Alternative TitlesSynonyms: Kenpuu Denki Berserk, Kenfu Denki Berserk Japanese: 剣風伝奇ベルセルク
Information
Type: TV
Episodes: 25
Status: Finished Airing
Aired: Oct 7, 1997 to Mar 31, 1998
Duration:
25 min. per episode Rating:
R - 17+ (violence & profanity)
L represents licensing company
StatisticsScore: 8.291 (scored by 14704 users)
Ranked: #1592
Popularity: #104
Members: 24,325
Favorites: 1,244 1 indicates a weighted score
My Info
Popular Tags
action adventure drama fantasy horror |
SynopsisA brave young warrior named Guts fights for his fortune as a mercenary on the front lines. A fated encounter unites Guts with the charismatic and deadly young man named Griffith. Leading the rogue soldiers known as the Band of the Hawk, Griffith wields his formidable force like no other. Driven by a quest for status, the Hawks exert military and social prowess the likes of which have never been seen before. The armies of Midland will quake with fear as Griffith and Guts set off on a path that will bring the world to its knees.
[Source: Season One Complete DVD Collection Back Cover] |
Related AnimeAdaptation: Berserk
Characters & Voice Actors
Staff
Reviews
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tehnominator
90 of 117 people found this review helpful
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25 of 25 episodes seen
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| Overall |
10 |
| Story |
10 |
| Animation |
7 |
| Sound |
9 |
| Character |
10 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
Berserk was, is, and will always be one of the greatest anime I have ever seen.
The story is one of the deepest, most absorbing and original that has ever been done in anime. Set in a medieval world with knights, sword battles, castles and kings, a young warrior named Guts travels and tries to simply survive in a vicious society filled with evils ranging from the natural to the supernatural. The anime has an intriguing plot, starting the series at a point where Guts is a worn, embittered, restless soul somewhere in adulthood. We are then taken back to the beginning in subsequent episodes where we learn what exactly has been done to this man, and trust that you will indefinitely be absorbed by the amazing story that is told.
Admittedly, the first time upon viewing Berserk, the art was rather displeasing to the eye. I had only seen it about two or three years ago to this date, and it looked horribly dated. There are many still-shots and most battle scenes were merely giant immovable watercolour portraits with the sound playing over it. Other than that, there are actual instances where the art and animation was actually brilliant--namely in some of the one-on-one fight scenes and some of the more violent and gory scenes. However, it must be said, once you get into the anime, you won't even notice the flaws in the art and animation. It becomes a non-entity, overshadowed by the brilliance otherwise seen.
The sound is amazing. There are original compositions that totally suits the anime. A chilling, haunting score that definitely gets to you on an emotional level. Gut's Theme, for example, is one of the best character pieces ever made for an anime.
As for the characters, the protagonist is Guts, who seems to be a tragic hero. His life is a tough, interesting one. He is a deeply perturbed and troubled young man and we see his strength and endurance against what appears to be a violent, literally "dog-eat-dog" existence.
Griffith is an amazing anti-hero mostly because he carries himself as a prince and not a villain. His Macbethan mentality is one of the anime's most powerful driving points other than his enchanting charisma. He is a man who truly will stop at nothing, a man who will sacrifice everything to get what he wants, and you will simply sit back in wonder and gasp at his deep and frightening ambition.
The third most important character is a young woman named Caska. She is definitely one of the first and best Amazonian creatures anime has ever seen. She is one of the strongest warriors ever seen--female or not--with a great amount of authority, reverence and honour to her name. The rest of the cast consist of a magnificent group of side characters, each with great personalities that will certainly interest you.
You won't stop Berserk once you've started. I watched the entire series, jaw-dropped most of the time, and was actually horrified that it had ended.
Some words of warning is that it is definitely not for the squeamish, and it is not for young children either. There is a lot of explicit violence, gore, strong sexuality and some themes that are definitely not suited to a younger audience.
One grouse is that the anime ended at a point of the manga where more questions had been asked than answered, so if you don't like anime with stories that are "unfinished", then you won't like this about Berserk.
I can only tell you to watch this. It's a brilliant anime, with deep characters, an engaging storyline, strong and intricate themes such as jealousy, ambition, honour, and identity, and it's filled with so many ugly moments that you'd find yourself not knowing whether to cry out of sadness or joy when something beautiful is seen.
