Berserk: Ougon Jidai-hen I - Haou no Tamago

While 1997's televised adaptation of Berserk left a lot to be desired, especially in terms of continuing the Berserk story, it's still far superior to the 2012 movie reboot, which will unfortunately only serve to disappoint fans of the series and chase away those who have been aloof.

Story: 6/10

As an introduction to the setting, the first arc does a decent job - the story takes place in a semi-alternate medieval European universe, where, for better or worse, kingdoms and principalities must rely on mercenary groups to maintain and expand their kingdoms. Our heroes are members of the Band of the Hawk, a prodigious mercenary group ... who far outperform their pay. In this first movie, the only real conflict is that the former commander of the Midland army has been deposed in favor of the Band of the Hawk, and he wants revenge on them. There are other minor conflicts which are portrayed well, but the story lacks any real commitment by the characters, other than them being warriors and fighting for their own livelihoods. And speaking of characters:

Character: 3/10

The characters are the heart and soul of the Berserk franchise, and really, of any show. Being not even 80 minutes long, this movie doesn't come close to painting the complex picture of its main characters. Before I discuss the three main protagonists, I should mention that there are only -eight- important named characters in this movie - including the generic bad, big bad, demon, and love interest (the King of Midland is the eighth, if you were wondering). So, what can be accomplished in a movie where every bad guy gets soundly defeated in a matter of minutes? Well, our hero, Guts, chops the generic bad Bazuso's head off early on, and despite being an unbeatable badass, is forced to play second fiddle to Griffith, the leader of the Band of the Hawk. Griffith, meanwhile, maintains an effemenite, yet undomitable persona, and manages to wax philosophical during a monologue to his love interest during the only interesting scene in the movie, but does little in the way of the plot aside from dominating Guts. And the female member of the band, Casca, just comes off as a bitch due to her incessant emasculation of Guts, who attempts to appeal to her sense of community and commitment, but fails simply because she refuses to believe him. Having the three main characters of the story reduced to stereotypes makes it difficult to have them connect with audiences that don't already know the characters.

Art: 6/10

Finally, we get to the elephant in the room: what's with the awkward 3D cel-shading? The producers and animators decided to employ it in the majority of the fight scenes, as well as some of the less action-oriented scenes, and it certainly is jarring. While it does lend itself to the depiction of depth in the battle scenes, overall, the 3D animation is done in such a way that it makes the characters seem inhuman, programmed, and generic. If it were combined with motion-capture, it may have made sense, but the erratic, guesstimate 3D movements of people's heads merely serve as a distraction. This is contrasted by the beautiful 2D renderings of characters in other scenes, which sometimes intermesh to create what are just strange sequences. When characters are drawn in 2D, the result is beautiful, but the unfortunate choice to include 3D renderings in certain scenes makes the movie hard to watch at some spots.

I will end by saying that the sound design of the movie is passable - I didn't much noticed the music or sound effects, save for Casca's voice actress, who delivers an exceptionally wooden performance. Overall, the movie conforms to the manga, and it is watchable, but it fails to portray any of the awesomeness that we expect out of Berserk, and tends to be so bland and boring that I can't imagine that anyone who wasn't a already a fan was turned into one. We will see how the second movie fares, but the series has to make up a lot of ground if it's going to recover from this one.

Berserk: The Golden Age Arc I - The Egg of the King Review



Story (8/10) Very Good

So the first Berserk Movie adapts episode's 2-10 of the 90s anime of the Golden Age Arc of the series. I think from a story standpoint it did a good job now obviously things were removed to reach the 1 hour and 16 minutes they clocked in by the time the movie was done. Like the Gambino flash back was quickly rushed over for example if you haven't read the manga or watched the 90s anime then that scar on Gut's nose you might not know that it came from ... Gambino because this first part in the trilogy set wouldn't let you know that. Other than that I think anything else that was left out of the 90s anime adaptation is debatable if it was actually important or not the Gambino scene was the only part I felt was important and was quickly mentioned and skipped over.


Art and Animation (8/10) Very Good

Now this is the most controversial aspect when it came to this remake movies of this Arc. The whole CG element Studio 4°C decided to use for about 25% of the movie. Now when I heard CG was going to be apart of this movie the people telling me said "it ruined the movie" they should have said "it ruined the movie for me" because I'm not going to say "it ruined the movie" but yea sure it could have done without it and it's definitely not "unwatchable" and some people claim it to me that can gtfoh with that. All of the hand drawn scenes (which is about 75% of the rest of the movie) was fucking gorgeous even by today's standards. And for that I'm not going to give it a 10 the scenes that were and drawn should get a 10 but the scenes with CG will drop this section to an 8 for me and that's about it. The animation on the CG was ok always and surprisingly this was more gruesome than the 90s (Yes it is I just saw the 90s anime like a week ago it's fresh in my head and I can see the differences for example the scene where Guts is fighting Bazuso was far more uncut than the 90s version and a few other scenes like Casca leaving Gut's side when she was naked, we get to the see the full naked body of her pubic hair and everything that wasn't in the 90s version so they get a little points for that too)


Sound (10/10) Masterpiece

Absolutely nothing wrong with the section, the BGM isn't using the classical BGM from back in the 90s but I'm sure all of that is own by OLM and this is Studio 4°C's adaptation of it and the BGM sounds just as good nothing super memorable like the 90s BGM but no BGM that sounded like it didn't fit. Also the voice acting (English Dub) sounds authentic as you can hear that they did get majority if not all of the same voice actors back at it again for this adaptation and they all this an outstanding job also.


