Berserk, Vol. 8 (Berserk, #8) by Kentaro Miura

Berserk, Vol. 8 (Berserk, #8) Reviews

• 
  Jen - The Tolkien Gal

  Guts is the most complex character in a grim dark series. Period. Done. Cannot be argued.
• 
  Juho Pohjalainen

  Imagine all the trouble and crisis that could have been averted if Guts had just talked with Griffith about all this stuff. Told him - weeks in advance, perhaps - that he's less than satisfied here and wants to go out there and ride out to seek his own dreams. Give it to him gently. Ask for some leave, maybe, rather than quitting altogether. Instead of just marching out into the night without a word of farewell. Isn't that what friends do? Talk to one another, respect each other's feelings?
  
  
  
  Fucking machos.
• 
  L. McCoy

  Holy shit... just... what?
  
  What’s it about?
  I unfortunately can’t say anything without spoiling a lot of major things so I’m skipping that.
  
  Why it gets 5 stars:
  The story is very interesting. A lot happens in this volume so expect a lot of important stuff. I was surprised and impressed how much story fit into this volume!
  The artwork is still amazing. This series mixes multiple styles and almost everything is drawn in a way that is pretty much perfect. I know I say this in... possibly all of my reviews for this series but this series includes the best art in manga.
  The characters are interesting and develop more each volume. I particularly think Guts, Casca and Griffith are the most interesting (I know that’s probably typical but y’know...). I will admit Corkus is beginning to annoy me so if he shows up in the next volume he will hopefully be killed off.
  There’s some fantastic, intense and super detailed action scenes. This volume is not quite as full of action due to being more focused on storytelling but there’s still some action scenes that fans will be very excited by.
  This book is very suspenseful. Lots of unexpected things, especially towards the end.
  
  While this book is very serious there is a bit of well done comic relief.
  The ending’s just... holy fuck, that ending. This might be the craziest “HOLY FUCKING SHIT” ending ever!
  
  Overall:
  This manga is a masterpiece. Fuck every stereotype about manga that might be in your head, this series is amazing and if you’re a fan of fantasy... no, if you like books that are good in general as long as you don’t mind extreme mature content you have to try this series out. It’s an amazing series that I can’t recommend enough!
  Truly a masterpiece in literature (yes, I called a comic literature, fuck off snooters).
  
  5/5
• 
  Guinevere

  Berserk is a sad, tragic, complex plot full of political intrigues, assassinations, betrayals, horrific monsters and gruesome deaths.
  
  But yet the only thing I can think to say beyond that is
  
  
  2017 reread: It's really sad to think about how if only Guts and Griffith had just taken ten minutes to talk with each other, everything could've been avoided and the manga would be over.
• 
  Amin Matin

  دقیقاً پنج ستاره رو برای همچین لحظه‌ای نگه داشته بودم، بیست پنل آخر ولیوم هشت محشر بود، نگاه داخل چشم‌ها و طراحی صورت گریفیث و گاتس فوق‌العاده بود.
  دلم می‌خواد الان زمان مناسبی بود می‌رفتم با چند از دوستام راجب به این ولیوم صحبت می‌کردم اما خب چهار صبح مانگا خوندن بدی‌های خودشم داره گویا
• 
  Tawfek Sleep of The Endless

  Griffith is Untouchable ...NOT, at this point of the story Guts is far more superior then Griffith.
  He actually beat Griffith using the same move that Griffith thought to use to beat him !
  Kentaro our artist catches the soul of the world the story is in so well, i mean the victorious return to the city, the people on the roofs cheering, any place with a window has men and women watching, the army camp fires, the soldiers having fun around them.
  He is just so good but i have to say Japanese artists don't know how to letter properly their lettering sucks big time.
  Also something else i noticed, this guy is the most talented artist so far with random human faces, he puts in a huge collection of random bystanders who doesn't even get named in the story, each and everyone of them have a different face different cloth its really amazing, even his battle scenes soldiers are always having different stances and facing different enemies.
  One more thing i don't like though is the covers the worst covers in a manga i have seen so far.
  but even with these downsides to the art its still one of the best well written well penciled well inked manga out there, and for that i am forever grateful for this amazing journey.
• 
  Maria

  I cannot believe. so much hype...for this?? Griffith 😕
  But seriously though. I’m pretty shocked. This volume was truly eye opening. I’m scared to find out what happens next.
• 
  Hiba⁷

  I am now expecting Griffith to falter and weaken, it feels like he's losing the composure everyone envied him for.
  And am I ignoring everything to read this? You bet I am.
• 
  Jena

  2021 reread:
  
  I somewhat recently rewatched the movies (way more recently than the last time I reread this) and I completely forgot the queen's role in the movies was cut entirely and how much more important she is in the manga.
  
  also two bros standing on a snowy hill, five feet apart cause they ARE gay but their swords are too big
  
  Content warnings (for Berserk overall): extreme gore, extreme violence, body horror, mutilation, psychological horror, rape (some against children), sexual assault (some against children), disturbing imagery, abuse.
  
