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"In this world, is the destiny of mankind controlled by some transcendental entity or law? Is it like the hand of God hovering above? At least it is true that man has no control, even over his own will."
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Berserk is an ongoing, Dark Fantasy manga series written and drawn by Kentaro Miura that started in 1988. The series follows the mercenary Guts, A.K.A the Black Swordsman, branded and hunted by the demonic God Hand in a brutal medieval world.
Plot
Guts, a former mercenary now known as the "Black Swordsman," is out for revenge. After a tumultuous childhood, he finally finds someone he respects and believes he can trust, only to have everything fall apart when this person takes away everything important to Guts for the purpose of fulfilling his own desires. Now marked for death, Guts becomes condemned to a fate in which he is relentlessly pursued by demonic beings. Setting out on a dreadful quest riddled with misfortune, Guts, armed with a massive sword and monstrous strength, will let nothing stop him, not even death itself until he is finally able to take the head of the one who stripped him—and his loved one—of their humanity.
Why It's Berserk (In A Good Way)
- Easily some of the best artwork in the manga, with an insane amount of realistic detail in just about every panel. It even gets progressively more detailed as the series goes on.
- Avoids a lot of tropes in anime and manga to great effect, with no unnecessary fanservice, no overtly awkward situations, and no dense main characters, it feels much more unique than a lot of other series.
- Awesome and brutal fight and battle scenes, that are also just quite beautiful to look at, even if they're pretty gory.
- On that note, it is incredibly violent but in a good way, featuring tons of extraordinarily explicit and extremely hardcore graphic violence that avoids feeling mean-spirited and is mostly realistic in a lot of ways. Not to mention that the action is also very impactful thanks to the impressive artwork.
- Excellent design for both characters and monsters. The series even maintains consistency with scars and other changes in appearance.
- Many likable and interesting characters, especially Guts and Casca. Even characters who aren't in a whole lot of the series get great characterization and development. Even characters who are long since dead are still fondly remembered.
- Awesome story with a lot of lore in the world and many memorable moments. It takes plenty of time to build up the backstories of the characters and the world it takes place in with plenty of wars happening all over between very different countries.
- Compelling and abhorrent villains who are equally well-written and interesting, especially the ultimate villain, Femto/Griffith. It's clear that they're meant to be despised, and that's a factor that works really well in getting the attention of the audience.
- Excellent worldbuilding that shows medieval times in a very realistic way with all the disease, brutality, and all-around depravity, yet the inherent beauty that came with it all.
- The Eclipse is one of the most memorable scenes in all of manga and anime with how well-written and done the whole thing is.
- Guts is just an awesome character in both character design and personality and development and is that way without being overly edgy. Not to mention that his nickname, The Black Swordsman, is well-earned, unlike Sword Art Online which blatantly ripped that off.
- Got several adaptations in both video games and anime, with the 1997 series being very well-loved for its grittiness and faithfulness.
- Though there are some sex scenes, they're thankfully few and far between, and actually build up the story and characters.
- GRIFFIITH!!
- If it wasn't for Berserk we wouldn't have great franchises like Dark Souls, Castlevania (2017), Attack on Titan, Final Fantasy VII, Claymore, Black Clover and many more!
Bad Qualities
- Puck and Isidoro can be annoying at times, even if they do provide some much-needed comic relief.
- The King of Midland is VERY unlikable as he arrested and tortured Griffith for smitten his daughter, Charlotte, with whom he tried to have sex with himself, causing Griffith to lose his mind and unleash the God Hand and the Apostles from his pendant.
- Some mediocre villains like Guts' adopted father, Gambino, and his subordinate mercenary, Donovan, and the Holy See's chief inquisitor Mozgus.
- The first anime series, while great, had an obviously limited budget and a cliffhanger ending because of the 90's standards, and the second series got a very negative reception from fans due to its often uncanny 3D animation.
- The series is notorious for having many hiatuses throughout its whole run. And with Kentaro Miura's passing on May 6th, 2021, the future of the series was initially uncertain, leading to the conclusion of Guts' journey and his vengeance against Griffith and the God Hand in the final showdown being left unknown by then. Thankfully, it's been confirmed that the series will continue with Miura's assistants now on board and possibly continue, with chapter 364 having been released on September 10th, 2021, and thankfully in June 2022, the manga will resume with the supervision of the creator's childhood friend, Koji Mori and the assistants from Studio Gaga.
Trivia
- Makoto Yukimura, creator of the acclaimed Vinland Saga manga/anime series, has cited Berserk as a major inspiration. Ironically, that series has also been compared to Berserk in many ways, namely with its grisly but realistic violence.
- Miura has cited Fist of the North Star and Violence Jack as inspirations for his work.
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