Back to Draly's Profile Draly's Profile

It has been a while since I last read Berserk all the way from the beginning, I’d say about ten years. For various reasons, mostly logistics, I don’t have access to my old volumes anymore and thought I might as well give the anime adaption a shot. Berserk is a good candidate for being the best manga ever written, and the Golden Age, which is adapted here, is probably its best arc. So, this critique does not so much concerns itself with the source material but rather with the way it is adapted, which I find sorely lacklustre.

While watching, it really struck me how much ... I remembered of this story and of its dialogues, and I think it really speaks to the quality of the original that I did so. Of course, it also means that I remembered which scenes were missing… And, for the most part, I don’t mind these changes so much, at least when they are taken individually. For example, I actually like that they removed most of the first arc, the one before the flashback. Although I now like those first 3 volumes, and see their point, I always thought it was the weakest part of Berserk and am not surprised it turned so many people off. The fact they felt the need to remove the Kushans, Wyald and most of the things happening between Guts leaving the Band of the Hawk and the Eclipse is understandable as well; in the manga this helps build the world for the following arcs but would serve little concrete purpose here. We also spend less time on Guts’ childhood… that actually removes a pretty important plot point, and everything that comes from it but, again, I can understand the need for conciseness. The real problem comes when you add all this together, along with some additional minor cuts here and there, and that is because doing so removes a lot of the more casual interactions between Guts and the rest of the cast… there is less friendly banter, and you don’t feel their bond as much as in the manga. It also does away with most of Guts’ failings, as well as with some introspective scenes. Overall, we spend less time exploring Guts’ feelings, and he is less flawed than in the manga. Unfortunately, Gut’s vulnerability is a big part of his character, and it goes a long way in humanising him. I remember it being sometimes borderline in the manga, but anime Guts is too perfect and fully goes into Gary Stu territory… which turns most of the anime into some sort of power fantasy, something the manga is decidedly not, even though it has some elements of it. Of course, here, I am mostly talking about Guts since he is the protagonist, but every character suffers from these cuts, except perhaps Griffith, who is arguably the best character of this show. That said, I might be idealising what I remember reading, I’m not too sure... What I know, though, is that the anime exclusive scenes are pretty weak, almost goofy sometimes, and do a poor job of addressing these issues.

However, the biggest issue I have with this adaptation does not lie with the changes they made to the story, but rather with its presentation. The animation is poor and stilted, dialogues do not flow properly, battle scenes are unexciting and everything lacks impact. Fights that are normally over in an instant in the manga are extended through uninspired choreography, just adding a few more sword swings, probably to pad the runtime. The art itself is (usually) not bad but it is still miles away from what Miura has drawn… in that it lacks both in detail and personality but also in terms of variety, composition and visual storytelling. I feel a lot of the enjoyment I got from reading Berserk came from the art, from the different types of drawing techniques, from the meaningful panelling… I usually spent as much time, if not more, contemplating each panel and looking for the smaller details, than reading the dialogues. Most of that is lost in the anime. That was to be expected in a way, I don’t know how to properly translate Miura’s style into anime, I’m not sure it is possible anyway. That said, I still think a much better adaptation is possible, either through hyper-stylisation, or through better scenography and (higher budget) animation, if you want to go for the gritty realism approach.

Regarding the grimdark fantasy aspects of Berserk, the anime also distinguishes itself from the manga by the fact that it is significantly less violent, in every respect. Funnily, I think this makes it also edgier and sometimes even a bit wacky. And that’s because violence, here, is as it is imagined by a sheltered and edgy teenager. It is violence without consequence, without the malaise. Characters have less time to breathe or reflect, many events that should be traumatic are treated as an afterthought, killings have no weight besides the physical exhaustion induced by the battle… the characters are morally much less affected by what is happening. Graphically, the anime does away with most of the gore, and replaces it with generic blood sprays, but it becomes almost ridiculous to see so many litres of blood erupt from the flimsiest of sword swings. Of course, this reduces the animation cost, but the direct result is that, instead of being horrifying, deaths on the battlefield become cartoonish and, most of all, harmless. And Berserk, especially when it comes to Guts’ enormous sword, walks a fine line between exhilarating and completely laughable. So, the narration and presentation need to have enough of serious solemnity, or everything crumbles. Sexual violence is also limited to women and feels more gratuitous than in the manga. In this adaption Guts cannot be a victim, that would go against the power fantasy aspects of the show… and there was maybe some concerns that it would make the target audience feel uneasy. This I understand, and if they were going for that, I have no issue with the anime being tamer that the manga. But, in that case, I don’t think we needed, for instance, the scene where Casca almost gets raped in the woods… Similarly, they could have spent less time on battle scenes and reduced the number of on screen killing but made each of those scenes more impactful. Additionally, they could have used the time that would free to flesh out the Band of Hawk a little more.

