds onto Guts cape. Guts realizing this, smiles sweetly. Moments like this help remind you why they are a good couple. Whereas Griffith’s relationships are based on fiction and are contracts for a later date, Guts and Casca are two people who know everything there is to know about each other, from blemishes to perfections, and love each other more for it. Charlotte couldn’t handle if Griffith wasn’t the perfect knight to her since that’s how he designed himself.

Meanwhile, an elf appears, to Rickert’s bewilderment. It seems happy and noble, until you realize they eat humans. The addition of elf’s is good foreshadowing for later. A particular compliant I am left with after reading these volumes is that Miura will have someone say a very blunt warning of what is to come. It’s a simple way to foreshadow things without trying. The use of elf’s advances the plot rather than stagnates it. Poor Rickert sees far worse than elf’s but is saved by Skull Knight just in time. Remember that elf though, they will become vital in a future arc.

Guts and the crew finally find Griffith and it’s horrible. He is body is un-fixable in the unflinching brutality inflicted upon it, leaving Casca stunned. When Griffith awakes to notice Guts, he attempts to choke him but is unsuccessful as Guts sobs holding him. This is a quiet and remarkable moment that really reminds the reader Griffith is not happy in the least to be saved. He’s become Guts in the Black Swordsman arc, but with more quiet hunger. You see Guts go through the stages of grief as he rages when given a chance to attack the enemies, and Casca is left unable to look at the damage inflicted on the man who is supposed be carrying the sword she longed to be. We see Guts and the crew face numerous enemies on their way to escaping, but this portion of the manga is mostly lackluster. The art is better than ever, but the story feels stopped every few steps by a new boring antagonist Guts need to face. While this helps put you in the Band of the Hawk’s shoes as they struggle to escape with Griffith, it doesn’t make this part of Berserk any less boring reading.