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Cover for the 2016 edition of volume 1, featuring Guts
Berserk is a Japanese manga series written and drawn by Kentaro Miura, and has been published by Hakusensha in the magazines Monthly Animal House (1989–1992) and Young Animal (1992–). Since the late 2000s, the manga has been published irregularly, with frequent hiatuses until Miura's death in 2021. Since then, the series has been supervised by Miura's friend Kouji Mori and drawn by Studio Gaga, consisting of Miura's assistants and apprentices.[1]
The story follows Guts, an orphaned mercenary on his quest for revenge, and consists of five major story arcs: "The Black Swordsman Arc"[nb 1] (volumes 1–3); "Golden Age Arc"[nb 2] (volumes 3–14); "Conviction Arc"[nb 3] (volumes 14–21); "Falcon of the Millennium Empire Arc"[nb 4] (volumes 22–35); and "Fantasia Arc"[nb 5] (volumes 35–).[2]
The chapters (called "episodes") are since November 26, 1990, also collected by Hakusensha in tankōbon volumes; 42 have been released as of 2023. The volumes are released in English by Dark Horse Comics since October 22, 2003; they are since February 27, 2019, also releasing hardcover editions which each collect multiple volumes.[3] The Japanese volumes were re-released with new cover art starting in 2016, following the rebranding of Hakusensha's Jets Comics imprint as Young Animal Comics.[4]
"The Black Swordsman" (黒い剣士, Kuroi Kenshi, beginning of "The Black Swordsman Arc")
"The Brand" (烙印, Rakuin)
"The Guardians of Desire (1)" (欲望の守護天使(1), Yokubō no Shugotenshi (1))
A lone swordsman named Guts walks into an inn where a group of bandits are tormenting an elf named Puck and a red-haired youth. Guts kills all but one of the bandits, telling him to inform his master that the Black Swordsman is coming. Guts later finds and kills the Baron before taking his leave, inspiring Puck to travel with the swordsman. Accepting a ride from an old priest named Adolf, Guts experiences a nightmare and wakes up to an attack by spiritually-possessed skeletons, which kill Adolf and his daughter Colette. Guts and Puck arrive to a town run by a pagan-hunting Count that Guts targets.
"The Golden Age (2–6)" (黄金時代(2〜6), Ōgon Jidai (2–6))
Raised by his adoptive father and mentor Gambino, the young Guts was forced to kill Gambino when the man attempted to murder him in misplaced blame for his wife's death for saving his life when born from his hanged mother. A few years later, an older Guts attracts the attention of a mercenary group, The Band of the Hawk, when he kills the knight Bazuso during a siege. Corkus attempts to rob Guts before he is saved by the Hawks' female captain Casca, who is in turned saved by their leader Griffith as he grievously wounds Guts.
006. "Master of the Sword (1)" (剣の主(1), Tsurugi no Aruji (1))
When Guts recovers days later, he is forced into joining the Band of the Hawk when Griffith defeats him in a duel and later learns of the Behelit pendant Griffith possesses. Three years pass and the Band of the Hawk grow in power and numbers as they are employed by the Kingdom of Midland for its Hundred Year War against the Tudor Empire, and Griffith rises in the kingdom's hierarchy after a successful battle. During a siege, Guts and Griffith encounter the Apostle Nosferatu Zodd, a fearsome immortal warrior who nearly kills them before noticing Griffith's Behelit. Zodd takes his leave while warning Guts that Griffith will be his doom once the latter dream crumbles while still considering him a friend.
