Berserk Volume 2: To Read but Not of Note

“Not of note?” Now why is that? The answer is simple. This volume is middling, lacking the acceptable set-up from volume-one of this world, and without the satisfying payoff in the later volume (which includes Griffith). All Berserk fans know this very well: the action is appetizer for the story. And within this volume, the action is all that gets time to shine.

On top of that, Puck is as trite as ever, never really becoming that funny sidekick Miura wants him to be, and narrows down to a annoying pest for anyone reading. While he serves his role in lightening the mood, I can’t say he does it in style. And while Puck will improve drastically as the Berserk goes on, you can tell Miura needed time to get his footing.

When I speak on the story being milk and water, it’s really due to the fact the Count is monster of the week and nothing more. Volume two of Berserk misses out on what will come in the next volume with his choice to not let Theresia get hurt and it taints much of this volume.

Artistically speaking, volume two is a step up to what came before, but speaking to everything else, it’s more of the same. But here you are partially desensitized to the horror since you’ve seen so much already, so it’s milk and water.