#theme: parallels

[kudokurobafreakarchive]

detective conan: movie 27

[kudokurobafreakarchive]

detective conan: movie 3 | detective conan: movie 27

[bthump]

new chapter: https://mangadex(.)org/chapter/8ceadc31-e41e-4038-8aef-d002aab344a5/1

Thank you for the heads up!

Not much happening lol, but I see more parallels to Griffith in the dungeon and I'm loving that, as well as the prospect of getting a real glimpse into Guts' psyche. I was hoping that would be the point of this dungeon thing, and it looks like it is, so yay.

And I looooooved these two pages in immediate succession:

Like first it's nice to see some acknowledgement that Guts' breakdown is not just about his sword/failed revenge attempt lol, his deeper feelings are still longing, and certainly not just for Casca, but Griffith as well. Confirmation that he's not just reaching out to Casca here, but to both of them.

I've always felt that Griffith and Casca are paralleled a lot in Guts' perspective, in both being changed versions of themselves while Guts desperately misses their original selves. The quest to restore Casca's mind is like... substitution is maybe not the right word, because he does care about Casca for her own sake, but like, he's so focused on wanting the old Casca back in part because he can't get the old Griffith back. He's sublimating his longing for Griffith through Casca.

They're shown as equivalent here, and I don't mind that lol because any parallels between Casca and Griffith just make Guts' feelings for Griffith gayer, but I still do think Guts' feelings for Griffith are the most narratively significant feelings. Like, Guts swings his sword in frustration when Casca is still out of reach after getting her mind back, while he has a full breakdown when Griffith is still out of reach. We'll see how it all shakes out eventually though I guess. If they are fully treated as equivalent desires it wouldn't be the worst thing either, I can put up with a lot of het for griffguts style homoeroticism lol.

And a bit of a reach now, but Zodd's hand vs Guts' hand is a nice visual here. Guts is futilely reaching for Griffith and Casca who are in Zodd's monstrous hand. Could function as a subtle bit of foreshadowing that Guts' solution of choice will be to become a monster.

[bthump]

Why do Donovan and Guts have the same eye deformation? I've seen your essay on the similarity between Vargas and Guts, but Donovan has the same thing going on where one of his eyes is closed.

It's not quite the same - one of Donovan's eyes is stuck in a squint rather than being fully closed - but yeah I think it's likely that it's a deliberate similarity to highlight the parallel between Donovan and Guts.

Gambino also gets a shot like this to highlight his monstrousness when he attempts to kill Guts, with only one eye visible, for the same reason imo.

I don't think there's an essay's worth of support for this parallel between Donovan and Guts because I think it's a pretty straightforward cycle of violence kinda thing.

Donovan is a monster who traumatized Guts and in doing so fucked him up and set him on the path to becoming a monster himself. Guts himself draws this parallel between them after he kills Adonis and has the concussed and sexually-suggestive nightmare of becoming Zodd - who is depicted very similarly visually to the way Donovan is depicted in his earlier nightmare.

It's like tying the monsters Guts fights to his childhood trauma, and Guts' own potential to become a monster, which he feels strongly after accidentally killing Adonis.

And I mean in these nightmares they both have 2 eyes, but yk, I don't think the eye thing is the super necessary smoking gun that reveals this parallel or anything, more like a minor additional detail you can tie into it if you want.

Thanks for the ask!

[bthump]

Have someone pointed this out, yet?👁️👁️

Yeah, on the way to your lowest, i guess...

They could fit like puzzles...

worthless 👁️👁️👁️👁️👁️👁️👁️👁️👁️👁️👁️👁️👁️

Sorry I didn't answer this for like a month, but it only just appeared in my inbox, backdated to May? No idea why that could be, might be a tumblr issue?

But yeah I love that potential parallel! I think there are a few you can draw between Guts right now mid-breakdown and Griffith at his lowest points, and I really hope it leads somewhere good.

[bthump]

Hiiii!♡♡♡

Might be delusional, but do you think in new chapters Guts will finally face himself, actually think of what is in his head? Of his hatred, of unresolved guilt, rage, love.

It's like, ad you said, for Griffith dream was low-key his coping mechanism, behind of which he could hide from his real feelings. And only after this ability is taken away, in the ceal he comes to realization of how much Guts is actually important to him, and how empty dream actually is.

Do you think Casca may have been same thing for Guts? And now that she is gone — just like dream — and Guts is utterly broken in prison cell. (Just like Griffith)

I actually hope on some memories of them together, I miss them so much.

Have a great day!

Hi! I'd love that honestly, like a parallel to Griffith's torture chamber monologue about Guts.

Idk though. I do think there are deliberate parallels to the torture chamber - and it's interesting to compare Casca to Griffith's dream in this context. I think it fits, but more in his frustration in restoring her mind but not feeling satisfied, rather than Griffith kidnapping her. She was a goal to strive for, but achieving that goal didn't fix his problems and now those problems have taken over.

The problem we're focusing on right now though is, I think, Guts' fear of his own weakness and potential failure. Something we saw a lot in the Black Swordsman arc, which the story seems to be finally picking back up again. So I think if we do get some insight into his feelings for Griffith right now, they'll be more about his inadequacy, Griffith being too far to reach, that kind of thing, rather than overt longing for him/his past human self, or acknowledgement of his buried feelings.

But you never know. It would definitely fit for Guts to reflect back on the period when they were essentially equals and regret throwing that away, and long for ~what could have been~

I'm not really betting on it though. I feel like the writing for Guts has been pretty awkward since Miura passed, and I'm not sure the current writers are really aiming for a lot of nuance. It feels like we're sticking closely to Guts' feelings of inadequacy rather than using that as a jumping off point to explore more of his complex feelings.