Griffith's rise in status and closeness to Princess Charlotte is ill-received by Midland's noblemen, with the king's brother Julius orchestrating an assassination attempt during the a fall hunt. But Griffith's Behelit prevents the poisoned arrow from touching his skin, Griffith tasking Guts with murdering Julius. Guts succeeds, but is emotionally scarred when he killed the noble's young son Adonis to conceal the deed. Guts hears Griffith tell Charlotte his ideals of what he considers a friend, Guts realizing Griffith does not consider him and the others as friends. When news of Julius's death is ruled as the work of Tudor assassins, the Hawks return to battle following Griffith's encounter with Julius's co-conpsirator Minister Foss. Casca ends up with a menstruation-based fever during the Hawks' against the Blue Whale Knights, ending with her and Guts falling into the river when attacked by the Blue Whales' misogynist commander Adon Coborlwitz.
018–020. "Prepared for Death (1–3)" (決死行(1〜3), Kesshikō (1–3))
021. "Survival" (生還, Seikan)
022. "Campfire of Dreams" (夢のかがり火, Yume no Kagaribi)
023–026. "The Battle for Doldrey (1–4)" (ドルドレイ攻略戦(1〜4), Dorudorei Kōryakusen (1–4))
After Guts learns Casca's story of how Griffith saved her from being raped by a noble and later how he sold himself sexually to a pederast lord to fund the Band of Hawk, the two are attacked by Adon and his men. Guts defeats most of Adon's men while covering Casca's escape, eventually coming to a conclusion to leave the Hawk so find his own dream to become Griffith's true friend. Later, Griffith volunteers the Hawks to reclaim the impregnable Fortress of Doldrey from a Tudor governor named Gennon, previously the pederast lord Griffith served. The Hawks begin their assault in a scheme to take the fortress by
luring out the bulk of the Tudor army so Casca and lead a group to infiltrate it.
027–028. "The Battle for Doldrey (5–6)" (ドルドレイ攻略戦(5〜6), Dorudorei Kōryakusen (5–6))
029. "Triumphant Return" (凱旋, Gaisen)
030. "Moment of Glory" (栄光の瞬間, Eikō no toki)
031–032. "Tombstone of Flame (1–2)" (炎の墓標(1〜2), Honō no Bohyō (1–2))
033. "One Snowy Night" (ある雪の夜に…, Aru Yuki no Yoru ni...)
034–036. "The Morning Departure (1–3)" (旅立ちの朝(1〜3), Tabidachi no Asa (1–3))
Casca manages to kill Adon while Guts decapatitate the Purple Rhino Knights' commander Boscogn to turn the battle's end, Griffith killing off Gennon after callously explaining that he used love-sick governor for his own goals. The Hawks' reclaiming of Doldrey marks the end of the Hundred-Year War as they return to Wyndam with a ball held in their honor. The Queen, Charlotte's stepmother and Julius's secret lover, hatches a scheme with Foss to poison Griffith during the banquet. But Foss receives a troubling letter prior to the banquet as Griffith falls to the floor after receiving a poisoned drink. The Queen and her conspirators celebrate in a tower before finding themselves locked in with the tower set ablaze, Griffith revealed to have coerced Foss into faking his death to kill his remaining opposition with Guts executing the thugs he hired to hold Foss's daughter hostage for the minister's compliance. A month after the queen's funeral, Guts parts ways with Griffith after defeating him in a duel.
037. "Knight of Skeleton" (髑髏の騎士, Dokuro no kishi)
038. "Start of the Everlasting Night" (果てしなき夜の始まり, Hateshinaki Yoru no hajimari)
039. "The Fallen Hawk" (墜ちた鷹, Ochita taka)
040. "Demise of a Dream" (夢の終焉, Yume no Shūen)
041. "Arms Tournament" (闘技会, Tōgikai)
042. "The Fugitives" (逃亡者たち, Tōbōsha-tachi)
043. "The Fighter" (闘者, Tōsha)
044. "Comrades in Arms" (戦友, Sen'yū)
045. "Confession" (告白, Kokuhaku)
046–047. "Wounds (1–2)" (傷(1〜2), Kizu (1–2))
Griffith is distraught at Guts' departure, and in a lapse of judgment he is caught sleeping with Charlotte. Griffith is charged with treason and imprisoned in the Tower of Rebirth while the Hawk are branded outlaws. A year has passed since Guts left the Hawks and encounter a mysterious skull-faced knight who warns him that he triggered events that will end with a storm of blood. Guts lived with the swordsmith Godo and his daughter Erica before learning that the Band of the Hawk are now wanted outlaws and Casca is their captain, aiding them in fending off Midland's hired Kushan assassin Silat. After Guts learns of Casca's plan to rescue Griffith from the Tower of Rebirth, he ends up being forced to fight her as she blames Guts for Griffith's problems before realizing it was not his fault. The two resolve their issues and consummate their love, Guts telling Casca to leave with him after they save Griffith.
