the anime displays among other things: nudity, gory violence, rape, prostitution, sexual harassment, and molestation. please watch with caution. do not watch if you are easily scared or cant handle blood
i hate using the word" masterpiece" because it is thrown around too much and it has become cliche but there is no other word to describe that this anime puts the viewer through. it was by far one of the best animes i have seen. nothing about this disappoints it was entertaining up until the last second and every episode was full of something new. you will never be bored, i promise.
CHARACTERS: Griffith has to be one of the most intuitive characters ive ever come across. he reminds me a lot of Light Yagami from Death Note because of his slow and visible transition from what he used to be to what he ends up like at the end of the series. his beautifully tragic and his character is artistically displayed through the use of clothes, speech pattern, walk cycle, appearance, demeanor/personality, etc. Guts is one of my favorite characters because he plays to everyone's love for the bad ass with a soft side kind of character. while he does make strides in the character development section, his overall personality is one that is typical in 90s anime (loyal, bad ass, rough past, loner, the works). Casca also seems to play in another stereotypical mold as the underdog character as well as the one who falls for the tough guy but it isnt that easy. her personality definitely guides her in a stubborn direction so much so that the B plot/ love story doesnt begin to develop until the latter end of the anime. shes hardworking, loyal, talented, dedicated, also coming from a rough past and she can relate to Guts on a level that no one else can and they end up being lovers until the end. As for the rest of the characters, they are very well written. every character was memorable in their own way; being defined by their speech patterns, dress/appearance. everyone from the welder, and his grand daughter, the generals that didnt really play a role, even random thugs on the street that werent even in a full episode were memorable. it was all very well written and it seemed like the animators and producers really put love into this project
SOUND: the music might have been my favorite thing. it was beautiful and really enhanced the experience. but what was most moving was when the sound cut out; when there was no music, no ambient noise, no one speaking, and it was just the action on the screen. its hard to do that and make what you want to convey translate well and they did it tastefully.
ART/ANIMATION: it was great for its time. im not saying that its terrible NOW but its value as depreciated over the years. some moments are worse than others in animation department, especially the first couple of episodes but the anime makes up for it with the more intense scenes. the fighting scenes and landscapes in particular are VERY detailed and VERY meticulous. towards the end of the anime up until the last episode you can tell that the animators worked diligently to produce something worth while. it was very good and i was impressed. the color scheme was also very descriptive of what was happening in the plot (softer colors for less intense/ sweeter moments when characters were connection and harsher colors for the action moments) but overall the scheme was more mono-toned with a lot of beige, pale yellows, whites, (stale colors) it is only at moments on importance like an important character conflict or a battle that these hues get more intense and turn into dark reds, oranges, blacks, purples, dark blues, etc.
STORY: it was beautifully tragic, innovative, creative, tactical, and even overwhelming at points. if you were to strip down the story to reveal its quite a common concept in the sense that its kind of the base work for other animes/ works in general. its trying to find yourself and what you were meant to do with your life in the mist of confusion and chaos. it was determining your own destiny. that concept (to me at least) isnt that interesting but its how to producers and directors and story writers and animators embellished the story that really made it stand out. adding interesting supporting and minor characters, having the setting be medieval instead of future or modern, the color pallet used, the speech patterns, the real world issues, etc.
