Content Warning: The following includes discussion of sexual violence.
The time has come to continue this adventure with another volume of Berserk by Kentaro Miura. Berserk Volume Two is — to put it lightly — bloody. Compared to Volume One, this volume features a lot more blood and violence. This is Berserk, after all, so violence is expected. What wasn’t expected was the focus on the avoidance of certain things. Touching on this sort of thing in a dark fantasy setting can be a little dramatic, but it’s done beautifully and in a way that makes sense for this world.
So, it’s time to dive in!
The effects of trauma
The central theme that sticks out to me with Volume Two is touch. More specifically, the aversion to touch of two very different characters. Let’s start with Guts. As I discussed in the first article in this series, Guts has a rocky relationship with sex and intimacy—once again, he shows a lot of symptoms of having sexual trauma. His extreme reaction to a normal touch is another example of this. Trauma manifests in different ways; including touch aversion. The way he snaps at Vargas for touching his shoulders tells a lot.
Now, hear me out: I’m on Guts’ side here. Vargas got in his face, encroaching on Guts’ personal space without even considering the consequences of what might happen. This sort of intense reaction doesn’t stem from anywhere. It stems from a lack of the person’s consent regarding touch. It stems from trauma.
Reflecting Guts in Theresia
Theresia is the other character who is averse to touch. Unlike Guts, Theresia has never harmed another person in her life. In fact, she has been locked in her room for the last seven years. This is because the Count doesn’t want heretics to be near her. When the Count reaches out to touch her, she instantly recoils and he asks, “You still won’t let me touch you?” Theresia’s reaction is, obviously, one of a victim as well.
While it’s unclear if she’s a victim of sexual violence, it’s pretty clear she’s a victim of abuse. Theresia rightfully doesn’t want to be touched by someone she sees as a perpetrator of violence; mainly if that person is meant to be her father. This castle is a prison, and its jailer is a man she no longer recognizes as who she considers a father. She has every right to reject his touch because this man isn’t the man she knows.
These characters are on opposite sides of the spectrum, which unites them. On one hand, you have Theresia who most would assume is innocent and sweet. On the other hand, you have Guts. Connecting these otherwise contrasting characters with something like touch aversion shows they’re more similar than we would think. It also breaks through the stereotypical image of a victim and what we assume they look like. Both of these characters are victims in their own right and happen to share some overlap in the way their trauma manifests. I’m curious to see both of them interact and whether they could recognize each other as victims.
The Beherit and other mysteries
If I’m going to talk about Volume Two, I’m going to talk about the Beherit. Full stop: it’s creepy admittedly off-putting. Additionally, the fact that it’s alive makes it even weirder. Puck smacking the Beherit is relatable, though, because who wouldn’t do the same in that situation?
Now that the jokes are out of the way, introducing such an off-putting-looking egg as one of the most powerful objects in the series is genius. It’s evident that the Beherit will be a focus going forward and that it will appear again as I continue through the manga. This means the uncomfortable feeling that comes with looking at it will also return. It adds another layer of dark fantasy that I wasn’t expecting quite so soon.
Who is the God Hand? Why are they so powerful? And why are they summoned by a creepy little egg with a face? Miura-sensei set them up perfectly, and I finished this volume and wanted to know more about them. Even though they receive one mention in one of the earlier chapters of the volume, they leave an impact. I don’t know who they are just yet, but I can tell they’re essential and sense that eventually I’ll see them — because some sort of boss battle between them and Guts has to happen.
Bold and intentional violence
Volume Two ramps up the dark fantasy aesthetic. The bloody, gory violence that fills this volume is over the top, yes, but it somehow works. There’s a sort of maximalism when it comes to the excess of violence in a way that doesn’t turn me off. Dark fantasy isn’t a genre where one can gloss over violence. It’s a defining part of it. Miura-sensei commits to the violence instead of turning away, reminding readers that this world isn’t for the faint of heart. There are many reasons why Berserk is so influential, and the violence is one of them.
Looking at this violence, it’s easy to make a connection between Guts and hypermasculinity. His defiance of emotionally relating to someone and turning to violence for every solution is a sure sign of this. He’s buff, knows how to swing a sword around, and has the lone wolf thing going for him. These are all things that hypermasculinity celebrates, for better or for worse. It traps Guts within the vicious cycle of only being one thing: the hypermasculine ideal. It will be interesting to see how he develops throughout the rest of the manga—if he develops—and whether or not he stays within this version of hypermasculinity.
Berserk Volume Two builds off of themes that were briefly touched on in Volume One. Not only does it explore more of Guts’ severely messed up motivations, but the worldbuilding done in this volume fleshes out the universe even more. It is building off of the breadcrumbs that Miura-sensei left for us in Volume One, which demonstrates not only his ability for detailed worldbuilding, but also how expressive his writing is. The combination of these things makes Volume Two a beast in its own right. Now, when can we get that beherit a pair of sunglasses and a mask to hide that creepy little face?
Berserk is available at local bookstores and directly via Dark Horse Comics.
Featured images via Dark Horse Comics
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