Characters (9/10) Great

Now I gave this section a 10 when I did the 90s review and the only gripe I had when it came to this movie part was the fact that the iconic scar across Gut's nose is not explained. Like I said earlier if this is the only adaptation that you have watched then you will have no clue where this scar came from and sure it may sound like a nitpick and is debatable if it is or not but I personally feel for someone this little nitpick is worth getting urked about and it does urk me enough to not give this section the 10, so oh well. Everything else from a characterization standpoint and adaptation quality is spot on.


Enjoyment (9/10) Great

My enjoyment of rewatch and refreshing my memory on the first 1/rd3 of the trilogy is at a 9. I thought rewatching something I just saw recently would be boring but I was still enjoyed fairly even though I saw all of the a couple of days ago, to see the changes they made kept my interest and that will probably be the case for the next 2 movies.


Overall (8/10) Very Good
More Specifically (8.80/10) Very Good+

This movie was a very good movie and for someone who doesn't like watching the as they say "old animation" then this movie works for a very good alternated. Although I do feel the 90s anime is superior for a few reasons I don't knock anyone that decided to go with the movie path because it's not a bad adaptation as some people say it to be.

A young wandering mercenary carrying a very large sword by the name of Guts, finds himself enlisted in a mercenary group called Band of the Hawks, which is being lead by the charismatic Griffith. The small group soon increases their numbers into an army; this leads them to side with the Kingdom of Midland whom have been at war with The Chuda Empire for 100 years. Griffith hopes to one day have his own kingdom, while Guts is pretty much at a loss on what he really wants. The two will soon come face to face with their true destiny. -summary

When it comes down to ... remakes and reboots of a beloved series and even movies; it's best to completely ignore what you've seen and loved once upon a time, and give the new material a fair shake. Unfortunately, there are titles where it's very difficult to do this, and the 2012 remake on the unfinished masterpiece Berserk is no doubt one of them. Part of me commended the creators for delivering an updated take on one of my favorite anime series of all time, while the other part kind of felt uneasy and restless. This is a take that long time fans will need to accept with a shovel of salt. New fans though, will probably find plenty of enjoyment.

The updated CGI animation is indeed a new addition and 5 years ago I would have shunned this for that alone, but since this animation technique has been prominent in anime for years now I can accept it. The battle scenes are still entertaining with some good choreography at times. Guts moves like lightening on some occasions with quick sword swipes in a fluid motion. There is some nice detail slashes and hacks that will give blood lusting action fans what they want. I also really did love the backgrounds; there really are some beautiful castle laden backdrops, that also helps towards Griffith's character development by shedding light on what exactly he's fighting for. The war torn battle fields can capture the carnage on occasion, and one moment even works towards its horror element on revealing a rather creepy individual. The soundtrack has more variety this time, so at least this area has been improved upon.

The plot follows Guts after he collects his money for winning a fight; he soon ends up with the Hawks and then quickly makes it to the rank of Captain. From here, the Hawks begin to work exclusively for the kingdom of Midland.

Those new to this series will not be as terribly bothered as fans whom are familiar with the original series. There's a decent amount of character development on the part of Guts and Griffith to at least either like or hate them. The plot delivers enough for one to want to move further; but even in the case of a newbie, I can imagine them feeling as if something is missing. There is this trace of things feeling rushed and just happening. This brings me to fans of the original and my own personal gripes.

This first movie feels very rushed and much depth of the original is lost. There's a reason for the chaos and carnage that I don't think is properly explained. Many of the characters are simply faces making a head count and are clearly lacking depth. I'm also not too pleased with the visuals in regards to setting its overall atmosphere. This movie feels way too clean lacking the grittiness of the original. At this point, I feel like Berserk shouldn't have been remade at all because it was clearly a product of its era when anime was far darker.

In closing, is this something everyone should see? Hard to say at this point since I'm on my way towards completing these three volumes. I will say that newbies should definitely check it out since they haven't seen the original, because there's nothing for them to compare this with.

Highs: Some good action and decent production values

Lows: Feels quite rushed, characters not overall captivating

Berserk is an undeniable classic of both the manga and anime medium - but, you will soon see, I have seen neither the acclaimed long running manga, nor the 24 episode anime series. At the time of writing, here in Australia, the third film "The Golden Age Arc III: Advent" is about to be released, so to hype myself up, I'll write reviews of the first two films.

