So I want to talk about the waterfall scene in the Golden Age a little.
Okay so first, so why the hell would I be analyzing something like this?
I think this scene says SO MUCH about both Guts’ and Casca’s personality and struggle. More than you maybe think, by just displaying gestures and facial expressions.
(one reason why I love Berserk, by the way)
So what happens here is that Casca realizes that Guts obviously cares enough for her to get himself hurt:
Casca is not used to this kind of care.
She always wanted Griffith’s praise and acknowledgement, be something important to him. She was always ignored and deprived of it.
And during the waterfall scene (to a degree this also happens during the 100 man slayer scene), Guts shows up and gives her just that; Because he would notwant to get hurt if she didn’t matter to him.
Now, let’s let’s look at it from Guts’ perspective:
Remember how Guts was always trying to get praise from Gambino? How he always considered Griffith a friend, until that one faithful day when he heard Griffith’s fountain speech?
Guts too always wanted his approval, and hearing that made him feel like a pawn (which eventually pressured him to leave the hawks later on in the first place).
He felt like he did not matter as much to Griffith as he maybe thought, as proven by this page:
In other words: Guts and Casca are literally the same.
I can really relate to both of them honestly.
So what’s going here is both them realizing that they are worthy to matter to someone. They are doing that simultaneously.
Look at Gut’s confused look when Casca suddenly grasps his hand gently.
And as Casca says those words Guts realizes that he in fact also matters a lot to Casca; And Casca is fully aware of what he’s done for her as well.
Up until then, Guts always denied that Casca may even like him, as revealed by the conversation he had with Judeau.
He thought it was impossible for her to like him that much because her place was next to Griffith. Or so he thought.
And as Casca tells him he is a fool, I can only imagine what she must have felt: suddenly, after all the deprivation, the stress and the hardship, there is someone who cares, who acknowledges her, who’s trying for her. And releasing these emotions first unleashes strong pain, followed by a healing relief. For the both of them, too.
Guts is extremely confused by this. He first doesn’t know what to do. It looks like he’s still processing it, as if asking himself… perhaps:
“Why is she calling me that?” …or “ What makes her say that?” …or perhaps also a “Does she care for me that much?”
The next best thing that comes to his mind is to what appears to be a return of her hug…
…and also to wipe her tears away.
He clearly didn’t like seeing her cry and wanted to give her comfort.
He gets a little more… confident in the next page, starting to kiss her forehead, then literally kissing her tears away.
I hope I do not have to point how damn cute that is, or do I? Imagine the big bulky boi getting all softboi on that vulnerable lil Casca. Oh my lawd.
Casca on the other hand is letting him in, letting him care for her. She seems to enjoy it. I think she really needed someone to be at her side at this point.
But then, Casca wants a REAL kiss from the guy. Guts face expression is all: “OH GOD NOT SO FAST! This isnt supposed to happen!”
Then in the next panel Casca perhaps has wondered if she went too far. And for Guts, as he is looking at her, it looks like he’s thinking something like,
“So that’show it really is?”
And then of course, the final kiss.
As you can probably tell by the way I have explained this, both struggle with feelings of not being worthy and found comfort in themselves.
They struggle getting closer because they both have been hurt. Seeing them open up to each other with their gentle expressions and gestures is adorable.
What a goddamn tragedy too. Jesus Christ.
Thanks @midnight-in-town for inspiring me to finally make this post happen!
Just one more of those posts where I’m amazed by how far authors can go with symbolism, parallels and the like.
I didn’t notice it just now, but I felt like mentioning it because I miss updates + it’s also motivated by a post I’ve seen about not being fond of how Miura-sensei handles sex (as in, artistically speaking) in Berserk and, while I definitely respect that opinion, it reminded me that I wanted to write this for a while.
So, nsfw post ahead! I don’t mean to speak about context for once, but simply about how the way Sensei chose to draw the two moments actually illustrates just as well in what these two dynamics differ.
Where do I start? Maybe by the fact that Griffith/Charlotte opens the 9th volume while Guts/Casca ends it, which is definitely not a coincidence. And also the settings: super stormy night with Griffith slipping undetected in Charlotte’s room vs sunny day in the forest near a waterfall for Gustca.
As for how it all begins: as soon as Griffith shows up, Charlotte hugs him and starts crying about all the many things that happened recently and he’s still so damn shook by what Guts pulled on him that he jumps onto the occasion to reinsure himself that his dream can still be achieved/seek some comfort and
that’s the result: she’s very surprised and he just went “to hell with it”, with both their eyes wide opened as they kiss, full of disbelief.
