I may not be a Dragon Ball fan, but that doesn't mean I lacked respect for this man. He influenced many people and media, as well as the Battle Shonen genre. The success of his work is a testament to this man's achievements and legacy.
To any Dragon Ball fans reading this, I'm sorry for your loss. Just know that your hero is in a better place now, and while you may have never met him, I'm sure he appreciated your support and admiration.
"Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened."
- Dr. Seuss
Today marks 50 years since J.R.R. Tolkien passed away. He was the author of his beloved Legendarium set in Middle-earth, with such works as The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion.
His writings influenced the modern fantasy genre, and a whole generation of writers. Rich with imagination, reading his works is an experience like no other, to where Middle-earth becomes far more than a simple nerdy interest. It becomes an artform. An artform that you could interpret and study in many different ways.
He left an impressive legacy, and his works have impacted and helped me in ways that I simply cannot put into words. All I'll say is, if it weren't for the films by Peter Jackson and the people at Weta Workshop, along with the amazing talent hired to portray such beloved characters, I don't think I would be here to express how thankful I am to this man and his works. Along with the legacy that his late son Christopher carried from 1977 to 2020.
I never met this man, as many would say, but I felt I met him through his writings. This brilliant man, who served in World War I, was close friends with Narnia author C.S. Lewis, who was a Professor of English, Literature, and Languages at Oxford University in the early 20th century, told a story that acted as mythology for his country, and a story that many can read and enjoy for a grand adventure with themes ranging from friendship, to faith, to camaraderie, to the dangers of great power, and much more.
Thank you for your writings, Tolkien. I will cherish your works until the end of time.
DISCLAIMER: I am neither associated nor affiliated with Rooster Teeth or DEATH BATTLE! I am simply a loser with a keyboard giving his thoughts on a video.
WARNING: This post and video contains spoilers for Berserk and Fire Emblem: Three Houses. I will only be speaking on the Berserk side of things since I have no knowledge of Fire Emblem, and have my own reasons as to why I felt compelled to write this. Please read through to the end. Also, I am not an expert on anything. Just someone who likes his stuff.
The video:
Introduction.
Ah yes, DEATH BATTLE! A totally unbiased webseries that pits fictional characters against each other, and results, accurate or inaccurate, that never start up any form of petty discourse surrounding something that should be considered fun and entertaining while not taking it seriously. No matter how biased or rigged these matchups can get.
Basically what I'm saying is, DEATH BATTLE! is actually pretty fun to watch. Yes, even if characters, winners AND losers alike, are horribly misrepresented, it's still fun to watch. And in a way, introduces newcomers to a combatant's series. I myself got into the world of A Certain Scientific Railgun/Magical Index because of this season's third episode. That being Killua VS Misaka.
Now, onto Guts VS Dimitri.
A little history.
Although I'm not an active member of the VS community, or any like it, this is a pretty popular matchup for both characters. While I'm ignorant of other matchups for Dimitri, Guts tends to be pit up against Clare from the Claymore series, due to Claymore taking inspiration from Berserk. Dimitri is basically Nintendo's mirror image of Guts.
This isn't Guts' first time being on DEATH BATTLE!, however. He fought Nightmare from the Soulcalibur games back in Season 2 in 2015. Given that this was still DEATH BATTLE's early days, and the research was below compared to what it is now, Guts VS Nightmare is nothing short of underwhelming, and doesn't do a good job analyzing Guts, by using Black Swordsman arc Guts and giving him the Berserker Armor while not acknowledging his post-Eclipse journey, and why he won against Nightmare.
To be fair, it's hard to put an entire backstory in a 20 minute video while using a more popular iteration of a character. Not to mention that, despite the shaky at best research of Guts VS Nightmare, there are people like myself who got into Berserk because of this video. And I wouldn't doubt anyone rewatched it upon the untimely passing of author Kentaro Miura for a nostalgia blast and remembrance. And with Guts' return to fight Dimitri, no doubt many more people will check out the manga. The same can almost certainly be said for those who are curious about Dimitri, even if they don't play video games.
The research.
The research for Guts is vastly improved compared to his last appearance. Sure, there are some inconsistences here and there, but that's pretty normal for DEATH BATTLE! to do when they're trying to summarize over 300+ chapters of manga. Ultimately, the research for Guts is quite good. They acknowledged important aspects of his life, how he moved on upon reuniting with Casca and finding new friends, his struggle against the forces of evil and his Beast of Darkness, combat feats against certain monsters, and, while I don't care about how strong/fast fictional characters are, due to the silly nature of such research, it was quite interesting to see how much power Guts has, and how fast he can move.
Dimitri's analysis is also pretty good, even though I have no familiarity with Fire Emblem.
The fight.
