Berserk Anime/Manga?

[JoeGKushner]

So has anyone watched this series? I picked up the first one on the recommendation of a friend who saw the original Japanese version and I must say I'm quite impressed. Very dark and grim fitting a Warhammer world atmosphere almost. I'm most impressed with the very slow introduction of fantasy horror to the setting.

I've looked but haven't found any American Manga yet. Anyone know of any?

 

[Chain Lightning]

Ah, "Berzerk"

Nice solid series. After "Record of Lodoss War". I couldnt' find anymore serious fantasy Anime. Most of it seemed in the "Slayers" line of style. Which is fun, but I was searching for fantasy that was a bit more serious. Well, actually....more D&D-esque fantasy. "Ninja Scroll" is fantasy but that' s more in the feudal-Japan-fantasy style, etc, etc.

So basically, there's "Record of Lodoss War" and ....uh...."Legend of Arislan" (sort of, that's a highly stylized middle east kinda fantasy), but it never had an ending. Nice series though.

Besides those two, that was really about it. All of others were disappointments. Like "Legend of Crystania"and "Fire Emblem".

Then "Berserk" came out. Ooooh. Me like.

A part of it reminds me of the same feel I get from "The Black Company" novel. Then there's the usual anime trappings I enjoy too. Ending disc 2 on a cliff hanger got me. Now I'm happy disc 3 and 4 are out.

I haven't read the Manga. Of course, I don't see it anywhere offered in the states translated to English. But I knew I wanted to follow the anime series since buying a bootleg of a fan-sub of the first few episodes. Glad that I can get clean DVDs now.

Good series. Meaty character arcs start getting some steam in disc 3. Highly suggest it to D&D fans.

 

[WizarDru]

I'll ask Scorch to stop in here, as he's my group's resident Beserk expert. Beserk is dark fantasy, intelligently written and increasingly complex. What starts out, in the first couple of volumes of the manga, as a traditional 'mysterious warrior battles his way across strange world, seeking villain' story, quickly becomes like an onion, with layer after layer being peeled back.

Translated verisons of the manga, done by fans, can be found on the web.

I should warn you: the anime finishes around volume 16 or so of the manga (now up to 23 volumes), at the WORST POSSIBLE POINT. Let me re-emphasize that for you: WORST POSSIBLE POINT. It can be mentally damaging to watch the final three episodes without understanding that the story doesn't end there.

 

[Scorch]

Ah, Berserk...

This was quite the find for me. I saw episode 10 of it at Otakon back in 2000 and thought it looked ok, not knowing what it was about. Then I stared watching the fan subs of it last year and fell in love with the series.

What I like best about the series is that it pulls no punches. Kentarou Miura (the original manga author) does not shirk from showing the problems Caska faces with her peers with being a woman in a mercenary army. Not to mention what her enemies say to her (don't worry, she gets to pay back Adon in spades). Nor does he mind totally destroying the noble pretty character of Griffith. The speech he gives to Princess Charlotte about what he considers a friend is one of my favorite moments in that it almost totally destroys Gutts when he overhears it. The only person who comes up smelling like roses is Gutts, a guy who starts off as being VERY unlikable in the early stories of the manga.

One should first note the differences in the manga versus the anime. First off: there is no American release of the manga BUT almost every single issue has been translated. I would recommend picking it up from Sasuga Book Store online. They have recently dropped their shipping prices. Then go to these web sites for translations:

www.thehawks.org
www.skullknight.net (warning, the opening splash page to this web site is a spoiler for the end of the anime series as is the FAQ).

Second: They skip over A LOT of material in the beginning of the anime. Episode 1 just shows the start of Gutts career as the Black Swordsman before going back to his childhood in Episode 2. In the manga we get three volumes of Gutts killing his way through the Behelit Apostles (servants, disciples, what have you) in which Miura establishes him as a person who is puts up a rotten facade but underneath has a very vulnerable side that despairs of his humanity dying a little bit at a time during his insane quest of revenge. It also introduces a character called Puck who is a much needed comedy relief. He will show up again after the anime part ends.

Third: The ending to the anime series was very true to the manga. It wraps things up around Volume 13 to 14 of the manga and it will TRAUMATIZE YOU! I showed the entire series to WizarDru and Valanthe and they turned to me and screamed "WHAT?!?!?!". I quickly went online and showed them what happened in the manga next. If I hadn't I would have had to have gotten in my car and started driving west in order to escape their wrath. Do not despair though, the following stories are very satisfying in that they show Gutts coming to a decision to wear the garb of the Black Swordsman and kick some major Behelit Apostle ass! WizarDru and I like to call these stories: "How Gutts attained the Dragon Slayer and got his Groove back!" I love the part where he gets to test out the arm cannon for the first time

The manga series just keeps getting better and better as it goes. They introduce some great characters like the Skull Knight, Farnese, Serpico (GO SERPY!), Isidro (sort of Bat to Gutt's Kenshiro), Prince Silatt (what a schmoe...), etc.

