A few months ago I was joking as I added to someone else’s post that a neutral ending to the possibilities for who lil Casca was talking about previously was her son (compared to ‘good ending: Guts’, ‘bad ending: Griffith’) but…

frankly now I wonder if that really wasn’t who she was talking about from the beginning, especially if you consider that lil Casca is a direct representation of current!Casca.

It would explain why the Skull Knight insisted so much about Casca and Guts having different wishes when she comes back: maybe what will motivate her to come back isn’t even Guts in the first place but her son because she’ll want to save him from Griffith/Femto. I mean, ever since the Eclipse, she always was the most “aware” whenever her son was around.

Even in this state, she knows he’s inside of Griffith 2.0 (when no one else does, just saying), which is probably why the last fragment took this form in the first place. Her son turning out like that is a direct consequence of the Eclipse and so is him being used for Griffith’s rebirth during the tower of conviction arc.

Isayama may have accidentally spoiled Mikasa’s future haircut back in 2015

canon-rivamika:

From Isayama’s Gekkan Shingeki no Kyojin (Mikasa) interview: (credits to @yusenki, @fuku-shuu @clevergirlraven)

There are some parts of Mikasa that are unrefined, yet on the other hand, she has a brave personality. I think these are influenced from the heroine of Berserk, Casca. At that time while drawing, I didn’t realize it – but after a while, I realized that Mikasa resembles Casca.

Last year I made a comment about this parallel:

Casca is officially part of the Mikasa Ackerman starter pack. That’s right, Isayama realized they both resemble each other. They’re unrefined and came from nothing, they have traumatic pasts, they’re muscular, they’re incredible warriors, they’re brave, the list goes on.

Well, it seems like Mikasa and Casca have one more thing in common now!

The resemblance is uncanny.

(Thank you so much for the heads-up @mirime-kisarrastine!)

Hi!!! Hope you had had wonderful holidays! I finally caught up with Beserk, and I wanted to ask you what do you think is going to happen next? Especially with Casca and Farnese because I think Schierke is safe (I hope) but I’m really worried about the other two, especially Farnese for some reason. Thanks for reading this ask, hope you have a wonderful day! :)

Hello Anon 🙂 Thank you, I had a great time, I saw snow and I love snow 😀 Congrats on catching with Berserk too :)) So here goes:

What do you think is going to happen next?

Seeing as I have no idea whether you meant in the current arc or in general in the story, I’ll answer quickly to both.

First of all, I really can’t be sure of how long it’s going to take to bring Casca back but I’m 99.99% she will be back after this arc. Miura-sensei will probably scare us once or twice before it really happens, but we’ll definitely get there eventually. Here are a few theories I wrote for the current arc: [x][x]

As for the rest of the story, I also wrote a long post a year ago or so, about what getting Casca back would mean for the whole plot. It’s still pretty accurate in my opinion but if you’re not sure of reading it, I might as well give you a lil summary:

Casca will go after after Griffith because she will want her son back and Guts (and their friends) will follow, either simply because she goes, or because he’s going to be as mad as she will be about what happened to their son.

In other words, Casca will go back to being the extremely meaningful and impressive character she always was. Remember, Guts is no leader, but Casca was a great one even if she had to take a break for a few years. :))

About Farnese:

Similarly, I’m pretty sure Farnese will be okay and narratively speaking, she has to be anyway. See, the current arc (getting Casca back through a journey in her dreams) is also a good way for both Schierke and Farnese to finally move on from their crush on Guts, because the current arc will help them realizing what exactly links Guts and Casca.

It’s always been something that they had a hard time grasping, Farnese especially, because they have no idea about what really happened during the Eclipse and because all they ever saw was Guts doing all he could to protect while she wouldn’t stop pushing him away…

So, Farnese (and Schierke too, even if it’s to a lesser extent) realizing what exactly Casca and Guts went through and receiving the confirmation that she’ll never be able to come between them will definitely help her move on, and this is what’s going to allow Sensei to focus on her dynamics with other characters (namely on that weird little love triangle she has with Serpico and Roderick).

