First a little bit about me. Berserk is a dark fantasy. I love dark fantasy and honestly find fantasies like Lord of the Rings really boring. However, I don't love Berserk simply because it is a dark fantasy; when you have such an epic, epic story with some of the most memorable, coolest and compelling characters ever, it's more than enough to keep me reading.

First of all, I don't think Berserk is for everybody. Sure it has great characters, narrative, plot, emotion, etc... But it's very, VERY violent. In fact, it's bar none the most violent manga I have ever read. Kentaro Miura is a great artist but man, sometimes he comes up and draws some TRULY MESSED UP AND SCARY CRAP. Berserk has a lot of people getting dismembered and killed very violently including children and the subject of rape is discussed a lot and even outright shown. However, it is all dealt with tastefully because despite how explicit it is, it's used to show how messed up the world of Berserk is and how much suffering the victims are going through. Hell, I think Berserk is one of the few works of fiction out there that have a male rape victim as a character. However, for anyone who can withstand this stuff, there is a lot as these subjects only serve to further the story.

Speaking of story, it is simply outstanding. Like that of Rurouni Kenshin, Berserk has a simple story. It's about a man seeking revenge against his former best friend whilst protecting the woman he loves and meeting up with new friends. When it isn't about that, it's about a complete monster anti-Christ wannabe trying to conquer the world and his own companion’s misadventures and when it isn't about that, it's about how the events of the manga came to be the way they are. There isn't a lot of politics and rubbish about battle strategies and complicated stuff we don't care for, it's all about the motivations of the characters and how and why they try to fulfill them. And when an emotionally challenging conflict crosses their path, you can expect it's going to be either a very sad encounter or a very heartwarming one.

Guts himself is hands down one of the most complex, inspiring and BADASS characters ever made. Since character development plays a HUGE role in the story, seeing Guts change from a guy only caring about swinging his sword to someone who wants a bigger dream to a cruel knight in black armor and again into a man with a dream was a pleasure to read. What I love the most about him though is how he never gives up. He had to pass through ALOT of suffering before he passed 20, a million times more intense than most anime protagonists passed through yet he never gives up, lives life for life itself because life is worth living for, unlike Griffith who throws away others just to fulfill his own dreams and can never have the satisfaction of earning his wishes through hard work.

The rest of the characters range from excellent to good; Griffith is himself a great character and very effective villain. He's one of those villains who are so monstrously evil you can't help but hate them but at the same time, he is still very complex and he did start out likable. Casca is also a great female lead before and after the eclipse. Before it, she was a badass chick who warmed up for Guts and learned that there was more to life outside the mercenary band she lived with. After the eclipse, she serves more as Guts' only reason to live, the chain that holds him from falling off into becoming a downright villain.

Guts companions like Farnese, Schierke, Serpico, Isidoro and everyone's favorite, Puck are also great although Isidoro and Puck unfortunately have been the butt of too many pointless jokes recently. They all pass through some character development and Puck himself is like Casca after the eclipse a morality chain to Guts. It's even referred to in story.

Then we have the artwork. Google Berserk manga and you'll immediately see why everyone loves the artwork. Almost every page is like an Albrecht Durer woodcut with its detail and expressions. It's just beyond brilliant. Pity it takes a very long time to release a chapter because of that...

Now for the bad stuff. Firstly, recently Berserk has been engaging in a lot of comedy and jokes. Even Berserk isn't immune to 'chibbiness' and when 'chibbiness' was used in the early volumes like when Guts playfully spanked Casca (her and Griffith's 'WTF' reaction makes me laugh so much) or Puck's 'chestnut mode' and his short-term memory (chibi godhand, oh my gosh), it was hilarious. But when you have a character like Isidoro acting like a monkey or a serious character like Schierke becoming really super-deformed like a blob monster like in the recent 'Sea God arc', it really distracts from the very serious story and just looks awkward and out of place. I mean, when was Berserk ever meant to be funny? Even Puck has been reduced to nothing but a joke character.


The 'Sea God arc' itself while not bad didn't reach the usual quality of Berserk. Captain Sharkrider was very annoying and out of place and the nature of the mermaids themselves was really clichéd and uninspired. However, there were still a lot of awesome moments in that arc and the business that was happening with Griffith's side of the story more than made up for this lackluster-by-Berserk-standards arc. The first two and a half volumes, or until Guts meets and fights with the Count are rather bland. While cool, they're not really well written and essentially are what you call senseless violence. Also, the art was average.

However, none of these flaws take away from the story or experience. In conclusion, Berserk is a very well done epic with some of the greatest and most memorable characters ever and one heck of an inspiring protagonist. I give it 9 out of ten and not a full 10. Why? Yes it's a masterpiece but it's not finished yet and only the future knows how awesome the ending will be. If it is going to be as awesome is not more than expected, I will certainly bring it to a ten. Right now, Berserk deserves a 9 in my opinion.