The first setting in the Manga and Anime alike, Koka is one of the first stops for Guts on his path of revenge and ultimately the only location featured for the The Black Swordsman arc in the anime (as the remainder of the series takes place in the past, during the The Golden Age arc).
Geography
The town is depicted being situated within a plain, with rolling hills and riverbeds surrounding the exterior. Furtherout can be spotted mountaintops and forests at their base. The town itself is built much like any other, many small to medium size buildings incased within a walled fortress of sorts with a dark, overlooking castle atop the highest hill within its foundation. For the most part the town is rather clean, little to no homeless or diseased roam the streets and it either contains its own brothel for men to enjoy a drink every now and then. Apart from the Castle, there is a dungeon situated somewhere across the city that contains torture devices and a wretched holding cell lined with haystacks and leftover waste from previous captives. This is most likely where the vagrants, women and children are kept before being shipped to the Baron...
History, Hierarchy and Civilization
The town was originally ruled by the Lord Mayor of Koka (or The Minister, as he's referred to in the anime) and is recognized as such amongst his own guards as well as the people...but in all reality the town belongs to an Apostle called the Snake Baron or by name, simply The Baron. Some time ago in the past the town was ruled under a pleasant air by the Lord Mayor but one day the Snake Baron came along with his own soldiers to occupy the castle and forcefully kick the mayor to the streets. The only reason the Mayor was allowed to live is so that he could act as a "leader to the humans" while the Baron sat comfortable within his castle. A deal was struck between them...that he be brought human flesh to consume upon and it is unknown if the Baron or the Mayor suggested the use of Prisoners, Women and Children...but regardless that became his "menu".
The town itself housed mostly the men as the women and children were constantly sent to the Castle...though it is unknown if they know what happened there. Regardless, this instilled a deep sense of dread and even further, fear of breaking any "law" under the Baron's rule. Most of the township talked in hushed tongues, unfortunately having to allow the Baron's Bandits to have full run of the place. The bandits themselves are illmannered, they care nothing for the civilians of the town and do as they please...torturing women, children and even fairies as seen in Puck's case.
Ultimately, the entire town suffers a great loss when the Snake Baron raids it with his bandits and burns most of it to the ground. Many civilians are murdered, along with the Mayor and it is assumed that the town is abandoned thereafter.
Manga
The Black Swordsman arc
Guts first enters this town after slaying the Female Apostle, in search of the local Apostle lord. After passing a caravan containing women and children prisoners, he makes his way into the local tavern. Here he meets up with Snake Baron's Bandits tormenting the elf known as Puck by tossing daggers at him. Guts, probably annoyed by their behavior, kills all but the leader whom he leaves alive for the purpose of relaying a message to the Snake Baron that the Black Swordsman has arrived. Some damage is caused to the tavern in this struggle but ultimately it most likely burns down in the coming raid by the Baron.[1]
Guts makes his way through the streets with the elf Puck tagging along until he is caught by the local guardsman that are under the employ of the Lord Mayor of Koka. They proceed to take him to the local Dungeon where he is tortured until questioned by the Mayor, whom upon being found out by his deeds condemns Guts to further torture as long as the torturer desired. Meanwhile, the Mayor pays a visit to the Snake Baron that turns into a deadly meeting where the Mayor is whisked off and presumebly killed. As Guts lays in his cell after enduring the pain of constant lashes, Puck shows up to help Guts out and after his freedom, he noticed outside that the town is on fire.[2]
The Baron and his men are raiding the place, killing everyone in their path and burning every building as he watches them suffer in a fiery inferno. Guts reclaims his weapons and starts an attack, slaying many of the henchmen under the Baron's employ and ultimately duels with the Apostle himself. After a close match, Guts comes out victorious and watches as a collapsing building (that was already in flames) falls on the Apostle and ultimately scorches him alive. As Guts walks off, there can be many bodies seen around him and Puck gives chase after this. Nothing is heard of Koka from this point on, so either the entire population was massacred or only a few survived and moved to a different town since this one was in ruin.[3]
Anime
Episode 1 - The Black Swordsman Guts arrives in town in the midst of a rainy night, watching guards and a caravan of prisoners go by. Meanwhile, the Snake Baron's Bandits bust in through the door of the local Tavern and throw the young girl, Colette to the ground. They proclaim their arrival and force several patrons to leave their table as they drag the poor girl there and force her to be their servant, all the while humiliating her every fiber. After a short while, her grandfather charges in and is tripped to the ground by one of the bandits, kicked to the side in a fit of rage at his interruption. Giving the leader an idea, he proceeds to torment the girl just for the sake of making the Grandfather feel miserable and forces her to lick up some wine on the wood table. Just then Guts enters and fires a few bolts out, killing two of the Bandits and then wounds the leader with a dagger to the shoulder. After stating that he desires an audience with their lord, the Snake Baron, Igole (one of the bandits) charges at Guts from behind and is cut down through the abdomen to display his terrible power. Guts then leaves, reminding the leader to inform the Snake Baron of his arrival.