• 
  Li ☾

  Just love this series!!
• 
  Diabolica

  Alrighty, so this marks the end of the first chunk.
  
  There is so much that's whirring in my head, but I have no idea how to translate it into words. First off, is that I have so many questions for the person who recommended this to me. Genuinely, I have never seen so much gore, rape, and murder packed into a couple hundred pages. Miura really outdid himself.
  
  Gore aside, this series is really well-developed. There is so much underlying each character I don't even know which to dissect first. I genuinely first shipped Griffin and Guts, but I take that ship back. Griffin is lowkey an ass in my books, and Guts does not need that kinda bullshit. However, the actual ship in the books is really cute, and I genuinely do ship those two (although I have a bad feeling I shouldn't get totally invested, something feels like it's going to go south pretty quick). But as far as characters go, Guts is a very interesting one. I'm not really sure how Miura transitioned from the present to the past (a couple of books ago), but I can't help but wonder how much worse it's going to get for the man so that we can get to the present storyline. Especially for him to have changed so much.
  
  I'll admit, thematically the book seemed a little juvenile at the start, with the way Puck was spelling out the 'darkness' in Guts in a somewhat child-like manner. However, I think the idea of dreams (and purpose) that Miura has woven into the next couple of books was really interesting. I'll admit I've been zooming through this series so I'm a little less versed on what messages Miura might have been trying to weave into the story.
  
  The art, on the other hand, is not my cup of tea. There's something that's very rough about it. However, I think that it works very well for this story. Miura does not skimp on the gore and the details to make the scenery and its characters viler in appearance.
  
  Plot-wise, I am sold. I literally don't want to finish any of my work, because that is how hooked I am at this point. If anything, I'm worried, because I can feel the wind going colder and it feels like the plot is about to go real sad south soon. (especially if the first two novels were any indication of the present).
• 
  Ola G

  10/10 stars
  
  Now we're talking! My favorite volume to date. The end of the Golden Age, so bright and sharp and beautiful like a double-edged sword.
  
  Guts has grown so much you've got to admire him for it. Does he have some communication problems? Well, yes, but can you blame him? Coming up to a psychopath and telling him in pleasant tones that you want to leave his company to pursue your own dreams is not the best strategy. It would've end the same way: with a fight at dawn on a snowy hill, with only one emerging victorious and the other broken. All my suspicions about Griffith are confirmed.
  
  Casca has a nice arc here, too. Three years is a long time, indeed - to forge bonds of friendship and loyalty, of respect and maybe even love. This band of brothers will never be the same - but Guts had been always the odd one out, a lone wanderer warming up by the common fire, only to return, alone, into the night.
• 
  Karissa

  This is the eighth book in the Berserk series and was just as wonderful as all the others in this series.
  
  The Band of the Hawk face their toughest battle yet and triumph. Griffith is awarded the position of general and all of the Band of the Hawk will be knighted and made nobility. However, Guts puts a pall over the celebration when he decides to leave the Band of the Hawk and pursue his own dreams.
  
  I continue to be impressed with how much story each volume covers. The illustration continues to be very well done. The story is easy to follow and action-packed. This volume is half battle and half intrigue at court.
  
  Overall this was a wonderful addition to the Berserk series. I continues to enjoy this series and be impressed by the action, characters, world-building and story. I would recommend to mature readers who enjoy fantasy horror manga.
  
• 
  C. Varn

  The turn of events here really starts to push the narrative forward, Guts realizing that to be Griffith friend that he must become his equal and cannot be under Griffith's yoke. It's not that he finds it oppressive, so much as strives to live up to Griffith by dreaming his own dream. After helping to enable Midland's peace, a conversation with Judeau pushes things to forefront. There is intrigue in Midland, and the true coldness of Griffith's nature starts to unfold. Miura's line work is very strong here, and the Hawks seem more and more developed as characters.
• 
  Monsour

  
  
  Oh look at all those people Oh Geez lets hope nothing bad happens to them..like u know.. A evil Ottoman/Byzantine/Taj mahal hybrid empire that uses human vagina to make an expendable demon army with eastern magic cult as a backup and bring their lovable city to ruins RIGHT.
  
  This Volume has everything you wanted on a medieval fictional universe. Epic duel, Siege battles, Political intrigue, grey area characters and DRAMA.
  
  But one question still bothers me.
  
  IS GRIFFITH GAY???
• 
  Emily

  Damn. This might be peak Berserk. Start beginning is medieval action, the middle is political backstabbing, and the end is a deep dive into the complex web of emotions of our characters. This story explores not only each of the main 3's reasons for living, but also how they feel about each other and the conclusions they've come to. Casca has slowly come to care for Guts, as he has treated her with more respect and dignity than Griffith ever has. And Guts is beginning to care for Casca as he realizes how resilient she is and the weight she carries. But he knows she is enamored with Griffith and keeps himself distant, perhaps to protect himself. And Griffith likes to tell himself that he does not care for his soldiers, but the potential loss of Guts devastates him. Guts admires Griffith because Griffith offered him a sense of belonging that nobody had given him. And Griffith appreciates Guts because he has done so much to help realize his dream. But Guts is torn between wanting to be with the man who gave him so much and wanting to feel like his equal. Meanwhile Griffith is torn between his aspirations for power and his feelings for Guts.
  
