Studio 4°C’s recent Berserk anime that adapts its original Golden Age arc film trilogy into TV show format still employs the movies’ less tragic spin to how the Band of the Hawk truly learns about the repercussions of the injuries Griffith sustained in the manga.
In episode 10 of Berserk: The Golden Age Arc – Memorial Edition, Casca informs the surviving members of the Band of the Hawk that Griffith is no longer capable of leading them.
Judeau also backs up Casca by saying that there’s no point in asking Griffith directly because he can no longer speak. Although Memorial Edition is ostensibly a new series, the scene remains completely unchanged from how Studio 4°C first portrayed it in the original Berserk movie trilogy.
Griffith’s Torture Was Originally Revealed By an Apostle
This development contrasts with the manga and even the first anime adaptation in 1997. In chapter 68 of Berserk by Kentaro Miura, the Apostle Wyald is sickened by the hope he sees in Griffith’s men and strips what little armor he wears to expose the extent of Griffith’s torture. The Apostle then gleefully lists all the things Griffith won’t be able to do on account of his wounds.
Meanwhile, the 1997 Berserk anime completely replaced Wyald and the special Kushan warriors Midland’s king also sicked on Griffith with a normal army of Midland knights. One of the knights was able to apprehend Griffith and presented his wounds to the Band of the Hawk in the same manner as Wyald did in the manga.
Berserk Memorial Edition Gives More Control to Casca and Judeau
Both the manga and the 1997 anime are more tragic than how Studio 4°C’s two Berserk adaptations retconned the Griffith reveal scene. The movie trilogy and Memorial Edition give Casca and Judeau complete control of the situation. They choose when and where to inform Griffith’s men about their leader’s condition and how things will probably never be the same. Meanwhile, the manga and 1997 anime take any semblance of control away from them, creating the possibility that they could have kept the truth from the Band of the Hawk for as long as possible if they had the chance.
Because Wyald in the manga and the Midland knight in the 1997 anime beat them to it though, Casca and Judeau’s hesitancy forces their men to hear the already terrible truth in the worst possible manner. They deserved to mourn both Griffith’s plight in a safer environment and hear the news from those they considered family, as opposed to from the enemy. For Griffith, the ordeal of getting exposed by someone who wishes him harm and to his subordinates without his permission undoubtedly must have been a grave violation.
Berserk Memorial Edition Makes One Smart Addition
The irony is that even though the Memorial Edition doesn’t alter Griffith‘s scene from Studio 4°C’s original trilogy, the new series’ specialized format allowed the studio to actually create some light in its already less tragic retcon by having episode 10 of Berserk‘s Memorial Edition end on a hopeful note with Guts’ men rallying around him in excitement about the prospect of him becoming their new leader.
Although not as tragic as the manga or 1997 anime, maybe it’s this combination of Casca seizing control from her enemies and the scene ending with Guts’ men grasping onto hope that makes the inevitable hopelessness and despair that permeates the Eclipse all the more traumatizing and scarring. While Griffith’s torture reveal is definitely more brutal in the Berserk manga, the addition of hope in Memorial Edition makes the Eclipse’s sting all the more painful.
Berserk Memorial Edition is available on Crunchyroll!
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