Continuation discrepancy: Why do the gnawers so closely resemble the "mega specters" in Albion?
Added 2024-01-11 20:31:05 +0000 UTCPart 2 of this series from Walter about various major discrepancies in the Continuation compared to Miura's Berserk..
[368] Why do the gnawers so closely resemble the "mega specters" in Albion?
An enigmatic moment of episode 368 occurred when the mysterious gnawers began speaking to Guts, addressing him as “Sacrifice... san!” (Mr. Sacrifice?), and demanding that he reply.
It’s very strange to have them speaking in this way, almost inviting him to have a dialogue with them. Though they very much resemble the huge mass of specters in Albion, they could be quite different if they are speaking, right? Well, no. As it turns out, this sort of speech from evil spirits happens a number of times in the series, like for example in this small panel in Albion. The difference of course is that all they say in Albion is “sacrifice,” no “-san” and no requesting Casca to reply.
Pictured: Casca being encased in specters at Albion (Ep 153). Note the repetition of ニエ (the pronunciation of 贄 for sacrifice).
While it’s not very unique for evil creatures to repeat “sacrifice” (apostles and the beings from the vortex do the same in various places in the series), this in combination with the gnawers’ design being so strikingly similar to Albion’s specters feels like a tip of the hand from those behind the continuation. Did they have an informed idea for what these things should be, or did they just lift a preexisting concept and apply it here on the island? It has made me wonder if they would ever have existed under Miura’s original version of events, or if they were invented as an express solution for moving off the island.
