Manga Berserk

I soak up alot of what is popular on the internet. Being populist is great because it means everything is readily accessible. At this point I don't even think a resident of Japan has an better access to manga to the english-speaking population at large. Can I sidestep the legality issues? I'm just trying to point out that the internet is a great library of time-wasting resources for the otiose wastoids of society of which I'm a member. Maybe for a lifetime.

So after all the depression, self-flagellation act, let me remind myself about Berserk. It's still active and I'm following it, but it's a monthly and the pacing has disintegrated. At this point I follow it for closure more than the quality. The story was great - an expansive scope and no real attempt to soften the edges - it wasn't novel but it really had some elements you don't get from say, Naruto. Up until Schierke and that thief kid transformed the group from lost souls into the fuzzy circus-like troupe. They took the hints of cuddly Gutz and pretty much blew it up full scale. It's turned from a dark gothic revenge tale to the merry adventure travelers of the high seas.

Maybe this is just the lull in the story exacerbated by the monthly schedule. I really hope that's the case. Also, the scope of all the breakouts of war are great, but since we know Griffith ain't going down to anyone, can't they just wrap the Kushans quickly? Oh that's right, the kid is Isadoro. I think.

Actually all the active mangas I follow have similar effect on me in that: once the delay starts from having caught up I start to lose interest and I feel the quality is poorer. The only exception has been Claymore. This is not to say it's better than Berserk. It's more accurate in my opinion to say that Claymore was never as expansive and ambitious as Berserk; what you got from the beginning is what you were going to get. The story was pretty linear and focused on only one characters with very few secondary arcs in the background, and those wrapped up quick. In Berserk they haven't resolved much of anything - only more threads come into play.

On Naruto, which to me is like the TV series Heroes in that the beginning and middle of the arcs are going to be crap and all you can hope is that the build up to the finale will make up for all that. Naruto did that with the first arc as the end fight between the titular character and Sasuke and the pursuit before that was the highlight of the series by far. Shippuden has been disappointing so far, even with this new Pain business. Oh well, still better than Dragonball Z.