I ' d be curious to know how many people are actually brainwashed vs how many are just ignorant . <| sep |> I ' m gonna take a guess as to where this change came from as an artist myself . It seems to me the change came around the same time he put out the standalone short story . The one where guts meets the elf girl while imprisoned . I have a feeling when he drew the younger Guts some of that style crossed over into the newer chapters . He probably also referenced some of his older work for that prequel . If you notice the cross hatching style has become similar to his older work . That is to say less fine and more pronounced . What I ' m saying is he probably liked drawing a younger guts and made a decision to incorporate some of the look into recent chapters . Hair got bigger , eyes slightly larger . face shorter . I dunno . This is just what I think . I ' ve done this with my own work as well . You move far and away from your original work . look back on the old . see something you like and start trying to work that old stuff back in .