The bartender of the bar, fearing this man, proceeds to tell the Minister (Mayor) of this situation, who decides to send out a search party to see if they can turn up Guts anywhere. Around the same time, the Baron receives word of the Black Swordsman from the leader Guts let loose earlier and orders him to retrieve the Minister. While they actively search every building for Guts, he is found out to be in one of the surrounding forests resting against a tree...only to soon have ghosts torment him because of the Brand that he received during the Eclipse. After fending off the spirits, he has a vision of the God Hand, seeing each member (Slan, Conrad, Ubik, and Void) multiple times before finally laying eyes on the 5th member, Femto, whom he calls out as Griffith. After he swings his sword, the visions disappear and he makes his way back into town.
Back at the Castle, the Minister is seen looking across the table at the Baron who is enjoying a meal...and discussing the situation going on in town, which ends in the Baron murdering the Minister and using him as a war trophy on his spear when he and his men raid the town. After murdering many guardsman and civilians, the Snake Baron notices that Guts has arrived and watches as he takes out many of his men. The two then proceed to fight to the death and Guts emerges the victor, watching as the burning city takes his life. It is presumed that no one survived this onslaught.[4]
Notable Residents
Snake Baron - The new Lord of Koka, who moved in to the castle and took it by force with his bandits and soldiers. He holds the town in the palm of his hand.
Lord Mayor of Koka/The Minister - The Mayor of Koka, he has been removed from his position as ruler but still stands out as leader amongst the people...despite his cowardly motives.
Snake Baron's Bandits - A group under the employ of the Snake Baron, they cause a ruckus around town and are free to do as they wish.
Koka Bartender - Owner of a local tavern that serves the men of Koka.
Collette (ANIME only) - Young girl that is held captive by the bandits and forced into humiliation.
Grandfather (ANIME only) - An old man who lives with his granddaughter, he cares for her deeply and does not want to see her hurt by ruffians.
Aide (ANIME only) - A loyal soldier to the Mayor and for Koka, he appears to be the Mayor's right hand man.
Koka Torturer (MANGA only) - A fat, baldish man that commences the tortures for Koka.
Notable Visitors
Guts - He passes through here in order to claim the life of the Apostle lord for this town. Unfortunately, he does not care about anything else except killing the Baron, and does not lift a finger to stop the carnage (aside from killing the Baron and his men) and presumably most if not all of the townspeople perish in the flames.
Puck - He is captured by some of the bandits and is used as a dart board pretty much until Guts saves his life.
Demon Child - While only temporarily in Guts's cell and a part of his mind, the infant still makes an appearance, with Guts yelling at it to stay away from him.
Current Storyline
Koka has not been revisted since the Snake Baron's defeat, so it is unknown if the town has rebuilt itself, been completely destroyed or was raided by bandits in the future.
Trivia
-While the town exists evenly in both the anime and manga, there are various differences that mainly have to do with the inhabitants. Colorschemes, titles change and even some deaths are in different order.
- Puck does not exist in the anime, as it is meant to cover the entire Golden Era arc and Puck's involvement is not necessary for it.
- The events proceeding this would have led Guts and Puck into a deep forest filled with the undead (as in the Manga) for the anime, but instead the following episode starts right out after Guts's childhood where he faces down Bazuso.