Manga Review – Berserk Vol 9 by Kentaro Miura (5/5 stars)

Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Fantasy/Manga
Length: 240 pages
Publisher: Dark Horse Manga
Release Date: July 26, 2005
ISBN-13: 978-1593073299
Stand Alone or Series: 9th volume in the Berserk series
Source: Bought
Rating: 5/5 stars

“Griffith, charismatic leader of the elite mercenary Band of the Hawk, has seen better days. His fearless champion, Guts, has left the Band, defeating Griffith in personal combat as his ticket out. With his judgment clouded by this unthinkable humiliation, Griffith eases his pain in the arms of the daughter of Midland’s king. But the King doesn’t take kindly to an employee picking the royal flowers, and the next stop for Griffith is the dungeon and the torture rack! Without Griffith and Guts, the Hawks become easy prey for Midland’s army, and the AWOL Guts may be the only answer to the Hawks’ — and Griffith’s — lethal problems.”

This is the ninth volume in the Berserk series. I continue to really enjoy this fantasy horror manga series. This is the book where everything pretty much goes downhill for everyone (except maybe Guts).

Griffith has taken Guts leaving hard and decides to seek comfort in the princesses’s embrace. When Griffith is found out both Griffith and the Band of the Hawk take a hard fall from grace.

Meanwhile Guts has returned from training in the Mountains; it’s been a year since he left the Band of the Hawk. He finds out that the Band of the Hawk is just barely scraping by with Casca struggling to hold everything together. Casca and Guts have a violent and then steamy reunion and plans are started for Griffith’s rescue.

This book has more sex in it than any other Berserk book yet….yes this is for mature readers only. There continues to be the same level of violence and gore as well.

As per the previous books I continue to be impressed with the pace of the story and wonderful illustration. The story is very easy to follow and very engaging.

Overall this was a wonderful continuation of the Berserk series. The story, characters, action, and world are amazing. I love the rapid pace of the story. I would recommend this whole series to mature readers who enjoy fantasy horror manga.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
– Mount TBR Reading Challenge
– You Read How Many Books? Reading Challenge
– Graphic Novel Reading Challenge
– Flights of Fantasy Reading Challenge