Discussion What if Berserk was unfinished? Would you still appreciate it?

[Aazholh]

It has taken Miura, over the span of 20 years, to get Berserk to what I would call the half-way point. A lot of questions remain to be answered. Although Guts has developed significantly since the Eclipse, he is still no where near a level of power to confront Griffith or the Godhand.

I don't know what Berserk means to other fans, but for me it is a story of revenge. Some would say that protecting the ones you love is the real moral of the story. However, I believe that Guts' desire for vengeance is the driving force that has kept him alive.

With that said, what if Berserk were to be suddenly unfinished? The story is intriguing, but without a conclusion it is pointless. The reason I read Berserk is to see if Guts finally gets his revenge. Will it be cathartic for Guts AND us? You see, we invested a great deal of our time for a quality story. It only makes sense that we would want a great ending.

So if anything happened that would put Berserk on an indefinite hiatus, I would probably sell off my volumes. The art is beautiful, but the story is more important to me.

 

[Magjee]

It would hold a special place in my heart.

But also I would be butthurt.

So it truth it would hold two special places

 

[Josef]

Yes I would, as many great works of literature feel unfinished, some literally are, like most of the works by Kafka. They are still great. In way I feel that the beginning, the themes, the whole saga of getting into a story like this is the greatest possible thing. If it turns out there is no ending, this still is a work of art. This manga is an ADVENTURE, it is filled with all kinds of emotions, philosophy and so on. Not an adventure as a genre, but everything about it is like a new territory to explore.

 

[102jayday]

Yes I would because I have loved every volume that has come and I enjoy reading them again.

I kinda feel as if Guts will not do the Power up thing, He has kinda proved that he can hurt a god hand already. I think it is his frame of mind that will have him defeat them, the armor would be a only power up thing but to protect him. I really want him to conquer the beast of darkness, I also want him to get a long rest for abit and heal his eternal body wound by Slan.

 

[Notice me Escanor senpai]

Yeah I'd still appreciate it, even if it's unfinished. In fact, I'd prefer to see it unfinished than having a disappointing ending ala Devilman (bad guy wins although he seems to regret his actions).

 

[llamapie]

Regardless, I will cherish the quality of this manga and even if the story isn't finished it still extremely well done. Tolkein, the creator of the middle earth world spend his entire life writing the story and it was never finished. Its hard to compare the two, but I view it the same in terms of quality.

 

[Josef]

As all literature the beginnings are better, some may regret wanting Berserk to finish, the thing about other great manga and even literature is that we feel sad once we have finished them. Most of the current manga seem to go on forever, the popular ones, though some good masterpieces are short and sweet, and I regret I finished reading them, even in one go.

Berserk is a PARADOX any way you see it.

 

[killy-.-]

better prepare the place in ur heart cuz Miura will die before berserk is finished lol, what is this guy gonna do when the manga is finished??? start a new one ? hes gonna make longer breaks, just to make the story as long as possible, and one day he will hit his last day on earth, leaving the story unfinished, hopefully hes prepared for that, everything is written down and someone else will finish it off ...

 

[Shinsatsu]

I loved every page of this manga. No... I loved every last panel of it.
I'm a huge fan of Berserk and it'll always be my favorite manga even if it's not complete. The art, the story, the characters, the emotions and the twists... They were all perfectly executed. Even if you start reading it again from the beginning, it feels like you're reading it for the first time.

 

[mrsticky005]

Yes but it will be a manga that has gone down hill for me. Basically once Schierke joined the club is when it the descent came.

I hate that midget witch with a passion. I hope she dies sooner than later.


Not only that but the main cast has reached it's limit and it's causing the characters to become more and more flat.

The reason I look forward to the Elf Kingdom or whatever is to get rid of Casca. Yeah I know everything thinks she's such a great character
but the thing is that since the Golden Age arc she has been reduced to a plot device and fan service (not that I mind the fan service.)
She's dragging the team down and needs to go.

Getting rid of Casca and Schierke should help a bit.

Farnese is iffy since Schierke was making her dull. And Casca was making her a babysitter.
But if those two were out of the way she could be interesting again.
But it might also be good to have her and Roderick get married and leave.

Farnese and Serpico separating would do well for their characterizations since it would be a new challenge for them.

Though really I think it's gotten to the point where everyone needs to go their separate ways.

Guts needs to go fight Griffith one last time.

Isidoro needs to go off to train.

Not sure on Puck.

 

[Unholy]

I dont think tis is even a question of if im sure that Berserk will never be finished. I know alot of fans love to suck up the the mangakas they live so im sure someone gonna say im wrong or that they work too hard and bla bla bla, but the way i see it on this mangas case Miura is just as lazy as he can be. As far as i can tell (fell free to correct me if im mistaken) he only works as a mangaka so no other jobs to eat his time and his only work for the pass 24 years has being Berserk.

The way i see it he has being living off out of that manga as his only source of income, he has tons of international fans and im sure he prolly has similar numbers inside his country the manga prolly sells rather well so why would he rush to finish it? He is in a rather comfortable position, since he is a well know mangaka with a recognized and appreciated product under his belt. Cant remember where was it but someone mentioned for the pass 5 years or so he has consistently released only 1 book every year i would guess he prolly has some sort of deal with the publisher. I dont really blame him assuming im right after all if there are no risks for him on taking his time to finish the manga while not make the best of it? If i were him i would travel and relax and just do whatever amount of work i promised to do.