In comparison, for Casca and Guts the discussion leads to a fight because #confrontation and #confused-feelings and while it also ends with Casca crying on Guts…
…unlike Charlotte and Griffith, the first kiss comes from a mutual desire, not at all unexpected and fully committing to the moment (= their eyes are closed).
Coming up next, we have foreplay: still in a hurry for Griffith, to show in what state of mind he was, and with Charlotte barely registering what’s going on…
even going as far as to utter a slightly hesitating “no” before they reach the bed
vs Guts and Casca taking a lot more time and undressing each other first.
This leads to one of my favorite contrasting parts, just after Charlotte says “no” and is pushed on the bed, we get this…
whereas Guts noticed how Casca, too, was afraid
but it’s followed by 4 pages of her explaining why with Guts listening to her and…
providing comfort. Of course, the two dynamics aren’t the same at all, but still, it’s worth mentioning because I’m sure it’s a part of the mirror effect.
(slightly more below)
I could go on with how the whole Griffith/Charlotte sex scene is cut by a few moments showing the Band of Hawk, or even the maid who caught them, when the moment is never interrupted for Guts and Casca.
Also, the act of penetration itself is just like the very first kiss for both couples: without warning and rather rough, considering Charlotte’s expression, with Griffith thinking intently about Guts the whole time, which emphasizes on the angsty atmosphere of the whole scene…
vs Guts at least warning ahead the first time, even if him too will have a flashback about when he was raped as a child, but with their second time flowing in continuity with the whole moment ‘till they reach climax together.
Also let’s talk about the following:
vs
Because where Charlotte being most likely in some pain does nothing to stop Griffith’s pace, Casca’s expression triggers an intense stress for Guts, bringing him back to his own trauma (also eased in my opinion by the fact that he’s taking her from behind at that moment, which is exactly what happened to him).
Speaking of which it’s interesting to point out that, while Casca and Guts both get to do some introspection (first Casca about her feelings and then Guts about the fact he was abused as a child), which brings them even closer, Griffith is fully haunted by Guts’ departure but does not utter a word about it, just like we do not get any thought at all from Charlotte.
Similarly, while Guts is having a breakdown about his past and Casca manages to comfort him just like he did with her at the beginning
Charlotte doesn’t even know how much Griffith is angsting over Guts’ departure and as such he doesn’t really find the comfort he was looking for.
This is overall illustrated by when the two couples climax…
(I don’t think I need to point out in what these two scenes are so opposed) and also by how the two moments end…
even if I have to mention that Griffith was considerate enough to leave a flower for Charlotte after he spent a large part of the night probably crying as she slept (which is actually really sad & I’m not being ironic: the flower was a nice touch).
That being said the flower itself is contrasting with Guts asking Casca to leave with him once they’ll have freed Griffith (I know, it’s vol10): there is a wish for a future together for Gutsca, meanwhile Griffith leaving a flower for Charlotte is more akin to “thanks for that one night together (maybe there’ll be others)”.
There may be more that I haven’t mentioned but you get the idea. 🙂
Overall I think a point I really wanted to make was that, yes, Miura-sensei is always extremely explicit and detailed when he draws and it doesn’t always please everyone on the matter of nsfw (not that it has to, obviously).
That being said, personally I really enjoy that the man is so skilled that, even if he’s being vividly graphic all the time (as in he draws naked characters on plenty of different occasions and it’s always with a lot of visible anatomical details), he can still easily show a lot of contrast between
a moment that’s about sex for the sake of reinsurance, with two characters being in fact disconnected and one of them hurting
and another that’s about emotional lovemaking after two characters realized that they were in love with each other.
So I disagree that being graphic in both the beautiful and horrifying, awkward or disgusting moments is not differentiating enough. The Griffith/Charlotte and Gutsca sex scenes, albeit both explicit in the exact same way (we see the same body parts + foreplay, penetration and climax), are in fact completely different.
It’s a matter of context too obviously, since the 4 characters and their dynamics are vastly different, but still I believe that nsfw material can be used to make a point and I like the different ranges of just “how” in Berserk.
That moment when you finally found someone in your life instead of trusting inanimate objects
the mirrored arcs of guts and casca and how they focus on their roles as weapons and soldiers and tools for powerful men. and how those roles have betrayed them and fitted them so badly. more and more so as they grow older and their personalities and beliefs start bursting out at the seams. they’re people. grouchy complicated loving people who in every respect are more than what they were meant to be. and who have so much more to be.