I'll begin with the elaphant in the room - the CGI which had recieved a very mixed to negative response from both audiences and critics. Having recently watched anime like Knights of Sidonia, the CGI in this, that ... is, the CGI itself, does not really bother me - the main issue is that the film jumps between the average 3D CGI and the decidedly beautiful 2D animation, creating a notably jarring effect that will, honestly, kill the film for a lot of people. But honestly, scenes such as Guts carving his way through a battlefield or large-scale mounted battles are still a joy to see even in the CGI.

Wide shots of battles, large groups of soldiers, and mounted skirmishes all look, honestly, fine, as for these scenes it doesn't change very much between the two animation styles. However, there are times when the 3D character models are placed in situations with 2D backgrounds, pumping the jarring effect up to 11 and breaking immersion.

But, it can't be this bad when Griffith is that pretty.

Coming around to the story, I must note that I do plan to read the manga, and I am aware that "The Egg of the King" made some concession regards tot he plot. But I must start by saying that whilst I know the film omitted some contextual scenes, they did not detract from the experience for me. For me, the most interesting part of the film was the sheer brutality of the world - heads are cleaved, horses are dismembered, hell, even one man is torn in two, akin to a wishbone. This is a brutal, brutal film, something which is most apparent in the assassination sequence at the end of the film.

But, there are some scenes which I honestly did not enjoy - Guts and Griffith's battle against an inhuman monster was probably the low point of the film, but I feel that it would have worked better as the climax of the film (this scene occurs 30 minutes before the film ends). But, scenes like Guts and Griffith's early battles and the assassination sequence make up for these shortcomings in regards to story.

But of course, the characters are the core of what makes up Berserk. Guts, the main character, is younger then the present time of the manga - prior to his joining of the Band of the Hawk, he is brash, impulsive, and fights with everything on the line. It's refreshing to see such an interesting character change after the three year timeskip. Griffith, on the other hand, is much more complex - his view of his comrades is interesting, and his relationship to Guts - which, to us, seems to be two true friends, is much more different then we could guess. The dynamic between Griffith and Guts is more or less the core of the film, and thier scenes together are easily highlights of the film.

Overall, I enjoyed "Berserk: The Golden Age Arc I - The Egg of the King" - whilst understanding that my view of the film may have been hampered if I'd seen the anime series or read the manga prior to this, but at the moment at least, I feel it is a strong start in the ambition to adapt the entirety of the Berserk manga, and with two more films in the trilogy, this is indeed a very strong start to what could be a long running film series.

Keep your eyes out for my review of the second Berserk film, which should be up soon! Criticism is welcome on my MyAnimeList page.

This review covers the whole Golden Age Arc trilogy

To put it bluntly, this is not the best adaptation of the Berserk manga. The 1997 TV anime did a far better job at capturing the soul of the source material. Yes, that adaptation made several changes, but the hope, fear, ambition, friendship, betrayal and tragedy survived intact. I can't quite say the same for this one. The greatest flaw of this trilogy is that it mostly misunderstands what Berserk is about. The first two movies eagerly rush to the next large battle or major plot point, forgetting to pause and take a breath every now and ... then. The action and violence are a large part of the appeal of Berserk (I won't lie, that was what got younger edge-lord me into the manga), but the heart of the original story is in the quiet moments between the battles. Those moments in between humanise the characters and develop their relationships, but most are either rushed or left out entirely here. Additionally, the CG animation used is clunky and unimpressive to say the least, which defeats the purpose of putting so much focus on the big moments. It also misses the mark by being far too clean-looking for a tragic story about struggling against Fate in a brutal world.

As a result of always rushing to the next underwhelming spectacle, the relationship between Guts and Griffith suffers. These characters make decisions that destroy themselves and those around them, and what made the manga and 1997 anime both so magnificent was the justification the characters had for these actions. Guts and Griffith made bad choices, but they were the natural outcome of previous events, both big and small. With this version of Guts largely lacking a backstory and having his search for purpose (the driving force behind his actions) mostly skipped, and Griffith's regrets and empathy not shown at all, the story loses a lot of its complexity and emotional impact.
How can an acceptable conclusion come out of this?

Surprisingly enough, the third movie manages to provide exactly what the first two lacked. Visually, it's a clear step up in quality, and the art style fits better, making the hellish setting of most of the movie look suitably unnatural. Character facial expressions look more believable and convey emotion much better than before, making it easier to care about the characters. The build-up to the Eclipse, the event itself and the aftermath are given time to work their magic, unlike the rushed events of the previous movies. More focus is given to Casca and the Band of the Hawk, and although most of his more human side hasn't been displayed, Griffith's big "to sacrifice or not to sacrifice" conflict still has enough nuance to it on a philosophical level to stop the whole thing from being cheap shock factor. As previously mentioned, the Eclipse loses some of its impact because of the failure of the two previous movies, but the beginning of the third partially makes up for that with its slower pace and its attention to the more minor characters. It doesn't erase the mistakes of the first two movies, but it miraculously creates a solid conclusion despite them.

Can I recommend this trilogy? Certainly not to newcomers, as the 1997 anime is a far better starting point for anyone who doesn't want to jump straight into the manga. Fans of the manga, on the other hand, may find it worthwhile, but then there's no reason not to just skip to the third movie.