One of this adaptation’s biggest strength, though, is Hirasawa’s soundtrack. I was already familiar with it, I fell in love with Hirasawa’s music while watching Paprika, some 15 years ago, and had already gone over his discography before watching this. I guess it’s also pretty hard to avoid now, since Gut’s theme has become a meme in and of itself. All in all, I really appreciate that they went for this guy and asked him not to shy away from his moody style of electronic music, instead of going for the more obvious, bombastic, Basile Poledouris type score a la Conan. It gives the series a real, distinctive vibe, one that fits well with Kentaro Miura’s Gigeresque and Escheresque influences. Sadly, the OST is a bit short at 34 minutes, and becomes a bit repetitive. I think having more tracks would have helped the show, especially when it comes to certain scenes for which no tracks really fit.

You probably don’t need me to tell you that, but if you liked this anime, I strongly suggest you try reading the manga, if you have not done so already. I think the original is much stronger than its adaptation. To be frank I almost dropped the anime around Episode 4, but I ultimately kept going. And that’s for the same reason that I find it difficult to give it less than five… because the core story is excellent, even when amputated; because I find those characters so likeable and their struggle so engaging, even when underdeveloped.

Funnily enough, Yuria Gaiden does not revolve so much around Yuria than it does around Juuza and Shin. In fact it even serves as a better Juuza Gaiden than the original Juuza Gaiden.

Hokuto no Ken is masterful in the way Hara and Buronson are able to walk this very thin line between asinine and emotionally engaging. Characters, dialogues and plot in the orignal manga are among the stupidest I've seen in any work of fiction... but the art, the scenography and the overall narration manages to make most of the scenes strangely poignant. The presentation is so unapologetic, so casual in its ridiculousness, so serious ... and yet so ironic it strikes the perfect balance of idiocy and solemnity. Despite appearances it is a subtle craft that both takes skill and talent. Both Jagi's and Juuza's gaidens failed to maintan this balance and slipped into the abyss of inanity but Yuria's managed to capture a little of Hokuto no Ken's magic. Its narration is not as good as the original's but its characters are also not as dumb (though they still are) so the balance is somewhat preserved.

The main gripe I have with this spin-off is that it is kind of bland. In fact, I'm a bit sad that Yuria is such a minor character in her own story. I think a lot more could have been done here. Though criminally underdeveloped in the main story, Yuria is still an interesting character as she answers Ken's so well. Everybody adores Yuria (for some unfortunately unexplored reason), and this adoration is often mistaken for love. They both are messianic figures, and if Ken is "Kung Fu Jesus", Yuria is "post-apocalyptic Sophia". Even in their diegesis, Yuria and Ken are not people; they represent ideals ("The Incarnation of Indra" cf chapter 24) and that's why Lin realises she cannot be with Ken in the end.

After defeating the demiurgal figure that is Raoh, Ken decides to go back to the desert and let Hokuto Shinken die with him: Hokuto no Ken is the Twillight of the Gods and the beginning of the Age of Man. That's why I enjoy this Elysium-like depiction of the world before the nuclear catastrophe this spin-off adopts, and the premises it sets. But the one-shot format sadly does not leave much space for character development and symbolism. To make matters worse it lacks focus... and as much as I appreciate seeing Juuza and Shin I cannot help but thnk they led to wasted potential.

Kasai's art is great and features astute shoujo style reinterpretations of iconic 80s shonen characters, adding to this "Eden before the fall" feeling. I find this approach both bold and clever, it's a pity that backgrounds feel so empty... and the fight choreography is fairly poor as well.

