BERSERK
Episodes: 25
Rated TVMA
STORY
(ANN summary) A mysterious warrior calling himself The Black Swordsman is out to get the King of a country called Midland. As he battles the king's henchmen, their cries of pain and the spilling blood take this relentless warrior's mind back in time to the path that led him to his current state.
Guts, a man who calls himself "The Black Swordsman" looks upon his days serving as a member of a group of mercenaries, the Band of the Hawk, nicknamed "the Grim Reaper of the Battlefield". Leaded by an ambitious, ruthless, and intellegent man named Griffith, together they battle their way into the royal court, and are forced into a fate that may change their entire lives.
On just any day, a pack of hooligans are harassing a young lady in distress when all of a sudden, they're under attack. The Black Swordsman has returned. He wields a giant sword as large as his grudge against the king. When alone in the woods, the Black Swordsman has a flash back to years past and his trials and tribulations in the Band of the Hawk, a successful band of mercenaries under the charismatic leadership of Griffith, a man driven by the ambition to become king.
At first look this may seem like your average, shallow, violent action series, but it is actually more than that. Half of what makes Berserk good is the characters. They are all 3-dimensional characters with personalities, hopes, dreams, fears, and motivations. They aren't just a bunch of bandits who want to fight people just for the sake of fighting. The main character, Guts, has an advantage over most anime badasses by being a badass that develops well. Griffith is an intriguing guy because it's really hard to tell at points whether he's a good guy or bad guy. His goal is clear, but how he plans to get there is complex. Which leads to the other reason that this show is good, the plot. The plot isn't just fight scene after fight scene. Gut's journey, Griffith's goal to becoming a ruler, the people wanting to stop it, and the other dark forces at work, all make this story very layered and complex. Each episodes is important to the story, you can't miss a single one. The story is full of drama, friendship, love, hatred, and deception. The only real problem with the story is the fact that is just stops........... Unlike Fruits Basket, which at least gave some closure at episode 26, Berserk just STOPS on episode 25 without giving us some kind of closure. It. Just. STOPS. It's really a shame too, because it was getting to a really intense part of the series. Also be mindful that this series is VERY violent, ESPECIALLY the last 2 episodes. You have been warned. Overall you'd be hard pressed to find an action series this deep and complex with characters this layered and fleshed out. It's the main reason you'll be watching this..........
"You've got red on you..."
ANIMATION/ART
.......... Because it certainly won't be for the visuals. Unfortunately the visuals are on the low-budget side. The characters are detailed and realistic looking, which is a nice thing, but the animation itself can be cheap. There are some good action scenes here and there, but often times when characters strike someone the next frame is a long still shot with the camera moving through it really fast. It kinda breaks the excitement of the action. They also avoid showing large numbers of people on the screen, which is a shame considering the number of large battles there are. The art is also unimpressive. Not only do they look like they were done by high school art students, but almost nothing moves on them. Everything, even fire, smoke, and large armies in he distance, are completely static, like you're just looking ata painting. Considering the large battles and vast lands this anime has, you'd think they'd get a higher budget company to do this anime, but I guess not. The music was quite bland in my opinion. The theme song and ending theme were hard to listen to and the background music during the show was almost unnoticeable. Overall this series had low production values and won't be getting any praise from anyone.
OVERALL
Despite low quality visuals and a non-ending, the plot that you get and the characters that you see are so good that it's worth watching at least once if you're an anime fan, especially if you're a fan of dark fantasy.
PROS
-Terrific plot and well developed characters
-At least some good action scenes
CONS
-Dated animation
-Bland background art and music
-An inconclusive ending
.......... Because it certainly won't be for the visuals. Unfortunately the visuals are on the low-budget side. The characters are detailed and realistic looking, which is a nice thing, but the animation itself can be cheap. There are some good action scenes here and there, but often times when characters strike someone the next frame is a long still shot with the camera moving through it really fast. It kinda breaks the excitement of the action. They also avoid showing large numbers of people on the screen, which is a shame considering the number of large battles there are. The art is also unimpressive. Not only do they look like they were done by high school art students, but almost nothing moves on them. Everything, even fire, smoke, and large armies in he distance, are completely static, like you're just looking ata painting. Considering the large battles and vast lands this anime has, you'd think they'd get a higher budget company to do this anime, but I guess not. The music was quite bland in my opinion. The theme song and ending theme were hard to listen to and the background music during the show was almost unnoticeable. Overall this series had low production values and won't be getting any praise from anyone.
OVERALL
Despite low quality visuals and a non-ending, the plot that you get and the characters that you see are so good that it's worth watching at least once if you're an anime fan, especially if you're a fan of dark fantasy.
PROS
-Terrific plot and well developed characters
-At least some good action scenes
CONS
-Dated animation
-Bland background art and music
-An inconclusive ending
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