So the girls will certainly be okay, no worries and while this arc is mostly about Casca’s character, it’s still a little about Farnese and Schierke too. :))

I hope it answers your questions, thank you for the nice words, I hope you’ll have a nice weekend! 😀

I just read the chapter and THE TWINS GET FREAKING GANG RAPED BY FILTHY NOBLES AND FREAKING SLUTTY NUNS?!?! I cried so much,I was always excited about starting berserk since I watched the first anime,but I guess it won’t work for me no matter how amasing the story is,I even cried when that piece of shit pedo clown arrived in akame ga kill,and I heard guts gets raped twice?? not to mention casca..how graphic are those scene? do you think I should just not read it?

Hi! Okay, so, you’re addressing a lot of things at the same time, I’ll try to answer everything. 🙂

First of all, I haven’t seen Akame ga Kill, so I can’t speak for this series but as for the rest…

Kuroshitsuji

Yes, you read right, this is exactly what happened. As I said before, the act in itself was foreshadowed once but not in its… settings and the sea of adults that were waiting for them, so this was an additional detail that made everything worse in my case.

Sensei was not particularly graphic, but enough so that it’s not hard to decipher exactly how the twins were… used.

I think it’s great you managed to avoid the spoilers even if the chapter in itself must have been hard to swallow afterwards. Personally, I needed a few days to feel better after reading ch135.

Fair warning in advance, but ch136 will probably contain other triggering scenes about child abuse. I listed all of the moments from older flashbacks that we have yet to see here, I hope it will be useful to help prepare yourself for January’s chapter. :3

Berserk

I understand that you watched the anime of 1997? If so, then yes, they really toned it down compared to the manga.

I’ll be honest here, Berserk is one of the most amazing manga series I had the chance to read, but it is very explicit and violent, especially in its first half:

people get violently butchered and tortured
there are different kinds of rape scenes
just like there are rather explicit sex scenes
a lot of child abuse
pedophilia and incest are less recurring but they’re addressed at least once

To answer your other questions, forgive me if I spoil something for you but yes, Guts gets raped as a child, only once though, because his adoptive father literally sold his ass to one of his comrades. Guts actually gets through a lot of abuse as a child in general and his name is the first clue you get, since it’s a sick joke about the circumstances of his birth.

As for Casca, poor girl, many men attempt to rape her throughout the story, unfortunately for her, because women in Berserk generally aren’t fighters, which makes her a big exception and the only woman constantly surrounded by angry and violent men so… yeah. Even Guts, who can’t stand rape ever since what happened to him, half-crossed the line.

Still, it happens only once for her too, but it’s with the most traumatizing circumstances possible: they’re literally in Hell when it happens, her comrades were just butchered in front of her, she’s held down by several Apostles (demons) while her “friend” decides to do his business right in the middle of the massacre, as a punishment for both Guts (being forced to watch) and her.

So yeah, it’s definitely not a moment I go and reread often because Miura-sensei made sure to make it hard to stomach from beginnning to end. I really dislike the anime, but the third movie shows this part of the story and… I think it was “well done”, because it takes everything in consideration and more importantly, you can hear how angry and desperate Guts is.

Finally you asked whether you should read it or not, but I really can’t answer that. It has a lot of triggering content, so from the very first chapter onward, you can see what you signed up for but this doesn’t mean you will get used to it.
My best advice would be try and see. :)) With what I described you should know enough to be prepared and besides, you’re allowed to take long breaks while reading, just like you’re allowed to just stop if you can’t handle it.

I won’t lie, Casca’s rape and Kuro ch135 were hard for me to stomach the first time I read through these scenes, but after a few days it gets better and you don’t need to go back to these moments again anyway.
So it’s up to you: Berserk is amazing enough to deserve a try but I also know that not everyone can handle how violently graphic it is, so no pressure whatever you decide. :3

I hope it answers your question, have a nice day Anon!

