Berserk

[Mynd Hed]

Well, I finally rented the first two Berserk DVDs, and man was I impressed. The budget was clearly kind of barebones, and they used some cheap techniques (like looping animation, bad frame rates, still shots) in places to make up for it. But I think that they make up for it rather well- the still shots were very well-drawn, and the animation in the fight scenes was excellent.
The characterization was, in my opinion, some of the best I've seen in any anime, on par with my two current favorites, Cowboy Bebop (natch) and The Big O. The writing was a little slow, but I like the idea of having the anime be a "frame story" in which the main plot is one long flashback sequence.
Unfortunately, the dub was rather bad- the voice acting for the main characters was only okay, the supporting voices were horrible, and the voices matched the mouth flaps rather poorly. Still, it's watchable, and the subtitles are there for those who don't mind reading.
I'm considering purchasing the first two DVDs, and I understand the third is coming out soon.

Unfortunately, I understand that the series was never really finished, stopping at twenty episodes (whereas I understand the story in the manga went on far longer). I'm trying to find out (without much luck) the greater release schedule for the American DVDs as well as whether there are any plans to televise it in America.
If anyone has any info on that or has a link to a good web site with the information, I'd appreciate it. Also, does anyone know what the story is with the Berserk manga? Is it available in translated form in the U.S.? Thanks in advance.

Any other thoughts on the series itself are certainly welcome as well, of course.

[Mr. Obsession]

I know our resident Astronaut is going to think I had a big bowl of crack for breakfast or something. But I never really did like Berserk.

A lot of the time it felt like they were going overboard in the battles and stuff because they could. And yes I know it was toned down from the manga. A lot of the time I felt the intended effect was lost because it went too far. Granted there were times I was going , but most of the time I was going "ehh".


However, I did like the music and character designs.

[Mynd Hed]

I feel that to be an acceptable criticism. For such a realistic show (in a characterization sense, that is) they did go a bit overboard with certain things like the size of the main character's sword in the first episode. I personally don't mind that- I tend to suspend my disbelief a little more with imported stuff than American stuff, just because I'm aware that I'm not the intended audience for it and to someone with a different cultural background it might not seem so unbelievable. And for some of my friends, that over-the-top stuff is actually a selling point.

[Mr. Obsession]

Out of curiosity, how many episodes are on the first two DVD's?

I'm talking about the literal rivers of blood near the end of the series.

[JohnCrichton]

Originally posted by Mr. Obsession
I know our resident Astronaut is going to think I had a big bowl of crack for breakfast or something. But I never really did like Berserk.

A lot of the time it felt like they were going overboard in the battles and stuff because they could. And yes I know it was toned down from the manga. A lot of the time I felt the intended effect was lost because it went too far. Granted there were times I was going , but most of the time I was going "ehh".


However, I did like the music and character designs.

Okay.... crack in moderation might be a good thing, but if in any way you didn't like fwiggin' Berserk... you've clearly had too much.

Beserk lasts out to 25 episodes and does infact end on a cliffhanger that will leave you screaming and slack jawwed. Please if you can do not read any Spoilers. It's unfinished, yet it doesn't leave you dangling in the wind without complete closure.

I'm glad you picked Cowboy Bebop and Big O to compare it to, cuz those are my other top two animes of possibly all time, too.

Chech out http://www.arcticnightfall.com for more info on the series, but make sure you don't find out too much.

Berserk is brilliant and deserves to be collected on DVD like Cowboy Bebop and The Big O, before it.

As for the stills... it might be a sign of lower production values, but in no way when it's used is it done cheaply or in a way that makes the anime seem like they didn't care and were just trying to cut corners.

For those looking for the next anime Great One and the next Cowboy Bebop.... it is without a doubt or disappointment....

.... BERSERK.

[Mynd Hed]

The first DVD, War Cry, has episodes 1-5. The second, Immortal Soldier, has episodes 6-9. A third DVD, White Hawk, is coming out in September, and I'm not sure how many episodes they're planning on doing.

I try to avoid reading spoilers on general principle anyway- I'm debating whether or not I'll want to read the manga if I can find it in translated form.

But yeah, it was obvious that they didn't have a great big budget, but they also did a lot with what they had. I get the impression that they might have used a lot of the stills anyway, even if they had the budget to animate absolutely everything. They do add a certain something to the style of the series... often, in tense situations like that, that's exactly how you do remember what happened. As a series of still images. Ask someone who's been through a car crash, a gunfight, or some other survival situation like that.

[JohnCrichton]

I think the stills add a level of "OH MY GOD!!!" to whatever eye popping action sequence happens.

Whatever given guy he chops in half, when it's stilled for you in a "just in case you didn't notice" way, it's pretty cool.

I definately wanna pick up the manga, but for now it's only out in Japanese. Somewhere on the internet there's a place to download it translated, but I don't know where.

Hopefully if the DVD's sell well, they'll bring us the manga.

[Cyporiean]

The DVDs are being released like so: 5/4/4/4/4/4

6 Discs in all. If your getting it, I reccomend going to www.deepdiscountdvd.com and buying Vol. 1 with the Box.. Cause the Box just freakin Rules! and DDD has it for the best price...

Originally posted by JohnCrichton

Chech out http://www.arcticnightfall.com for more info on the series, but make sure you don't find out too much.

You like us, you really like us! ^_^

[JohnCrichton]

Sure do... that was one of the first anime sites I ever visited back in like... 1996 or 7!

Good to see it's still around and goin' strong!