Berserk

[Cyri'kazzen the Drow]

Hi all.

On the shelves of my local Blockbuster I noticed an animated series that vaguely looked DnDish, so I decided to rent it. It was called Berserk, which was a Japanese anime series a few years back. Forgive my ignorance as I have not been a fan of anime in the past, but I was absolutely blown away by the six DVD series. Not in the graphic quality of the series, but in the storyline and character development. The entire series has a very dark, DnD-like feel to it, but doesn't go over the top in the fantastic.

Has anyone else seen the series? It also made me wonder why there isn't a specific animated series dedicated to DnD? I mean surely, if someone made a DnD animated series of Berserk quality, I would buy it.

 

[Pants]

I'm waiting for my local Blockbuster to get the last DVD's, but yes, it is an extraordinary series. Very dark and gritty. Kinda reminds me of GRRM 'A Song of Ice and Fire' series.

 

[Scorch]

Ah yup! We have discussed Berserk several times on this forum.

Rule #1 for when watching Berserk: KNOW THAT THE LAST EPISODE OF THE TV SERIES IS NOT THE END OF THE STORY! Fans of the series cannot stress this enough. It is based off a manga series that is still going on. Currently it is up to 24 volumes with a 25th volume coming out this summer. The TV series covers up to around Volumes 4 through 13/14 of the comic book with Episode 1 of the TV series doing a quick little glimpse into the first story line of Volume 1 of the comic. Confused? Don't worry, Dark Horse Comics will be releasing the first three volumes of the manga which you can sort of read as a prequel/sequel to the TV series.

It sort of breaks down like this:

Volumes 1 through 3: We get to see Gatsu in his take-no-prisoners Black Swordsman persona where he meets an elf (read pixie in 3E terms) named Puck who tries to figure out why this man is so determined to slay any demonic apostle he comes across.

Volumes 4 through 13: We flash back and get a capsule version of Gatsu's childhood up to the point where he joins the Band of the Hawk and then it goes from there up to the Black Sun Over Midland (the Great Eclipse). As I mentioned before, the TV series covers this.

Volumes 14 through current: We see the fallout of the Great Eclipse, witness Gatsu get the Dragon Slayer (the two handed hunk of iron he wields in Episode 1 of the TV series), and declares war against the God Hand. Some great stuff happens in this arc, specifically the introduction of some awesome characters and an expansion of the world setting.

We have discussed how to do Berserk in 3E a while back. I am not sure if the thread is still around or not. Lot of speculation about Gatsu's level progression and what would make up a demonic apostle.

If you want to learn more about what happens after the TV series, I would start with the following web page:

www.skullknight.net

Enjoy

 

[Cyri'kazzen the Drow]

As a fan of Greek tragedy and nihilism, I particularly enjoyed the ending of the series. Berserk was made in 1998 correct? I don't understand why they haven't continued the series via animation. I mean they have gone through all the character development of Guts and Griffith and what makes them tick, only to end it right there?

As I mentioned before, the character development is excellent and the many plots are stellar in Berserk. I have only been witness to this kind of detail in DnD campaigns. That being said, why haven't we seen more DnD-ish animated inspirations?

Keep in mind my ignorance of anime and comics, but I just don't get why something like this hasn't been done for DnD.

 

[Scorch]

Well, Anime series in Japan are typically produced in seasons. Back in the 70s and 80s a series' season would be around 40 to 50 episodes. Then as times got tough a seasons was cut down to around 26 episodes and in some extreme cases: 13 episodes. If a show performs extremely well then the sponsors yell for more and the producers can then churn out the next season (Inu Yashu and Dragonball Z come to mind) but most shows have to survive season by season. Berserk ran at a very late night spot (due to it's content) and had a dedicated audience but not one large enough to justify and immediate second season. One of the extras on the DVDs had an interview with the producer saying that they made the series with just one season in mind and that they were willing to keep on going if they got the green light but they did not. They can always go back later and continue if they desire. The manga is still doing gangbusters in Young Animal magazine.

As for other D&D type TV series, I would point first to the series that is itself based off of the creator's old college D&D campaign: Record of Lodoss War (both the OAV and TV series). It has inspired spin off series (Crystania), manga backstories, novels, and video games. The timing of the OAV (video release only) series and TV series is kind of strange. Just watch the first 10 episodes of the OAV series, then watch the TV series to get the real continuity (skip episodes 11 through 13 of the OAV series).

There is also Slayers TV, which I never watched but I hear good things about, and a really fantastic series from the creators of Macross called Visions of Escaflowne which is sort of D&D mixed in with strange magic tech. I have only seen the first half of the series (DAMN YOU, NETFLIX!!! WHY DO YOU ONLY HAVE HALF OF THE SERIES?!?!) but think it is a fantastic show. There are a ton more out there since the Japanese really dig western swords and sorcery tales.

Enjoy,

Scorch

 

[JoeGKushner]

Berserk is one of my favorite animes, especially in capturing the whole rising mercenary star thing. Very Black Company like save for the fact that the group doesn't make a comeback in the anime.

 

[Wormwood]

Looks kinda boring to me.

 

[JoeGKushner]

Ah, if only you knew the true terror associated with that image.

Didn't they have a whole line of those games like Frenzy and suff?

 

[jdavis]

Can't wait for them to get off their butts and get the manga here in America (they are still translating the manga for US distribution but it should be any time now), the anime's end was in the middle of the story. That seems to happen a lot in Anime based on comics, they only get a season in. The Beserk anime is very popular in America but unfortuantly that means little to nothing for getting a second season made in Japan.

The many threads here is what turned me on to Berserk in the first place, there have been several good threads on it.

If you are wanting to find out more about anime in general then I suggest trying Anime News Network. They have a extensive encyclopedia on anime and manga on site. http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/index.php Also AnimeNation is a very good site (the ask John column is very good in particular). http://www.animenation.com/

 

[JoeGKushner]

Dark Horse is the company bringing out the manga right? Kinda strange that Viz didn't get it, but hey, I'll take what I can get.

It's coming out straight paperback right? Not individual issues?