Story:
The first mistake is skipping the Lost Children arc. In doing so, viewers with no idea what Berserk is are left wondering what's really happening. What's the goal? It isn't very clear for many episodes what the intended goal is for Guts, and it's only about 4 episodes in that we're introduced to characters with a legitimate purpose. To engage in this issue further, however, imagine you had only seen the Berserk movies (which I highly recommend) and you went straight into this. It's evident there was a time-skip. This can't be shouldered by quick, dreamy flashbacks. There's a reason Miura wrote it as he did. It couldn't have been done any other way. Or, rather, it couldn't have been done WELL any other way.
So really, the first parts of this anime are only accessible for fans of the manga. However, fans of the manga won't appreciate the schlock that is the first episode. Right off the bat, Guts is shown destroying a Tree Ent that is oversized in its manga depiction. Guts clearly cannot win, but with one measly strike, he does something borderline magical. Fans of the manga know that Guts is a good fighter but he wins with cunning swordsmanship. There's a 'power creep,' so to speak, that is very subtle and on a slow incline. There are enemies that Guts can easily tear apart and then others that overpower him. Those that overpower him take time and effort to defeat. We see this happen later in the show, but anyone who doesn't know the seriousness of this effect will not care because in the first episode we see him lay waste to a fantastical creature that is far more threatening than anything else in the show. This takes all tension away for later sections of the show effectively 'effing' the pacing.
And, while discussing pacing, holy cow is it bad. I'll reiterate this in the Sound section as well, but holy cow is it horrid. Scenes jump around, music is cut off, this is a real mess. I don't think anyone knew what they were doing when storyboarding, but that's a given considering the same animation team worked on Teekyuu. Anyone who has seen that anime knows exactly what I'm getting at.
The story carries itself well enough later on in the show but it's bogged down by a lot of nonsense. The pacing is so poor, like unbelievably so, and all I want to do is strangle whoever thought it was a good idea to cut some of the most moving scenes short within this work. The Tower of Conviction arc isn't one of my favorite arcs in Berserk but it has some moments that earn themselves respect within the narrative, and the team who worked on this anime seemed to ignore some saving moments.
I can't go full negative on Story, though. I can't say that things worked, persay, but I can say that I enjoy the narrative of Berserk and this arc enough that seeing it animated, and represented in this medium (albeit poorly) still earns itself some credit. I mean, at least my sister thought it was cool, and now we're going to watch the movies and she'll read the manga, so it did SOMETHING good if she can find it enjoyable as a newcomer, right?
Art:
Yikes, I had hope for this despite it's 3DCG production. I thought Ajin did a great job with its animation and figured Berserk had the same potential, but then I learned what other anime the production company had worked on. At that point, it had all gone downhill. Even the 2D sections (mostly non-important characters) were stilted and weak. Ajin had humbling combat sequences thanks to great sound design and animation, but Berserk couldn't even handle itself with good combat sequences. Some of them looked alright but most of the time it was cheesy and lame. Underwhelming is a good word for it.
Damn, though. There's so much wrong and as I type this review further I keep coming through each section and writing even more. For instance, even the pacing effects the artistic choices. When the brand is visible from the Tower it isn't shown what it is but Guts is panicking, then a later scene it's shown when the effect is gone. Why was this done? Who story boarded this? Did anyone not read how it functioned in the manga? It was a single page, completely petrifying the reader. All of these little things add up to this giant pile of crap.
Sound:
I figured Shiro Sagisu would have been able to produce a soundtrack as powerful as the animated films but that turned out to be wrong. The direction of the whole anime is very... adolescent. It tries to be cool rather than what Berserk is: horrible, depressing, but filled with an overabundance of hope. This was captured in the whole of the Berserk trilogy films and is completely vacant in Berserk (2016). There's even this horn call that Guts has when he jumps on screen sometimes and it's absolutely horrendous. Man, it's just crazy how much Murphy's Law took hold on this anime.
One big point of discussion I've seen is the sound of the Dragon Slayer. Sure, it's a bit strange, but I found it somewhat neat. What really bothered me was how repetitive the sounds became. It was at that point that I became tired of the sound chosen for it and wished they did something different. In all honesty, it didn't need an unrealistic sound. It just had to sound like a sword, but bigger.
Character:
Things function fairly well in this area. The problem isn't so much the characters but how they are handled through pacing and character themes (so, again, some more music discussion.) I don't really think I can discuss this much further considering I've already said so much elsewhere. The characters here aren't fantastic considering Guts is portrayed as an overpowered in the first episode, then as a slow in the third (having an embarrassingly long discussion with an apostle made me think of how the Gantz anime is all talk and no shooting) and then having characters like Puck take on full comedy relief despite his character during this arc remaining quite serious.
Puck has always been a fun character in Berserk but he didn't become this comedic until later arcs. For some reason, they decided to make him really 'funny' early on but all it does is take away. Again, I think the problem comes with the direction this anime has. It's adolescant and childish. It does certain things in its production that are made for teleivison, when this is a narrative made for film. It has to follow a more open set of rules, but television productions are more restricted, especially in Japan. So, the show is made much lighter despite it needing to be grimy and disgusting. This whole arc needed to have the same tone as the third Berserk movie (something this film did perfectly) immediately the show needed to be dark and brooding, and Puck could have a few jokes here and there but the show needed to keep that theme of pure filth.
I know I'm derailing a little in the character section but let me continue just for one more paragraph about the overarching theme. This part of Berserk, along with the previous unanimated arc Lost Children, is supposed to be disgusting not just for Guts but for the world within Berserk, too. It means we can get to comedy and stuff after Griffith returns. Why? Because in the lore that's the purpose of the Hawk, to bring order and safety to the people of Midland and, as Griffith wants, the world. We needed a darker tone show to emphasize how the following arc is lighter for the world in Berserk and for our characters. I hate Griffith as much as the next guy but he, for the most part, sets the tone int he entirety of Berserk from the Golden Age, Tower of Conviction, and beyond. This narrative needed to be like carrion so that his arrival is like the spark of (false) hope that everyone wants in Berserk. This anime didn't do that, and now we're stuck with it. If these anime productions finish off by 2018, then maybe we can hope that in 10 years we'll get this portion reanimated. But, until then, here's what we have.
Enjoyment:
So, I suppose I could have discussed the above here, but I'll just say this: Many glaring issues arise in Berserk (2016) but there was something I kept telling my fiancee while it aired. "It's Berserk, and I'm going to watch it anyway." As it is, I enjoyed it enough for one watch. I wish this were an amazing production but, if we're being honest, most anime (or any media production nowadays) suck. We just got unlucky that Berserk (2016) ended up being one such production. I don't have high hopes (or any) when it comes to Berserk (2017), but I'm excited for the manga to come off hiatus for a short while, so that's something to look forward to.
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