Manga Review – Berserk Vol 22 by Kentaro Miura (5/5 stars)

Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Fantasy/Manga
Length: 224 pages
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: April 8, 2008
ISBN-13: 978-1593078638
Stand Alone or Series: 22nd volume in the Berserk series
Source: Bought
Rating: 5/5 stars

“The world of Guts, the Black Swordsman, is changing in a hurry. Though a demonic maelstrom has leveled the dreaded Tower of Conviction and ended the reign of terror of its grand inquisitor, Mozgus, peace has not returned to Midland. The Tower’s fall has heralded the unexpected return of Griffith, Guts former leader, last seen transformed from a shattered husk into one of the demon lords of the Godhand. but Griffith looks like his old self again — and with his dreams of carving out a kingdom by his own hand still intact. He’s raising a new Band of the Hawk, but this time he’s recruiting from the dark side to fulfill his deadly destiny!”

This is the 22nd volume in the Berserk series. In this volume Griffith returns as the Hawk of Light. He has Zodd the Immortal at his side and, while Guts is not quite a match for Zodd, he makes a good showing of it and Griffith leaves. Ends up Griffith has his eye on another kingdom that he is determined to make his own. This part of the story introduces a whole new cast of characters; all of them are very interesting.

After the initial encounter with Griffith, Guts and Casca start on a long journey to Puck’s homeland in an effort to seek refuge from the demons that haunt them.

We also get to see some of Lady Farnese’s back story and find out how Serpico came to serve her.

Overall I really enjoyed this volume and enjoy where the story is going. I love some of the new characters we meet here and am eager to see where things go in the next volume. 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