AHHHHHHHHHHHHH

OMG OMG I just had The Thought™

what if the one who ends up using Dragonslayer (from Farnese’s dream) is not Farnese or Schierke or even Dog-Guts, but rather…

Casca herself?

Hear me out, the broken doll is only missing but a few fragments and this lil one here changes with every memory the girls retrieved (she spoke and expressed her desires when she couldn’t speak at all at first). If this keeps up, which is the whole point of this arc, Casca will slowly come back more and at some point, she’ll be able to confront her own past in order to fulfill her wishes and end this journey.

This might imply having to fight by herself the embodiment of her fears once we get to the final fragment…

otherwise she’ll never find her resolve in order to finally cope with everything that she went through.

Besides, it’d be a beautiful parallel considering that Dragonslayer is a big reason our Black Swordsman managed to fight and survive all this time, so much that the sword itself became stronger and more efficient against Apostles after killing so many of them.

Finally, it would also be an interesting nod back to why Casca once took a sword and learnt how to fight for herself…

…right after she was assaulted for the first time. Using Griffith’s initial advice to overcome what he did to her, wouldn’t it be awesome?

I’m looking forward to anyone who might use Dragonslayer in a future chapter, but I’ll be extra happy if this person turns out to be Casca, who’s finally ready to come back. 😀

[x]

So anyway, besides Serpico’s wind garbs and the berserker armor, since there was also Dragonslayer in Farnese’s dream of doing the laundry…

…does this mean it could be the next item that will help the girls? To break the last fragment open for example?

Unless it’s our Beast of Darkness 2.0 that will use it to fight the embodiment of Casca’s intense fear?

Hi!!! I’m new to Berserk (I’m on Vol. 29) and I’m currently re-reading Volume 18/19, and I was wondering what are your feelings about the Demon child? because it makes me tear up a bit, but may that’s just me, thanks for reading this ask :)

midnight-in-town:

Hi, I hope you’re enjoying Berserk, Anon! 🙂

About the demon infant, first of all, I have a tag for him on my blog but, maybe you should catch up first with the rest of the series before you go browsing, just in case of spoilers about events you may not have read yet.

Otherwise, I’m pretty sure you’re not the only one tearing up at the mention of him since his fate is one of the most unlucky we could read about in the story. He’s like his parents, he got cursed during the Eclipse before even being born, because of the huge ego issues of one man-turned-evil-angel.

I think the worst for me is how he really was yearning for his parents all along despite his demon nature

(the Skull Knight was right) and how he proved that he wasn’t “all bad”, but still the Tower of Conviction arc rendered it all almost pointless.

Being honest here, without the demon infant, Casca wouldn’t have survived one night outside of Godo’s cavern or the whole arc itself. Without him, Guts wouldn’t have even known that Casca was in terrible danger. So it’s rather painful that he ended up being used as a receptable for the Godhand who cursed both him and his parents when, even as a demon and being rejected by his father, all he ever was shown to do was for his parents’ sake.

In my opinion, the Tower of Conviction arc was huge because it was a turning point namely in his relationship with Guts, as vol 28 showed…

which is kind of heart-wrenching afterwards, when you realize that the baby is now a part of the new Griffith but that his father definitely has no idea yet.

As for Casca, I think the pang in the heart was to realize that he never let her approach him after the day of his birth, despite how much she herself wanted to, because:

as long as there was some physical distance, even as a demon he wouldn’t react too much to the brand on her chest

or, as long as there was some physical distance, the brand wouldn’t react and hurt his mama too much.

Finally, I find that the demon child is one of the most ironic plot points of Berserk. You see, his father not being able to kill him when he was born ended up being extremely useful for Casca’s protection and he’s also the reason his parents reunited a few years after the Eclipse, but…

…it also allowed Femto to get the ultimate receptacle in order to drive the human world into a new age of darkness.

There you go Anon. You being on vol 29 doesn’t exactly allow me to say more. The demon infant is obviously still an important plot point considering that he’s a part of Griffith, and that even if we (it’s not really a spoiler) haven’t seen him ever since the Tower of Conviction arc.

