About the name "Vortex of Souls"
Added 2022-03-05 10:39:42 +0000 UTCWhere does the name "Vortex of Souls" come from exactly? As any Berserk fan knows, it refers to the giant whirlpool at the bottom of the astral world. We learn in volume 3 that it is, essentially, hell. It's where human souls with bad karma end up after death (gleaned from Flora in volume 24). And it forms an abyss at the bottom of which lies the Idea of Evil.
But is it ever actually called the Vortex of Souls? Well, not exactly. Puck describes it in volume 3 as 巨大な思念の渦, pronounced きょだいな しねんのうず (KYODAINA SHINEN NO UZU), meaning "a gigantic vortex of thoughts". The key word here is 思念 (SHINEN), thoughts, which is formal speech.
Puck also describes the Vortex as "gigantic and evil", with "evil" meant in the moral sense. He uses the word 邪悪, pronounced じゃあく (JAAKU), which can also be translated as "wicked". It's different from 魔 (MA), which as we've seen before implies a supernatural power.
Anyway, Femto also refers to those "thoughts" when talking to the Count, calling them 闇の思念 (YAMI NO SHINEN), meaning "thoughts of darkness". But he uses the word "soul" (魂) as well. It's pronounced たましい (TAMASHII). He mentions it when talking about the Count's own soul, but also about the Vortex itself, saying the Count's ego will dissolve into this "sea of the dark side of souls" (魂の暗黒面の海).
And that's how we get "Vortex of Souls", which I think is a fine denomination. By the way, if you're wondering, Dark Horse messed up that entire segment of the story.
