While reading Berserk, I came to the knowledge that the saying "Good things, if stretched to the limits, always turn bad" is actually true. I'm not saying that the Berserk is bad, I'm just saying that it's no longer a Berserk that punched us in our hearts, trimmed our faces out of the smiles and made us hate an imaginative person more than anything else.

I give Berserk 10. I will always give it 10. Up to the volume 15-18 or so, this manga overshadows everything, absolutely everything. If it was concluded in the next four to five volumes, it would undoubtedly become something so masterful that could never be overtaken. But it didn't. Which is kind of sad and frustrating at the same time.
I needn't bother you with what's Berserk all about; there's a synopsis and hundreds of other reviews. I'm just here to point out some things I've noticed.

Back when I first picked up Berserk, I marathoned up to somewhere in the middle of the Golden Age arc (where Guts and Casca come closer to each other). That's where I stopped. Since I knew that Guts hated Griffith and that his sole purpose was the revenge, I was kind of afraid that Casca would die and that would be the thing that drove him insane. While thinking about it now, I think it would've been better if she had died. Sure, Retribution Arc had its moments, but regardless, Casca became a sheer burden - nothing more. I remember, during the Golden Age arc, never knowing who's going to die - what madness and what monster would appear next. Each panel had its own story to tell, never wasting any of it on some unnecessary stuff. While thinking about it now, even the ending of them all during the Eclipse would’ve been better. Why? Berserk used to be the most brutal and honest manga out there, never hiding from the horrific things that can happen, never ‘censoring’ absurd stuff, never being afraid to put it out, to make a character go insane, make him more evil than the things he’s fighting against – but what happened to that? I remember caring for the deaths of the supporting characters, even some monsters – but I no longer do that. It turned from ‘He … he could’ve survived’ to ‘Ah, whatever’ whenever someone/something dies.

I have no problem with the long waits. There’s too much to do in-between that I almost forget about Berserk and I don’t see any wrongs there. Take your time, I don’t care – but what I care about is this immense feeling in my chest that keeps on growing – some ounce of knowledge that this story, truly, sees no ending. Not an open one, not an epic conclusion, not a sad or satisfying ending – no ending at all. Story of Guts should’ve ended a long time ago. Guts used to represent this madman, a lone wolf hanging onto a last rope of salvation – the final revenge. What happened to that? Does he no longer care for the revenge? Well, to be honest, neither would I if I didn’t think about it for a long time. Revenge no longer seems as an appropriate reason to tag next to his name. The path of revenge should be short, driven to madness until the darkness consumes you or until you get what you want. And that’s why I think that Berserk manga is no longer what it should’ve been. Sure, everyone, undoubtedly, still wants and yearns for that final climax, but will it have the same impact as it would’ve had a long time ago? I don’t think so. Heck, I even forgot about my hatred for Griffith – I somewhat started caring more about him than Guts – and that’s something I never thought would come out of my lips/fingertips. I will read Berserk until it no longer has anything to tell just for the art. Panels can be empty, no word needs to be spoken, just those sheer detailed scenes, facial expressions will always be enough for me to read Berserk. But it’d be same as reading the book just because the font looks pretty. I’ll always recommend Berserk to those I know will appreciate it just for that infamous scene, nothing more. It's had more impact on me than anything else I’ve ever seen – and I’ve seen some pretty fu***d up stuff, to be honest.

My only hope now rests in that brutal climax, the final showdown, the battle greater than anything else I’ve seen before. The final goodbye to probably the strongest character that ever came out of anyone’s imagination. Sure, he can’t burn the world with his di*k, but he can do pretty much anything you can imagine a man doing with a sword in his hands. And then double that. Guts and Berserk are iconic names, and, for me, Golden Age is an epitome of storytelling. I know this since I am ‘writer’ myself; these things do not fly by as you go, they are carefully thought of and the impact is planned ever since those things started. I wish Miura would go back to his roots, to the honest brutality, to the world where death waits everywhere and where the thirst for revenge is the only thing that keeps Guts alive.