Heres my thought on the ending:

It's never going to end! Miura Kentaro will keep on taking his little "breaks" until he tires and gives it up completely, gives it a quick and lame ending like "And those happy days continued" or he dies of old age before he can finish it.

Hes been working with Berserk for what, 20 years or something? Even if he doesn't quit he's seriously going to DIE OF OLD AGE before he finishes berserk

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Good one! And I completely agree. I mean seriously how long has this been going on? And like you said he keeps going on breaks which in other words in ominous as it could be as a author he losing interest in his own creation and wants to quit

Firestalker, I have to disagree with your interpretation of the rape of Casca by Femto. Actually, I have to admit I wanted you to be right, because I didn't want Casca to have been brutalized by Griffith, so I went back and read the whole eclipse arc again to see if you are right. You're not.

First of all, the author goes out of his way to show us (not once, but twice, in Chapter 87, on page 1 and page 6) that Casca is bleeding from the penetration, which means that Femto ripped her open. If you think that's an enjoyable experience, try it yourself.

Secondly, she is neither kissing nor caressing Femto. In the kissing scene, you can clearly see that Casca's tongue is in her own mouth, and she's not actively participating in the kiss. While her hands are behind Femto's head in a grotesque parody of a caress, she is not touching him; her hands are just hanging there where they were placed by the monsters that were holding her during the rape. It looks to me like she's just a rag doll, and she's probably already lost consciousness by that point, or she's just about to. The monsters who were holding her have let go - there's no need to hold her any longer because she's passed out.

By the way, you are wrong about rape victims not kissing or caressing the rapist. Rape victims frequently do whatever they think they have to do in order to avoid further pain or injury. That's part of the trauma of rape-not only what is done to the victim, but what the victim does herself (or himself) in order to survive. I worked for over 8 years as a crisis counselor, so I know what I'm talking about.

Then there's the fact that Casca was so traumatized by the rape that she lost her mind, and that she can't stand to be touched by men, both of which show clearly that she did not enjoy the rape at all.

I also don't believe Casca will join Griffith, unless she has no choice because of some greater evil that Griffith is fighting against. Not only did Griffith betray Casca personally (the rape), but he also betrayed the entire Band of the Hawk and gave them up to be slaughtered by monsters. Don't forget that Casca led the Band for a year and felt herself to be responsible for them. There is no reason to believe Casca would feel any differently about that betrayal than Guts does.

Not to mention the fact that Griffith (as Femto) essentially murdered Casca's unborn child so he could have a new body. Yes, the body is still alive, but it was horribly mutilated and the person that child would have become is forever gone.

That child, by the way, is how Casca survived for a month on her own. It protected her (she is his mother, after all) from the demons who were drawn to the sacrifice mark.

It's true that Casca decided to stay with Griffith instead of Guts just before the eclipse, but that was because she felt guilty about leaving him in the dungeon for a year and the horrible things that were done to him, and her knowledge that Griffith would never be able to survive on his own in the condition he was left in.

Casca may not stay with Guts; rape victims frequently are unable to maintain romantic relationships (the divorce rate among rape victims is much higher than average). However, I will be very disappointed if she throws herself at Griffith. I think heatguyj is correct; Griffith never cared for Casca romantically; if he did, he would have taken her away just as he took the princess. He clearly has the power to do so. He only raped Casca to punish Guts (he had his pet monsters make Guts watch, after all, and then he let Guts live) and to create a new body for himself.

I think Casca truly does love Guts. If she just wanted a crying pillow to get over Griffith, she was surrounded by men for an entire year and she could have had her pick. They were all devoted to her. The ones closest to Guts and Casca could also see her true feelings for Guts, that's why they encouraged Guts to take her away. They also saw her feelings of responsibility, which is why they told Guts to take her away by force if he had to. If you want to see a crying pillow, Charlotte was used for that purpose by Griffith after Guts left the Band. Griffith doesn't love Charlotte either, after all; he's just using her as a means to an end to give his rule legitimacy.

The thing I'm most curious about is what Princess Charlotte will do when she finds out how evil Griffith truly is, and what he did to the previous Band of the Hawk.

