 "AWESOME" | 2009-01-18 |
| - Reviewed By User: A2QSBOQ5CDXL15 |
| SAW THE ANIME, NOW READING THE MANGA, AND IT IS AWESOME! PHILOSOPHICAL, AND ACTION! A KILLER COMBINATION! |
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| "No Holds Bar" | 2007-12-12 |
| - Reviewed By User: AFU0O8WIT1GWV |
| This second installment of the berserk series stays true to the name. This book is a gorefest and keeps the reader on his toes for what happens next. This book is ideal for the 16 year old thru 21 Age range for the gore and the Detailed Illustrations inside. Ideal for a Christmas present & I know im getting the rest of the volumes. |
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| ""A key to summon the Five God Hands"" | 2007-10-30 |
| - Reviewed By sebaf74 |
I finished the first volume of this manga a few hours ago and could not stop myself, I devoured this installment. Guts continues his quest and the action level goes even higher than in the previous volume. People that have already experienced this manga know that it includes scenes of extreme violence, many involving women and children, and that it has plenty of vivid gore. But, once again there are other facets besides the violence that make this a spectacular series.
Guts is becoming a more interesting character with the turn of each page. We get to see a conflicted psyche, with many layers, and an uncertainty about his humanity and strength to face the challenges that lay ahead. The relevance and meaning of the brand he carries gets further explanation in this volume, and the Behelit surfaces, a key to open the door to a world of monsters and demons.
The mighty Guts will face a tougher challenge this time around, and it is not clear if his mechanical arm and enormous sword, if it can be called that, together with his supernatural skill will be enough to carry him through. Once again, Puck provides the necessary tidbits of humor and a voice that seems to be starting to reach Guts' ears and affect his emotions.
This is another wonderful volume and fans of the series will not be disappointed. One final recommendation, the volume ends with a cliff-hanger, so it would be wise to have the next one handy. |
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| "The Battle Rages" | 2006-02-02 |
| - Reviewed By tonyadpx |
The only problem I've yet to have with Berserk is how fast they are as a read. I finished volume two in less than a hour. Though I will admit that the manga had me hooked, it wasn't just that that made this manga seem so short despite being over two-hundred pages. A lot of what happens in this manga is presented in imagery, and not in character dialogue. In fact, contrary to today's manga, where everything is over-explained, the Berserk manga under-explains. It lets its action speak for itself. I don't consider this a bad thing, though; it just sucks closing the book for the last time.
In this volume, the battle with the Count continues from the first volume. Helping Guts is a strange man named Vargas, who wants nothing more than to see the count dead, yet is incapable of doing anything himself, as well as Puck, the little elf that constantly annoys/helps Guts throughout the manga. This volume also teaches us a little bit more about the brand on Guts's neck, as well as showing Guts rare, emotional side. And of course, it has heaps of violence, blood, and gore, along with a smidgen of comedy interlaced during some lighter moments.
Though I felt the volume short, it still gets a five from me, and easily so. Berserk continues to get better, especially since I started my little trip through the world of Guts and his many demon enemies through the anime series. It's great getting to know his deeper history, as well as seeing Guts at his worst moments. If you've already started collecting the series, then you obviously shouldn't miss this. And if you've only seen the anime series, then buy this along with volume one and start collecting the series. Just note that the gore in this manga is graphic, and has a few scenes of nudity, which is often followed by some pretty disturbing imagery. I'd recommend following the book's instructions; if you consider yourself a mature reader, then get this. |
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| "It continues." | 2005-04-06 |
| - Reviewed By disinterested_smurf |
I adore Berserk. It's the most depressing comic I've read, while being action packed and full of memorable characters. I'm grateful Dark Horse picked it up not too long ago, as spending x3 as much on import volumes was becoming a chore. Plus they've been doing a great job on the translation. There were only a few minor errors I noticed, but it's not something the casual reader is going to see. I'm not going to give a summary of the story in each review, as I already did that in my review for the first volume. So just resort to that if you need a backstory. But in Volume 2 here, we continue following Guts, or as he's now known- The Black Swordsman.
