Berserk Volume 11: Not Especially Great

Volume eleven has some of my least favorite parts of Berserk. The plot pretty much just stops and wastes insurmountable amount of time on Guts and the crew running away from the new bad guy, Wylad, a terribly boring villain that I’m rejoiced the ’97 anime cut out since he’s banal. He works as a threat that won’t leave our crew alone, but is blatantly an anomaly in Berserk. He is what Berserk usually avoids: a run-of-the-mill evil monster who kills for fun.

While one-dimensional tropes like this appear in places in Berserk, never does Miura usually make them the main focal point, as there’s other complex drama you can divert your attention to. But here that’s not present and it’s a miserable experience. If Miura wanted his audience to be miserable like the characters in this volume, he has succeeded.

Rather than Wylad feeling particularly scary, he is a tedious villain. He is like that final boss who just won’t die. And while it may be fun at first, it quickly becomes tedious. Wylad is a villain who I could believe Miura used to hold back the Eclipse since he feels that out of place. The one astounding thing Miura accomplished with him was showing how far Guts had grown in combat over the time Griffith was being tortured. Aside from illustrating that, I was little impressed. Wylad’s time could’ve been better used showing a villain who would’ve become important later. Imagine Farnese and Serpico chased the Band of the Hawk, allowing the world to feel more connected. When you think of the potential Miura had to do more here, it’s not hard to feel extremely disappointed with the final result.

After the Wylad chase settles down, we get a fantastic interaction with Casca and Judeau. He essentially tells her Griffith will not be the Griffith from before. And you can see her take it in. It’s clear in this moment she really accepted the broken man before her really was Griffith. Now, the question looms large. What are they gonna do? Griffith can’t lead, the Kingdom hates them, so what are they gonna strive for? We get a nice interaction between Guts and Griffith and the infamous Wylad arrives to damage the plot further. Thankfully, he finally helps to advance the plot and shows the Band of the Hawk who Griffith is now. A nobody. He can’t be the leader they wanna force themselves to imagine him as, even in that state. But Wylad is cut short when Zodd appears and helps to foreshadow what is to come very soon.