BERSERK
Why do they laugh at my mighty sword?!
Siiiingin' in the rain |
Review by: M.H. "Hack and Slash" Torringjan
When the new year of Anime Club came around and it was time to pick our series, one of the new guys had brought this around for us to see. I'd heard of the series before, but I hadn't seen it, so I figured it was as good of a choice as any to put up to a vote. After the first episode and many dead bodies later, I was convinced that I wanted it on the slate. Despite the fact that the entire series is a 24-episode long flashback and only covers half the manga, the series stands on its own due to the utter badassness of the vast majority of the cast and the depth of its plot.
Plot summary: This is the story of a lone badass's journey to be remembered by swinging his sword a lot. Gatsu is that badass, and he encounters the band of mercenaries known as the Band of the Hawk, led by their general, Griffith. By losing a duel to Griffith, Gatsu is forced to join the Band on Griffith's quest to become a king, no matter what the cost or the body count. An ominous prophecy (and the entire first episode), however, says that fate will bring Gatsu down.
Gallons of red paint |
Artwork: The style here is mostly realistic, with periods of fantasy. The grainy, pointed style makes it clear that this is pure shonen (as if the blood spray didn't give it away). There are occasional flashes of manga-style drawing, with still-images for effect done in the style of paintings or watercolors. This isn't used very liberally, which is a good thing. The character designs are very distinct and individualized, matching their personalities very well. The series liberally applies bloodspray, but it doesn't glorify the bloodspray in the same way as Elfen Lied by showing the severed body parts as clean-cut, or by showing exposed bone much. The blood here is used mainly for realism purposes, and not for shock value. This is probably what Noir would have looked like if it'd had blood. And swords. And lots and lots of assassins instead of two.
Music: They went pretty all-out on everything else, so they had to scrimp somewhere. I guess this is where they scrimped. At times, the soundtrack makes good use of silence to set the mood, sometimes, they rely on new-age-zombie-Enya music to do it for them. I personally don't care all that much for Enya or anyone else on those "Pure Moods" CD's, but some people do. If you do, then you'll eat this shit up. Personally, I'll wait for the ass-kicking to wake me up.
Characters: The main character here is the biggest badass that I've seen in a long time, Gatsu (or Guts, if you really prefer). With a nickname like the Hundred Man Slayer (or Century Slayer, if you prefer), how can he *not* be a badass? Like any other badass, he is mostly reticent and very professional. His main issue is trying to find his dream, which apparently involves killing many, many people. He initially resents being made a member of the Band of the Hawk, but eventually realizes that Griffith has a dream of his own that he needs Gatsu to fulfill, so he decides to help out. Griffith is the somewhat effeminate, wispy leader of the Band of the Hawk who, as mentioned earlier, is trying to become a king from nothing. He realizes Gatsu's potential and in an ambiguously gay manner tells Gatsu that he wants Gatsu (to help him). The female lead of the series is Caska, a dark-skinned beauty with a heart of steel and a sword to match it. She is a commander in the Band and doesn't like being reminded that women usually don't fill that role. She also has some major issues with Gatsu's arrival, as she wants to be Griffith's right-hand (wo)man and help him to achieve his dream. She also wants to be more than that to him, and sees being by his side to help him achieve his dream as getting her one step closer to being by his side in bed. The Band has a number of minor characters, so for the sake of length, I'll keep it at the major three.
Plot: The plot of this series may seem somewhat simple and overdone, but there is a major difference between this plot and a number of other series of a similar nature. There are strong supernatural elements at work in this plot, which adds a level of interest to the show. That being said, however, the plot of the series is weak compared to its manga counterpart. You get a similar feeling at the end of this series as you do at the end of Hellsing, that the plot isn't finished. It isn't, since, as mentioned earlier, the anime only covers half of the series (and that half really ends off on a down-point). Apparently, the makers thought that a second season would end up too violent for TV. I say, consider some of the series that are being made these days (i.e.-Elfen Lied and Gantz). Money says you could get this series finished off, easy.
CHICKS!! This series has two high-powered chicks in the personages of Caska and Princess Charlotte. Caska is a tough girl who could kick your ass if you looked at her the wrong way, but she is also devoted to the one she loves (a very important factor). She can be somewhat insecure about her femininity, as she blames it for childhood troubles, so be ready to reassure her at any time. She's more than worth it, with those curves that you can even see under the armor. Princess Charlotte is a more reserved and quiet type, shy and very feminine. She radiates cuteness, even underneath the blanket of snobbish royalty that everyone around her exudes. Plus, she's got a figure to back up the cuteness, which always helps. She’s got a little thing for Griffith, but once she finds out how he feels about Gatsu, it should be easy for pretty much any guy.
Overall: This series is a gritty representation of badassness at its best. The series seems to have most things going in its favor, artwork, characters, epic action scenes, the works (I'll give it a passing grade on the music). The major problem with it is that it doesn't cover the entire plot that the manga does, making it feel incomplete in many ways. This is, to me, a pretty major shortcoming of the series, but about the only one. I'd recommend watching it, since it is such a good series, just as long as you know that you're going to have to drop some cash on the manga series. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go do just that.
IN A NUTSHELL:
+ Gritty, realistic artwork
+ Badass festival
+ Great fight scenes
- Mediocre music
- Only half the story
Final grade: 9/10
Take a look at Arctic Nightfall Berserk. I got the screencaps for this review from there without permission, so they deserve some props!
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