It all starts with a dream. Ambition, lust, greed, jealousy, hatred, and a huge ass sword. All critical components in the creation of Guts character. Forged on the battle field and bathed in blood, Guts is an ever evolving individual.
(Story and Character)
It is nearly impossible to separate both story and character. Both get a 10 from me, so i will combine both of them in the same discussion. The story is absolutely brilliant in bringing its world to life. It incorporates so many different elements that slowly weave themselves into the narrative. The story is founded on the dreams of a man named Griffith. An individual who will stop at nothing in order to gain absolute control of the world and become king. Him and his band of mercenaries meet a man named Guts on the way who at first is a very young and reckless person.
!!!!!!!!!!!(Semi-Spoiler, I don't go into anything specific in the story, but I do describe Guts evolution as a character)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Guts soon grows and becomes stronger and wiser with every action he makes. He soon realizes that the only way he can achieve a purpose is to fight for himself and strive for his own ambitions. He is tired of trying to fulfill Griffith's dream and decides its time to move on. I will stop here as to not spoil anything huge, but this causes a rift between Guts and Griffiths characters as it marks the beginning of the end.
!!!!!(End Semi-Spoiler)!!!!!!!!!!!
Watching every character grow makes you feel emotionally attached to them. You feel their sorrows, their struggles, their hopes, and their dreams. Most of the characters are fleshed out and I felt like I was there, riding along on their journey. I felt that I was there trying to achieve the dream beside Griffith and Guts. It's a nonstop epic story that takes you on an unforgettable journey and ends in the most grotesque and twisted way I've ever seen. I felt absolute catharsis after the last movie was over. Unlike the original anime, this one at least leaves you with a sliver of hope, but at the same time fleshes out more despair when it comes to Caska.
10/10
(Art)
The art is a mixed bag. In my opinion the art was better in the movies than the original anime. Although the CG looked odd and clunky at times when it came to fighting and tearing sh*t apart (which is the important stuff) it looked incredible. Especially the Battle for Doldrey. The epic music hit fitting in perfectly, and then I absolutely flipped at the scenes near the end where multiple fights were going on at the same time, Caska and blonde mohawk guy, Guts and the enemy general, and everyone fighting in the army. The chaos was absolutely beautiful.
!!!!!!!!!!!!(SPOILER)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
When the general yells, "Undisciplined FOOLS!!" and proceeds to rip everyone a new one around him in a mist of blood I dropped my jaw, but I wasn't ready for what would come next. Guts uses a flag as a distraction and proceeds to slam his sword down towards the ground chopping off not only the generals head, but the head of the horse.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!(END SPOILER)!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This battle was the definition of epic. In terms of absolute epic-ness and the scene i described in the spoiler gets a 69696969669/10.
There were absolutely stunning scenes like this, but then when the dust settled the cg did look clunky and unappealing at times and i preferred the 2D normal anime look that it threw around here and there. The last movie did look the best and corrected some of the issues, but it still suffered at times.
8/10
(Sound)
The sound was great. I really don't have any complaints other than some of the voice acting. As far as the background music and the new epic score, it is leagues ahead of the anime. The original anime suffered in the music and sound department, but this movie easily corrects that and gives every scene a more emotional depth with its score. Now for the voice acting, the dub is stellar. I watched the first two movies dubbed, and the final movie subbed since the dub still has not been released. Very few anime can claim a better dub than its sub, but Guts voice is absolutely perfect, it matches his character 100%. The other characters are also well done and it sounds perfect as if it were made for English. On the other hand the voice of Guts in Japanese just didn't have the same ooomph that the English one did. It didn't sound as grisly or hardened as it should have. So the English dub was my favorite because it captured the grisliness, manliness, and ruggedness of Guts character.
9/10
(Enjoyment)
I basically spelled it out this entire review. This is a nonstop action packed emotionally fueled epic. I felt the movies solved some of the issues of slower pacing that I found in the original anime. Maybe I had a short attention span, but i felt bored at times with the original anime, but in the movie I was absolutely stunned the whole way through. The change in scenery and pace made it a blast to watch. The story jumps from talk of politics and nobility, to romance, to the battlefield, and you even get to see Guts in a ballroom (A very important scene by the way). It then ends on a supernatural element that defines the story near the end.
10/10
(Final Judgement)
Although I can't show it, in the end this series gets a whopping 9.4 in my book. My favorite of the movies is the second as it represented the integral shift between the main characters and was the most jam packed with epic. It may have a few flaws, but the series is an absolute marvel. The movies are fast paced, have absolutely beautiful fight scenes filled with pools of blood, the characters grow tremendously, the English voices fit perfectly. It's ending is so twisted and dark that there is no way to ever see it coming. Trust me, there's no way you could ever predict what happened. The ending left me emotionally exhausted. It made me question whether Guts could ever overcome his past. It made me question whether he would ever be able to go back to who he was before the ending. I wonder what type of man he will become. I guess it's time to read the Manga.
9.4/10