This Yuria Gaiden is filled with interesting ideas but fails to elevate itself to more than average by lack of a better execution.

Saint Seiya is an interesting case and I'm not sure me liking it is entirely rational. The least I can say is that it left me filled with conflicting feelings.

For example, it's a combat focused nekketsu but has some of the worst fight choreography I have ever seen. Characters are numerous but childish and lack in personality. It carries nice messages of love, firendship and tolerance - especially (and surprisingly considering when it was written) towards LGBTQ - that are vehiculated by poor and overly simplistic dialogues. Narration and storytelling are stupidly repetitive, transitions are botched and most arcs lack closure. Kurumada seems to struggle ... to construct a complete, properly told story, and good ideas are constantly mixed in with heinous fillers (evil twins, characters coming back from the dead, blacks saints, inconsequential silver saints etc ...). The manga also suffers from asinine power creep, probably to compensate from the fact the author fails to portay character development (or the escalation of the stakes) organically. All of that gets better as the story progresses - Hades is, I think, by far the best arc - but never truly attains greatness.

Saint Seiya's main saving grace is probably its aethestics, deeply rooted in the 80s, and relentlessly reaching out for a perfect teenage "cool" which Kurumada admirably tries to reconcile with sensitivity instead of going for edginess. Chara designs are excellent, attacks are visually creative and the use and reappropriation of (mostly greek) mythology is greatlly executed. While Kurumada drawing starts a little iffy, by the end of the manga his style has been refined and plates (especially double pages) have become a real pleasure to contemplate.

Aside from nostalgia I think one of the main reasons I managed to go through the whole series (while I had to stop Yu Yu Hakusho out of boredom) ironically comes from its repetitive and simplistic nature that allows the reader to blaze through the story while taking in only the good and leaving the bad behind. I find it fascinating how quick you can read this manga when you begin to understand how each fight will play out and what each character will say and when: you can almost skip entire parts of the story and stop only when you know there will be something interesting, either regarding the plot or aethetically... I've been strangely entranced by this deeply flawed manga, swallowing volumes after volumes in the blink of an eye.

In a way, I find Katanagatari (and the relationship I have with it) to be very similar to Escaflowne. Not in themes, of course, but in that both shows are built on strong premises that poor execution mostly fail to back up. Both shows feature a terrible introduction, a huge cast of underdeveloped characters, a somewhat rushed ending and a few pacing issues… But all this is supported by gorgeous art and fantastic voice actors. Just as Escaflowne, Katanagatari presents well and, similarly, is by no means a bad show but has several problems.

Aesthetics aside, the main selling point of the show would be its ... two protagonists: Shichika and Togame. As spectators we spend most of our time watching their interactions and evolution. Shichika can be described as a character somewhere between Goku and Kenshiro. He starts as an extremely powerful man-child that does not know anything about the world but leaves his secluded island on Togame’s impulse. The duo, in the beginning, is clearly reminiscent of Goku and Bulma going on an adventure to find the Dragonballs. His journey is then, just as Kenshiro’s, one of humanization: as the heir of a generation old, deadly martial art, he will learn through his fights that, contrary to what his life up till now led him to believe, he is not simply a tool but a person whose purpose, resolve and feelings (mainly anger, sorrow and love) can actually make stronger. Togame, in contrast, is a schemer with revenge and ambition as her main motivations. I feel her development was meant to be a mirror of Shichika’s: she has been dehumanized by society and sophistication while he has been by his seclusion and overly simplistic lifestyle. I think their journey together was supposed to both bring them back towards a more enviable middle point. However, they are not given the same care and consideration. Even if she is at the origin of their journey the show mostly focuses on Shichika and she usually takes the role of a sidekick and/or comic relief (a pretty bad one too). As a consequence, her character development mainly comes in relation to Shichika or, if not, feels strange and contrived. Episode 10, for example, is treated as her growth episode, but up to this point not much indicated she needed to grow in this respect and, indeed, Episode 11 Togame is basically the same as her Episode 10 counterpart… This is the first problem I have with the series: the imbalance between those two characters that are given similar screen time, which is to say most of it.