No spoilers and I will keep it somewhat short.

Oh boy, this is a very touchy subject, reviewing berserk especially these remakes, either you hate or love it. Me, I am more like it is okay but meh.

The movie summaries the many first episodes of the original series and being a movie with a shorter running time it makes it necessary to cut some scenes. Overall I must say that it kept the feel of berserk but being more superficial because the interacting between the supporting characters are almost gone which gives the movie of somewhat a feel of being a very lonely world, as if ... only griffith, Guts, Casca and enemies were there.
I would say on the other hand if you are a new comer or one who doesn´t like more older animes then this might be a good gateway to the berserk franchise, but I myself loved the art of the original one and I didn´t feel like that it was too retro like, it has aged well as a good bottle of wine.
But this movie might be good for people who watched berserk a long time ago and need to start watching the 2016 version and therefore needs a good summary.
So yeah only recommended for people who already have seen the old anime I think especially because then you already know the characters especially the supporting ones ^^

All the rainbow faeces of the Unicorn - the good things
- It is berserk and still quite faithful to the source even though some of the cutted scenes and change of artstyle are different.
- It it just a recap of the first part of the original series but for me it served it purpose for slowly getting ready to berserk 2016 therefore it is a plus for me :)
- For the dub version they kept the same voice actors for the main characters which was LOVELY!! Kevin Collins and Marc Diraison are just gorgeous!
- well not really anything more to add :/

All the hurtful.... cringe! - The cons
- Then get me started about the animation, but I must say even though it is CGI it isn´t the worst and of course the old series had stillframes so yeah cons with both versions. But my main problem that it lacks some of the gorgeous details and some movements were quite awkward.
- The design of Griffith..... oh my god.. I know that he already looked very feminine but now he looked way more feminine especially with those red plumped lips O.o But I did somewhat like the eyes with the unnatural glow even though it could have been done better.
- Like mentioned earlier there is missing quite a handful scenes where the interacting of the supporting characters are nearly completely gone which makes it quite superficial.
- There is nothing new, only a few extra details and "scenes" in the big fights.
- Also even Susumu Hirasawa did the music for this and the old one, I felt like his music was missing or was it just me?

So yeah this series is really for those who don´t mind CGI and hate older art or for those who need to watch a "recap" for getting up in gear for the 2016 version.

This movie was quite fun to watch and looked better than I expected it to be. Animation was quite alright. CGI was used very often, but it was implemented either well or properly into the whole show. Music was pleasant to listen to (even if it was not anything special), and voice acting was top-notch. Voice acting from Japan once again did not disappoint.

Why such low score, then? Let me explain it later on in this spoiler free review. But before that I must say once again that this movie was fun to watch to me. I'd lie if I said it wasn't. However few ... problems affected the overal score to the point that it'd be unfair to put my personal enjoyment over elements that were either objectively bad, or that I saw as bad myself.

My main issue with Berserk: The Golden Age Arc I - The Egg of the King is that I can't tell who was the target of this movie. Many people familiar with Berserk manga were surely disappointed with amount of things that got completely omitted, while I can imagine that many anime only viewers could be simple confused at times without having bigger image of what was happening on the screen (i.e. during flashback scenes; slideshow-like concept didn't look good to me, by the way).

What is more, relations between characters was utterly simplified, making the whole movie feeling rushed and well... naive? I guess that's a good word. I thought that perhaps the main concept was to focus on Guts, Griffith and Casca, with minimizing the role of other characters belonging to the Band of the Hawk, but even if that was the case, then movie failed to deliver nicely done depiction of such relation.

The saddest thing is that this movie could've been way better if its length was longer, even a tiny bit. A little over 1 hour was proven to be not enough to make a decent adaptation of this part of Golden Age arc. If this movie lasted, let's say, 20 mintues longer, we could have either more detailed depiction of Guts' story as a member of the Band of the Hawk (including relations between him and sidecharacters, such as Judeau, or, if the concept was to - as I mentioned earlier - focus more on Guts-Griffith-Casca connection, just more scenes adding more depth to their relation.

In other words, it was an ambitious take on adapting Golden Age arc into movie format, but as for its first movie, it didn't have good start.

Watching Berserk reminded me about some of the reasons why I love anime. This series is intellectual, dark, action packed, and emotionally powerful. It's also loosely based on Shakespeare's Macbeth. I love it when animes are based on a foundation of excellent literature, so I had to watch.

Griffith, leader of the band of the Hawks, is a noble soul, and the illustration of his character is handled excellently, where you really sense his inherent nobility, even in his posture. On top of this, his dialogue inspires some levels of fascination. He speaks with the sound of a true heart pursuing a noble dream.

Guts, ... the main character, has equal depth of illustration, and his action scenes in this series are some of the best I've seen. They weren't generic, they were unique. Gut's fighting style was exactly as Griffith described them; "as though you're always testing yourself to find your limits."

