Manga Review – Berserk Vol 13 by Kentaro Miura (5/5 stars)

Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Fantasy/Manga
Length: 240 pages
Publisher: Dark Horse Manga
Release Date: October 10, 2006
ISBN-13: 978-1593074845
Stand Alone or Series: 13th volume in the Berserk series
Source: Bought
Rating: 5/5 stars

“The Band of the Hawk may have been the most formidable band of fighters around, but when matched up against an army of abyssal monstrosities, earthly fighting skills don’t amount to a hill of beans. The Hawks’ tortured and mutilated former leader, Griffith, has used the accursed Crimson Behelit to open the gates to a shadowy realm of unspeakable horrors, the realm of the demon lords of the Godhand, who are willing to transform Griffith into a being of terrible power and majesty as long as Griffith is willing to give up his former command as sacrifices in the Invocation of Doom. But nobody takes down the Hawks without a fight, and their berserker champion, Guts, will take on anything Hell can throw at him in order to save his lover, Casca, from the sordid violations that only Hell can offer.”

This is the 13th volume in the Berserk series and is the volume where everything changes. This is also the volume where the original anime series wrapped up at.

Griffith has been remade as demon kind and the fifth member of the Godhand. He has let the Band of the Hawk be labeled as Sacrifice for the hungry demons of the shadow realm he opened.

As the Band of the Hawk is destroyed one by one, Guts is desperate to save Casca from the violations of the demons. Things take a slight turn for the better when the Skull King arrives but after this volume nothing will ever be the same again for Guts or Casca.

The illustration in these volumes continues to be fantastic. The story makes a ton of progress and is fascinating. We get a lot more explanation behind this shadowy realm and the Godhand.

As with previous volumes this remains a manga for mature audiences only. There is a lot of violence, gore, rape, and nudity in this volume.

Overall this was an awesome installment in the Berserk series. This book follows the events in the final installment of the original Berserk series, so I don’t know the story from this point on. I am eager to see where things go. I would recommend 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