Please note: this review is a warning, and is focused primarily upon the start of the manga. The manga is, of an overwhelming proportion, garbage, would be the warning. Don't take this lightly. And don't think I'm being unfair to the manga; this is merely the objective truth.

This manga is thoroughly terrible in nearly every possible way; art (ugly and disgusting), story (there is none), and characters (stock characters with no depth, ego, or even self-awareness).

The art: Comparing the artwork in chapter 318 with that in chapter 3, Guts somehow managed to get uglier (ever so slightly), and the thought of seeing his ugly face for 300 or so chapters would be absolutely unbearable. There are many characters that aren't so hard on the eyes (though manymore expendable ones who are) in the manga, but Guts will be there to torment you for good. The art style is detailed however, and remains relatively consistent. The monsters and such—rather, the humans, which are synonymous in Beserk--are graphically disgusting, vile, aand gross, which was perhaps intentional, with the purpose of contrasting with Guts’s own character design; however, I cannot approve of a foil between the bad, the ugly and uglier. Don't read with a weak stomach.

Characters: So in the beginning, ugly bastard just chops his enemies down, and generally acts like an ass towards everyone he meets, and they, normally monsters and abominations respond in kind. The only other character outside of this pattern is simply “there,” and hangs around Guts for no real reason. An absence of sentient life; the cast is essentially a huge cast of monsters and abominations.

Story: Guts chops up his enemies and acts like a psychopath, which to be fair, correlates with the title, Berserk. Finally, he is shown to have some history, but is pretty irrelevant. Everything that happens is rather generic and painfully boring, and is made even worse by the art and character designs.

Note again; this review is a warning to anyone starting this manga; you're going to be digging through a lot of crap before you get to anything good; expect a godawfully long and boring read through volumes of disgusting, mindless, and and tasteless violence.

Of course, it must be possible for people to get through the beginning, since the ratings are positively skewed. If you are able to stand Guts’s character design for hundreds of chapters. If you are that intent on reading this manga, I recommend "skipping to the good parts" assuming they exist. If you do enjoy the ugly and grotesque, this manga is certainly for you.