Pretty damn good! Just like their recent seasons, no banter or a "FIGHT!" announcement. Just straight to the point. While I can't say Guts is 100% in-character, which is expected given that this is a simulation of a no-hold barred fight to the death, he's certainly better portrayed in this fight than he was in his matchup against Nightmare. The music track, called "God's Hand", is pretty kick-ass, too. Guts and Dimitri pretty much show what they're capable of and fuck each other up pretty good.
Is it weird for Guts' metal hand to function like a real one? Yes, but it can't be helped. Even Berserk video games can't help with this error. Though when he's in the Berserker Armor, the metal hand acts like a real one, as the Berserker Armor is like the Venom Symbiote from Marvel Comics. It can aid you if you're missing any limbs.
As for their "berserk mode" duel, it's a little too short. However it doesn't mean it's bad, for Guts acts exactly how he should when he gives in to the Beast of Darkness. A man who fights like an absolute animal- no, beast, and just ravages everything around him!
There's only two issues I have with the "berserk duel". One, Guts feels pain when impaled by Dimitri's lance. This is inaccurate, for the armor literally shuts down Guts' pain sensors, so he should just tank through the blow. Second, when Dimitri knocks the helmet off, Guts is still berserk. In the manga, it's shown that Guts will go back to his normal state when one takes the helmet off him.
Despite all this, seeing the Berserker Armor sucker-punch Dimitri and still fight in absolute primal mode with a missing helmet is still awesome! I didn't mind Dimitri besting the Berserker Armor because, well, Dimitri has magic he can cast. He's got more variety in abilities than my boy. Not to mention that the armor is a huge liability for Guts to begin with. It damages his body, makes him a mindless savage, and doesn't heal any of his injuries.
As for the final scene, seeing Guts go down swinging, literally and figuratively, was exactly what I wanted to see when he lost. If you're wondering why Guts died like that, it's because he bled to death, for the Berserker Armor will allow its user to keep fighting until all of their bones shatter and the last drop of their blood spills. That is how much he and Dimitri fucked each other up. Dimitri's victory is made even better, because upon seeing demonic forces, be it Apostles, other demons or even the God Hand, Dimitri understands that he and Guts share the same pain in a way. And not only that, Dimitri respects his fallen opponent by declaring to the demonic forces that they, "will not have his soul!!"
And with that, Dimitri leaps offscreen to face the demonic forces, as Guts' lifeless body stands in front of the moonlight in a tragically beautiful image.
Results.
While it's strange to agree with their calculations for Guts and Dimitri's feats, I'll put it this way: The results as to why Guts lost to Dimitri are very fair. Even without DEATH BATTLE's research, I can safely say that Dimitri is still more powerful than Guts. Which leads me to the final part of this post.
My final thoughts.
When this episode was announced, I was pretty excited to see Guts return. When I saw who he was going to fight, I immediately knew one thing: Guts loses. Given that video game characters tend to be more powerful than manga/anime characters, and vice-versa, I knew this matchup wasn't going to be in Guts' favor. However, I actually wanted Guts to lose.
Now I know what you're thinking. "Ink-ling, Guts is your #1 on your favorite anime characters list. Wouldn't you want him to win?"
It's true that Guts is my #1 animanga character, second being Mikoto Misaka from ToAru, and easily my all-time favorite character in general. However, when it comes to things like VS battles, I don't like seeing my favorite characters being overplayed or downplayed. Yes, DEATH BATTLE! does, and can do this sort of thing. However, that isn't the point. The point is, calculations or not, I don't want to see Guts being buffed so much that he can take on characters like Dimitri with ease. Now, I certainly don't want Guts losing to characters he can easily overpower, but we're talking about more powerful characters here.
Prior to this episode's release, I've seen people say that Guts wins, but I knew that wasn't true, simply because I did my research on Dimitri. Sure, video game characters can be a bit inconsistent with their power, but I knew that, given his crazy abilities, Dimitri was leagues above Guts, save for experience. Once I found out that Guts lost, I was fine with it. I didn't want him to win. I didn't want him to be overplayed, even with the crazy calcs the research team made.
And no, please do not say "this battle disrespects Kentaro Miura." It does not. It has nothing to do with his death, and it's quite disrespectful to even bring that up in this context. If anything, the way Guts dies in this matchup respects the spirit of Miura's work. Just do your research before certain matchups release.
Closing thoughts.
Well, this certainly was something to write up, and the reason I did was because, as a Berserk fan, I wanted to give my thoughts on this episode, and in some way, be a voice of reason with this matchup. Guts may have lost, but the fight was awesome, and Dimitri is also a badass. Even though I don't have much interest in video games, I'm very much interested in the lore of Fire Emblem. This doesn't nullify my enjoyment of the Berserk manga, either. If anything, it only strengthen my love for it.
To anyone reading this, including fans of both sides. Please, be respectful to one another. There's no need for discourse over something that's not meant to be taken seriously, but to be fun and entertaining.