Yes, this was a great anime, I only wish that the amazing depth in illustration was also matched that of the characters themselves, their personal traits, and their individual relationships with one another. Also, even though the plot was fantastic, it started to spiral in a different direction from where my tastes and interests are concerned. This was the most disappointing factor for me, though it might not be the case for others, who might really like the direction it's heading.

Ok, i watched the movie just now and will make a quick summary but not going into detail on the story but just from a technical point of view...
I have watched the original anime not to long ago, thus it helps comparing both...

They both start the story by introducing guts during a castle siege where he takes on the resident "monster".
The animation during this part was brilliant giving a lot of realism to the siege and the battles being fought, this remains thorough the movie, characters animation also look fantastic and fluid.....

The art, is the main issue with this faithful remake, Griffith only lacks sparkles ... in his air to complete the picture, characters despite being well animated, look somewhat plain and when animated in 3d might look awkward, there is a frontal full nude scene of Casca, this i remember from the series, i believe Casca's skin had a darker tone and was much more detailed and appealing as a women, in the movie i fell some detail was lost and even some charm...
Besides the small issue with characters, background art looks stunning...

Someone said on a review, music is inferior to the original, what i feel is that music sounds appropriate but somewhat too grandiose...

I think the last thing to talk about is the entire new cast, an experienced viewer should have no trouble identifying the entire cast, they are all veteran's of modern anime, but they wont cut for the job and lack the "strenght" the old cast added to characters like Guts or Casca, i believe Casca is the one who lost the most with all the changes, even Aki Toyosaki is now voicing Charlot, who would have thought, although she is maturing nicely (Aki's), im not sure she is suited for a damsel in distress, i think i hear her screaming for the first time and it's not my mind playin tricks...

Anyway, ANN says this covers from mid vol 4 to vol 6 or about 2 volumes, story had to be somewhat rushed and overall from a technical standpoint it is a good works that shines sometimes but it is lackluster at the same time...
It might work better for first time viewers, it works for me although not entirely and die hard fans, haters gonna hate and thats how it is...

Next movie should cover the remaining of the tv anime and perhaps cover some new ground, while the last movie is hopped to be entirely new story...

it is quite interesting how they are expressing the series in miniseries—i.e.: movie length parts—the intricate layering of seemingly irrelevant developments seems to be mostly lost, with only the most obvious plot points remaining.

The animation is quite strange, not sure what to think of this novel 2012 standard; I think only Appleseed has been able to pull off the whole 3D thing, but Berserk is going for some sort of 3D background+CGI and 2D with shadow foreground.

Overall though I'm just happy to be able to rewatch the story unfold, Berserk being in my top 2 favourite anime series of all time :P

I am especially interested ... in seeing how far they take the story, because the series kind of left me hanging with just the first arc. (Something like 250 chapters left out)

But nonetheless I would recommend you give this miniseries a watch; or better yet, catch the original series: http://myanimelist.net/anime/33/Berserk

The story was okay but it was a bit rushed (although it is understandable because they are trying to fit in so much content) and it misses a lot of the friendship between Guts and The Band Of The Hawk that really made me care about the characters in the manga. The art was surprisingly good and the sound was alright. I think my enjoyment came from reliving the start of Berserk in an animated format instead of just reading it. So to wrap things up I do not think that Berserk: Ougon Jidai-hen I - Haou no Tamago is as good as the ... manga but it is definitely still worth watching or even collecting if that is your thing!

[WARNING: SPOILERS ARE GIVEN IN THIS REVIEW]

Berserk: The Golden Age Arc I: The Egg of the King
Director: Toshiyuki Kubooka
Original Creator: Kentarou Miura

Many die-hard Berserk fans have been waiting forever for another Anime adaptation of the greatest Manga of all time - Kentarou Miura's Berserk ever since the original 1997 Anime adaptation ended on a huge cliffhanger. Many people wanted a second season that would continue where the '97 one left off. However, instead we got a retelling of arguably the greatest arc in Manga of all time - the Golden Age arc of Berserk. Many people hated this film comparing it to ... the Manga. However, as a stand-alone film, it is fantastic and here's why.

Story (10/10): The story of the film is a copy and paste of the story in the early volumes of Kentarou Miura's Berserk (starting with Volume 4). Berserk tells the story of a mercenary named Guts who is a incredibly strong warrior who can kill almost anyone he fights. He gets rewards for killing people to stay alive and make a living. The knights of his time want him to be on their side - meaning that they would own him. However, Guts never agrees to these options stating that NO ONE owns him. But, this all changes when Guts meets Griffith and the Band of the Hawks. Guts faces Griffith off in epic duel and doesn't win. Griffith keeps him alive and lets him heal from
his wounds. Casca is the other main character of Berserk who is a female warrior that is part of the Band of the Hawks and is basically owned by Griffith. She despises Guts at first, but that changes later on without giving any spoilers. Guts is now forced to become a member of the Band of the Hawks and is now owned under Griffith due to him losing the duel. At the end of the film, Guts ends him taking a silent killing job for Griffith. He kills the General since it was a order. Someone comes in and Guts thought that it was a soldier but it was the general's son and Guts ends up killing the child by accident. Guts believes that Griffith is his only friend in this awful world but he overhears Griffith talking to the princess stating that none of the people he owns (including Guts and Casca) are his friends. Only mere tools to get whatever he wants which is his dream of becoming a king. Guts learns that he has been betrayed by Griffith and will do anything to take revenge. The story is absolutely amazing and is just as good as it was in the Manga as it is a very faithful adaptation.

