Anime Berserk

I personally think that Berserk was a superb anime that successfully blended intrigue and politics with lots and lots of action and gore, making it appealing across the board. I think that the underlying tension always simmering under the suface, between Guts, Casca and Griffiths was excellent, but the series really came into it's own when the art of politics was added in, when the Hawks joined the King.
I agree that the main reason Berserk isn't well is the distribution, I had to get my copy from a guy in Hong Kong (cheap, illegal, but at least available) and there is no US release. I am finding myself more and more relying on Hong Kong recently, as if living in America is tough for anime fans, living in Britain is a nightmare.

 

too right!

yeah, wolfwood is 100% correct. anime is so hard to find following legal channels in england, it's a damn joke! so, buying pirate dvds/vcds or downloading rips off the net is illegal, but trust me, if berserk was available on normal release (i know, it will b soon, but not yet), i'd fork out the moolah. however, as far as manga goes, it's a different story. after all, its not piracy, unless u print out the scans and bind them. which is a bit extreme. otherwise, just downloading and using them for personal use is acceptable, especially for people who dont speak/read japanese.

 

berserk episodes

hi, i havnt seen much of berserk, but i was wondering how good of an anime it is.

Warez & piracy may not be discussed on this board. Sorry.
- Exiztone

 

I have them all, and I got them via cd transfer from my friend. He got his from Kazaa.

 

there are 25 eps

 

thanks i didnt kno how many eps there were either

 

Exiztone beat me to it. Damn.

If you don't mind anime that's incomprehensively violent at times that has a decent story and characters, it's definitely worth checking out.

www.fye.com sells Berserk DVDs for around 16 bucks each (and they're legit, too).
-Odin

 

It is truly one of the best, the main character Gatsu goes through some of the most challenging emotions that a character can go through, it traces back through the past, his teenage years as a mercenary, his youth as a soldier boy who followed around a general, and finally into his 20s where he becomes the Captain of a Band of Outlaw mercenaries who get hired to defend kingdoms.

 

It's not really anime either, it was just a test they did to see how well it would do AS an anime, the first 25 eps are nothing compared to the manga, which goes way past the 25th episode, if you want to know HOW gatsu gets out of that hellhole, just say so and I will spoil it for you.

 

Zanza - that is the way the anime is supposed to end, to the disappointment of many fans. No denouement at all . . .
-Odin

 

Just saw Berserk...

I'd have thought there would be at least one thread for Berserk already, but I checked and didn't see on. Huh.

Basically, Berserk is a medieval/fantasy-type series, clearly intended for a male audience, and follows the exploits of the Band of the Hawk, a mercenary army led by the charismatic and ambitious Griffith. It follows the Hawks from a roguish band just beginning to earn a reputation up until they become one of the strongest armies in Midland (the country on which the action centers) and even become part of the royal army. Although it's clearly the story of Griffith's ascension and the fulfilling of his dream, the main character is Guts, the captain of the Hawks' Raiders.

Anyway, I just recently saw this series, and... woah. o_o I didn't expect to like it at all. The opening theme is probably one of the worst examples of senseless Engrish lyrics combined with grating, twangy music I've ever seen in an anime. The character design tends to involve huge manly muscles, which I've had an aversion to for ages because of things like DBZ and Grappler Baki. *shudders* There's a huge focus on battle, with lots of flashy combat, being getting cut apart, blood everywhere, lots of grunting and sweating... All in all, it's a very shounen/seinen anime, and normally I go for series which are fairly neutral. Anyway, I expected to hate Berserk, or at least be bored to death by it.

I really, really liked it.

The thing that got me, I think, was that there was a lot of interesting character development, and the story actually felt real to me. The characters were believable, very human, and despite first appearances they all took on a feeling of depth and allowed me to sympathize with and relate to them.

The protagonist, Guts (Gatts, Gatsu, Gutsu, Gutz... whatever), initially seemed like he was going to be one of those "Must get stronger! Hulk SMASH!" types; he wasn't. He has an interesting past - he was taken from the corpse of his dead mother and raised by mercenaries, and as a result, eventually comes to question himself and wonder about his place in the world because all he knows how to do is fight. He's very gruff, but also likable, and at a number of points in the series he shows that he can also be quite tender.

Then there's Griffith, who initially seems almost impossibly perfect - beautiful (rather effeminate, in fact), a master tactician and leader, extremely intelligent, and utterly dedicated to his dream of one day having his own kingdom. But he, too, has human flaws, and human weakness... I won't spoil anything, but I found him to be very dynamic and interesting; he's easily my favorite character.

Caska... I wasn't expecting to like her, but I did. I normally dislike female second-in-command types whose only motivation is that they're in love with the man they serve. But Caska has genuine strength on her own, and as the series progresses, she starts to question herself and her motivations, which is when she really gets interesting. (She has the added distinction of being a dark-complexioned character, with black hair and black eyes, which is a rarity in anime.)

So... basically, who else has seen Berserk, and what did you think? I found it to be much deeper than I had anticipated, and it's a shame that the series basically only covers the first 13 volumes of the manga (of 28 total released so far in Japan, and with much of the story still untold).

 

There actually are Berserk threads, you just reeeeally have to look for 'em. Anyway. Berserk, I've had (as fansubs) for a long time. A number of years, in fact. However, I've just been really lazy about watching the series and haven't bothered to get past episode 4. I like it, it's just something I seem to be having trouble finding motivation to watch for some odd reason.

 

Well, I did do a search for "Berserk" before I posted this - so nobody kill me if there was already a thread, because nothing came up except mentions of Berserk in other, more general threads. ;p

Actually, from what I hear, there's a Dreamcast game that's already out, and an upcoming PS2 game. I actually might look into getting that when it's released, if it gets decent reviews.

 

Berserk!!!!

can some1 relieve my frustration
after just watching the whole series of Berserk i was exceedingly dissapointed to see how it ended in episode 25... or ne1 not seen it yet this mite spoil it a lil for ya... but how in gods name can they end it like that.
You never find out how he gets out of the situation, u never find out what happens to griffith and caska and more imortantly u never find out how he got the name "tha black swordsman" and ended up where he was in the 1st episode. :anger2:
how can the creators do this to us fans... i took sooooo much time over getting all the volumes just to b left on edge and asking lots of questions... :sad: not happy.. i expected it too end.. and end well.. by all means i know they need continuation type of story so the manga isnt interupted but the least they cudve done was tell us how he ended up where he was in episode 1 please by all means shed ur thots on this too me? ne1 have ne ideas if they are releasing more?

Delerak, help me out man and tell me how he gets out of the hellhole...
or even better... some1 tell me where i can get english copies of the manga in britain..or websites that will import them to the uk.. cheers