Berserk Volume 39: We’ve Reached Elfhelm

Elfhelm is not very kind to strangers, as our crew learns the hard way, trying to fight off all the sorcery they are being hit with. Regardless of that, there is a feeling of resolution in the air. They are here, at Elfhelm. And nobody can do anything about that.

Berserk‘s world grows further as we are shown different witches, giving Schierke and Farnese community. These witches are quite stereotypical in how they’re written, but it doesn’t matter as there’s so much to do. For the first time, I find Berserk‘s shift from the grotesque horror to the more humorous storytelling evident. The world of Berserk feels more Puck-like than Guts-infested. There is less direness and more calmness, even in Falconia. The paradise the world is in has yet to be done with.

Aside from worldbuilding, Elfhelm helps to provide answers on more than magic-related inquiries. We learn more about who Griffith is, leading Guts to say what we all know: he keeps aiming for the next-best thing. He can’t go home since he sacrificed it. So he goes on, moving forward. But to Guts, his sacrificing the home is excluded. Guts can’t imagine he felt anything about what he did, he must’ve always been this immoral and he didn’t see it. In reality, Griffith just broke from boredom. Like Don Quixote, he gave everything for an adventure. As the volume passes on, we get to see more of Elfhelm and like the sea creatures, this place is wholly different from anything Miura has done before. The way he draws this place feels like he’s drawing a completely different manga. This is the same writer who offered us the Eclipse, and now he is giving us a truly relaxing wonderland. Jill and Rosine’s fantasies from long ago are fully-realized here.

For Casca, we learn Farnese and Schierke have the opportunity to save her, but they must go into her head. Now, they must see the trauma Casca holds and why Guts has the love he does for her. We see Casca’s soul through symbolic imagery such as a broken casket containing a broken doll, signifying her worth to Griffith possibly and the way she has been treated by the world. When someone gets torn down so much, they become inflated. But one part of Casca survives, the Casca we know today. While Farnese and Schierke battle on to save Casca, we are able to see Guts, Serpico, and Roderick drink and celebrate. They are able to reflect on their time and bond, recalling Farnese and how vital Casca is to her, likely to help Guts have hope they can actually save Casca. Schierke and Farnese arrive now at Casca’s memories, where they can see moments of Golden Age through her eyes, before realizing they have farther to go in their journey. Even though I believe this volume should’ve went further and not stopped here, I am glad with the final result. Casca is finally able to be center-stage after years of being sidelined.