Thanks for the ask! Have an awesome day too <3

[bthump]

Idk if this has been observed or talked about here before so feel free to ignore if so. But i’m rewatching berserk for the 8768848373 time and took note of something i haven’t before

When Casca and Guts are stranded after Adon causes them to fall off the cliff, and Casca is talking about her and Griffith’s intertwined backstory, she mentions multiple times the act of Griffith touching her shoulder and smiling at her, and how it either calmed her or made her sad because she knew that either way he was being strong for her and showing his care for her, regardless of how he felt at the time.

We know that Guts touching Griffith on the shoulder is what sets off the eclipse. A gesture meant to comfort and console. Guts does this with Griffith often, it’s sort of his way of giving him a hug and shows how much Guts cares for him and loves him, since he doesn’t tolerate being touched or touching anyone else in most scenarios. When Guts assassinates Yurius and he and Griffith finally take down the queen and members of her court, and Griffith asks Guts if he thinks he’s cruel, Guts touches him on the shoulder and smiles after brushing the remark off. We also know that to Griffith, the answer he was given wasn’t exactly the one he was hoping for and it saddened him. A gesture typically meant to ease worries caused further sadness and distress, like the final touch of the shoulder that sets off the eclipse. I just think that’s a really beautiful and cool parallel between the relationships of Griffith and Casca, and Griffith and Guts. Griffith is the one who typically consoles Casca and the other hawks, whereas with Guts he is the one being consoled and being shown love through touch. I can imagine it being refreshing and new to be on the other side of that interaction. Idk if this matters at all and i haven’t slept in 24 hours so please forgive the lazy typing, i just wanted to share. Love your blog and your beautiful berserk ridden mind always and forever

Yeah! It's a really solid motif with some interesting implications! I actually have discussed these parallels a little in the fourth part of my Griffith essay here, if you're interested. Another really telling moment, imo, is when Casca puts her hand on Griffith's back in the wagon right before the Eclipse, in a visually similar sequence to Griffith placing his hand on Casca's shoulder in the river and telling her he's fine.

It seems like a way of highlighting the role reversal of power, both in Griffith's weakness after the torture when Casca is now the one who has to be strong and comfort him, and in his relationship with Guts in general, as in the Tombstone of Flame and lake scenes you pointed out. With Guts he's not powerless because of the torture, but because of his feelings for him, and consequently his emotional reliance on him - Guts makes him weak, emotionally and that's like a visual way of showing us imo.

Thanks for the ask, I enjoyed reading your thoughts on these parallels!

[bthump]

I honestly question why Zodd is still in the story, yeah he’s popular with fans, but I legit have no idea what else he’s supposed to be doing.

Is he supposed to be some sort of measuring stick for Guts’ strength? A leftover from the Golden Age arc? What purpose is this dude supposed to fulfill now?

I once confused Wyald with Zodd and I feel that he could’ve taken Wyald’s place in the story just fine. The band managed to bust out of Midland, boom! Zodd shows up, measures up Guts, and pushes him and the band to their absolute limits while Griffith can’t do shit to help like he did in the past. Would do Wyald’s narrative purpose better, probably without all the sexual assault Casca has to go through.

Idk I think Zodd has a few important roles in the story. He's a foilto Guts for one. He's someone who's succumbed to his blood-lusty dark side. He's a parallel to Guts as a monster in touch with his humanity, while Guts is a human in danger of succumbing to his monstrousness.

Sonia has that little scene where she calls Guts Zodd's counterpart and says they both have to make a choice between human volition or monstrous instinct, which explains the thematic significance of the two of them allying up to fight Ganishka. Zodd shows that monsters aren't inevitably monstrous.

Granted some of the other apostles do too, like Locus and Irvine, but I think it hits more effectively with Zodd because we've seen him at his most monstrous.

Plus Guts is driven to kill Zodd after having been defeated by him, but that drive is a contributing factor to Guts' own monstrousness, so there's good character stuff in place to make a potential final showdown between them feel epic and exciting and significant on a thematic and character level.

I don't think he'd work in place of Wyald either, based on how he's established in his previous two appearances. He backs off when he realizes who Griffith is, and then saves Guts' life by throwing him a sword at the battle of Doldrey. He's intent on preserving the Hawks for sacrifice, and actively doing what he can to help fate along. Wyald doesn't give a fuck which is why he kills a bunch of Hawks.

Also, I feel like Guts has to defeat Wyald, that's largely the point of the whole sequence. It's showing how powerful, but also how "inhuman" Guts is becoming himself.

Ultimately Zodd finishes him off to save Griffith, but he was dying from the wounds Guts inflicted at the time, so Guts functionally won.

I feel like it's a significant prelude to the Black Swordsman stuff that wouldn't work with Zodd, because Zodd would just kick Guts' ass. And there's no reason for Zodd to show up and fight the Hawks to test their limits either. They're all going to die in a day, as far as he's concerned, and Zodd is established as the type who doesn't hold back in a fight. Like the instant Guts breaks his sword in the keep, he transforms into his monster self and prepares to kill him, even though he's intrigued at Guts' skill.

To be fair you could completely rework Zodd's role in the story to make him more of a chump who Guts can defeat, then he's killed off and no more Zodd. But again, I like his role in the story post-Eclipse too. Griffith's main enforcer, a parallel and contrast to Guts, and someone Guts can eventually fight in a demonstration of how fucked up Guts has become.

Plus he's fun lol. I love the scene where they team up at the docks, eg. I like that he's a familiar touchstone for Guts in a way, as someone he interacted with a few times pre-Eclipse and who's now taken his place working for Griffith. It's neat.

But yeah that's just my opinion lol, if you're just not into him then that's fair!