Berserk Volume 38: Griffith Meets his Greatest Enemy, Rickert

Griffith is stepping to the edge of Griffith. He will meet him, and then what? Reading this opening leaves you in the greatest suspense, as it’s been volumes in the making. Really, since Golden Age. Rickert meeting the real Griffith face-to-face.

Meanwhile Luca, that fabulous character from Conviction, is back and has put her girls in Griffith’s kingdom. And somehow she and Rickert have already started gaining a connection. It’s so amazing to see two characters I don’t think anyone imagined being in the same room as each other actually meet. A round of applause is really needed for Miura.

The next chapter we cut to Rickert examining Griffith’s ‘holiness’. To the world, he is the second coming, and Rickert, with what he knows, has to take it in. But as Guts said, he’ll never hate Griffith, which is clear from how he acts. He doesn’t show unflinching hatred, but you can tell he’s lost in translation. He can’t process Griffith as a public figure, as a person. Meanwhile, we see Erica develop a friendship with Daiba, and Luca treat Erica like a daughter.

But this is all secondary to the most satisfying moment in Berserk. Where’s his Kingdom?

Miura had to write that for himself, and we’re all delighted for it. If it ended here, I would be happy. But Berserk gives us the hilarious reactions of his horrified guard and family as Griffith was given a taste of his own medicine. Rickert tells Griffith his regret for not dying with his comrades and that he was the one who formed the hill of swords. On top of that, he tells him his leader is not in the room. This is a shadow of a man he once knew, and Griffith has to know it.

Meanwhile, Rickert decides to leave Falconia, but the forces of Griffith don’t take so kindly to that, causing Silat to step in and save him. After a short and satisfying battle ensues, Rickert is finally able to flee Falconia, gazing back at the abyss that once was, to him, Griffith. Meanwhile, we see Guts’ crew a step closer to Elfhelm, and you can see Miura was trying to adjust himself to a new way of drawing. Guts, for the chapter we get with him, looks completely different in regards to his facial features. While I’ll reserve harsher criticisms till later, this is not Guts.