Berserk is a dark fantasy manga series set up in fiction, medieval Europe. The series garnered popularity because of its gore, psychic set-up, and link to human resilience and traumatic backgrounds. Berserk is a completely new experience for manga and anime viewers and showcases the dark reality of human nature.
The manga series was written and illustrated by Kentarou Miura until he died in 2021. His childhood friend and fellow artist Kouji Mori later resumed the series. Miura started the series as a 48-page prototype in 1988, which helped him win a prize at the Comi Manga School.
The manga series first premiered in the Jet Comics collection published by Hakusensha in 1990. In the year 1997, the first Berserk Anime series was released by Madman Entertainment.
The story revolves around the lone warrior, Guts, and Griffith, leader of the mercenary clan called the “Band of the Hawk.” Guts were born from a hanged corpse and raised by his abusive father, who turned him into a mercenary. However, one-day, Guts killed his father in self-defense and was able to leave the abusive childhood.
He met Griffith and his mercenary band, who offered him to join them. The story progresses and showcases the mercenary band’s adventures with gruesome and gore content.
Berserk manga series won the Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize in 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, and 2002. In 2002, Kentarou Miura won the Award for Excellence for his manga series, Berserk.
Overseas, Berserk won the French AnimeLand’s Anime & Manga Grand Prix for Best Classic Seinen in 2008, 2009, and 2013. It also won the Spanish Manga Barcelona award for the seinen category in 2013 and 2021.
The anime series, however, started mid-arc but was highly acclaimed by viewers and critics. It was a commercial success and was a stepping stone for Miura to expand the series further.
Also read: Best Berserk Quotes from Manga and Anime
Berserk Watch Order
The Berserk manga series has had several anime and movie adaptions. Some of them started mid-arcs and with some important loopholes in the series. Hence, watching the adaptions in a defined chronological order is important to make amends with lost arcs and get a better grasp.
Berserk (1997 Anime)
The first anime adaptation was a 25-episode series by Oriental Light and Magic. The series starts with The Black Swordsman arc and conclusively shifts to the Golden Age arc. The series occurred when medieval Europe was engulfed in the Hundred Year War between Midland and Tudor.
Storyline
Guts is a mercenary and will do anything for you if paid handsomely. However, he refuses to stay with a single group for a long time and constantly changes mercenary bands. This is until he meets with the mercenary band, “Band of the Hawk.” The band is led by Griffith, who offers Guts to join them. Instead, Guts challenges Griffith to a duel, which he loses, and he decides to join the band.
Griffith is a mysterious and optimistic individual. He owns a Beherit, which was given to him by a fortune teller, and he was told that the item signifies his destiny to become a king someday. Mid-series, an immortal named Zodd warns Guts that his doom is set up on the date when Griffith’s dream dies.
Griffith doesn’t share his plans with anyone; from beginning to end, all his actions are directed toward his ascension to the throne. Griffith’s familiarity and devotion to the Midland kingdom grows, and he becomes close with the King and his daughter, Charlotte. This sparks hatred in the minds of others as Griffith is stepping up the ladders of nobility and becomes a nuisance for them.
In the meantime, Guts’ relationship with the Hawk’s only female mercenary, Casca, increases, and he unintentionally grows up liking her. Some time passes, and the feeling is known to be mutual Casca opens up about her past and her not being comfortable with Guts cause she couldn’t see another person getting close to Griffith as she saw him as her savior and chosen friend.
The Hawks played an important role in suppressing the Hundred Year War for the Midland kingdom and were rewarded. However, Guts decide to leave the band, and after defeating Griffith in a duel, he gains his freedom. The loss and the departure of an old ally affect Griffith, who spends the night with Charlotte in her bed. In the morning, Griffith is arrested for his demeaning act, and the Hawks are branded as criminals.
A year has passed, and Guts live in a distant place while the Hawks are wanted outlaws led by Casca. Guts find Casca and her band while deciding to save Griffith from the Tower of Rebirth, where he is imprisoned. Guts and Casca save Griffith, but Griffith has turned mute and cripple because of a year-long torture.
Griffith is terrified to live in his state and activates his Beherit, which takes him and his men to an astral world of four demons.
In this world, Griffith is informed of him being their final member. But to do so, he has to sacrifice his friend as a part of a ritual. Griffith accepts the proposal despite Guts trying to stop him and is reborn as the demon Femto.
Griffith, in his demon form, then rapes Casca before Guts. Guts lose his left forearm and an eye to save his friend and escape the physical world with Casca.
