Manga Review – Berserk Vol 18 by Kentaro Miura (5/5 stars)

Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Fantasy/Manga
Length: 240 pages
Publisher: Dark Horse Manga
Release Date: August 7, 2007
ISBN-13: 978-1593077433
Stand Alone or Series: 18th volume in the Berserk series
Source: Bought
Rating: 5/5 stars

“Hell has broken loose in the kingdom of Midland. On the death of Midland’s king comes invasion, demonic forces seem to be on the rise, underground pagan cults are running wild, and the church is busily rounding up and teaching heretics the errors of their ways. While, Guts is busy testing out his newly repaired sword on the invaders, his former captain and lover, Casca, her mind wrecked by her unholy tryst with the demon lord, has fallen in with a rough crowd who don’t exactly wish her well. But she, like Guts, is marked with the Brand of Sacrifice, and her abusers may soon find themselves face-to-face with the unholy abominations that are inexorably drawn to the Brand!”

This is the 18th volume in the Berserk series. We didn’t see Guts in this book as much as in previous ones. We did met a new young boy named Isidro that ends up following Guts. Most of the time is spent with Lady Farnese as she accompanies the Inquisitor on his missions. The Inquisitor is a very disturbing individual who has a twisted sense of mercy and believes heavily that torture is the way to go.

We also spend some time with Casca and Luca (the prostitute who has taken Casca in and is protecting her). Luca is trying to implement some civilization to the craziness around her by providing for those who don’t make as much as she does.

At the end of it all Guts is visited again by the Skeleton King who lets him know that the Hawk of Light will rise again and another event, very like the eclipse during which Guts was branded, will take place again soon. He also spouts a whole bunch of other stuff I didn’t quite understand.

Overall this was an excellent continuation of this series. The story makes huge progress here and a lot happens. We meet some excellent new characters as well. I would definitely recommend this series to mature fans of horror fantasy 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