Berzerk has the kind of moral depth and complexity that most misery-porn, grey-morality, GRRM fans could never comprehend. Fingers crossed the series ends well now that the author's friend has taken his notes to finish it.
If you liked Berzerk, Goblin Slayer may also be your speed. The manga is...very hard to recommend. Id go with the light novel or the anime. Not as complex as Berzerk but definitely has a lot that applies to RPGs.
Berserk is a unique thing. It's basically Anime/Manga's Iliad, and like the Iliad its is referenced everywhere even unknowingly, imitated and not surpassed.
Like the Iliad it's a pagan tragedy dealing with themes like the horror of war, betrayal, loss etc.
UNLIKE the Iliad, its also a slap in the face about the undeniable existence of evil, the perils of unbridled ambition, and the horrors of dealing with the fallen powers (though to be fair the Iliad is not exactly flattering to the Greek Gods). Hell, at one point the demonic apostles literally quote Alister Crowley's famous "Do as thou wilt" dictate of his openly Satanic religion "Thelema" as their only creed. There is no denying they are supposed to be evil.
That said, I think of it as "An Enochian Dark Fairy Tale." Its a fairy tale using one of Tolkien's definition of Fairy Tales specifically where the "Perilous Realm" and the "Fantastical" starts leaking into waking reality. For example, its honestly a bit startling the first time a demonic apostle shows up in the Golden Age Arc, and things just get more fantastical from there.
Its Enochian because the fallen powers (godhand or apostles) basically act like their description in the Book of the Watchers from 1 Enoch. They want to bang/rape all the women, kill all the men, physically devour both of them, and generally corrupt/wreck humanity through offering them power. Similarly if we count what happens to Guts and Casca's baby, they are also trying to destroy humanity through literally messing with the bloodline of humanity, just like the fallen powers in Enoch.
Its really a great story, and Berserk and its Enochian echoes plays a big role on how I run EVIL in my games.
Berserk is the greatest piece of fantasy in the history of written language. This fool wrote this shit, broke as fuck, riding on a bus while starving on ramen. The desperation and risk it took to even create this in unimaginable. HE DREW THE ART AND WROTE THE DAMN THING. GRR Martin ripped off so much shit from Berserk, it’s not even funny. Unfortunately GRR was never and will never be able to create a character like GUTS. and boy has he tried…. In other novels as well. He cant even pull off ole Griffith. You can see in the 3rd book where GRR changes prose and uses more historical “realistic” themes, as he failed countless times to bring to life sorcery.
ALL HAIL KENTARO MIURA
THERE WILL NEVER BE ANOTHER
THIS IS THE BEST THING THAT WILL EVER BEEN WRITTEN, EVER
Berzerk has the kind of moral depth and complexity that most misery-porn, grey-morality, GRRM fans could never comprehend. Fingers crossed the series ends well now that the author's friend has taken his notes to finish it.
If you liked Berzerk, Goblin Slayer may also be your speed. The manga is...very hard to recommend. Id go with the light novel or the anime. Not as complex as Berzerk but definitely has a lot that applies to RPGs.
I've been meaning to give Goblin Slayer and Record of the Lodoss War a try.
Misery-Porn, Jesus Christ get off the internet lad
Berserk is a unique thing. It's basically Anime/Manga's Iliad, and like the Iliad its is referenced everywhere even unknowingly, imitated and not surpassed.
Like the Iliad it's a pagan tragedy dealing with themes like the horror of war, betrayal, loss etc.
UNLIKE the Iliad, its also a slap in the face about the undeniable existence of evil, the perils of unbridled ambition, and the horrors of dealing with the fallen powers (though to be fair the Iliad is not exactly flattering to the Greek Gods). Hell, at one point the demonic apostles literally quote Alister Crowley's famous "Do as thou wilt" dictate of his openly Satanic religion "Thelema" as their only creed. There is no denying they are supposed to be evil.
That said, I think of it as "An Enochian Dark Fairy Tale." Its a fairy tale using one of Tolkien's definition of Fairy Tales specifically where the "Perilous Realm" and the "Fantastical" starts leaking into waking reality. For example, its honestly a bit startling the first time a demonic apostle shows up in the Golden Age Arc, and things just get more fantastical from there.
Its Enochian because the fallen powers (godhand or apostles) basically act like their description in the Book of the Watchers from 1 Enoch. They want to bang/rape all the women, kill all the men, physically devour both of them, and generally corrupt/wreck humanity through offering them power. Similarly if we count what happens to Guts and Casca's baby, they are also trying to destroy humanity through literally messing with the bloodline of humanity, just like the fallen powers in Enoch.
Its really a great story, and Berserk and its Enochian echoes plays a big role on how I run EVIL in my games.
Berzerk shreds!
Thanks for the recommendation. Had never heard of berserk before but I'll definitely take a look
Berserk isn’t something you just check out. It opens with a brutal rape scene with demon cock,
I need to check out Beserk and Goblin Slayer. Sound intersting.
Berserk is the greatest piece of fantasy in the history of written language. This fool wrote this shit, broke as fuck, riding on a bus while starving on ramen. The desperation and risk it took to even create this in unimaginable. HE DREW THE ART AND WROTE THE DAMN THING. GRR Martin ripped off so much shit from Berserk, it’s not even funny. Unfortunately GRR was never and will never be able to create a character like GUTS. and boy has he tried…. In other novels as well. He cant even pull off ole Griffith. You can see in the 3rd book where GRR changes prose and uses more historical “realistic” themes, as he failed countless times to bring to life sorcery.
ALL HAIL KENTARO MIURA
THERE WILL NEVER BE ANOTHER
THIS IS THE BEST THING THAT WILL EVER BEEN WRITTEN, EVER
HELLRAISER WHO?????