Berserk Volume 7: Strongest Volume Yet

The two lovebirds are finally opening up. Casca primarily. Here, we really get a moment to see why Casca lives the way she does, and it’s spellbinding. Essentially, Griffith is to her the God when she needs God, but also someone carrying the weight for everyone. And she hopes to make it easier for him. What left me in love with this choice was that Griffith really is a broken vessel. He is someone tortured, carrying everyone, yet scared to be left with no one. On top of that, he is not as desensitized to violence as earlier volumes would have you believe, and he maybe never is. He is a man with many fronts, and Casca only grasps part of one, and she pulls onto him as she wants to be the one to manage it. But only Guts can, which is why she hates him so much. But she doesn’t want to be just his caretaker, as she says she wants to be a sword to the darkness that can ruin him in moments, but even more, she wants to protect him from the evil that isn’t already lost in his soul. Even if we exclude the prelude to this arc, we know this can only go downhill. What speaks to this is when Griffith puts on a front when Casca gets too close to him. It may be because he sees it as her not caring for him, but a front. She loves knowledgeable Griffith, not Griffith. Even so, in those before times, it seems Griffith loved her, but not as much as she did him. Since Griffith wants what he can’t have. Once he fully molded her into Casca, she is a pet like the rest of his allies, but he still appreciated them then, cause he was human then. Additionally, like Casca and Guts, he is always avoiding the hard questions despite seemingly always having the hard answers.

As Casca continues, things become clear. She really hates Guts since, to her, he abuses what she can’t have. Recall when you wanted something as a kid, and someone else had it, and they treated it like it was worthless. It hurts more since it feels personal, the violation. Casca is all too the same. She’s childish, but it’s because she’s been groomed for the role. To fight for Griffith. You could say Griffith saved Casca to have her himself; even if that wasn’t intentional, she has been cursed to live that way. And she hates when that hard truth is too real, in the form of Guts. He illustrates what she has fought to disbelieve. She is another soldier, but a favorite of his. Casca is only ‘more’ to him if she becomes Princess Charlotte. A test, a tease, or a challenge for him to seize. And Guts, hearing this, feels the same, and you can see he loves her, since he sees another version of himself, but one he can’t save since he is stuck in the same position, but with different circumstances. He will leave, but because his mission aligns with that. To be Griffith’s equal. Casca’s is to be his love, an impossible mission since it’s a violation of Griffith’s goal. Which is, by any means necessary, to be accomplished. And she knows that and hates and loves how she has pushed him forward.

After this interaction, Casca and Guts end up having to fight a bunch of soldiers, with Guts giving Casca, who is hurt, a chance to escape while he faces off against all of them. As Casca flees, she is caught by a soldier who tries to rape her, and reminding herself Griffith needs her, fights back. Before much else occurs, her family, the Band of the Hawk, arrive to have her back. It’s not just Griffith she’s fighting for, but she feels chained to his destiny. Turns out, Guts defeated those soldiers, and we arrive at the Band of the Hawk’s base.

A great moment happens when Casca and Judeau talk, where he tells her Griffith saw her and Guts as the most vital members the Hawk has.  Even if she isn’t favorable towards Guts, the fact he puts her on such a pedestal of endearment keeps her going, and Judeau knows that. He probably would run away with her in a moment but knows she can’t leave Griffith. So to warm her damaged heart, he does what he knows will hurt him more. If I haven’t stated it outright, Judeau is a fan favorite for a reason.

This leads to one of my favorite chapters, “Bonfire of Dreams.” It’s mostly just Guts and Casca rambling, but it’s magical seeing these two awfully-real fictional characters discuss dreams, and Guts finally gets who Griffith is and who he’s going to be, someone with their own dreams. And Casca is finally wrapping her head around this man who guides her heart, probably more than Griffith. Around the end, Griffith compliments Casca, and we get a hint for the new villain to come. Then, for the next couple of chapters, we see the Band of Hawk fight on, and it’s enjoyable. The creepy man who was into kids shows up again, and this battle itself is played as an endpoint mentally. As if this battle settles things mentally for Casca, Guts, and Griffith. Here, Griffith can prove himself once and for all to the King. Guts can say he succeeded in fighting for Griffith’s dream and have the motivation to leave. And for Casca, she can use this to really prove herself to Griffith, and if anything happens between them, this is where it would happen.

This volume is pitch-perfect. It provides clarity for Casca, builds its world silently for the character drama to finally take the focal point, and then ends with some needed action to freshen things up.