In the last volume of the Berserk comics, Guts was looking for the Count of the kingdom he's currently in. No doubt, looking for news of a certain someone he's looking for revenge on. But this time, he runs into someone else who's looking for revenge. A deformed old man who demands vengance, even if it comes at the cost of his life. Guts and Puck don't quite know what to make of him at first, but the old man soon coughs up a lot of details about what's going on in the kingdom, and how everything became the way it is now. Soon, Puck begins to feel sorry for him, and becomes his friend. But at the same time, a man Guts beat the crap out of in the last volume has been revived through the Count's power. It turns out, the Count has a Behelit. This isn't good news, as the monster proceeds to really take it to Guts. If you've seen the animated series, then you know how easily Guts took down almost any opponent that stood in his way. Here, he's almost helpless in a few situations, as the guy (monster actually) he's facing can regenerate. Can Guts stop him? Obviously, he does, thanks to a huge hint from the monster itself. Unfortunately, after the fight's over, the old man is captured, and is soon to be executed. Puck tries to save him because Guts just stands there against a wall, watching the whole thing, but Puck's heart of gold doesn't do much, as he's captured too. What becomes of the old man? You'll just have to read to find out.
In the second half, Guts continues to look for the Count, and finds him after another fight with the monster he thought he killed. The Count is an even bigger challenge, and Guts is basically screwed. I'm not trying to ruin this volume for you, but it ends without either one of them winning, and the fight will continue in the next part. Meanwhile, Puck has been given to the Count's daughter as a present. She has been locked in her room for years, and knows what it's like to be Puck (he's in a bird cage when given to her). She wants to know what it's like to be free, and befriends Puck, and lets him out after telling him more info about the family and what happened to her mom/how her dad snapped. It's all about heretics, which as some of you may know, was a huge deal back in those days. Puck flies off to try and help Guts. We'll see how it all goes in the next volume.
This book is noticably longer than the first one. It has even more violence, and Guts shows off the automatic crossbow yet again, plus his ingenius way of blocking arrows without getting hit. There's not much more I can say about it. If you liked the first one, or the animated series at all, continue reading these books. Especially at the price you can get them for on here. |
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 "Bilingual Review -Worried Fan" | 2004-10-01 |
| - Reviewed By marine5958 |
It pains me to see one of my favorite manga titles get turned into half-assed translated English third rate comic. I have read the Chinese and some of the original Japanese versions of the manga and it seems to have something the english version lacks.
Maybe it's the atmosphere, or the asian pop culture, all I know is that something is missing from the English verison compared to the Japanese and Chinese versions. If any of you have read the manga, you would know that Puck "the fairy" companion of Gutz is suppose to take on the role of comic relief but when I read what Puck had to say I was confused on how they translated it into english.
Even though Berserk takes place in medieval european setting, it is suppose to emanate an aura of bushido-ism. In the Japanese and Chinese versions this can be felt, but it seems missing in the English translation.
Be wary if you are to purchase the english version if you are a person who doesn't like to wait for a hard copy (unless you just read it off the fan site translations). Even the Chinese version of volume 27 as of now (October 1, 2004) is already out and has already been imported to many of the chinese book stores in California. While the english volumes haven't seem to be progressing at all.
Also in this comic, there are scenes that contain (within the 27 volumes so far): the killing of women and children, pedophelia, depictions of gratuitous gore and violence, rape, animal cruelty, cannabalism, orgies, occult related activities, and almost all the taboos I can think of.
But again, I love the content because berserk is about war turned into a personal vendetta so all those things listed above I feel gives it a sense of realism. What I don't like is the translations of Berserk into English. Because I feel the english language is too limited in it's pool of descriptive vocabulary. |
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