058. "Flower of the Stone Castle" (石の王城の花, Ishi no Shiro no Hana)
Casca and Guts go into the dungeon under the Tower of Rebirth with Charlotte's help to rescue Griffith, finding him mute, crippled and horribly disfigured from a year of seemingly endless torture. They manage to get Griffith out of Wyndam while fighting through the Kushan assassins known as the Bakiraka, the king refuses to let Griffith escape and assigns his retrieval to his most depraved fighting force: The Black Dog Knights.
067. "Armour to the Heart" (甲冑は胸に, Yoroi wa Mune ni)
068. "The Flying One" (飛来者…, Hiraisha...)
069. "The Immortal Once Again" (不死者再び, Fushisha Futatabi)
The Band of the Hawk manage to fend off the Black Dog Knights, only to go through a ordeal when facing their sadistic commander Wyald. Revealed to be an Apostle before being heavily damaged by Guts, Wyald attempts to break the Hawks' spirit by revealing Griffith's condition prevents him from leading them again. Zodd then appears to kill Wyald for attempting to kill Griffith before taking his leave.
070. "Requiem of the Wind" (風の鎮魂歌, Kaze no Rekuiemu)
071. "The Warriors of Twilight" (黄昏の戦士達, Tasogare no Senshi-tachi)
072. "Back Alley Boy" (路地裏の少年, Rojiura no Shōnen)
073. "Eclipse" (蝕, Shoku)
074. "The Promised Time" (約束の刻, Yakusoku no Toki)
075. "Advent" (降臨, Kōrin)
076. "The Inhuman Host" (人外百鬼, Ningai Hyakki)
077. "The Castle" (城, Shiro)
078. "Parting" (決別, Ketsubetsu)
079. "The Feast" (宴, Utage)
The forlorn Hawks proceeding to rendezvous with the rest of the group at Midland border while unaware that all but Rickert were slaughtered by Apostles. Casca feels she must take care of Griffith, and tells Guts to leave. Delirious and horrified at what he has been reduced to, Griffith takes off in a wagon and crashes into a shallow lake where he fails to commit suicide. He finds his Behelit and unintentionally activates it when the Hawks find him as a solar eclipse occurs, taking everyone present to a convergence of the physical and Astral planes. The four Guardian Angels of the God Hand appear and inform Griffith that his tribulations have led to him being chosen as their final member, which requires him to sacrifice the Band of the Hawk to everyone's shock. Griffith is shown visions of his consciousness by Uvik to be convinced that a few more sacrificed lives are trivial in regard to the fulfillment of his dream. Guts is unable to reach Griffith in time as a God Hand's offer, the Hawks are branded by Void as the Apostles commence a ritual killing to begin Griffith's transition into a demon.
