Berserk vol. 40
It’s a new volume of “Berserk.” What’s there to say about it besides, “It’s still really good,” and “I wish Kentaro Miura world get these out faster?” A lot, actually. This is a momentous volume of the series as it makes a fundamental change to its status quo — one that’s been in place for OVER TWO DECADES. Those of you who’ve been reading the series up to this point shouldn’t have too much trouble guessing what happens here. For everyone else, consider yourself warned because there are full spoilers for vol. 40 after the break.
So, Casca’s back.
After spending the past 22 years and 26 volumes as a childlike shell of her former self, the fiercest woman in the Band of the Hawk is finally restored to her old self. This is all down to the efforts of Schierke and Farnesse, who have been scouring the wasteland of her soul for its fragments, along with the wounded black dog meant to represent Guts in her mind. They pull it off here, but not without some trouble first.
That’s because dark monsters straight out of her subconscious, and her memory of The Eclipse, are barring their way. Miura does a good job of making them appropriately hideous, and in the case of the monsters they first encounter, uncomfortably symbolic. The group’s efforts to get the final fragment of Casca’s soul does come off as kind of a video-gamey experience as Schierke and Farnesse mainly use the fetishes at their disposal to summon beings of magical power to do the actual fighting. It’s a good thing the fighting is expertly rendered via Miura’s art, with Guts-dog’s assumption of the Berserker armor coming off as a truly metal moment, while a surprise reunion comes off as unexpectedly heartfelt.
While the two are able to obtain the last fragment, they find out that there’s a catch that comes along with it. It’s not immediately apparent what it will be and it’s easy to gloss over it (despite a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it callback to the Skull Knight’s warning) because our protagonists have succeeded. Upon their return to the waking world, they’re greeted by a Casca who remembers herself and it is glorious.
It’s been difficult seeing the once-proud warrior reduced to being a reminder to Guts about his failure to protect her during The Eclipse. For so long too: She’s been like this for twice as long as she was an actual character in the series at this point. Ever since the possibility was dangled that there may be a way to get her mind back, I’d hoped we’d see it. Soon enough before the series reached its end so that she could take an active part in it.
Well, I got my wish and that sound you hear is another finger on the monkey’s paw curling up. Because it would be easy — too easy — for Casca to regain her senses and go on adventuring as if the past 26 volumes had been just a bad dream. I know that’s overstating things a bit, but bear with me…
The thing is that when Schierke and Farnesse got the last piece of Casca’s soul, it turned out to be her heart. Her heart wrapped in black thorns. Schierke recognizes it as a curse, but sorcery has nothing to do with it. It’s all a visual metaphor for the trauma she feels at being betrayed and raped by Griffith. This isn’t apparent at first. It’s only when she’s about to be reunited with Guts that everything starts coming back. The moment this happens is truly gut-wrenching as the happy reunion we thought we were going to witness becomes something much darker. Not for reasons of sensationalism, but because that’s how trauma works.
As for how this is going to play out, I’m sure Miura is going to make sure it’s addressed in a thoughtful and credible fashion. I’m sure he’s got the time for it. Wait, you thought he was going to address it now? Nope! After the encounter between Casca and Guts, the scene abruptly shifts back to what Griffith and the new Band of the Hawk are up to. The answer is killing lots of man-eating giants.
There’s no doubt that Miura does the kind of action better than just about any other artist out there. Here, however, it comes off as a kind of glorified filler. Same for the chapter that follows which shows the human members of the Band marveling at travelling through a magical pathway that takes them high above the land.
I understand that the reunion was kind of a mic-drop moment in terms of storytelling. Even with the thin length of this volume, it would’ve been better to end it there. It’s just frustrating to get to these last two chapters and not get anything meaningful to chew on in terms of the story after everything that came before.
ESPECIALLY (and you knew this was coming) since this is likely the last we’ll see of “Berserk” for a while. Judging by how Miura’s hiatuses have been reported on Anime News Network, I doubt that vol. 41 will arrive before 2021. Even then, it’ll likely continue on the Griffith-centric path we’re seeing at the end here which… isn’t the storyline I’d like to be reading about right now. So if you’re wondering why I keep reading “Berserk” and continue to be frustrated at the slow pace that Miura keeps putting out new volumes, vol. 40 offers plenty of reasons why.