This is a tale of friendship, betrayal and lots of bloodshed, a tale of a young mercenary named Guts...
From the moment he was brought into this world from his dead mother's womb, he has constantly been forced to fight, never owning a single friend in his life. That is, until the day he barely survives a battle with a huge armor-clad warrior. After receiving his reward, Guts leaves and finds himself ambushed by a bunch of mercenaries belonging to the "Band of the Hawks". Little did he know that after battling it out with their skillful leader, Griffith, he would serve under the very man that would one day become his most trusted friend. The tale of Guts has just begun...
Story & Characters
The story in Berserk is one of the best in anime, and more importantly it is different from what I've come to
expect from an anime. No damsel in distress, no saving the world from aliens or angels or really means guys. It is a
good midieval story of warriors on the battlefield, and the will and power to win each battle. Though the ending is not
what you expect from the rest of series, it does serve to tie together events that didn't make much sense earlier
in the story, and makes the whole thing a lot deeper than it seemed at first. I would love it if they ever continued
the story from where it ends in the series to where it goes in the manga, but that's just a pipe dream, and the
story is good enough as it is.
The story also has the interesting element of serving two purposes. The outside is the obvious plotline of Griffith and
his ambitions, and how The Band of the Hawk helps him reach these ambitions. But a deeper plotline (one which is
revealed much more in the manga) is that of how Guts is the only person in the Band who has control of his own destiny.
While everyone is getting swept up in Griffith's dream, Guts remains his own man, and swings his sword not just to
help Griffith, but also to continue his own quest of life.
Rating: 7
Art
The art is quite good in Berserk. It's an older anime, and does not have the smooth look that newer ones have, but
most scenes are very nicely made. I've never seen so much use of paintings in place of action, which is at times
artistic, and at times just annoying. Though a lot of the characters are generically drawn (i.e. the masses of warriors
constantly getting slaughtered), all of the main characters have very interesting and diverse design. The character
design is probably one of the high points of the whole anime. I enjoyed just seeing Guts grow and change over the
course of the series (not only does he get bigger as time goes by, but he collects new scars and wounds. Very good
continuity).
Rating: 6
Sound
If Berserk lacks in one place, it is the sound. The sountrack generally uses the same four scores over and over, the
clink-clink sound of the swords is very repetative, and the voices often feel pretty generic. Also, though i can't
say explicitly that I don't like it, the opening theme seems a bit misplaced.
However, as a counterpoint, it's also worth mentioning that the music, however repetative, serves very well to keep
the mood. The music is very dark and moody, which matches the general feeling of the anime perfectly.
Rating: 4
Presentation
Altogether, this is one of my favorite animes. It is a pleasure to watch, and has good replay value. I've watched
the whole series from beginning to end twice, and there are a lot of subtleties to enjoy on a second or third viewing.
It's also the kind of anime where if you just catch an episode somewhere in the middle, you'll at least be
entertained, which is unfortunately not true of a lot of other animes, even really good ones. A lot of times, if
you're not already into the plot of a series, seeing a middle episode will just leave you confused, and either
disinterested, or wanting to watch it from the beginning. With Berserk, a single episode can be exillerating, and i
know from personal experience that seeing a middle episode left me with no lack of interest.
The re-use of scenes or shots is kept to a minimum, which to me is very refreshing. They don't waste a lot of time
on flashbacks either, though there are definately some in there. This really helps a series from getting boring, and
I've found is a major complaint people have for animes.
Altogether, its a very original anime, and if you don't mind a series that is pretty dark (this is anime noir),
I'd suggest giving Berserk a chance.
Rating: 7
Final Verdict
6.3333 (average)
Reviewed by squeeb0y, Oct 26, 2004