Healing from complex trauma and PTSD. The power of love.
Have you ever noticed how Guts fought and risking his life because he wanted to win, especially in the golden age arc? See 100 Man Slayer, see Wyald.
Now if you look at berserker armor chapters and onwards, he fights because he has to if he wants Casca be safe.
At Vritannis, he only fought the Daka because there was no other way than to slay through them. Guts with the help of Zodd then defeated Ganishka because he was a threat to the journey. After that, he’s even rejecting Zodd.
Similar can be said about the sea god. Letting the sea god alive during the festival would have risked the sea horse and everything that’s inside getting eaten. Here too, a threat to the journey.
Guts telling Zodd to get the fuck outta his face is pretty savage though.
Guts found something he loves more than fighting and that shit is heart warming
Hi Anon! Okay so, no offense, I already did a post on the topic in the past, but I feel like there is something that’s amiss in your reasoning otherwise you possibly wouldn’t have reached these conclusions.
So first thing first, Guts doesn’t not love his son. Especially after the tower of conviction arc. And I’m sure of this because…
he couldn’t kill him from the moment the Skull Knight made him realize that this was his baby.
Afterwards, I agree with you, Guts’ behavior with his baby was a clear parallel to Gambino’s despicable attitude towards Guts himself, the difference being that we have to consider how Guts’ trauma from the Eclipse factors into this. Look…
After this happened, Guts went on this hellish journey to pursue revenge and target every damn thing from the underworld that the brand would attract. That’s how he became the Black Swordsman and all this hatred and violence he lived with for several years is what ultimately gave birth to “the beast of darkness” within himself.
All that to say, because of the Eclipse, Guts’ hatred (and fear) of anything demonic is the reason his behavior towards his own demonic baby was particularly aggressive. That being said, his baby is also the only one Guts could never kill and not just when he was born…
…and that during a part of Guts’ life where he wouldn’t trust or care about or depend on anyone but himself.
Then the conviction arc happened, but that’s when the baby warned him about Casca, which changed everything between them…
…because Guts definitely realized that it’s thanks to their child that he managed to rescue Casca.
From this point onward, between what the baby did for them and also Guts switching objectives after getting Casca back and new friends in his life, he started to show regret about his child’s fate…
which proves in my opinion that Guts does love his baby. And this breaks the parallel with Gambino indeed, because Guts having mixed feelings all this time about his son, despite the baby being (in theory) demonic, is probably related to how he suffered from the lack of parental love as a child too.
So I think it’s important to always consider what part of the story you would include this kind of reasoning in, because Guts’ attitude/feelings towards his child definitely changed throughout the story. There is even a lot to bet that, once Guts learns that Femto was given his baby as a vessel, he’ll be extremely pissed off at Griffith again.
Also to add, if you believe in the theory that demon infant => moonlight child like I do, I’d say that the child’s apparently wary attitude towards Guts is the consequence of Guts’ previous behavior towards his demon counterpart…
…just like the reason he clings so much to Casca is possibly because when he was a demon he could never approach her due to the brand hurting her.
However once again…
our little boy here is clever and curious (”all children yearn for their parents”), so he totally played a little game to see if his dad would yell at him should he annoy him just a little like he did in the past…
but I’d say that what this boy saw of his parents’ attitude towards him after this little test…
…pleased him a lot, enough so maybe that he’d then make sure to constantly help them the two times he materialized during the full moon.
TL;DR yes, Guts initally was very aggressive towards his own child, but in my opinion, rather than no love, that was the result of the trauma brought by the Eclipse, since things got better between them from the moment his son helped him get Casca back.
Afterwards, Guts was even shown to be thinking about his baby, wondering how he was doing (since he doesn’t know yet about him becoming Femto’s vessel), and overall I’d say that Guts’ previous attitude bears no real consequence to his relationship with his son because:
Femto mentioned feeling the demon infant being afraid for both his parents’ in vol22
the moonlight child, who is most likely what’s left of the demon infant after Femto’s rebirth, tested the water with his dad and seems to be comfortable enough with the situation that he would save him plenty of times afterwards.
I hope it helps Anon! Seriously, Griffith did fuck everything up for the entire Gutsca family, but it seems that, no matter what, these three (Guts, Casca and Baby) will always manage to watch out for one another. :)) Let’s hope it will last!
midnight-in-town 