Berserk Volume 35: The Sea is a Dangerous Place for Guts

To seal his victory, the Kingdom shines. But not just shines, it lives. It’s paradiso. And with a hand, they flock to it. The art is as magical as his words when spoken to the masses. Angelic.

Meanwhile, we cut to Guts and the crew as they humorously pass their time on the boat. Schierke tries to look like a pirate, to Farnese’s interest, assuming she is trying to teach her something. It’s a small moment but makes you realize Schierke is trying to have a childhood, but feels stuck. Isidro is childish but has seen things that have tainted his innocence, so she feels alone in her past time. Sadly, Miura cuts this to a close to have a ship battle take place that reminds you why this arc can be so boring: fighting takes too much precedence.

With volumes like this, Berserk can’t help but feel like an anxious child, who thinks no fighting for a volume is boring so creates problems for our restless team to encounter. Even so, I can appreciate superb art when I see it.

As this volume goes on, we even see a mermaid appear, which I think is the first for Berserk. Her character works to build a dynamic Schierke needs, as shown with the pirate fiasco. But I prefer the grown-up section where we see Guts, Farnese, Serpico, and Casca trying to deal with the sea monsters. Seeing Farnese so protective of Guts just makes me more curious to when we will see them finally talk. The tension just burns when they speak since there’s so much unsaid. Farnese clearly likes Guts, but Guts has never truly opened his feelings for Farnese since he loves Casca. But Guts can’t stop, despite her warnings, and dawns the Berserker armor. This artwork belongs on someone’s background for their phone.