Togame’s character arc is sadly weaker than Shichika’s and she is supposed to compensate by being the vector for his. This is not necessarily a problem in and of itself, however this fails in conjunction of what I think is the second (and biggest) flaw of the series: the poorly written dialogues. Most of those are actually long, drawn out, overexplaining exposition dumps, made either by Togame or the episode’s antagonist, for the ignorant country bumpkin that is Shichika and, of course, the viewer. If you then add the recurring and obligatory dumb jokes, as well as the systematic reliance on catchphrases (often used as a way to substitute gimmicks for personality traits), it does not leave much time for genuine conversations (which exist but are few and far between). We end up with a couple of main characters with essentially no chemistry whose ramblings make up for (I’d say) 60ish % of the show. Something that I would say is pretty boring, but has another pernicious effect … Just as Escaflowne, once again, Katangatari is a bit too ambitious with its enormous cast, needing to reduce many side characters to a catchphrase or a gimmick coupled to a flashy design. I sincerely think the show could have been better without the Maniwa Corps or, at least, if they were less numerous. Ironically, I think the character that suffers the most from their presence (indirectly, of course, as he is allowed less time to develop) is Houou. During the show he is hyped as extremely powerful, highly motivated and centuries old with a deep backstory. Everything builds up to its confrontation with Shichika in Episode 11 and… nothing. We don’t learn anything about him, we don’t even see him fight. Fortunately, Emonzaemon and Hitei receive marginally better treatment, but not so much as I would have liked. Despite all that I think the cast is overall pretty likeable. We spend so much time with the main characters that is difficult not to care about them, and the supporting cast is colourful and mysterious enough that I wanted to know more. It is by no means catastrophic but rather disappointing, mostly when considering it could have been solved through better writing…

Despite all that, I really think the first episode and a half is pretty bad. What kept me going is the gorgeous and syncretistic artwork that juxtaposes vibrant watercolours, traditional Japanese engravings and more modern, 2010s anime style visuals. Backgrounds are lush with details without being overloaded and I went and paused the video several times just to observe those more closely. Character designs I feel are uneven (I’m not a fan of Togame’s and think the Maniwa’s are heinous while Shichika’s and Hitei’s work very well) but I like the way they clash with the environment. This allows the action to always be perfectly clear and understandable while keeping the backgrounds fairly sophisticated. Animation is good when it needs to be and change in animators is noticeable but not problematic. The show borrows a lot from fighting games when it comes to camera work and composition, which is not a bad idea considering the plot is basically that of one. Fight choreography though is a bit lacking. It has its moments, sure (episodes 4 and 8 notably), but often devolves into mindless spam, the worst offender probably being the disappointing Episode 7… Music is mostly discreet (with a few really good tracks) and complements the action nicely. I have to salute the effort that went in composing a different ending for each episode, though I don’t find any of those transcendent in any way.

When having to give a definitive grade to Katangatari I struggled between 6 and 7. No grade properly reflects my opinion of the show. The last impression is, I feel, pretty good with a second half that is in many ways better than the first (Episodes 7 and 9, which are mediocre, aside) and an imperfect (Togame’s last speech…) but satisfying ending. But when I look back at the show as a whole, I cannot neglect its subpar first half and loose ends. Aesthetically the show is great but it also lacks in the writing department. I’m conflicted but, in the end, it was still an enjoyable anime and the fact it compeled me to write this review probably means I should lean towards 7.

Escaflowne: a deeply flawed anime with undeniable qualities.

Escaflowne clearly suffers from its chaotic production, with the original director leaving before getting replaced by a newcomer and budget cuts bringing down the initially planned 39 episodes to only 26. This is something I actually learned after having completed the series but felt all the way. From the rushed ending, to the one note and underdeveloped characters, or the numerous loose threads... The show ends up being a jumbled mess of good but poorly executed ideas, as if the team took the story they wanted to tell in 39 episodes and tried to relate it in 26 ... instead... except they did not want to cut anything. Narration suffers as a result and everything feels either contrived, clumsy or sometimes even irrelevant to the plot. The set-up of Hitomi coming from earth is, in fact, particularly symptomatic of this problem as it is absolutely not worth its minuscule pay-off. The same could be said for Chid (and probably for the Freid arc as a whole), Jajuka, Balgus, Atlantis, the atom bomb... Dilandau is probably the worst off in this regard: a vilain so bloodthirsty and edgy it is ridiculous with a back story that screams wasted potential (and leads to one of the few effective plot twists). Folken is a close second though. Add this to a few other problems like an annoying mascot that does not bring anything to the table, mediocre fight choreaography and a catastrophicly bad first episode and you get a nice recipe for disaster...

