So asks Berserk, a 1997 anime based on the manga by Kentaro Miura (which I've only read a little bit of). In following the story of Guts, Griffith, Casca, and the rest of their companions in the Band of the Hawk, and the way in which their fates intertwine, there is triumph, hatred, romance, and most of all, tragedy to be found.
The story itself follows Guts, a lone mercenary, who is recruited into the Band of the Hawk by Griffith, its leader, in hopes that Guts can help him fulfill his dream of becoming the king despite the fact that he is a commoner. Along the way, he develops a relationship with female mercenary Casca and comes to see the Band of the Hawk as friends and comrades in arms.
The story itself is the high point of the anime, and plays out like any good tragedy should: just as the high point is reached, the point at which everything is going right, a series of events and mistakes by the characters causes everything to go wrong. It was great to see play out, though the ending itself left something to be desired (to say anymore would spoil). But the story itself was very good, so its not like the ending completely ruined it for me.
The animation, on the other hand, left something to be desired. It's not horrible, but you can tell it's low-budget, and the constant corner-cutting became pretty noticeable after a while. The soundtrack, on the other hand, was beautiful and fit the anime perfectly. The voice acting was a bit of a mixed bag. It's good in Japanese, and for the most part, it's good in English too, with a couple of exceptions. Griffith's English voice sounded a bit too stiff for me, and Princess Charlotte's voice was a bit too high, which made her sound a bit whiny, but everyone else did a good job. The actress playing Casca in particular was great, definitely my favorite performance.
The characters were all memorable and most of them were pretty fleshed out. Guts is probably one of my favorite leads in anime, mostly because he's not just a strong swordsman, but because he's very interesting beyond that. He never really seems to be too good to be true in the context of the universe, being almost inhumanly skilled in battle but having pretty bad people skills off of it, taking stupid risks in combat that put others in danger (at first), and not really seeming to have a purpose other than swinging his sword in a fight, and desperately trying to find one. This makes him an almost direct contrast with Griffith, who does seem too good to be true in the context of the universe, being both skilled in battle and smooth and charismatic in both the court and to his men, and being driven by a purpose and a dream that he will stop at nothing to reach. And it's these contrasts that make the story of how these two come together and their eventual fates and conclusions so perfect for each of their characters. Guts eventually comes to care for the other Hawks and the raiders under his command, emphasizing his more human, down to earth nature, while Griffith ultimately sees the Hawks, the princess, and the other people he interacts with as nothing more than tools to achieve his goals in the worst way possible, emphasizing his more inhuman, too good to be true nature. Casca I really liked too once she was fleshed out, and her character development really helps to show the contrast between Guts and Griffith. Even outside of her relationship to them, though, she was a pretty good female lead. The other members of the Hawks were all likeable, and any other character was as fleshed out as they needed to be.
Outside of that, I enjoyed the anime, for the most part, though I would say its not for everyone. It can get pretty disturbing at times, and it has a definite "read the manga" ending, making it seem kind of incomplete. But it's definitely more than an average hack-and-slash show, and it's backed up by a well thought out story and memorable characters. Overall, if you can handle some gore and nudity, Berserk is definitely worth a watch.
