A long while ago I started reading this highly popular, highly controversial comic by Kentaro Miura called Berserk.
I was wondering if anyone had read it.
Zooming forward into the present day as a more mature believer I had my serious rumbles with this comic and its worth, weight, and moral science.
those who have read it..... probably know what i'm talking about.
Those that haven't, maybe the safest thing I can say for now is not to read it.
the comic is dense, heavy, kind of gruesome, really picks at the wickedness of people, harshness of life, mentality, all within the context of a fantasy realm. It knows how to show real evil, not in a glorifying way but in some what of a horrifying and realistic way and shows all the tortured souls involved. it's so terrible yet well composed it made me question if its even right to return to it (in the event it ever updates) because it's graphic in a sort of "no holds bared" manner. And in that way it teaches an impacting moral lesson but not in a very happy setting and since it hasnt ended I'm not even sure if its going to give any kind of message of hope at all.
Its a secular gospel-less work that pulls at my heart strings. perhaps its something i should just leave to the dust.
Secular work like that leaves me conflicted. The story is powerful, makes you think, makes you analyze, shows depravity without sugar coating and sometimes i feel I need more honest work like that. But the artist himself is in something of a psychological corner because of how dark his comic is, and he's probably not saved (perhaps I would hope the gospel would reach him). Like only someone who is deeply troubled could touch up on something like this.
Am I searching for confirmation when I already know the answer?
Is it just wrong to sit and watch something and then at the end try to add some kind of silly christian twist to make it ok?
Berserk is amazing but it's terrible. Perhaps I was just hoping there was someone that might have seen the same thing and wondered about it.
Replies
Well I dunno, the Bible has some pretty terrible things in it too like cannibalism, people getting raped, hacked to pieces, burned or crushed alive. Is it spelling it out step-by-step in excruciating detail for some sick, twisted pleasure, or is it just being honest about the good, bad and ugly?
Personally, I don't think of work as christian/secular. Work is work. My concern is, is it telling truth and what is the spirit, motivation behind the piece?
Some works may clearly proclaim the Gospel, and other works may just tell moral truth about reality that leads in the direction of that ultimate truth. All my work is from a Biblical perspective, so whether or not I'm illustrating the Bible, my intention is to always glorify God. I don't have to have crosses all over it for it to tell truth. Like ex. I actually have adultery in one of my more mature titles but I don't get explicit in the bedroom. But I do show that things do not play out well for them in the end because what they are doing is not based on love and truth because true love rejoices in the truth (1 Corinthians 13:6). It's only one of a combination of problems the character is having because a lot of problems/bad choices tend to interconnect.
If Berserk's creator is glorifying the violence and having it there just to have it, leaving a dark, numbing feeling in your spirit, seriously consider praying about that. If it's something the Holy Spirit rather not have in your diet, so be it. There's a lot of other good titles out there.