080–081. "Storm of Death (1–2)" (死の嵐(1〜2), Shi no Arashi (1–2))
082. "God of the Abyss" (深淵の神, Shin'en no Kami)
084. "Lifeblood" (鮮血, Senketsu)
085. "Quickening" (胎動, Taidō)
086. "Birth" (誕生, Tanjō)
087. "Afterglow of the Right Eye" (右目の残照, Migime no Zanshō)
088. "Escape" (脱出, Dasshutsu)
089. "Awakening to a Nightmare" (悪夢にめざめて, Akumu ni Mezamete)
090. "The Sprint" (疾走, Shissō)
091. "Vow of Retaliation" (反撃の誓い, Hangeki no Chikai)
As Rickert bears witness to the Skull Knight and Zodd battling outside the storm entrance to the Interstice, the Band of the Hawk are decimated by the Apostles with only Guts and Casca left alive. Griffith, feeling his comrades' deaths while gaining an understanding of the world and his rule as mankind's judge, is reborn in Void form, christened Femto. Griffith rapes Casca in front of Guts as the latter loses his left arm and right eye in an attempt to save her, the two sprited back to their plane by the Skull Knight. A few days later, Guts learns that Casca lost her sanity from the nightmarish ordeal and that their Brands of Sacrifice will subject them to nightly attacks by various evil creatures. Guts fends off the specters attacking him while motivated by his rage to declare his intent to hunt down Griffith and kill him.
094. "He Who Hunts Dragons" (ドラゴンを狩る者, Doragon o Karumono)
095. "The Black Swordsman, Once More" (黒い剣士、再び, Kuroi Kenshi, Futatabi, beginning of the "Conviction Arc")
096. "The Elves of Misty Valley" (霧の谷の妖精, Kiri no Tani no Yōsei)
097. "Jill" (ジル, Jiru)
098. "By Air" (飛来, Hirai)
099. "Elf Bugs" (妖虫, Yōchū)
Bonus: Berserk: The Prototype
Their unborn child mutated by Griffith's rape into the Demon Child that would follow him, Guts leaves Casca under the care of Godo and Rickert as he embarks on a journey to hunt down Apostles and the God Hand after acquiring the Dragonslayer Sword and his prosthetic arm. Two years, following the battle with the Count, Guts and Puck find themselves facing Apostle spawn in the form of elves.
113. "A Bloody Night Sky" (鮮血の夜空, Senketsu no Yozora)
114. "The Space Between Demon and Man" (魔と人の狭間, Ma to Hito no Hazama)
115. "Firefly" (蛍, Hotaru)
116. "The Way Home" (家路, Ieji)
117. "Blue Sky Elf" (青空の妖精, Sora no Yōsei)
118. "The Beast of Darkness" (闇の獣, "Yami no Kedamono")
119–120. "The Holy Iron Chain Knights (1–2)" (聖鉄鎖騎士団(1〜2), Seitessa Kishi-dan (1–2))
121. "The Hollow Idol" (空洞の偶像, Kūdō no Gūzō)
Fatigued from his battle with Rosine and tormented by an embodiment of his inner darkness, Guts is surrounded by the Holy Iron Chain Knights, knights of the Holy See faith who have been tracking him since the day they investigated the aftermath of the Eclipse. After being captured, Guts is interrogated by the Holy Iron Chain Knights' commander Farnese over the demise of the Band of the Hawk. But Guts mocks Farnese about her authority and her faith, provoking her to whip him in rage before Azan stops her and locks Guts in a cage. Guts is freed by Puck at nightfall and takes Farnese as a hostage to escape. Only the knights' herald Serpico gives chase, before finding himself surrounded by pursuing spirits.
129. "Cracks in the Blade" (刃の亀裂, Yaiba no Kiretsu)
130. "A Feeble Flame" (かよわき炎, Kayowaki Honō)
131–132. "To Holy Ground (1–2)" (聖地へ(1〜2), Seichi e (1–2))
The spirits pass Serpico and possess hounds that Guts fights off before killing a possessed horse, with it about to rape a horrified Farnese. A spirit then possesses Farnese and forces her to act out her lust by straddling Guts until sunrise. Serpico retrieves a traumatized Farnese and escorts her back to their camp, allowing Guts a reprieve despite Farnese's demand to have him killed. At Windham, the King of Midland dies having seen a vision about Griffith's return while the Kushan army appears on the horizon. Guts awakens from a nightmare of Casca being burned at the stake as a witch, seeing the Demon Child as it warns him that its mother is in danger. Guts returns to Godo's home, with Erika and Rickert confessing that Casca has escaped from the cave where she was confined. The bedridden Godo tells Guts that he made a grave mistake by abandoning Casca while he tried to drown his sorrow with revenge. After Godo uses the last of his strength to repair his sword, Guts departs to St. Albion to find Casca. Meanwhile, Farnese and her knights see the flood of refugees from Midland's disasters to St. Albion while escorting the inquisitor Bishop Mozgus to the city. While Mozgus punishes accused heretics who attempted to kill him, the prostitute Luca finds Casca wandering alone.