Art (8/10): This is the aspect of the film that people hate on the most because of the 25% CGI that Studio 4C used whn it's not even that bad and the 75% hand-drawn animation is stunning and some of the best animation I have seen of this decade.

Sound (10/10): The music for the first Berserk film is truly no surprise of how good it is coming from marvelous composer Susumu Hirasawa (Berserk '97, Paprika, Paranoia Agent). It fits the dark, grity, bloody, sad European style tone that Berserk gives. It is truly music to my ears. Some of the best ever.

Characters (10/10): Guts is such a heart-driven protagonist that everyone feels bad for. He is truly one of the greatest main characters in any series, ever. While Griffith on the other land, you'll love to hate because of how badly he betrays Guts and the Band of the Hawk. Casca is a great female main character and contrasts with Guts excellently. The cast of Berserk is just next to flawless.

Enjoyment (9/10): I loved the first Berserk movie. It was ten times better than what I ever thought it was going to be coming from all the people that hated on it.

Overall (9/10): Berserk: The Golden Age Arc I: The Egg of the King by Toshiyuki Kubooka is a fantastic revamp of the masterpiece that is the 1987 Manga by Kentarou Miura. Don't listen to all the haters. Just go watch this mvie and I promise if you loved the Manga, you will love this movie just as much as I did and if not that, you will at the very least will appreciate what the film has tried to accomplish in the Berserk franchise.

If I had to describe this in a few words, it's basically a recap of some of the events of Berserk, but with a mix of Cgi and another art form. Not to say it's a bad recap or anything, but it's only really there for those that either read the original manga or watched the original 25 episode anime that came out way earlier.

The good parts to this are that the animation is good for when it was released. Granted it's nothing too special these days, but still enough to be watchable. The scenes it does recap are pretty faithful to how they originally ... look (Need I remind I watched the 25 episode version before I read the manga, don't quote me there.)

But the mixed parts are what drag it down for me at least. The recap scenes while faithful are missing a few important scenes that make the context make sense like leaving out a few key details around the middle and onward. But the big downfall that drags it this far are that there really isn't any reason to watch it if you already read the manga or watched the 25 episode 1997 anime. Like imagine if the Dragon Ball series had a new film coming out but it just recaps scenes of let's just say from the Frieze Sage to the Buu saga but with higher quality animation in the style of Dragon Ball Super AND skipping out on context scenes in exchange for more action.

Now the question remains, Is the film good? It's fine for what it is doing and for a Berserk fan, if you know the scenes by hand, then it's a fine watch. But for non-fans, it...might be confusing for new fans or for those that tend to forget the scenes.

I am writing this review for all three movie parts. I watched them back to back.

The first two movie parts are fine, but the third.. just god aweful. Apparently you REALLY need to watch the other shows and read the manga to understand this movie.

Music:
The music was like... all over the place. The intro music is weird....Not a fan of the music in the last episode.

Characters:
The characters weren't bad. They were all pretty well defined and had specific characteristics.

... Story:
The story of this show, was just garbage. The first two points in the score are for the first two episodes. Both of those 1 hour episodes were good, and had a great back story that connected with each other well. The problem was the third episode, or the third movie. It was two hours long, and had barely any connection to the first two episodes. Honestly, myself and @Serenity Frost lost interest in the third episode because of hard of a plot line turn that just was so sudden that we felt like it was a different show entirely. Apparently the manga is better and explains a lot more.

Final thoughts:
While I am thankful for the recommendation from a friend, I sadly would have to say that this show was garbage. I lost complete interest in the third episode and hated it so much, that I nearly stopped watching. I am glad you like it, but I would not recommend this for anyone.

Berserk, Berserk, Berserk… what more can be said about Berserk? I figured one more review couldn’t hurt.

This is for the Golden Age arc movies released from 2012-2013. I never watched the original anime series nor have I or frankly ever will watch the latest series to be released, but I have come to understand that the movies serve as a bridge between some of the evens in the original anime and the latest anime to air.

Off of first impressions, the anime is beautiful. The art and cinematography are amazing, much better visually than the original anime, which isn’t difficult considering the anime first ... aired in the 90′s. The animation is modern and they even utilize CGI and Cell Shading in some moments which are a bit strange but don’t take too much away from the overall vision and flow.

The art direction amps up the mood and really puts the darker tones on full display. Even the scenes in full daylight have a certain heaviness and weight to them. The colors are soft and the palette is nice on the eyes. Some of the stills from the movies have been some of the most beautiful moments I’ve seen this year.
We get to witness an interesting relationship form between Guts and Griffith, being that both come off as seemingly unable to love or care for others and are solely motivated by their personal endeavors, but with each other, they form a deeper bond. We see this at a point in the second film where Guts, hoping to grow as a person and become Griffith’s equal, leaves the group after defeating him in a duel, and this defeat is much deeper for Griffith. He ends up lost and dejected, in shock to being rejected by Guts, and acts out accordingly.

