How’s it going Multiversity Readers? This summer I’ll be joining the Summer TV Binge to review the 1997 anime adaptation of Berserk. For anyone unfamiliar with the series, think of a mix of Jim Henson’s Labyrinth and Hellraiser, set during the Hundred Years’ War. The franchise as a whole is in a really good place as of late: Kentaro Miura is writing chapters consistently, Dark Horse is publishing deluxe hardcovers in English, and GEMBA stopped making terrible 3Dish movie and series adaptations. With all that in mind, it seemed a good time to pause and look back on the original series and remember the good, the bad, and the very ugly of this classic piece of anime history.
1. Starting on a Different Note
From the very first scene of the anime, it’s made clear to readers that the show will have a tone all its own. It’s not a simple shot-for-shot version of Miura’s work, but an adaptation. I appreciate some of the editorial choices made, like starting the series with Godo working in what appears to be Dragonslayer while Guts looks on from the shadows, instead of the cringeworthy sex scene in opener of the manga. Often times the gore, sexual violence, and overall grossness of the manga is toned down enough for the anime to be watchable, but not so much that it loses the gritty feel of the series. Some characters are removed to simplify the story, including Guts’s companion and comic relief, Puck, and his mentor in the ways of demon fighting, The Skull Knight. While their removal may help streamline the story, it also leaves Guts alone and companionless. In an already dark story, those changes make the entirety feel all the more hopeless.
2. 1990s Anime Music
Berserk is one of those animes that is defined by a handful of songs, and we are treated to one of them a minute into the series, with the Japanese punk-pop theme “Tell Me Why.” It’s not exactly what one would expect from a dark fantasy series, but then again Berserk is built on weird. In the first two episodes, we hit most, if not all, the staples of the series, from the haunting vocal melody of “Guts’ Theme” to the techno beats of “Ghosts.” The soundtrack is all over the map, and honestly can be jarring when watching at times, but those songs linger. Like all good anime soundtracks, it is just a nonstop series of earworms that will last long after you watch.
3. Still Life
Like with the music, Berserk shows a bit of its age in its use of long pans over still frames in lieu of full animation for the whole episode. It’s a stark contrast to the newer iterations, which have so much motion on screen that the scenes become unwatchable blurs. In most shows, I find them a bit hokey, but in Berserk they take on a quirky life of their own. The manga is filled with large two-page spreads where Miura forces the reader to stop and just take in the breathtaking scenes of beauty and horror that he creates. Berserk is always a careful balance of beauty and horror, and you are expected to stop and appreciate both. The anime captures this same feeling; having a 30 second long pan over a still image of a burning village or the beauty of Griffith in the sunset force you to appreciate the artwork in a way you otherwise might breeze by.
4. A Memory within a Dream within a Memory
I guess somewhere in this post I should probably talk about the episodes. “The Black Swordsman” awkwardly jumps between time frames multiple times. It’s unclear when the opening scene takes place; s it in the back half of the ‘Golden Age’ arc or the beginning of ‘The Conviction?’ Doesn’t matter. We then skip to the ‘Black Swordsman’ arc for most of the episode, before jumping into the ‘Golden Age’ arc, which is a backstory that shows the relationship between Guts and the series’ prettyboy, Griffith. We don’t stop there, though. In “Band of the Hawk,” we see a flashback, in the form of a dream, to the trauma that shapes Guts’ young life and leaves him unable to be touched by anyone (luckily left unseen in the anime), and begging for help from his former mentor Gambino. It’s a lot of backtracking for 40 minutes of screen time, and leaves you unsure of where the series is actually supposed to be going.
5. The Hilltop
In the manga, there is a scene where Guts comes face to face with the five demon lords known as The Godhand. It sets the stage for the entire series, lays bare the true conflict that will drive the narrative and introduces us to the main actors in dramatic fashion. For the anime, that moment is the final scene of “Band of the Hawk.” In it we see Guts, Griffith, and Casa atop a hill, entering into a struggle that will consume them all before the series ends; a duel that will never truly end for either of the men, and that will drag Casca in time and time again. A classic love story: girl loves boy, boy loves boy, boy loves bloodshed, girl may also love other boy, boy turns into demon, and you know the rest. The episode ends on a cliffhanger: Guts has been wounded but is still fighting, Griffith seems to be caught off guard by Guts’ counterattack and we cut to the end theme. While the duel ends at the start of the next episode, that struggle is what will carry the series to its end.
