~Story~
The story of Berserk follows Guts, also know as the Black Swordsman, from his young childhood to his fateful encounter with the charismatic, yet deadly young man Griffith. The story takes place in Midland, a place characterised by a medieval setting and its distinctive hierarchy. Starting out as being a simple mercenary, he decides to join Griffith's band, the band of the Hawk, the strongest group of mercenaries he ever encountered, driven by the quest for a status in society. Guts's childhood was not a flower covered path: from the very beginning the protagonist struggles against death, deceit and madness in its numerous battlefields, consequently destroying the little human confidence he has along the path.
The focal point of the anime are its three main protagonists, Guts, Griffith and Caska; viewers soon come to realize that Griffith is a man of endless ambition, with strange artifact in its possession, a egg-faced pendant that goes by the name of "Behelit". Why does it have a face and seems to be alive? What is the purpose of this egg? Those are questions viewers will be asking themselves until the very conclusion of the arc, also known as the Golden Age arc. The pacing, while overall well done, at times seemed longer than necessary, yet this was a minor drawback.
Another strong point of the anime is its representation of the world it takes place in, Midland. It is a very accurate and realistic portrayal of medieval castles, bundled with political deceit, jealousy, warfare and debauchery, being Midland struck in middle of a war between its neighbouring nations. This is the reason why the Band of the Hawk is able to climb up in the ranks, because of being constantly succesful in its numerous campaigns. Other notion the anime is trying to portray is evil: not just humans are the source of it; viewers will soon come to realize, there are many demonic like creatures that lurk in the shadows of the dark world of Berserk. There is nevertheless a certain lack of representation of the society of that time: the commoner folk, and how these were affected by the wars, as the story mainly focused on the military aspect of it, and its personas.
~Characters~
As stated earlier, what really makes Berserk stand out from all the other anime is its intricate character relationships, its characterisation and development of these. Characters are fleshed out well, by showing viewers their pasts. Take for example Guts; his appearance and character irridiates "manliness". Viewers observe an evolution from him being a distant and unapproachable person to a more open-minded, accepting individual through many interactions with his fellow comrades. Then there is Caska, the female lieutenant, who besides of undergoing the hardships of warfare, also needs to endure societies conception about a female warrior. Last but not least, there is Griffith, the crucial character of this anime series: he is the embodiment of glory, charisma and ambition, while at the same time deadly, yet fragile as well, being his limitless ambition what drives the story forward.
The support characters were of importance as well, which includes the Hawk's band integrants (Judeau for example), royal families, warlords, Guts's stepfather Gambino, and not to forget demons such as Zodd. These represented splendidly the different factions within the social hierarchy, such as nobles, and their never-ending schemes, or emotions such as jealousy and contempt. To a certain extent, the anime focuses as well on the different secondary characters, such as generals (Boscone, Adon), to understand their characters, yet it must be said that most of these were one-dimensional with no real motive behind them. Some characters were also used as comedic relief; while sometimes it was a good choice to execute this, other times it felt redundant.
~Animation and sound~
The animation quality of Berserk is passable as a whole, even considering it was done in the late 90's. At times it was well executes, though there were moments when it felt unnecessary slowed down, motions being quite basic. The art style itself was on its own unique, no stereotypical character design, in addition to having to a certain extent racial diversity; hence, the characters were easily distinguishable from each other. Gore, blood, body parts are no exception in this anime, used to further enhance the grim atmosphere. Battle scenes from individuals fight were impressive to behold, watching Guts slash and plow down enemy after enemy with his oversized greatsword, yet when it came to overall warfare, these were not so impressive in comparison. Not to forget the great variety in armory the anime had to offer.
The soundtrack used in Berserk matched well with the atmosphere it was trying to portray, being the most remarkable ones "Gatsu" and "Behelit". Nevertheless it must be mentioned that some of these soundtracks were overused, consequently breaking the importance of said compositions. The voice actors performed their roles well, matching with the personality each was trying to portray. The opening and ending themes were quite befitting for the anime, like "Waiting So Long" by Silver Fins or "Tell me why" by PENPALS.
~Enjoyment~
Berserk was overall a very enjoyable experience, with a fantastic story and great characters that anyone would probably remember for quite a long time. What however was a big drawback, is the fact that it was left with humongous cliffhanger, basically obliging viewers to proceed with the manga. This has another issue, as crucial events and characters from the manga were not all introduced in the anime. Naturally, as many may know, Berserk's art style is counted among the best, if not the very best, and the anime was not able to display said quality. So do I recommend Berserk? Yes, I would to anyone with an interest in fantasy settings searching for deep characterisation and a realistic story progression, yet beware, it is an open ending, and you will be probably forced to continue the manga, which, in my humble opinion, must be read from the very first volume.
Thank you for reading.
