(Berserk and House of the Dragon) As I get older, I appreciate books and shows more and more, but fanbases less and less

As I am slowly approaching 50, I am glad to say my love of fantasy and sci-fi remains undiminished. I read, watch, and play a multitude of books, shows, movies and games. I continue to be anime fan, having been part of the generation when it first became popular as its own thing back in the 90s.

However, many of those who are part of various fanbases perplex me. It seems they never want to be happy over anything. When they engage with any individual piece of media, it is like they have an imaginary version in their head of what it should be like, and if it fails to measure up to that, it becomes the worst thing ever created.

I would like to bring up two examples. The first is the manga Berserk. The creator of the manga, Kentaro Miura, passed away. Fortunately, the writing for the series was picked by another author, Kouji Mori. Kouji Mori was a life-long friend of Miura, and Miura informed him of key plot points and how the manga was meant to end. Mori is also working with those staff who collaborated with Miura in producing Berserk.

The latest chapter, 384, has been released, and in it we discover that because the main character, Guts, was born from a mother who had been hanged, he was born from death, and that means he has always existed in a gap between the physical and astral worlds. That in turn means he is similar to Griffith, and that similarity implies he has the potential to defeat him.

However, the reaction form certain fans to this reveal seems utterly bizarre to me. Gutz, through the manga, has always been unique. He can wield a massive sword as if it weighed nothing, and has been able to regularly kill apostles (basically demons). Characters within the text have mentioned how strange and unusual that is. So the idea of Guts being unique as always been a central theme of the series.

However, fans have been claiming that Mori has stolen the idea of Guts being ‘special’ from social media, that Mori is deliberately changing Miura’s story, and that the chapter is a disaster. Tying this back to what I said earlier, such fans appear to have a preconception of how the manga should turn out, and since the chapter is not matching that, it must mean that Mori is ruining it on purpose. They are not content to allow the manga to progress in order analyse these new revelations alongside older lore holistically.

The same thing occurring in regards to House of the Dragon. The show is based on a history of House Targaryen called Fire and Blood. Being a show, it cannot translate the book on a one-to-one basis. The constraints of budget and time mean characters have to be cut or combined, and plot points pared down or removed. The first episode of season 3 has been released, and again, judging by fan complaints, it is again the worst thing ever made (which raises the question of how something can be ‘the worst’ over and over). For example, a character named Nettles (who manages to tame a dragon named Sheepstealer) is dropped, and her role in the show is taken over by Raena, the daughter of Daemon Targaryen. Raena is the one who tames Sheepstealer. The show makes a change in that Raena appears at what is called The Battle of the Gullet (she was absent from that in the books). Her taking part in that battle leads to Sheepstealer attacking both friendly and hostile ships, and this in turn leads to the death of a character named Jacaerys, the son of Rhaenyra Targaryen.

Fans are decrying removing Nettles in the show, and altering the Battle of the Gullet in such a way. However, the changes are going to achieve the same thing in the show that happened in the books. In the books, Nettles become close with Daemon, and this alienates him from his wife, Rhaenyra. In the show, what is most likely going to happen is that Daemon is going to be alienated from Rhaenyra because his daughter indirectly led to Jacaerys’ death. So the realities of making a show means a character had to be cut, yet the outcome remains the same. But for fans have read the books, this is an unforgivable sin. They have created a version of the show in their minds ,and if House of the Dragon does not adhere to that version, it is terrible. They are unwilling to judge it on its own merits.