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Berserk: The Golden Age Arc Movie Trilogy
The movies covered the same story as the 1997 anime series and served as the prequel to the 2016 anime series. While some of the details of the movies changed from the original manga, most of the events and its dark and gore reference were kept as it was.
The movies were developed by Studio 4°C and directed by Toshiyuki Kubooka.
I: The Egg of the King
The first installment in the three-movie Berserk series covers the initial parts of the Golden Age arc. The story starts with Guts meeting the Band of the Hawks and ends at the scene where Griffith tells Charlotte his views on friendship.
However, the movie changes certain aspects of the manga, and some of them are:
- The movie does not include the first battle of Guts as the mercenary of the Band of the Hawks.
- Guts and Griffith’s joint attack on Zodd manages only damage his arm in the movies where, as in the manga, his hand is severed. However, Zodd using his immortal powers, reattaches his limbs in the manga.
- Minister Foss of the Empire is absent in the movie.
II: The Battle of Doldrey
The second installment in the three-movie Berserk series covers the main events of the manga series, such as the relationship of Guts and Casca, the Battle of Doldrey resulting at the end of the Hundred Years War, and the capture of Griffith.
The movie ends with Griffith sleeping with Charlotte, due to which he is imprisoned, and the Hawks are labeled as criminals. Griffith is imprisoned in the Tower of Rebirth for his acts.
Certain details that the movie missed unusual to the manga were
- The movie didn’t showcase any instance of Zodd’s interference in the war to help Guts. In the manga and the 1997 anime adaption, Zodd threw his sword at Guts to help him in the war against Boscogn.
- The movie also shows a much more relaxed Hawks and them adapting well in the noble circle. Different from the original series, where they were being more apprehensive.
III: The Advent
The third and final installment in the three-movie Berserk series covers the torture of Griffith, the Hawks’ struggle to save him, Griffith’s acceptance of the God Hand, and his transformation into a demon. In the process, Casca loses her sanity due to being raped and experiencing the slaughter of his friends by once her savior and leader, Griffith.
The movie ends with Guts on his mission to hunt out the Apostles and take revenge on Griffith.
Certain details that the movie missed unusual to the manga were:
- The flashback to the King’s attempt to rape Charlotte does not appear in the film.
- In the original series, Casca was dumbstruck and horrified at the sight of Griffith’s state after a year of continuous and cruel torture. However, she manages to keep a calm and composed character in the movie.
- When Femto rapes Casca, Guts manages to stab him with a broken sword due to his sheer power and determination. He even manages to resist Femto’s telekinesis and stab him in the eye.
- The movie also shows Guts with his new prosthetic arm, armor, and the Dragon Slayer sword.
Also read: What Did Griffith Do To Guts In Berserk?
Berserk (2016 Anime)
The anime adaption covered the Conviction and Falcon of the Millennium Empire arcs of the Berserk Manga Series. The anime premiered in December 2015 and was produced by Lidenfilms.
The anime series involved the events after the Golden Age arc and Guts’ mission to take revenge on the apostles and Griffith.
The anime managed the same gory and vicious theme of the original series. The coloring is still black and gory in a threatening manner, and the movement animations are a little dull, but the viewers get accustomed to it easily. The movie continued its take on rape, gruesomeness, and horrific events.
Storyline
Guts start his journey with his new companion, Puck, an elf, and meet a priest and his daughter Collette. The journey, however, ends in a horrific site resulting in the priest’s and his daughter’s death.
In the later parts, Guts is accompanied by a boy named Isidro. Isidro started following Guts out of admiration after Guts saved his life. Guts and his company discover that the Gods Hand are using Albion as one of their hideouts and carry out evil rituals to restore Griffith’s form.
The series proceeds with Guts, Puck, and Isidro fighting the apostles and saving Casca from them. Ultimately, Griffith can incarnate in his final form and is accompanied by Zodd. Both of them flee from the site as the situation tightens.
Berserk: The Golden Age arc (Memorial Edition)
Berserk: The Golden Age arc (Memorial Edition) is the remastered version of the series trilogy released before. After the death of the series’s original author, Kentaro Miura, it was released in honor of him and to show gratitude for his work. It is heavily edited to make it fit for the television broadcast. It was made into a 13-episode series.
However, the 13-episode series has nothing more to add to the series, but it would be a delight to anime watchers. It covers the movie’s storyline in 13 episodes and gives a new experience.
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