Dark fantasy, the supernatural and good old fashioned sword play come together to make the 1988 anime and manga series, "Berserk." This franchise has been out longer than I've been alive and after hearing about it from so many of my friends and various forms of media that I watch, I finally decided to jump into the series.
"Berserk" began as a manga series back in 1988 and it was finally adapted into show format in 1997 for 25 episodes covering the Black Swordsman arc and Golden Age arc. Three film adaptations of the Golden Age arc were produced and released following the main character Guts' young years as a mercenary in the well-known group, the Band of the Hawk. I was already smiling because of the cool name. In the first film, The Egg of the King, shortly after fighting in a war, Guts is recruited by Griffith, the leader of the Band of the Hawk. His skill has attracted the man to make him join but Guts refuses and is defeated twice by him, the price being that Guts joins the mercenary group. Together, the feelings of rivalry and contempt that Guts holds against the man that beat him turn to that of friendship. I must say I enjoyed the portrayal of their relationship over the course of these 3 movies, it truly shined amid the darkness and brutal themes in the series. The Band of the Hawk's services are bought by the Midland Kingdom. During one siege they encounter a demon named Nosferatu Zodd who reveals to Guts that Griffith would be his doom. Their victories in battle earn Griffith a fast track to raising his status from commoner to serving a high place in court. This prompts a failed assassination attempt by Yurius to which Griffith sends Guts to kill him and forced to kill his son so as not to leave any witnesses. He is left emotionally scarred by the night’s events and Guts would later overhear his conversation with Princess Charlotte about his idea of friendship.
The second film, The Battle for Doldrey takes up the bulk of the run time. It’s been 3 years ever since Guts has become a member of the Band of the Hawk and he now holds the rank of captain and is well respected by his subordinates. The group is still under contract by Midland and now they must capture the fortress that is Doldrey. It’s a suicide mission but Griffith decides that he and his men can capture the castle alone. After a fierce battle and the execution of a daring plan, they take control of Doldrey. Guts after thinking on Griffith's definition of friendship, decides that in order to be equals with him, that he must leave the Band of the Hawk, The two of them settle the conflict by sword and this time Guts wins, completely breaking Griffith's sword. He's deeply hurt by his former ally leaving and later Griffith is imprisoned after getting caught sleeping with the princess in his fugue state.
The final film in the Golden Age trilogy is The Advent and all the story lines and plot developments come to fruition. One year has passed since Guts' departure and Griffith's imprisonment and the Band of the Hawk are on the run now considered criminals. Casca has become the impromptu leader of the mercenaries and Guts returns from his journey. He and Casca admit their feelings for one another and they learn that Griffith is being held in the Tower of Rebirth but months of physical and mental torture has left the once handsome and adept swordsman a mute cripple that is barely alive. After realizing what he has become, he tries to commit suicide but instead he finds the necklace that he once wore that held the Behelit. A solar eclipse occurs that transports him, Guts, Casca and the remaining members of the Band of the Hawk to an alternate dimension where demons reside. They meet the powerful archdemons called the Godhand and they offer him the chance to be reborn as one of them but it costs the lives of the people he once called his friends. He knowingly accepts this and nearly everyone is killed. Guts tries to free him but fails and Griffith is reborn as Femto. Casca is captured and Griffith proceeds to rape her in front of Guts and makes eye contact with his former friend the entire time. Casca and Guts are spirited away back to their world and he vows to kill the Godhand and Griffith and Casca mentally regresses to that of a child losing her sanity in the nightmarish hell she suffered.
I really enjoyed these 3 films, I watched them all back to back and they're not long at all. Each film is about 90 minutes in length but they'll never drag on or bore you. The battles in the show are gruesome and bloody and gory. One of my favorite scenes is watching Guts take on 100 men in a forest to give Casca an escape path and he just goes nuts slicing and dicing everything in his way. I do also have to give mention to the dubbed voice work. It is phenomenal and every voice works well for the character portrayed and the tone of the scene. One fact that I do enjoy about the Golden Age arc is that there is really no clear villain until the end of the final film. Granted, Griffith gave me a weird vibe from the moment of his introduction but his cool, intelligent and calm nature charmed me and he merely became someone I didn't wholly trust but I ignored his ambitions. That allowed me to focus on the rest of the cast as they developed rather than them reaching this eventual plot point they must defeat. And Jesus, Griffith's turn is sudden and completely villainous. He sacrifices his friends to become an archdemon without a second thought and the rape scene is actually horrifying. I was seriously angry that he could do it without so much as a word to anyone and so coldly. He earned his villainy. That payoff at the end of the third film got me excited for the new Berserk anime series that is covering the next arc, The Black Swordsman as The Golden Age is a prequel. I originally started out with the first episode of this new series but the animation threw me off from enjoying it but watching the Golden Age films and seeing the same style opened me up to it gradually and now I am enjoying it especially with the context of the three films events.
I definitely recommend checking out Berserk. It’s dark and gritty and bloody and violent but so worth the journey.