Well, maybe. If you read vol 28, then something (or someone) should have struck you. 😉

I hope it answers your question. :)) Please have a very enjoyable weekend Anon! 😀

I’m sorry Anon, but I don’t get your issue? By receptacle, I mean that it was explained that Femto, because he is a Godhand, cannot exist in the corporeal world by himself:

So that’s why he was indeed fused with the demon infant and became Griffith 2.0 (the Hawk of Light). In fact, when Casca sees Griffith 2.0, she doesn’t just sense Femto through her brand, she senses her son too, because he still exists in Griffith 2.0 and that’s why he can sense what the baby is feeling for his parents in vol 22.

The reason this fusion happened in the first place is because the demon infant was a creature of the interstice, like his parents…

…because he had a body of flesh belonging to the corporeal world (since he was conceived when Guts and Casca made love), but a part of him belonged to another world because of Femto’s curse, just like his parents’ brand.
That’s why he was probably the only receptacle possible for Femto and that’s why Griffith 2.0 was reincarnated using the demon infant’s own body of flesh:

So I don’t know what you misunderstood by “receptacle” or maybe it’s my fault for not choosing the best word, but I think we agree on the idea that Griffith ever since vol 21 = Femto + demon infant. :3

Sorry for the confusion! Please have a very enjoyable weekend Anon :))

The black sun and hellish peak of Casca’s dream

midnight-in-town:

So I reread the current arc and a thought came to me. Actually I had thought about this before but I never wrote a post, so here’s an occasion since Berserk is coming back soon. :))

Anyway, about this…

…since we’re currently wandering across Casca’s dreamland, looking for fragments to heal her imagery of the broken doll, it seemed obvious that every memory we came across had to be from Casca’s perspective, otherwise Schierke and Farnese would have had no chance to bring her back. For example:

However, back to what Schierke and Farnese described as “the end goal” of their journey, I’m actually not sure that:

the black sun is representing the moment of the eclipse

the hellish peak is representing the God Hand towering above hell

Don’t worry, I know that said like that it sounds weird, especially considering that the eclipse and Femto are the guilty party behind Casca’s decent into insanity, but hear me out because, to be fair, I was thinking that maybe these two elements of Casca’s dreams were hinting about a specific part of the Eclipse.

Again, we saw that the fragments of Casca’s memories that we came upon were always shown from her perspective, so what if…

“the black sun & hellish peak” were referring to…

this moment of the Eclipse in particular?

Because it’s also an aspect of rape that could have definitely traumatized both Guts and Casca, since Casca begged for Guts to look away while he couldn’t, because he was held down and forced to watch her being raped, until one of the Apostles pierced his right eye,

this horrible sight forever haunting him afterwards.

So while Guts hated having to be powerless and being forced to watch the woman he loved being raped, I think that Casca’s words back then are deliberately implying that she also felt terrible because, on top of her suffering through rape, the man she loved was forced to watch it all.

Again, it’s all a matter of perspective. Schierke and Farnese will most likely see all the events of the Eclipse through Casca’s eyes, because that’s the only way for them to find out why Casca turned out like that.
However, in my opinion, the “last fragment” and symbolic elements of her dreams might also include this scene above, because it represents a moment when both Casca and Guts were powerless before Griffith, forced to watch the one they loved suffer right in front of them.

I’m just saying, it could be one of the many aspects of trauma induced by rape and, if it’s still haunting Guts to this day, it may haunt Casca as well, hence the imagery of that hellish peak pointing towards the black sun that we saw in Casca’s dreams so far.

This is a bit of a stretch at this point, but imagine if this part of Casca’s trauma is one that she can’t face by herself (hence the overwhelming presence of these two symbolic elements ever since the start of her journey through her dreams), because she’s convinced that Guts must be disgusted and traumatized by what happened to her, even if it wasn’t her fault at all.