There are rumors that another Berserk anime series is coming out but I would not hold my breath. The manga is not all that expensive and is a worthwhile investment. It for me for Japanese swords and sorcery what BLAME! is doing for me now with science fiction.

Scorch

 

[JoeGKushner]

Well I'm glad to see there are some fans of the series. I'm really hoping that GOO will do a Ultimate Fan Guide or a d20 version. I'd love to see stats for the God Hand for example. "It's Nosfartu Zod!" "Run!"

 

[Scorch]

Actually we did have a bit of a discussion on how to handle Berserk D20 on these boards a few months back.

Monsters and magic are very sparse in the Berserk universe until after the Black Sun Over Midland (end of the anime). We see this in the flash forward that is all of Episode 1. There is obviously Nosferatu Zodd and the subtle abilities of the Red Behelit that Griffith wears (and not so subtle, once again... end of series). Once the Black Sun occurs and Gutts obtains the Mark of Sacrafice (the bleeding brand on the back of his neck we see in Episode 1) the nasties start coming out of the woodwork. This was the event that WizarDru and I like to characterize as the moment Gutts crossed over into Epic levels.

As the series progresses we see demons, trolls, ghosts, ghouls, zombies, magic weapons, magic armor, spell casters, and a whole staple of swords and sorcery items start to appear.

The God Hand would be demigods/dieties. They cannot affect what happens on the Prime Material except through their servants, dreams, subtle mind control of animals, or during special events. Your run of the mill Apostle, such as the Snake Baron in episode 1 is a human with a specialized fiendish template/alternate form thing. Zodd is an Apostle who has moved beyond the petty grotesque appetites of your typical apostle. Perhaps he has levels of a new Apostle prestige class? There are others like him which start showing up around Volume 22 of the manga and believe me, they have EPIC stamped on their foreheads!

As for your humans: Gutts would be a berserker/fighter combo with lots of weapons feats all dedicated to his great sword variant. These would be prerequisites for his eventual use of the Dragon Slayer. In Episode 1 we get a taste of his epic levels, perhaps a prestige class called Branded One? Caska, pure fighter. Griffith, fighter with levels of aristocrat as he moves up the chain of command in Midland not to mention leadership. Pippin, pure fighter. Judeau, ranger/rogue/fighter variant? Corkus, fighter/thief. Rickertt, fighter.

Scorch

 

[JoeGKushner]

I agree that at the end, Guts does indeed apear to be on the epic level scale of things.

I also agree that magic would be low key with no wizards or clerics.

However, there is technology. His wrist crossbow and cannon are excellent examples of that. Small but deadly.

 

[WizarDru]

I agree that at the end, Guts does indeed apear to be on the epic level scale of things.

I also agree that magic would be low key with no wizards or clerics.

However, there is technology. His wrist crossbow and cannon are excellent examples of that. Small but deadly.

Oh, there are clerics, all right. Lawful Evil clerics, mind you, but clerics nonetheless. Mozgus was one scary guy, ya ask me.

And there are wizards, too...but they've only shown up once or twice. I fear when they make their presence known, quite honestly. Like the creepy witch-girl. I suspect she's ancient in age, despite her appearance.

For the most part, it's a very low-magic world...until the Black Sun event. Suddenly evil fairies appear, superhuman beings come out of hiding, demon-babies get eaten, and bad craziness is everywhere. As neo-Griffith and Gats travel, each begins acquiring their own army. Sooner or later, they'll crash head-on. And that's gonna be a hell of a thing. Hopefully, after they reach the elf-home, Caska will finally return to being Caska.

 

[JoeGKushner]

Curse you Wiz as you speak of things from the manga that I've yet to see. I'm still waiting on Vol 4 of the anime to hit the streets. I've read about the manga on a few sites thought and it sounds promising. I'm hoping that it gets picked up as more steam is made out of the anime.

 

[WizarDru]

Curse you Wiz as you speak of things from the manga that I've yet to see. I'm still waiting on Vol 4 of the anime to hit the streets. I've read about the manga on a few sites thought and it sounds promising. I'm hoping that it gets picked up as more steam is made out of the anime.

My dream, of course, is that TokyoPop will pick it up and translate the volumes. I don't really expect that to happen, but it'd be swell. After almost 11 months of unemployment, I'm finally back in the game, and can spend money on things I've been depriving myself and my family of, anime DVDs being one of them. The only anime DVD I've bought since June was the second volume of Hellsing (and we chose that because we'd already seen Berserk, and could wait to pick it up when we had fun money again...which would be now ).

Some interesting things happen with the storyline, after the final episode of the anime. One of my biggest disappointments with the anime was the fact that some characters don't appear: most notably Puck and the Skull Knight. Since Puck only appears in the present, not the Band of the Hawk period, that's not so suprising. But the Skull Knight is integral to the Black Sun event...and he's not there. It changes things dramatically...because until he shows up, it seems like there's no super-powered good guys other than Gats.

Mind you, the Skull Knight creeps everyone the Hell out...but he's on the good guys side, near as we can tell. I'd rate him as a Paladin Lich, I think, with one hell of a mount and a really odd diet.