I'm aware that there are a number of Griffith fangirls (and fanboys) out there who will try to justify anything that Griffith does because he's such a bishi. There are always people who will root for the bad guy. It's true that he helped the world by defeating the evil king, but that was only a side effect of his own lust for power. He would just as cheerfully have overthrown any benevolent monarch, if needed, to rule his own country. Evil is most insidious when it appears to be good.

LoL i will Just LOL about u all trying to justify a fantasy story with real facts... Everything will happend as the editors/mangaka want... heck i bet even the editors have more power about the plot than the actual mangaka. So... lets just Wait and see. It will end before the next century thats for sure.

Sure, the author and editors can take the story in whatever twisted direction they want...but I still think my arguments are valid, because authors use real life facts as basis for their characters (the good ones do, anyway). After all, if people don't act like people, even in fantasy, what's the point? Anyway, I was just giving the reasons why I would be disappointed in the author if he takes this story in a direction that doesn't seem realistic to me (I mean realistic in terms of human behavior, which so far has been the case in this story, IMHO). Obviously, there's nothing realistic about the fantasy plot.

I also think you missed my other point. I was mostly bringing the "real facts" into the discussion to correct what I personally saw as misconceptions about real life rape victims, which were posted by the OP and others on this thread. I did that because those misconceptions about (any violent crime, but especially) rape, are dangerous. Yes, I said dangerous. I'll get off my soapbox now. If you're interested in what I mean, you can do your own research, and if you're not, nothing I say will change your mind.

I do agree with you that we just have to wait and see what the author intends - I'm hopeful that he'll get around to it soon, though. I wouldn't want Maxlurifax's prediction to come true...

I reread all the chapters 3 days ago so my memory is kind of fresh and this is what I think.


-_- Caska hates Gutts because lets face it, his aura is almost the same as the aura of the monsters that raped her and killed her friends, Gutts has killed so many apostoles and monsters that is just no longer funny, and if his sword gained Dark proprieties by killing Thousands of spirits, then we can say the same about his spirit.

The reason Caska wasn't killed when she was alone for a whole month was because her dark child was protecting her (that was more than clear), now she is attacked because her child can no longer protect her (got used as the vessel of Femto).

The reason Griffin saved Caska was because he used her child as the vessel, at least that is what I believe.

Also Since Griffin wouldn't allow himself to have such a weakness, is more than likely that he released the heart of her child and is the sole reason he appeared in the coast battle vs Crocs and whales and helped Gutts keep its sanity (by touching him and telling him there was no more reason to be afraid).

People Keep in mind that Gutts can look cool and be strong, but he is emotionally broken just as caska, she repressed her memories, and he repressed his emotions.

I will guess this

This is not the last time we see their child in action, and that child is a key part in the ending of this manga, IF THERE IS EVER ONE >_<

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I've been reading Berserk for a long time. and I never thought that someone could say something so strange like 'she was enjoying rape'. But anyway I think she was more victim than a bitch in that part.

I agree with xmedic about all arguments around mental state, feelings and whatever sensations, Caska might have felt. Someone mentioned something about blood in Griffin's rape and that was really relevant, who would like to have sex while bleeding like that?!

About Miura-sensei, i hope we can finish the manga before we all die because i think he make a pact with God's hand and it will live forever! lol

Well, another thing: guys, this is manga is supposed to give fun to all of us, but instead some people prefer to argue about their point of view. It's a waste a time in my opinion...

At last, I still like very much berserk and let's see what it'll come to us...

casca had sex with grifith after they rescued him from the tower
her guilt in that led her to not care much for guts after that
and in the later rape
she more or less gave in to it out of guilt for having betrayed guts the first time

thats how i see the rape
sure she didnt like it and demons and her big idol raping her and killing all her friends made her go blank
not the rape in itself
more the whole horrible situation

im just waiting for grifith to drop the
oh she gave her self wilingly some days prior to me raping her
so in ur face muscle boy
[of cours that will happen after casca got her mind back and grifith showing up just to make life even more hard for guts]

okay i'm a little hazy on the details here but i'm pretty sure griffith isnt using gutts and cascas kid as a medium for his resurrection (or whatever its called) because griffith was revived (i hope) at the end of that annoying ark with the square faced priest using the talking behelit child thing as the medium. NOW im not clear on this part because as i was reading i didnt even realise that the demon baby thing was actually their kid until i was looking at wiki after reading the series (so no flaming please) but im pretty sure that gutts' kid was a seperate thing from the behelit that revived griffith.

