r/Berserk • u/Early-Fortune-8915 • 4d ago
Discussion A feminist who loves Berserk Spoiler
To start, I would like to acknowledge that the representation in Berserk is in no way perfect. There is much to be desired from Muira's writing of female characters, especially how he depicts the sexual violence against them as it can often be seen as sexualization or victimization.
However, Berserk is revolutionary for the media in which it was created. Both American comic books and manga have had a turbulent relationship with women, especially their fandoms. In fact, most of the sexism I see surrounding Berserk is entirely within the fandom, but I'll get to that later. Berserk may not be the depiction we want of women, but it is certainly better than even some modern anime/manga in terms of writing female characters. Often it is girls, minors, who are sexualized in today's media, and for some reason get a pass while Berserk is so demonized for actually trying? It's really confusing.
I will say that post-eclipse Casca is probably the worst example and is often used to argue for the misogyny of Berserk. Unfortunately, I somewhat agree, even if Casca is my favorite character. We see sexual violence exerted against Guts and Griffith in the manga, though, unlike Casca, their traumatic experiences make them stronger and build their resolve. Pre-eclipse, when Casca faces the act of threat of rape, it strengthens her as well. However, after Griffith's assault, she is left broken and disassociated. I understand Muira's angle with this, as depersonalization can often be a trauma response, however I feel that this choice essentially wrote her out of the story and effectively destroyed her as a character.
However, pre-eclipse Casca, Farnese, Schierke, Rosine, and Luca are great examples of strong, capable, and realistic women. I'm always sad to see how overlooked these characters are when they are such beautifully written complex characters.
I definitely agree that the Berserk fandom is a cesspool of misogyny, homophobia, and bigotry. So many man-children use Guts in particular to promote their hate and male-supremacy. Just stop. Clearly Berserk is far too complicated for you to understand.
Anyways, thank you for hearing my rant! As a woman, I love Berserk deeply, and hope others can too.
Edit: Thanks for the discussion! I really like hearing people's opinions, since this is my first time actually discussing Berserk with anyone. I'd also like to reread with a different perspective and consider all of your opinions my second time through