Anyway with that said took 24 years for us to get at this point on the story and thats hardly half the story, if the rest of the story consisted on the gang getting to elf island curing Caska and going straight after Griffith it wouldnt take that long but thats impossible. Griffith has an army of both hundreads of humans and demons protecting him, unlike what Guts has done before he cant just march in there on his own and face everybody head on he will prolly have to gather up an army of his own to stand a chance and that would take alot of time of the manga. There is also the story of the Skull man that has to be solved and now there are tons of supernatural creatures like the Sea God around not to mention the other 4 God hands to deal with. The way i see it Miura prolly plans for Guts and his team to deal with those first and at the same time gather new people that they end up saving and only once they have taken out the rest of the God hands and have amassed a big army Guts will have his revenge against Griffith. I believe this is his plan given that i dont see much of a point in merging the eternal world and the normal world if that wouldnt have a big effect on the story not to mention Guts could never get revenge on the other 4 God Hands if they staying in that separate dimension.

Now do you think given how slow the releases have being can he finish all the story that is left? I seriously dont given that something like the Sea God arc that wasent all that important took forever to end.With that said if it never ends it will leave me a bit unsatisfied but i still enjoined everything else so it is still worth reading without a possible ending.

 

[TCG]

Berserk is a manga I read for the here-and-now content, as opposed to the overall story. To elaborate, I find that Berserk isn't particularly well structured as an overall story and sometimes has consistency issues - the main one being the arguable decline in quality post-Griffith rebirth. As a result, I find it hard to view Berserk as an overall story, but instead something that exists in distinct and unique ''Parts,'' kinda like JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. To me, each arc of Berserk represents a story in and of itself, more than a component of a much larger machine. Sure, there are similarities between arcs, but this is usually just the core characters, each of which tends to possess strongly different mindsets in each arc (due to Miura's top-tier development) furthering the notion of each arc being distinctly different from the another. The deep characterization of arc-specific characters, such as the Hawks, Jill, the whores etc. alongside the deep history/background of each location and rich artwork also helps fabricate this ''story-within-a-story'' idea. So, with that in mind there have been two stunning Parts, one fantastic one and one good one... in my opinion. And we're currently in something between good and fantastic as far as I can tell.

Personally, I doubt the finale of Berserk - if it is ever penned, will be a clash that will resonate throughout my being for decades to come, but will instead be something of nonetheless excellent quality like the Eclipse, Griffith's rebirth or the merging of worlds - all of which are Part finales. So with that and the aforementioned rambling in mind, I would love to read the finale of this final Part, but if I ever didn't... I'd still be as infatuated with these prior Parts just as much as I am now.

To give some crude examples, I haven't particularly enjoyed Gantz's finale, but still love the prior Phases because of how distinct and unique they are. The poor finale hasn't soured the overall meal, as so the speak. On the other hand, if Blade of the Immortal's finale had been poor - and for the record it's absolutely Divine - then I believe it would have spoilt the story because this finale is the direct culmination of 19 years and five arcs worth of content.

 

[lolnameless]

I think i feel the opposite, rather than being unsatisfied without an end,
i kind of expect an open ending like BLAME! Having it unfinished it's not too unsatisfying for me
because Guts is the "fight to the damnest" warroir you know.

it's too hard to say things like "X is worth reading because of Y" or "i read X for Y"
just that i enjoyed reading the entire arc like no other manga can, i can tell there's something unique on Berserk though.
For example, the psychology of guts is quite unique, it's the tough and faithful type, i know it's a typical setting for main character,
like, any typical shounen, "the will of fire" spirit on naruto, and any other sport-related manga, they all have this kind of mindset
but Guts is really something to the extreme, like no other manga did, so it's an ego to me.
i.e. He's my ego on this aspect, i don't feel like having an end to his journey, i feel empty if it does have an end.

 

[DrugzRule]

Sure I would enjoy it, a manga would be boring if it's only the destination and not the journey that mattered. One can even argue that the most appealing part of Berserk is that it hasn't ended yet

 

[shinsengumi]

i dont think its only half way but thats just my opinion . gutz doesnt have to power up to griffith's level shounen style .he can be weaker but in the last moment he can make a sacrifice / even sacrifice himself and manage to kill him somehow

 

[FetherMan]

If possible, I would definitely appreciate the amount of dedication and time Miura has put into the series. I think, he's told a complete story with the series so far in it's self, that if something (GOD forbid) were to happen to Miura, I would be satisfied with the manga.

But, that said, let's hope and pray, the series does continue for as long as needed and the we get the epic battle we deserve between Griffith and Guts.

 

[jakensama]

In a word yes. The art is unique and still stands as amongst the best ever in a manga. There have been many memorable and moving moments. I do have a feeling it won't be completed...considering the release rate as well as the endless multitude of things to resolve. However a majestic world has been created with incredible detail and complexity.