And imagine if Farnese and Schierke both realize the extent of her trauma and self-loathing in that particular aspect, once they get to see the final fragment, and they end up trying to help Casca by telling her about…

Guts’ answer to Roderick’s question? (vol 33)

In the end, this answer is something only Farnese, Schierke and Roderick got to hear about for now but we know that the two girls who have a crush on Guts were a bit hurt in their respective feelings, so it’s rather obvious that Guts’ love of his life definitely is Casca.

So if Casca were to hear about that answer, maybe it could help her acknowledging that, despite the horrible experience and trauma, Guts’ feelings for her haven’t changed after all that they went through?
Besides, it would also help both Farnese and Schierke with coming to terms with their respective crush on Guts, since (let’s face it) it’s never going to happen and other dynamics involving the girls definitely need a focus next (Schierke & Isidro, Serpico -> Farnese <= Roderick).

Of course, the journey through her dreams won’t make Casca cope right away with everything that happened during and after the Eclipse, and I’m not even expecting a Gustca reconciliation right away considering what happened in vol23 for example, but the presence of Guts as this very scary but protective dog in Casca’s dreams indicate that, deep inside, she knows he protects her.

So a big reminder of Guts’ feelings thanks to Schierke and Farnese might help Casca with at least this part of her trauma (self-loathing and self-disgust that she thinks the man she loves shares, because he witnessed her getting raped), but that’s only if the peak and black sun represent what I was talking about above. 🙂

The black sun and hellish peak of Casca’s dream

So I reread the current arc and a thought came to me. Actually I had thought about this before but I never wrote a post, so here’s an occasion since Berserk is coming back soon. :))

Anyway, about this…

…since we’re currently wandering across Casca’s dreamland, looking for fragments to heal her imagery of the broken doll, it seemed obvious that every memory we came across had to be from Casca’s perspective, otherwise Schierke and Farnese would have had no chance to bring her back. For example:

However, back to what Schierke and Farnese described as “the end goal” of their journey, I’m actually not sure that:

the black sun is representing the moment of the eclipse
the hellish peak is representing the God Hand towering above hell

Don’t worry, I know that said like that it sounds weird, especially considering that the eclipse and Femto are the guilty party behind Casca’s decent into insanity, but hear me out because, to be fair, I was thinking that maybe these two elements of Casca’s dreams were hinting about a specific part of the Eclipse.

Again, we saw that the fragments of Casca’s memories that we came upon were always shown from her perspective, so what if…

“the black sun & hellish peak” were referring to…

this moment of the Eclipse in particular?

Because it’s also an aspect of rape that could have definitely traumatized both Guts and Casca, since Casca begged for Guts to look away while he couldn’t, because he was held down and forced to watch her being raped, until one of the Apostles pierced his right eye,

this horrible sight forever haunting him afterwards.

So while Guts hated having to be powerless and being forced to watch the woman he loved being raped, I think that Casca’s words back then are deliberately implying that she also felt terrible because, on top of her suffering through rape, the man she loved was forced to watch it all.

Again, it’s all a matter of perspective. Schierke and Farnese will most likely see all the events of the Eclipse through Casca’s eyes, because that’s the only way for them to find out why Casca turned out like that.
However, in my opinion, the “last fragment” and symbolic elements of her dreams might also include this scene above, because it represents a moment when both Casca and Guts were powerless before Griffith, forced to watch the one they loved suffer right in front of them.

I’m just saying, it could be one of the many aspects of trauma induced by rape and, if it’s still haunting Guts to this day, it may haunt Casca as well, hence the imagery of that hellish peak pointing towards the black sun that we saw in Casca’s dreams so far.

About Berserk…

You know I was thinking, what if a way to hyper summarize (and theorize about) the series ever since Griffith’s rebirth to the very end was…

”Baby protected Mommy

And Daddy many times. So, soon…

it’s going to be Daddy and Mommy’s turn…

to go save their son….”

(Note: I’m well aware that the theory demon infant = moonlight child isn’t confirmed yet, but one can’t exactly deny there must be some kind of link between them)