my key argument for this is the appearance of the kid when gutts and the gang were being attacked on the beach by crocodiles controlled by those hindhu people (i forget their name). its pretty obvious that despite being around five years old (when he shouldnt even be a toddler), this kid is gutts and cascas (he even looks like them) and this appearance was after griffith was ressurected so the kid is still alive!

sorry if you didnt understand all that, i tend to ramble. oh and i may aswell comment on the main topic; i didnt get the impression at all that casca enjoyed being raped, i dont think she'll ever go back to griffith and im really not sure on the ending to the story since griffith is seen as the messiah and gutts killing him would have massive reprocussions (spelling!?) on the country so he'd have to somehow convince EVERYONE that griffith is a bad guy even though gutts has the whole black motif and berserk armour going on

It seems my memory is really very hazy, because I cant remember Casca having sex even before she was raped. When did that happen? That would really be impossible given how weak Griffith was at the time. But if she did have sex with Griffith(sorry but I really cant remember) before the rape, then I think its unfair on Gatts because she had sex with Gatts and he only loved Casaca and no one else. While Griffith not only fucked the princess, Casca gae herself honestly to him?

its so long ago now but im pretty sure there was a big awkward moment moment after caska had that moment of Grifith being untop of her in the tent

after that she looked embarresed
like she had given into her feelings for Grifith and maybe a little out of pity
and could not look at Guts
there was a couple of scenes affter that incident where casca did not want to have eyecontact with guts and she never spoke to him...actually not untill they met inside Grifiths evil vortex-thing

so i assumed she had done something more than just talking in the tent

there are more ways than the old fashioned way to have a sexual encounter
and im not sure if Grifiths manhood was so damanged he could not use it

sorry it is a long time ago i read it...but im pretty sure something happened in that tent
that made her feel ashamed

i think that she was simply embarrassed at herself. She still loved Griffith, But Gatz was also in her heart. She even said "Why do I always realize when..." or something like that. She realized that she still loved Griffith with his embrace and though they didn't have sex or anything like that, the mere closeness they had made her feel something.

When Gatz came up when she was thinking about all of this she started to get embarrassed [possibly thinking he could read her mind]. She was just like a teenager thinking dirty thoughts about someone then having that someone call out to them. You get embarrassed about it.

This also one of the reasons I don't Casca loves Gatz as much as I think everyone wants her to. She told Gatz he had to go by himself, despite his decision to stay. She was choosing Griffith and didn't want the "other one" there to muddy the pond.



Wow... You wrote a lot. I appreciate that, someone that has something to say is definitely great in my book.

Ok... reading what you wrote then going back to read the chapters you mentioned makes me definitely change my mind about the rape. Thank you by the way for information about rape victims. I'm no expert so I was going off how I thought victims would act, sorry to offend.

I still believe that Casca doesn't love Gants as much as she loves Griffith. She did throw him away very easily before the whole sacrifice and rape thing.

You mention that you didn't believe she would go to Griffith because of all that he did, but you are assuming that she'll remember that part of it. She could very well never regain that part of her memory and thus continue on as if it never happened. Also she could very well forget all that happened while she was "out".

She really needs to get herself back. I miss the strong and independent women that was Casca. She needs to get her memory back now... I can't help but think this arc is simply filler. Something to keep the story going and it's rather annoying.

Last edited by firestalker at 2:30 pm, Aug 16 2010

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This is my Sig ..............................................................