Guts kills some Kushan scouts while passing through to St. Albion, followed by a red-haired youth named Isidro who admires him. In Albion, with the surrounding refugee camp in utter disarray from the starved and over-populated masses, Mozgus begins his task in the Tower of Conviction where "sinful" beggars are tortured. Meanwhile, Luca divides earnings from her client Jerome among her fellows. Calling Casca "Elaine" while presenting her as her bandaged and diseased sister for her well being, Luca entrusts the girl to her fellow Nina, who is treating her own disease, while she fetches water. At nightfall, as the Demon Child saves Casca from spiritually-animated corpses near the bank that Nina is fetching water from, Guts encounters the Skull Knight who reveals the God Hand are using St. Albion as the site of a ritual to restore Griffith's corporeal form. The next day, as Farnese finds herself struggling with her faith, Nina meets her reoccurring customer Joachim and tests his love for her by bringing him to a midnight orgy held by the pagan cult's goat-headed leader. Joachim gradually engages until learning that the pagans are cannibals and tries to flee, falling off a cliff. Nina breaks down before seeing Luca, who disciplines her before forgiving her, and then learns that Casca followed her. Casca nearly gets raped by the pagans but is saved by spirits attracted by her brand before the Demon Child disperses them, the surviving pagans assuming Casca to be a witch.
144. "The Black Swordsman on Holy Ground" (聖地の黒い剣士, Seichi no Kuroi Kenshi)
145. "Straying" (迷走, Meisō)
146. "Ambition Boy" (野望少年, Yabō Shōnen)
147. "Den of Evil" (魔窟, Makutsu)
148. "The Reunion" (再会, Saikai)
149. "Ambush" (伏兵, Fukuhei)
150. "The Cliff" (断崖, Dangai)
151. "Captives" (虜囚, Ryoshū)
152. "The Iron Maiden" (鉄の処女, Tetsu no Shojo)
153–154. "Blood Flow of the Dead (1–2)" (亡者の血流(1〜2), Mōja no Ketsuryū (1–2))
Guts arrives to St. Albion and dispatches Holy Knights harassing Luca and her apprentice Pepe. Luca takes Guts to her tent upon recognizing his brand, only to find that a fearful Nina abducted Casca. The group divides to search; Isidro and Puck find Nina and Casca when they are captured by the pagan cult. In their cave, the pagans intend to marry Casca to the Great Goat with Nina as a sacrificial offering, but Isidro distracts the pagans while Puck goes after Guts. When Farnese and her knights, led by Joachim, arrive, Casca's brand awakens the dead which possess some pagans to indiscriminately attack people. Isidro attempts to save Casca, while the Great Goat is transformed into a monster by a mysterious observer. When the Great Goat attempts to consummate his marriage, Guts arrives to cover Casca's escape with Isidro and Nina before following them after killing the Great Goat. But Guts is confronted by Serpico, who uses the terrain and Guts's current state to his advantage. Guts finally manages to drive Serpico off upon disarming him, only to learn Casca and Nina are captured and taken Tower of Conviction. The mysterious observer witnesses Guts, Isidro and Luca make their way into the tower while the spirits within are stirred by two Brands of Sacrifice in close proximity, manifesting as a flesh-eating blob of blood.