This is truly deserving of the title 'Masterpiece'. read more
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Nanotype
65 of 89 people found this review helpful
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25 of 25 episodes seen
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| Overall |
10 |
| Story |
10 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
9 |
| Character |
10 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
Review by theme analysis:
There are three major themes that mark this series: (1) MEDIEVAL, (2) GORE, and (3) PHILOSOPHY.
This is why I think this is a great series: this combination of themes, which is already rare in anime, are very well incorporated together as a complete story.
The (1) MEDIEVAL theme brings the setting of the story. creating an atmosphere where the gore and philosophy can develop together. This also sets the pace of the story based on the technological circumstances of medieval culture. The slow nature of this large-scale medieval story allows enough time to unravel the deep characters.
The (2) GORE theme accents the philosophy, reinforcing characters and foreshadowing the character progression by their behaviour in battle. This is a real treat to see the battle behaviour contrasting with the respective characters you've watched develop (Most notably the main protagonist).
The (3) PHILOSOPHY theme is a major feature to the characterization in the main characters. The characters and their actions are defined by their varied internal philosophies. With a very distinct difference in character philosophies and a heavy story focus on them, central story events are marked by relationships between these philosophies.
General review:
SOUND: At first glance, the soundtrack seems to be lacking with only 11 songs (Including intro and outro). However, the placement and feeling (And sometimes repetition) of these soundtracks is well done, giving the story great fluidity and emotional propulsion. Voice acting and sound effects are well done, even on dub. Voice acting most notably reflects the characters well, save for some of the demons.
ART: A rough art technique is used in this series, with unique design. Both of these accent the themes by reinforcing and elevating the serious nature of this anime (As opposed to the chibi art design). At times there is an over usage of scrolling single pictures in place of animation, which works as both an advantage and disadvantage. The advantage: it is reflective of the pacing of the anime. The disadvantage: it can be too slow (Especially in the beginning when the story is slower).
STORY, CHARACTER: Probably the greatest strength of this anime are it's story and characters. The story and characters grow simultaneously making the world of Berserk very lively. Most of the typical anime cliches are steered clear of here (with the exception of one blatant one), which really improved the effectiveness of the story and characters. With a unique and lively world, Berserk captures a lot of realism for an anime.
OVERALL, ENJOYMENT: This is definitely not a lighthearted anime. It can be embraced to the extreme of obsession (Like me) because of the interesting, deep perspectives that operate in the story. The good development quality only makes it further enjoyable. But this anime is truly for a certain crowd because of its extremely deep nature and depictions of extreme brutality. This is going to be a 'hate it or love it' sort of anime.
(Updated August 2008: Touched everything up a bit; explanations should be clearer now. =] Thanks for all the positive feedback.) read more
Recommendations
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Two hardcore hack and slash shows. While Berserk is most likely more on the "darker" side of the two, both are still definitely a guy's "beat the crap out of them" type of show. Brutal, but each has a touch of emotion here and there.
Somewhat similar in atmosphere and style, though the plots are quite different. Both feature a quiet lead with an enormous sword, plenty of hacking and slashing in a medieval setting, and a cruel and brutal environment. Berserk is particularly harsh, but living in Claymore's world is certainly no cakewalk.
Claymore has the closest feel to Berserk, Claymore is a shounen, yet it feels like something so much more... or to put in a better way, Claymore is the Shounen Berserk.
Violence, Demons, Absolutely badass main characters, big swords.
Both heavy action series with an excellent story and superb character development .
Take everything that made berserk amazing.... its amazingly human characters and their development, its dark fantasy universe, its sheer brutality, and its non linear storytelling, and place all of them in another series aimed at a wider audience with a female lead... you get claymore
The Berserk and Claymore universes have very similar atmospheres, alot of action and alot of demon killing.
Claymore and Berserk both have very good storylines as well, and grow increasingly more interesting every episode.
Good story and characters. Same sort of action and adventure. Both shows are for a mature audience.
They both fantasy action titles,rated mature,and they include both demons.
Both are set during the medieval period, both have very dark stories. Although the plots of the two differ considerably, the fact that both are dark fantasy series set during medieval times is more than enough reason for a fan of one to try the other.
Fantasy, supernatural, swords. Both have amazing characters and story.
If you like dark fantasy anime like Claymore, I heartily recommend Berserk. It's a (much) darker medieval anime with a really engaging plot. If you gave Berserk a miss the first time round or are new to anime (but loved Claymore), I think you'd be remiss to not grab a copy of Berserk :)
Your slash-and-hack-gory-ish series has just gotten better. Both compares similarly because as it inclines to shounen fans alike. Awesome sword fight scenes, good artwork and a deep storyline which makes Claymore a good series to follow if you like Berserk before. A sure must anime for those who want gore to the max and of course...BLOOD! ^__^
berserk and claymore may have some similar stuff(big swords, demon slashing, etc.) but they are in no way comparable, both storys are so different like bananas and oranges, berserk is much more anime than claymore but still, claymore is good enough to recomend it.
