Berserk, Volume 4

Volume 4 is the best volume of Berserk yet. We learn more of Guts' tragic backstory, and finally move the story into the familiar territory of the 90s anime that I've seen a few episodes of.

The story really moves forward in this one, and we meet the Band of the Hawk. Griffith and Casca are already compelling characters. The art is fantastic - this is maybe the best art I've ever seen in a manga volume. It's full of detail, with really nice shading, and is busy without being hard to decipher.

The first couple volumes were a little slow, but the 3rd and 4th have really picked up the pace and made it easy to see why Berserk is so well-regarded.

After being betrayed by a person he though of as a most close to him Guts ends up as a wandering the battlefields as a sword for hire. His prowess in the fields of battle will bring him to attention of the most renowned mercenary group - Band of Hawk. And thus stage gets set for everything that follows.

Art is of the same quality - I especially like the first few pages that are done in more artisitic manner then the rest of the story arcs.

Recommended to all fans of Berserk and fans of fantasy horror.

Turns out Guts is a pretty interesting character who is very much moulded by his experiences. Not just a grumpy bastard with a massive sword.

This is the 4th volume in the Berserk series and starts the storyline involving Griffith and the Band of the Hawk. I enjoyed it and continue to find this series very well done. I am always very impressed with how much progress the story makes in each volume.

In this volume we get to see how Guts was raised from a boy to be the badass fighter he was in the earlier books. We also meet Griffith and the Band of the Hawk. For those who have watched the original anime this is where the Golden Age story arc starts; so this will be familiar to Berserk anime fans.

The illustration continues to be amazing. The story makes a lot of progress in this book and a lot of great new characters are introduced. The action scenes are plentiful and well show more done.

Overall this was an excellent continuation of the series and I enjoyed it a lot. I would recommend to mature graphic novel readers who enjoy fantasy manga packed with action and violence but balanced with a good story and engaging characters. show less

Now the Golden Age arc is really getting rolling here. This volume actually bothers to introduce some legitimate comedy (albeit black comedy) to the work, something the last few had basically been missing, with the sole exception of some material with Puck.

I'll have a broader review on Bureau42.com later.