God damn. I finally caught up with everything in this manga (i love this story so much, and I love the dark style, especially the faces. The people almost look like a wax museum exhibit sometimes...)

but now I have to sit and wait (not so) patiently for chapters to come out... just about every month, right?

Also, am I alone in strongly disliking how big the group is getting? (or rather, the impact it has had on the manga...)
Serpico, Farenze, Caska, Puck. I was fine when all of them joined up. Caska's coming back brought a brand new dimension to the fight and showed alot about Guts' changes. Puck's comic relief was most necessary for a story as bleak and violent as this. Serpico just plain rocks. Farenze... meh, she sorta faded into the background (until recently) and her sudden meekness was only countered by the fact that she's a package deal with Serpico.

Then there's Isidoro. At first he cracked me up (and he still does) and I liked the idea of Guts getting an 'apprentice'. I also like how Isidoro had to go about learning his own fighting style. But now I feel like him, and Puck, and Caska's occasional childish silliness, along with Serpico's wit/comments tipped the balance towards 'comedy'.

Schierke. Ok, I was sorta wary of another character joining them. But she's brought a brand new element into the story with her Magic. I also like her outlook on humanity and some of her scenes and spells have had absolutely beautiful animation. I also like how her and Guts are paired up and she has to risk herself to 'bring him back'.

But Schierke comes with some baggage, in the form of Evarellea. Did we really need another elf? Granted, I'm sure something important is bound to eventually happen with her and Puck, and she is different from Puck as far as personality. But for some reason that was the straw that broke the camels back for me. The amount of space dedicated to comic relief has gotten too damn big IMO. Isidoro, Puck, Evarellea, and even Serpico, Caska (and even Guts once and again) all of their 'funny little comments' seem to be too much to me.

Yes, I realize this has descended into a rant. I love this manga, and I know it's stupid to criticize Miura. I just sometimes find myself wishing that he'd stop giving so much time, space and effort to these gags and jokes. I know the elves are almost always just a tiny part on the page, but they appear in so many panels and I say 'who knows how much further along we'd be in the story if they'd just get shunted to the back more often' or 'rather than think up their jokes and draw them in, why not work on a background or large panel page?'

Fuck, shit. You all know how (overly)critical I can be... so don't get me wrong. I love this fucking manga. I even enjoy the comic relief at times. But it's a story about Guts, Caska and Griffith, and I know the other characters are deep and all, but goddamn I want the spotlight to be on the three main characters!

edit: 1500th post! Level Up!