The cold opening retreads the ending of the previous episode, with Casca being set on the pyre. In the spirit of the last few ones, this episode is also quite a fast-paced and action heavy. We have a very brief reintroduction of Zod, which serves more as a cameo than anything of substance. After the opening the series has officially moved unto volume 21 of the manga, covering the final stretch of the Incarnation Ceremony.
We see the Egg Apostle climbing the Tower of Conviction in preparation for becoming the Egg of the Perfect World. It stumbles upon the Demon Child, and resumes to take it in itself out of pity. This chapter delves a lot into the topic of social outcasts, and the alienation that sets in them due to the ostracization. We see this with Mozgus’ elite torturers, Luca’s gang of mistresses, The Egg Apostle, and to some extent the Demon Child itself. Suffering is a recurring motif in the Berserk saga, and the aforementioned subject is one that comes up quite often. It was a central theme in the Lost Children chapter, which much to fans’ dismay was omitted from this adaptation, as well as the steward of the mansion featured in episode 3 of the tv series.
Isidro proves himself as one of the less useless characters of his stature, actually managing to save Casca from the lynch mob. Diving down that height with a non-elastic rope will realistically result in his spine being snapped in half, but given some of Guts antics this comes off as a really minor gripe. There are a lot of characters featured here that do nothing but stand around and gawk, and with the exception of Jerome and Puck to some extent, Isidro at least manages to be active in the proceedings.
Guts cuts through the soul phantasm and makes his way to the tower, and the effects here are again of especially low quality. The bigger the soulmass gets, the uglier the CG looks. We also see Mozgus transform to his true apostle spawn form, which similar to his regular model is quite unremarkable. The Dragonslayer CLANG! does make sense here, but they really should’ve recorded some more sword sound effects. The entirety of the sound mixing of the series is very sub-par, and only the voice acting is of adequate quality. We hear the Skull Knight’s voice-over during the first part of Guts and Mozgus’ battle, and this also comes off as unnecessary since it’s just a reiteration of the same thing he was telling Guts in their earlier encounter.
We see the masses praising Mozgus as an angel who will deliver their salvation, and throughout this whole episode their sheepish nature is highlighted over and over again. I was never a big fan of this trope, and it just happens to be a quite reoccurring theme in anime. Speaking of tropes, Mozgus is saved by his bible, but the somewhat interesting point here is that he is not evil for evil’s sake, but a very misguided true believer. What is absurd however, is that Mozgus is not only adept at using his brand new apostle form and its abilities, but has also somehow managed to name his moves in the little time that he’s had. Guts finishes Mozgus off in a resourceful way, and it was good to see that they included the little detail of him guarding against the explosion the very last second.
Nina continues to be annoying, and I was glad that she was quickly written out of the episode. Guts and Luca are the only characters who remain reasonable throughout this chapter, and their dialogue is pretty much the only interesting ones. This is a problem with the manga as well, and another sad reminder of the superiority of characters and writing during the Golden Age Arc. On that front, there is a sad tender embrace between Guts and a reluctant Casca, which manages to be a brief but poignant moment, although admittedly not by virtue of execution, but rather relying on the backstory of the characters.
Down by the bottom of the tower Azan is engaged in a brave but foolish struggle, and after Mozgus’ demise the ceremony is now well underway. We see that the gang equip themselves with torches, and Farnese finally moves to reassure us that she hasn’t turned into a complete CGI statue. This part is just developing her disillusionment with her faith, and the payoff doesn’t arrive until after the ceremony. There is a quick mention of Serpico not being too fond of fire, which is a nice little nod to later in the story.
This was a fast but utterly unremarkable episode, since the action sequences in the series are not at all handled proficiently. The next episode is “Those Who Cling, Those Who Struggle” and appears to be the final episode of this cour. It is not clear if they are going for a continuous 24 episode season or two separate cours, but I am guessing that there will be a break after the next episode. Well at least things will be a bit clearer by next week, so we’ll have to wait and see where we are headed.
~Bam~
I mean, the manga is pretty much the same. I did thought the monster Mozgus was well done. But yeah, that’s the issue with Berserk post Golden Arc. Despite the art and battles getting more intense there’s less substance in regards to character development. If anything the anime for me has done a better job at pacing this arc, which felt slow in the manga. I think also do to color the the torture and sex scenes felt that had more of a combination of horribleness and depravity.
I don’t know, it’s hard to be that disappointed considering this arc isn’t that strong. I do wonder where exactly will they end this series.
Also I want to ask a legit question; who is the focus of this arc?
Is it Casca having set these events into motion?
Is it Guts quest for revenge and saving Casca?
Is it Farnese character journey of misguided fate? (Well that’s more like the theme of this arc)
I suppose that’s the issue with these arcs, while there are still themes and subject matters involved the character development is less important. I mean after this arc I think Farnese doesn’t bring back how she had lust she presents in this arc.Or beating herself like in the camp.
Sweet! Back to early posts! Great job as always. What am I supposed to read when you stop this? IGN’s anime coverage that gave this episode a 9.5? No thank you.
Yeah, it’s damn near 100% true to the manga, which I hinted at throughout the posts, but will get into it much more thougrouly in my overall review. If anything, this further solidifies the idea that a good adaptation need to do a lot more than directly transcribing the work into a different medium, but rather recompile all the elements into a cohesive and entertaining series. Those who criticized OLM and Studio 4°C over the liberties taken with the previous adaptations need to seriously reevaluate their stance.
Honestly the Conviction Arc doesn’t really have a single central character, and Guts is relegated to the sidelines as the story tries to establish the new members of Guts’ party. Farnese is especially half-baked, with Miura tossing in many ideas, and only a select few shaping up to become anything substantial. Elements like Farnese’s self-flagellation are simply included for effect, and it becomes prevalent that not much thought or foresight was given to such matters.
There are however the seeds of some more important developments being planted here, which would bare fruit further down the line.
Of course graphic novel and animation are different mediums. I just think its hard to adapt the folliwing Berserk arcs since those don’t have a solid structure. Some might scale too quickly others might not solve certain plot threads and others might be too short like the lost children and the Count arcs.