Was I the only one who thought they might actually kiss in this scene the First time you ever saw/ read it? Because I did . I was ready to react. I was about to go on all those sites and say. “ YOU THOUGHT YOU COULD FOOL ME INTO THINKING THIS WAS NOT GAY. I WAS NOT FOOLED. I ALWAYS KNEW!! “
But it never happened.
And I was like “oh” as I calmly shut the page I’d just opened to rant and go nuts on.
So, I thought Griffith would go for a kiss after taking Guts’ face in his hand and saying he belonged to him forever and ever. This scene also is a good place for it.
If this were a man and a woman everyone and their mother would be making gif sets of this and saying how they were so close to kissing after having the “what is this relationship” talk only to be interrupted by the plot. They would be doing this even if they never verbally said their feelings and everyone would accept it as a fact because straight people.
i never thought they’d kiss because I never expect anything I really want to happen lol. but like, this scene is as romantic as you can get without a kiss. if one of them was a woman people would call you delusional for suggesting their feelings are platonic lmao, like:
gentle breeze wafting griffith’s long hair across his face? check declaration of feelings while looking away followed by a turn and hard eye contact? check awkward, surprised response? check inconvenient interruption? checkmate
going back to the manga but you cannot look at these panels and then tell me with a straight face that we’re supposed to think their feelings are brotherly or whatever:
and yk what while i’m on this and since yesgabsstuff brought up the duel, you don’t have your characters ask each other if they’re gay, fail to confirm or deny, and say things like, “if you win you can have my sword or my ass,” if you’re not trying to point the audience in a certain direction.
it’s subtext, but it’s like, Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence style subtext, where it’s not just a nice bonus if u recognize the symbolism or the gay audience reaching bc we’re desperate, but it’s the clear intended reading.
In fact, I’ll go one further – the very first parallel we have for Guts and Griffith, the first example we’re given to contextualize the mysterious, intense relationship between Guts and Griffith/Femto and the nature of the sacrifice – which we already know is what happened between them – is the Count and his wife. “The person you loved the most and hated the most!” Cue that shot of Femto looking slightly over his shoulder so there can be no doubt who also buried his fragile human heart.
(like i just re-read this scene and i love it so much because everything leading up to these panels exists to make the audience go “what the fuck is their deal?” like puck even directly asks “what happened between those two?” And then we get the Count’s story and it’s like, ohhh ok i guess they were in love at one point and then betrayal and despair followed and now one’s a demon and one’s really pissed off. gotcha. And then nothing in the golden age disabuses you of that notion.)
(ps “That’s right… you couldn’t do it. You couldn’t cut away half of yourself.” The Godhand to the Count. “[…]And that unkingly half of yours shall all be gathered then in that place.” Skull Knight to Guts.)
Oh my god, thank you so much for adding that, because, honestly, that chapter with the Count has got to be my favourite instance of foreshadowing in every medium ever. Not only does it explain the relationship between Griffith and Guts (almost explicitly), but it also tells us right away that Griffith must have cared for all the other members of the Band of the Hawk. If he hadn’t, he wouldn’t have been able to offer them as a sacrifice in the first place. Which is kind of unrelated to the point you’re making, but you can just tell that this entire thing with the Count went right over some people’s heads because they 1. insist there’s nothing between Griffith and Guts and 2. are convinced that Griffith had been planning to sacrifice his comrades all along, or at least did it without regrets when the opportunity presented itself.
It’s sad that all this brilliant writing goes almost intentionally unnoticed by so many people in this fandom.
That said, just for the fun of it, I’d like to add my favourite inexplicably gay scene to this post:
(excuse the gutsca)
Look at that poorly hidden jealousy, I’m dying.
Yesss I love this moment too. Like, look at that Griffith POV shot of Guts. Look at how utterly eroticized it is. lbr here Griffith isn’t angry because Guts and Casca getting together third wheels him or deprives him of power over them or whatever other awful no homo explanations I’ve heard, Griffith is extremely jealous and straight up wishing he was that cloth.
also 2nding everything you said about the Count chapter. It pains me that so many people skip over the Black Swordsman arc or disregard it when it sets everything up so perfectly.
you're the only one 