I was going to say something about the rape scene as well, but xmedic made the point I was thinking of perfectly. So I'll move on to the whole idea of people thinking she'll end up joining Griffith if and when she regains her memories. I highly doubt it will ever happen, for one what Griffith did was a great betrayal and crime to both her and Guts. And if anything she was used more like a tool to torture Guts as a way for Griffith to get back at him for leaving. Cascade was never really important to Griffith in a romantic sense, he never even really took intrest in her like that either. He was all about his ambition, even she knew that. Which is why she never really viewed him more than as an idol. But once the Eclipse started I think all of that changed. If anything when she gets her memory back she'll probably want revenge as much as Guts does. It's possible she might not travel with Guts, but I think they will undoubtably have the same goal in mind. As for the theory that Casca never really loves Guts, I think that's kind if a weird arguement too. When you think about it there was a lot of scenes where it was actually shown. From the first time he saved her when she fell off the cliff in battle to the whole waterfall scene. Where she kind of basically admitted how important he was to her and how devistated she was when he left. She even considered leaving with him after they rescued Griffith, but after finding the state he was in it kind of killed the idea and her sense of duty took over. That explains why she was so awkward towers Guts before the Eclipse started. And taopaipai Griffith and Casca have never had sex before. He only raped her and that was the only time they were seen together sexually. Your probably confusing the sex scene with Guts and Casca.

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Well, the debate about whether or not Casca 'enjoyed' her rape is finally over.

The answer was no. In case anyone was wondering.

But that aside, even if the answer was yes, everyone here seems to be completely missing the point. The whole rape scene. None of it was about how Casca felt during the whole event. Nevermind that she used to have affections for Griffith or was calling out his name.

That whole scene was all about Guts having to watch the women he loved be brutalized by another man, and ultimately being unable to help her. Her feelings, no matter what they might have been during the whole ordeal, don't matter.

Now others might say that's highly narrow-minded thinking, honing all the attention on a single character. And I'm sure one could argue how the story belongs to other characters as well, but you'd be wrong. This is Guts' story. Everything that happens happens to him, and is only important once the deep impact of how it effects him is realized. The fact is that what Gats sees, a loved one being raped, is what we see. Because this is Gats' story.

About the rape: she clearly said no a few times and had no energy to resist. She was already bleeding between her legs before Griffith raped her, and going on some of the times when she's recalled what happened, I assume the monsters raped her prior to what was shown.

...However, she did orgasm during the rape (the sfx, alongside the images, highlighted this), so it'd be a lie to say she didn't enjoy it. I read an article once where a real rape victim admitted to having an orgasm in spite of herself, and victims often refuse to come forward because of feeling guilty about their bodies going against their minds. Throw in that shot where she seemed to kiss him back/had her hands up and the issue becomes even more cloudy.

What further complicates the it is Berserk being a work of fiction and Casca's feelings for Griffith. Whatever way you look at it, a male can't know what it's like for a woman to be raped (...vagina-wise, at least!), and being raped by someone you have feelings for/are attracted to is obviouslly different from being raped by someone you find repulsive. Casca having been raped by her first love and the story being the creation of a male mind make it impossible to know the truth of the matter.

Personally, I'd say Casca's feelings for Griffith played a part and she did - to a certain extent - 'give into lust', towards the end. It wasn't her fault but it would explain why she'd become demented--her lover watching as she got SOME level of enjoyment from sex with a man she'd felt bad about still even caring for/getting jealous over previously, on top of the whole monster insanity, probably pushing her over the edge.

As for the small insights provided by the 'Demented Casca' stuff, it's worrying that she seems to remember/be drawn towards Griffith but has no recollection of Guts. Unless she somehow has the power to see her demon baby is inside Griffith, which would be stretching it a little, it doesn't bode well for poor old Guts...

(Griffith only saved Casca because her demon child made him care enough to do so. He's cold-blooded, otherwise. This was clearly highlighted, and he even said himself he only ever cared for Guts.)

The ending? With Berserk being Berserk, if it ever does end, the fact Griffith has Casca's baby inside him suggests she'll turn into a hate-worthy character, should she ever regain her memories. I can only see Miura having merged the baby with Griffith in order to allow Casca to rejoin him, whilst keeping it up in the air as to which of the two men Casca truly loves; making the series more agonizing as a consequence. The Skull Knight's comment about the baby only bringing the two more pain was no doubt foreshadowing.

Guts will never be happy as long as Griffith survives after his betrayal. Casca will struggle to agree with Guts killing a man she was willing to care for, instead of being with her partner. Guts needing to kill their child in order to kill Griffith can only make the situation a whole lot worse.

AllI I can say is that, should Casca betray Guts for the man who raped her and had her friends killed, out of feelings for both him and a demonic child, then it'd ruin the manga, for me. Guts has suffered too much to have to deal with her abandoning him and siding with his nemesis.