Medieval time setting is the standardfor both. Higher powered supernatural beings with a stake in the outcome is also a shared attribute. Both treat blood loss as no big deal and both thrive on despair when the chips are down. Big swords and a mercenary type attitude are a constant in both.
Pretty much the same with the sword fights and supernatural/fantasy setting.
Both got hardcore sword-fight action, plot twists and medieval Europe settings.
The main similarity between these two animes is they both have a dark, at times depressing mood and take place in the medieval era. They also both contain a lot of gore, action and demons. Berserk surpasses Claymore in that it has a greater variety and better development of its characters. Berserk also has a powerful underlying romance, similar to Claymore.
Time period and swordplay
Medieval swordplay drama horror the best kind for anime
Both shows adapted from an amazingly well drawn manga. Berserk follows Gutz who weilds a greatsword and fights demons who are lured to him in an attempt to track down the five demon lords. Claymore follows Claire who wields a claymore and hunts down yoma (pretty much demons) to track down a immensely strong yoma called Priscilla.
Monster fighting, not always ends well, gore scenes, dark ambience
Both has main hero with huge sword, lots of blood and armies of foes slised in a salami
As noted by others, there are many similarities, and if you liked one, you'll almost certainly like the other. Both take place in a dark fantasy world and medieval setting. Both focus on a character who lost someone dear to them and is on a journey to find the killer, a being with awesome power evolved beyond the main character's current ability to defeat. Death, fighting, and monstrous powers and beings abound.
Both have many addictive and great characters (and, maybe, Teresa is even better then Guts!), well animated fights and are very-very attractive in general. But that's all, though Berserk is really the most (maybe, even only) similar to Claymore.
both character have same profession as mercenaries,traveling from town to town their face strong opponent but they manage to survive and complete the task.They have also using big sword to slay their enemies and they also strength beyond normal human.a lot action in this series it's not boring to watch.I recommended you to watch this anime.if you like action series.
You gona love this one!It has the same atmosfaire and brutal sword fights that will leave you satisfied! Blood,violent scenes are on the plus side.It even has the same disappointing ending!
Both shows involve a powerful main character cutting down every demon in their path. Both shows have a very depressing atmosphere and are very dark in terms of the story. I enjoyed Claymore more, but Berserk is definitely the darker and more violent of the two.
Both have Anti-Social characters who fight monsters with Huge swords
in a dark and "mature" world. Blood, Gore and Sexual Themes are present in both,
although more frequent in Berserk.
Both titles have tragic heroes with big swords who slay demons and struggle with their own humanity.
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Guts and Griffith share a similar relationship to that of Brandon and Harry.
Both are dealing with friendship and betrayal
Both shows start in a similar way, starting in a present where monsters exist and then going into a lengthy flashback story.
The similarities don't end there: the most obvious similarity between the two is the way two best friends' relationship worsens over the course of the story, eventually leading to the best of friends becoming enemies.
While not identical (Berserk is set during medieval times, where as Gungrave is about gangsters), both shows are similar enough for most fans of one to like the other.
Both of them have similar themes, but the only difference between them is the the setting of the story.
Both have friendship and betrayal as their main themes.
It starts off in a similar matter, with the end of the show starting first. Basically, it has a deep, fulfilling and great story that Anyone can enjoy.
Both seires have the same feeling starting out normal and then spinning out of control. the plots are remarkably similar with just the difference of mediavla times verses modern times. The main characters are motivated by similar goals and so are the villians. In short, Gungrave is basically like a modern times berserk but with a little less gore and a complete ending.
Story-wise these two are quite similar, but have a different setting. Whereas Berserk is set in a medieval world, Gungrave is more of a post-modern sci-fi. And in contrast to Berserk, Gungrave continues it's story where berserk ended it, giving it more closure and makes it a more rewarding watch. It also offers a better soundtrack. In my opinion, though, Berserk is still a better anime due to it's amazing characters, but if you've enjoyed Gungrave, chances are you will enjoy Berserk, as well.
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Opening Theme"Tell Me Why" by PENPALS
Ending Theme"Waiting So Long" by Silver Fins
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Aya [Aya] (Brazilian Portuguese)
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