  Even less important characters like Judeu and Corkus get fleshed out. Judeu has kind of resigned himself to serving under Griffith, acknowledging that everybody has a dream but that he can't (or isn't confident enough to) pursue his own. And he still has feelings of longing toward a certain someone, that he doesn't seem to have fully acknowledged (perhaps again to protect himself from the disappointment of failure). Meanwhile Corkus is like an ignorant version of Judeu. He tells himself that dreams are just comforts, and takes a nihilistic view on the matter. Because if he were to be honest with himself and examine things critically, he would come to realize that he is in no way special and owes much to those around him. Which is perfectly fine, but unacceptable to Corkus because that would mean checking his ego and sense of entitlement.
  
  And with this web of intersecting feelings and motivations, we get a masterpiece in storytelling. Characters act in a way that makes perfect sense according to their history, their motivations, their goals, the ways they've changed since meeting each other, and their emotions. Which is what makes them feel so believable and human. They're all uncertain and can only rely on what they know they want and how they feel. And as they set out on the paths their circumstances have laid out, they collide with one another, grow closer, change plans, reflect on themselves, and their relationships change. The Golden age is a simple narrative that is told well, but what really raises this story above all else is the emotional, interpersonal depth of its characters, and how those emotions and relationship play out over the backdrop of political events. It's the kind of story that only gets better the more you think about it. You begin to discover more nuances to the relationships and motives, or you come to better understand just why a character thinks the way they do. The more you put into the story, the more you get out of it. I've said it before, and this won't be the last time. Berserk is a master piece.
• 
  Mahdiye HajiHosseini

  اپدیت ۶ دی ۴۰۰-
  این جلد واقعا در اوجه. مسیری که لحظه به لحظه به کسوف نزدیکتر میشه و اعصاب منم خردتر ⁦ಠωಠ⁩
  من همیشه غمگینترین بودم وقتی رفتن گاتس رو می‌دیدم. و الان هم.
  دلم نمیخواد جلد بعد رو شروع کنم.
• 
  rain ツ

  best volume by far. less violence and war, more political intrigue and psychological depth.
  
  that’s the strength of berserk. not the action, but guts and his relationship with griffith. it aches to say that griffith is probably the best character in my opinion.
• 
  Pardis Ahmadi

  I’m on BERSERK reading spree!! Somebody help me!!!! 😂
• 
  Himanshu Karmacharya

  From Political games, war strategies to emotional drama and farewells, Vol. 8 of Berserk has got it all.
• 
  Lucia

  I am so interested in Griffith's backstory
• 
  Grace Arango (G-Swizzel Books)

  this bromance is fading
• 
  T.R. Preston

  This might be my favourite volume. I don't know. I change often. Such brilliant storytelling. Berserk is not perfect. At times it is downright stupid (Speaking of Puck and Isidro. God, I want them to burn in fire). But when it's at its best, it is truly a work of art.
  
  This volume is so, so sad. (And also so, so gay. Like, whoa. Veeeeery gay. It gets me every damn time.)
  
  So much symbolism and foreshadowing is woven into the narrative here. It's amazing stuff.
• 
  Nelson

  This is the best volume yet. How does Miura keep getting better? How many times have I said that in 8 volumes? Probably a lot, but it keeps getting better. It's such an organic growth in both writing and art.
• 
  Kerrie-Ann ✨ bookishlybesotted

  That was bloody intense! Absolutely thrilling and I’m totally obsessed!!! Such fantastic fictional characters, the complexity is outstanding, Guts is everything! The Hawks are everything! Griffith is so intriguing, I feel as though I’m in his dream! I keep thinking with each book that was the best volume yet, then I’m blown away by the next one, just gets better and better! I’m in complete awe by Kentaro Miura masterful storytelling. I love it when I find a series that I can’t stop thinking about, can obsess over, it’s filling my heart and soul right now. Berserk is everything!!!!
• 
  Richesses_de_fantasy (Jen’)

  Tome qui marque la fin d’une époque dans le passé de Guts et qui approfondit les personnages, leur psychologie et leurs relations.
• 
  كيكه الوزير

  So far, my favorite. I hear it's all downhill (emotionally) from here, so I'll take a minute before venturing on.
  
  
• 
  Facundo Mosquera

  repito, el arte es increíble, está para enmarcar. Excelente todo hasta ahora, incluso panini hizo un buen trabajo con el tomo. La calidad que tiene parece a los de viz media
• 
  Ƙʏᴙᴀ

  Uuh non gliele devi far girare a Griffith! Che lotta di sguardi...
• 
  Adrián

  Genial. Mucho mejor que todos los tomos anteriores.