The best dark fantasy title in manga form; period. Medieval kingdoms, big swords, frenzied warriors, gore, nude, sex, intrigue, betrayal, demons, a quest for vengeance, and … no ending in sight. High chances the creator will die before completing it.

The pacing of the story is definitely slow to the most part, but it is focused either on getting to know the characters (especially their demented side) or long battles with all sorts of abominations.

The artwork is amongst the best one can hope to find in any manga, extremely detailed and graphical, capturing your attention and not letting you go. Every frame is magnificent fine art and you clearly see how it takes hours to be drawn with such attention to facial expressions, clothing and sceneries. Especially the panoramic views showing entire armies clashing are breath taking. It manages to build atmosphere very fast and offering you a world most dark and horrid. Many parts of the show, usually those involving demons, are full of WTF sceneries, all of which have to do with basic carnal desires and fears. Unlike most shows with demonic dimensions, which are nothing but generic depictions of torture of the damned, here all the monsters and their Eclipse world are directly attributed to their personalities having been given in completely to their desires. The characters are not scared of getting crazy because of them. Heck, they are mostly terrified of becoming like that as well. Not because it is bad or wrong, but because it feels inappropriate for any human being to end up like that. Which is again are very interesting as a concept.

This extends to the battles, which are also extremely epic in proportions, with Guts the protagonist taking on men and monsters alike and BUTCHERING THEM TO PIECES! Plus, it uses a form of violence that is quite appealing to me; hand-to-hand and sword-to-sword battles between frenzied armoured warriors. Using magic or lasers to do the same just doesn’t look raw enough. The level of gore is sky-high (not even women and children are spared) so it is not recommended for ages lower than 15.

The actual story begins as a typical revenge against the one who betrayed the hero, but along the way slowly changes to something far more complicating than that. It does not remain on a team of heroes, protecting a good-willed generic kingdom from evil wizards and doing stand-alone missions. The world they live in has affected them and is affected back by them, all part of Griffith’s goal to leave his mark on the world by getting his own kingdom. As more secondary characters enter the scene, it turns to a war for supremacy, nobles conspire against them, dimensions colliding, desires and hatred beyond limits take over their bodies and souls. This double battlefield, the external and the internal, create a feeling far more realistic to any typical medieval story with a knight in shining armour protecting the kind king and fending off evil invaders. There are no black or white characters here; everybody is grey to black, scared by the constant atmosphere of death and decay in the name of greed and ambition.

At the same time the character DO develop along the way and don’t remain frozen in their initial role or power level. Most heavy on action and/or nude series are usually nothing without these elements while Berserk works fine even without them. The mangaka doesn’t forget them along the way and constantly offers them new challenges they need to overcome as means to grow stronger and more prepared in their dark quest. You gradually see them revealing all their inner thoughts to you, their pasts, their goals, their desires and hopes. You see them getting beaten, learning from their mistakes, maturing, being broken by betrayal and coming out more crazy than what they already were. Shows which do that in such a degree AIN’T that many. Plus, the aforementioned violence is used to bring out their weak side and hidden thoughts, something which other anime like Hellsing or Devil May Cry don’t and have them permanently frozen in a state of brainless battle-frenzied euphoria, which becomes tiresome fast.

What is also very interesting is how each one is eventually limited to a certain role, even if he or she would rather be something entirely different. Guts never manages to live a peaceful life, as he is constantly thrown in battles he can’t escape from and is addicted to mayhem. Griffith never manages to fulfil his quest to gain his own kingdom, without constantly having to sacrifice more and more of his humanity, to the point he stops being humane just to get an impersonal piece of land. And Caska, no matter how much she tries to be an independent woman, who can fend off herself and protect Griffith, eventually her own body limits her to the role of support and a target of lust by many horny men. All that are rarely seen in other shows, who follow the very simplistic view of “You can be anyone you want and achieve anything you want if you really believe in it and work hard.” Well, I am sorry but some things are simply not as easy for some as they are for others, purely because of body restrictions or lack of charisma and/or talent. Sounds depressing but it is true and this anime has the guts (lol bad pun) to admit it.

Although religion is a topic hardly mentioned directly in manga, over here it is openly trampled as nothing more than a false ideal to hide one’s dark desires. It is extremely interesting how the show uses ideals and hopes as means for clergy and ambitious leaders to control their underlings. This was never done before so openly. It even goes as far as claiming how all the demons in the show are in reality people willing to sacrifice everything in order to fulfil their desires, even if it means losing their humanity and killing everyone they love. I really liked how monsters are not treated as generic incarnations of evil or plain misguided mortals; they are shown to be the pure form of ambition liberated by the constraints of morality, emotions and ideals.

Bottom line, Berserk is fine dark fantasy material, with great action and story and characters. It rightfully deserves a place in the hall of fame in its genre, with it sitting on the throne, wearing the crown and holding the sceptre. I know many who prefer the much later Claymore manga; but nah, that one was too heavy on fan service with chicks in tight spandex and had one of the most annoying support characters in the history of fiction. So hands down; for Berserk is the king and demands you to pay tribute.

Oh, and for those of you who want more, check out Vinland Saga. It reminds me of Berserk in many ways and it is an equally good manga.