It all comes to a tail when they all end up in another dimension during a Solar eclipse and we see Griffith transform into a demon. It’s a magnificent display of love, betrayal, and the descent of man. But it doesn’t go without saying that although these themes may seem quite poetic and enthralling, their presentation and the overall story is incredibly bleak, dark, and chaotically grotesque, especially the last 20 minutes or so of the last movie. It all ends with a bang that is fit for any heroic tragedy.

It is an anime that will really stick with you, and from my brief research, the manga is worth the read. It’s stunning, captivating, action-packed, and will most definitely leave your jaw on the floor as you continue to watch.

Sometimes some of the material feels rushed, but I think the movies were well put together and display a certain brilliance in brevity. I’d highly recommend the movies to anyone that wants to jump into the series or as a refreshing revival of the original. You won’t regret it.

If you haven't seen the 1997 anime of Berserk or read the Manga, don't even bother watching this anime until you do. This isn't really a movie, it's more of an elongated re-cap of the events of the Golden Age arc of Berserk. For me, I really enjoyed it because I watched the 1997 version of the anime back in the day, and I really loved it. But, I didn't get around to this anime until now, so this felt like a blast of nostalgia for me. Because so much time has passed, this was like a beautifully animated (for 2012) ... reminder of what I liked about Berserk and I see it as a set up to a completion of the anime that never finished coming down the pipe.

With that being said, you will not like this anime if you aren't familiar with it. It gives no character backstory, it gives very little in the way of character connections. It's pretty much just all blood and "guts". Just action sequence after action sequence with a few dialogue scenes in between them to set the tone and tell you what's going on plot wise. I probably would've been pissed myself if I had watched this in 2012 when it first came out and expected it to pick up where it left off. But, because I've waited so long I already knew it didn't do that, so I wasn't disappointed.

I dug this remake/re-cap film. But, I can easily understand why it also gets negative reviews as well.

This is essentially the same story that is told in the 1990s Berserk.

There may have been some cuts here and there, but my memory is fuzzy. I watched the original Berserk anime nearly fifteen years ago so not everything is fresh in my mind. I do, however, remember some key plot points. But I do understand if there had to be cuts made to fit parts into a one hour sixteen minute runtime.

The animation in this show is top notch, and though I've heard tell that many consider this to be an inferior version because of the 3D used in this adaptation, I find those ... to all be spurious allegations. The artwork in this adaptation of Berserk is a bit better than the original series.

A huge disappointment, however, comes in the soundtrack. That's to be expected given that this adaptation is done under a different studio with a different composer and there needs to be a bit of work to avoid using copyrighted works, but the original soundtrack was as classic as classic gets. I did miss that aspect of Berserk. Guts' Theme is one of my favorite tunes to listen to.

Berserk remains one of the manliest and most epic shows to watch, and this is a brilliant adaptation.

If I were to describe this film in one word it would be "awkward". Though it's based on a manga that I have thoroughly enjoyed thus far (I'm still rather early on in the story) and animated by an extremely reputable studio, I went away from this film with a profound sense of dissatisfaction.

Allow me to explain in more detail:

Story:

This is the area where the film most shows its potential, as well as how much it failed to live up to it.

Berserk: The Golden Age Arc I- The Egg of the King is based on an extremely interesting part of the manga Berserk's story. ... It details the back story of the main characters of the manga; however, only one of their stories is done any justice by this film.

But I'll get back to that in the 'Character' section of this review. The reason I bring it up here, however, is to point out just how much the film fails to help me become invested in its characters and their lives. Without my knowledge of the manga, I very much doubt that I would've been able to maintain enough interest in the film to watch it all in one sitting, despite the gorgeous animation.

The first mistake that is made in the plot department is in the storytelling priorities of the first half of the movie. It opens on Guts, a young mercenary, gambling with his life for a bit of extra pay by fighting a large and formidable enemy knight one-on-one. While we do not yet have much of a reason to care about Guts, this is fine, as opening with an action sequence is a well-established way of gaining the audience's attention. After the battle, Guts collects his pay and turns down a chance at wealth and status, which serves as a way to entice the audience to learn more about his character. Following that, Guts is attacked and captured by mercenaries from the enemy's side.

Up until this point, the film was fine. Then, it started to make some major mistakes, starting with a brief "flashback" of sorts. While Guts is unconscious, the audience is exposed to a brief series of images intended to hint at his backstory.

The problem is that it is NEVER followed up on. The audience is left with a vague sense of confusion, rendering the entire sequence pointless.