158. "One Unknown in the Depth of the Depths" (底の底の知られぬ者, Soko no Soko no Shirarenu mono)
159. "The Threatened" (脅えし者, Obieshimono)
160. "Omens" (兆し, Kizashi)
161. "Martyrdom" (殉教, Junkyō)
162. "Collapse" (崩壊, Hōkai)
163–165. "Shadows of Idea (1–3)" (イデアの影(1〜3), Idea no Kage (1–3))
While Luca and Isidro use Jerome to free Nina, Guts forces Farnese to take him to the torture chamber where Puck tells that Casca is trapped within the blood as it is pursuing Mozgus and his men before they are transformed by the observer. Mozgus burns away some of the blood with his flames, freeing Casca and saving Luca's group, but he intends to have the former burned at the stake while his men attack the latter. Luca sacrificed herself so Jerome can save Nina, only to be saved by the Skull Knight then spirited off by the observer: a behelit-like Apostle self-dubbed the Egg of the Perfect World. The Egg tells Luca his story of long observation of everyone in St. Albion, detailing his ideals and the event to soon occur. After the Egg flees the Skull Knight with only a mortal wound inflicted on him, the Skull Knight takes Luca to safety as the living mounds of starved corpses rise up. Back in the Tower of Conviction, Guts arrives faces Mozgus' winged subordinate as he and the Twins fly off with Casca. Though Guts manages to kill Mozgus's disciples, the possessed blood causes the tower to partially collapse. The chaos unfolds in the slums, but Mozgus uses his powers to keep the corpses at bay while the refugees proceed to build a pyre to burn Casca on. Guts sees this while noticing the four God Hand members manifesting through the blood. As Luca walks back to St. Albion after the Skull Knight took her to the outskirts, the Egg of the Perfect World swallows the dying Demon Child out of sympathy during his climb up the Tower of Conviction.
169. "Those Who Cling, Those Who Struggle" (縋る者もがく者, Sugarumono Mogakumono)
170–171. "Tidal Wave of Darkness (1–2)" (闇の津波(1〜2), Yami no Tsunami (1–2))
172. "Resonance" (共鳴, Kyōmei)
173. "The Sky Fall" (天墜つ, Ten Otsu)
174. "Daybreak" (暁, Akatsuki)
175. "The Arrival" (出現, Shutsugen)
176. "Determination and Departure" (決意と旅立ち, Ketsui to Tabidachi)
Enlisting Jerome and Nina's help, Isidro uses a makeshift pulley system to free Casca as she was about to be burned alive. Mozgus nearly catches them when Guts leaps off the tower and impales the inquisitor. But Mozgus's bible shielded him from the attack while he fully transforms. After Isidro's group eliminate the last of Mozgus's disciples, the inquisitor overpowering him while the flames keeping the corpses at bay die out, Guts uses his miniature bombs to blow apart the unprotected chink in the inquistitor's armored body to kill him. After a brief reunion with Casca, the corpses manage to flood into St. Albion as Guts gives his group torches so they can outlast the few remaining hours of night. While Luca saves Nina down below the tower, the Egg of the Perfect World calls the dead to the Tower of Conviction and sacrifices himself to complete the ritual with the Demon Child becoming Griffith's corporeal vessel. The Tower collapses once the ritual ran its course, killing everyone inside it before daybreak as Guts and the others find themselves surrounded by Silat and his Kushans before Zodd drives the Kushans. Guts then sees a newly reconstituted Griffith, yet could not attack him due to Casca while the others use the Apostle's appearance to flee as a Kushan legion arrives. Zodd spirits Griffith away on his back while Guts steals a horse to take Casca back to Godo's home. Isidro departs on his own while Luca pays her respects the Egg and those who died that night. While Nina reunites with Joachim, Farnese renounces her faith and decides to follow Guts with Serpico remaining by her side. Back at Albion's ruins, the Skull Knight muses that the events which occurred will soon change the world.