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This review isn’t going to be very objective, just my thoughts and experience with it.

FLCL came into my life at a pretty coincidental time. Middle school, not sure where my life is going, confused, angry at school, all this shit. I was your typical pubescent preteen. At the time the only real anime I watched was Naruto, and I never really wanted to watch anything else, I just wasn’t an anime fan. One of my friends in middle school were talking about anime, which was pretty much me feigning knowledge of the medium so he’d think I was cooler. He recommended I watch “Effel ... Seal”. I had no fucking idea what this dude was talking about, but searched it anyway and couldn’t find it. I went back to school the next day and he told me it was the letters “FLCL”. Oh, of course! Not unlike the show, the way I got into it was really weird.

I watched it all, a couple episodes a day. Wow. I really had no idea what I was getting into with this show. This was really only my second exposure to anime as a medium, and at 12 years old, I was blown away. I didn’t understand the show nearly as well as I do now with around three rewatches under my belt. I realized the meaning was there, and it was a metaphor for puberty, but not all of it was made apparent on my first viewing.

The characters, art, and music are so outstanding for this show, so I’ll tackle them quickly. Characters in the spotlight are multifaceted and interesting, while side characters still have enough to them to make them really funny and enjoyable to watch. Naota, Haruko and Kanti are my favorites for how versatile they are, and how much they change throughout the 6 episode experience, with Haruko being the standout of the three. She remains one of my favorite characters in anime, for her mystique, humor and occasional character breaks where she transcends the sort of facade she’s painted for herself. The art is so amazing for 2000. I own the bluray for the series, and it holds up amazingly well. Gainax was on their A game when animating this series. Last up is the music. Holy shit, the soundtrack is SO good. It’s mostly done by a band named The Pillows, now probably one of my favorite bands. There’s so much variety to their music, you’re bound to find something you like.

I love this series so much, please give it a shot.

Let me preface this review by saying that it's been almost a year since I've watched the show, and this may not be as objective a review as some of you I'm sure would prefer. I'd recommend skipping this if that description sounds like you. I may not accurately as some recall some plot parts and things like that, but I have fairly recently reread everything presented in the anime through it's also very great manga. This review is gonna be kinda subjective, so let's dive right in.

"Even if we painstakingly piece together something lost, it doesn't mean things will ever go back to ... how they were" is a quote that really captures the essence of what makes Berserk, well, Berserk. This is not a happy story. I can recall growing more and more anxious while watching each sequential episode of this series, and for good reason. The show is very meticulous of more so than anything else, character building. "But daccat11, why does this matter? Many shows do this!" Why I think Berserk stands out in this department is that the character's pasts play actually believable roles in how there character is present day. If you choose to watch this, which you definitely should, pay attention to the actions of Guts and Griffith in correlation to the slow reveal of their pasts, it's astounding how well it's done, and in 1997 no less.

I absolutely adore this show for having such a strong cast of characters. The reason Berserk is so profound, is that it deals with the mundane sort of themes present in a lot of series in it's own way. Themes such as power, love, destiny and corruption are presented in such a unique way that it really stands out to me. Throughout, there are many clashes of ideals which not only give characters depth, but strong, powerful reasons to care for them, regardless of whether or not you agree with their actions.

Honestly, Berserk doesn't have the best art. It isn't bad. However, it didn't age horribly well. A good plus to this though, and this is from memory, is that the angles used for fights and conversations were pretty solid and overall made any budget shortcomings the show may have had not stand out much. The music of Berserk fairs better than the art, I'm still listening to it's music a year later, which is something I don't really do often for anime OST's. It's opening is hilariously engrish and doesn't fit the show at all, but has so much charm that I love it.

If I do have a gripe with the anime adaptation of Berserk, it's gotta be it's ending. Honestly, not a fan. It provides very little closure to the story. In other words, it's your typical "Read the manga, fuck you" ending, which is pretty disappointing. The story leaves off at the climax of the arc the anime shows, so if you want the full story, you're gonna have to read the manga. However, if you can stand manga, and read it, you're in for such a treat. The manga has godly art, and there are currently 37 volumes of it. The anime covers the first 13 volumes (IIRC), but I recommend reading it from the beginning, it's a disservice to yourself not to.

Over all, Berserk is a fucking great series. It's gritty, it's meaningful, and most of all impactful. While definitely not for kids, it is a masterpiece of a series as a whole (Not just the anime). I do believe watching this anime is relevant even though you'll probably read the manga anyway. It does a fantastic job of character and world building, which contributed to the read through of the same story in the manga for me quite a bit. If you're on the fence, don't miss this one, Berserk is one hell of a ride.

Thanks for reading. :)

I'm gonna keep this brief: Watch this series. Fortunately I wasn't someone who started watching the show when it first aired, because goddamn, the hype and cliffhangers from episode to episode would have driven me crazy. Anyways, if I need to justify why this series is very good, here ya go.

STORY: Set in a futuristic city, 99 years in the future, the mental health of citizens can now be measured through Psycho-Pass, where it can be quantified. High Psycho-Pass means you're more likely to commit crime, low Psycho-Pass means the latter. Something that pleasantly surprised me was that the series deals with morals and ... philosophy quite a bit, it really felt well geared for the kind of show it is. The Sybil System which is an AI that looks over the Psycho-Pass of everyone in the country is a particularly interesting side of the exploration in the story. Great story.

ART: The art was very good in my opinion. The city looks very beautiful, and the character designs, while not being ground breaking, were very well designed. The series takes a lot of good scenery changes which was welcome, as you can only awe at a blue and black city for so long. You can definitely tell that the budget was well spent.

SOUND: First things first, I goddamn love both of the openings and both of the endings. They were all truly kickass. The in-show music however, never really captured me the same way though. It served it's purpose though, and I thought the inclusion of classical tracks was refreshing. Good stuff overall, but lacked that extra push.

CHARACTER: The two MC's of the show are Akane Tsunemori and Shinya Kogami. Their personalities and views differ a lot, but they really develop into a great team. I liked that there was no shoehorned romance between them, because it would've been pretty easy to do. With supporting characters, you've got Ginoza Nobuchika and Masaoka Tomomi along with several others, but out of the supporting cast, those two were my favorite. The antagonist of the series is Shogo Makishima, who for the record is very, very interesting. Sadly, telling you why would be spoiler heavy, but he serves a awesome role. I loved the characters of this show.

ENJOYMENT: I was on the edge of my seat every episode, and I can't say that about a lot of shows I've watched. It was a great ride, and it's not over yet with Season 2 in the works, which I'm very excited for.

OVERALL: Watch this show. It was so much fun to watch, and made me think. The action was never just to be there, and the exposition was well paced. Hell, the whole show was well paced. You're missing out if you skip this one.