Why 7/10 then ? Well, Escaflowne does not have the best of plots, the deepest of characters or the most flowing of narrations, but it has charm. I like the overall atmosphere of the show and I like to speculate about what it could have been. Its themes of fate, human nature, violence, pride or ambition are all worth exploring and while one could say they are not really addressed properly the show can still spark healthy reflections. I would also be remiss not to mention its beautiful old school animation. Escaflowne has a clear visual identity with vibrant colors, inspired designs (char / mech / ships / towns...) and impressive backgrounds. Yoko Kanno's score is also among the best soundtracks I have ever heard in an anime. It breathes life into scenes that would otherwise feel pretty bland, and is actually the main reason I stuck with the show in the first place.

While not being excellent Escaflowne is more than the sum of its parts and ended up being an enjoying watch despite a difficult start.

Escaflowne the movie differs greatly from Escaflowne the series. One could have seen this as an opportunity to address the many problems of the source material regarding its plot and poorly written characters but the movie is actually plagued by the same mediocre storytelling the series were...

The main problem of the movie probably comes from the fact it is, just like the series, way to short for the story Akane is trying to tell, making everything feel rushed and contrived. This is emphasised even more by the staff's concern for fanservice as they try to shoehorn in a 90min film every characters from a series ... that already had too many. As a result most of them serve no purpose other than making a little cameo and hurt the overall plot that cannot properly focus on its main protagonists. For example the sole purpose of Allen here is a short duel with Van, that clearly has no stakes whatsoever. And, because of this, character growth suffers: for example Hitomi starts out as depressed and suicidal but magically becomes fine ten minutes later. Motivations are not clearly presented, or become overly simplistic (Folken), and even the basic political situation of Gaea is left for the spectator to guess, so that I don't think anyone who has not seen the original series (and I said seen, not enjoyed) would appreciate the story that they are being told... Who is Allen ? Why is Van travelling with him if they don't like each other and if he does everything by himself anyway ? Millerna is a princess but of what country ? Why is she with Allen and why is she a medic ? Who is Dryden and why is he important ? Who is this woman that stays by Folken's side ? Why do Dilandau's goons support him ? They mention sorcerers at one point but they are not shown to the spectator even once and have no impact on the plot... The movie clearly tried to simplify the action but still kept way more than it could handle.

Along with the many simplifactions come some modifications and even some additions (sigh...). The most obvious one is the fact that Van and Folken have now become moronic edgelords, almost to the same level as Dilandau. In fact everything is has more edge, the anime has become more violent, the tone is darker, Hitomi is suicidal in the beginning... This is not a bad thing in and of itself but the execution is, once again, deeply flawed... The ending is particularly anticlimactic (it was too in the series but this does not make the movie better) with an avorted showdown between the two brothers that does not solve anything and Jajuka coming to kill Folken out of nowhere. The same could be said about Hitomi coming from earth, which yields even less of a pay-off than it did in the show. I do not see how adding magic powers to a few characters is relevant to the plot either.

Visuals are once again one of the strengths of Escaflowne. The animation is gorgeous and backgrounds are grandiose with beautiful colors and composition. Still I feel the original was aesthetically more pleasing, mainly because I think the redesigns are not as interesting and novel as they were in the source material (though I like the more organic look of Escaflowne specifically), but also because the image darker overall. Music is still great but not as memorable as it was in the series.

Strangely, Escaflowne the movie manages to have the exact same strengths and weaknesses (albeit exacerbated) as Escaflowne the series while changing the plot dramatically. I think it is a little worse than the show but not catastrophic if only for its visuals and soundtrack.