If this was an isolated incident, it would be fine, but it's not not. The entire movie feels incredibly disjointed and badly paced. It seems to refuse to give any time to become attached to its characters aside from Griffith, and the main plot of the film, concerning Griffith's attempts to integrate himself into royal society, feels like an afterthought until the last quarter. It's almost as if two movies have been squeezed into the run-time of one, the first concerning Guts' journey to acceptance by the Band of the Hawk and the second following Griffith's aforementioned attempts at upward mobility

Simply put, the movie tries to do too much with too little time, and thus ends up not doing much of anything.

Art:

In stark contrast to the film's story, the art featured in it is absolutely amazing. Large-scale, tense battles unfold on a lush backdrop that seamlessly blends 2D and 3D animation.

The character models are, on the whole, gorgeous. Griffith and Judea in particular display a kind of ethereal beauty that is simply breathtaking, while Zod exudes malice from his every pore.

While I am not really a fan of this movie, I really can't argue that it is absolutely marvelous to look at.

Sound:

The voice acting is overall average, but with a few standouts such as the voice of Griffith. The performances are convincing, but not extremely noteworthy.

On the other hand, the sound design is excellent. You really get the feeling of being in a large scale battle during the fight scenes, while the quieter scenes are filled with sounds that make one instantly accustomed to this film's representation of nature (most of the movie takes place out of doors).

The music is mostly good, but one particular track's English chanting of the phrase "and blood and guts" really took away from some otherwise dramatic scenes.

Character:

This movie's biggest and most gloating weakness is its lack of good characterization. This completely surprised me given how much I've enjoyed the characters in the manga, but the removal of certain key sections does an extreme disservice to them here.

First of all, if the film does anyone right, it's Griffith. Of the three core characters, he is the only one given enough time to really become attached in this film. His motivations are clear, but his trademark moral ambiguity makes it through the adaptation process entirely unscathed. He is magnificent, charming, and above all interesting.

The same cannot be said for the portrayals of everyone else in this movie. Due to the almost complete lack of any backstory for Guts and Casca, their motives are unclear and their personalities are primarily relayed through what other characters tell the audience rather than what the characters do themselves. Guts has a better deal than Casca, as we get to know him somewhat, but his sudden transformation from loner outcast to someone who not only cares about his comrades but is largely cared about by them over the three year time skip is just too much to swallow.

Needless to say, the non-main characters fair far worse. In fact they aren't really featured enough in the film for me to really call their involvement here as much more than a series of cameos where they serve as people for Guts, Griffith, and Casca to speak with.

Enjoyment:

While this movie was very exciting at points, I came away feeling very unsatisfied. There was just too much material for a seventy-some minute film to cover. It would have been much better if the movie finished after the fight with Zod, and took the time to adapt Guts' early adventures with the Band of the Hawk rather than skipping straight to Griffith's bid for the throne.

Overall:

If I can say one thing about this movie, it's that it made me want to read the manga. While that isn't a bad thing, the aim of a movie should be to be involving in and of itself rather than pushing its audience to experience the source material if they want a fulfilling story.

I only have one real nitpicky thing to say about these movies, other than that the story has been slashed down even further than the original anime (I suggest reading the manga, SO many details are left out of both anime).

The animation.

The main characters look AMAZING. I cannot tell you how excited I was to see how far anime has come from the original Berserk.
HOWEVER, when the focus shifts to group shots on the battle field, the quality goes completely out the window. The "stock" armies look like PS2 video game graphics. I understand that no one would want to draw all of those soldiers ... fighting as detailed at the main cast... but the use of CG in the middle of such beautiful work is disappointing to me.

Other than that, I found all 3 films to be quite refreshing. My only wish is that they continue the anime this time. Please.

Most of us are probably already familiar with the original anime series or even the manga for Berserk. On its own, this movie was enjoyable and interesting. Compared to the original, however, it is lacking.

The movie has the main plot, but they cut out a lot of the character development. In the original, you could see the moment Guts warmed up to the Band of the Hawk and when he truly became their comrade. In this movie, however, they skip that entirely and just have Guts spout out how he's "changed" and that he "isn't the same as he used to be". Honestly, it's ... not very convincing. For those of us familiar with the original, we might overlook this because we know how the story REALLY goes. Unfortunately, anyone new to Berserk would be missing out on the heartwarming moments when Guts finally finds a place he belongs. It's also gonna be crippling later in the story where the intensity of a scene relies very heavily on the friendship he built.

There's so little character development for the minor characters in the Band of the Hawk that they might as well not even exist. Corkus, for example, still acts like a bit of an asshole, but it's really negligible compared to how he's supposed to be. I'm just not feeling it.

The 3D stuff looked kinda like hand drawn animation, which was good. You could tell where it was CG, but it actually looked pretty decent most of the time. Real animation beats it hands down, though. The CG characters also had really bland looking faces at times. Like, remember back in the PS1 and N64 days when some blank stare would just be plastered onto the front of a character's head? Yeah, it's kinda like that.

The action was good. I have no complaints about the voice actors or music. The scene with Casca naked was very plain and I'm thankful for that - it should only be part of the story, not even the slightest turn on, really. I felt they handled that perfectly so that I wouldn't feel ashamed to recommend this movie to someone. Anyhow, this was good overall, but the original is better, really.