Berserk

I sincerely think that this is a literary masterpiece, and it and Vagabond both stand atop the manga world. This is not an essay, i don't want to have a 10.000 word review. I just want to pay a little respect to the series that opened my heart to the hobby of reading manga.

If you haven't read this, please do, it will certainly be a life-changing experience, at least it was for me. The journey Guts goes trhough is heart-breaking, gory and beautiful. Murata's art is god-like, and only got polished trhoughout the 20+ years this series has been ongoing.

Thank you Murata, for creating this series and keeping up with it even after more than two decades since its first serialization.

Berserk, is a disgusting story. It is a revolting story. However, above all, it is a human one.

Yes, the famed Berserk manga is a great one, with great moments and great characters; but one not for the faint of heart.

Story- 7

The concept is very simple at first glance. Big man wielding big ass sword, goes around hunting demons. Along with its medieval setting, the basic synopsis is your typical revenge story. However, when digging a bit deeper, the story becomes much deeper and more captivating. You can really get a sense of drama and turmoil when it is demanded; and what I mean by that, is that author Kentaro Miura can convey a perfect sense of nail-bitting tension that tortures you while you await each new chapter.

No where, is this more noticeable, than in the famed Golden Age Arc. The Golden Age Arc is my, as well as many other's, favourite arc of this entire series. Leading up to this arc, is a decent dose of character building, but when you get here, Miura's abilities as a writer is on display.


This arc is, in my view, a lot more positive and upbeat compared to the rest of the manga, but that isn't a high bar to set. Characters form new interesting relationships with each other, and it is these relationships that add to the story's build-up, leading to fantastic moments where the story can effectively display a real sense of friendship, played out on the backdrop of huge wars and climatic battles that the medieval-era setting fits well with. However, I must give a very large warning, to the amount of...'profanity' found in this manga. Miura, much like G.R.R Martin, conveys the most disgusting parts of medieval society, such as violence, torture, rape, gang raping, slow rapes, and child raping. I often find myself EXTREMELY uncomfortable during these moments, but this only added to my hate of specific characters which I'm sure Kentaro wanted me to hate, and easily baited me to do so.

Art-10

While at the beginning of the series, the art can be slightly awkward at times, the quality takes leaps and bounds every volume. Kentaro can draw huge bombastic battle scenes displaying both the glorious, badass and gruesome sides of war, while also being able to create surreal moments of silence, where a single panel can contain so much emotion for the characters.

Character-10

Ah, yes. Here we are. While the story was good on its own, the entire series would have fallen flat on its back if not for its art, and more importantly characters. The characters in Berserk are very deep, as even the supporting cast are unique, and never feels like they're cookie-cutter models or made for the specific purpose of being a side character. Everybody feels like they can be the protagonist of their own spin-off, which makes it all the more heart-wrenching when they are emotionally and physically tortured.

Of course, even though the supporting cast, like the Band of The Hawks, are great and all; nothing can compare to the two main characters: Griffith, and Guts. I wouldn't dare to spoil anything, but just know that their personalities are interesting and compelling on their own, but it is their relationship and way they work off each other, that I believe, is the centre of Berserk.

Enjoyment-8

My own personal enjoyment comes mostly from the outstanding art and character, for reasons that should be obvious for anybody who read up to this point. However, while my enjoyment would be higher, it is the previously mentioned scenes of grotesque horror that I gave this a lower score than I would. Please don't misunderstand; the scenes serve a purpose, and they serve it well, but that does not change the fact that I am utterly disgusted by it.

Overall-9

Overall, I recommend this to anybody who wishes to take a look at what great character and art can accomplish, but not to anybody who can't take some possibly very graphic panels/moments.

Cheers.

Berserk may seem like a regular dungeons and dragons story where you go on wonderfull quest with friends.......Just that your friends get raped/killed, Guts losses his own arm (and sanity to some extent), and his soul mate gets impregnated by his emo leader Griffith.Guts in the meantime gets a new crew and upgrades his armor and weapons in order to kill every apostole live to get to the god hand and kill Griffith and his buddies.
Overall the story is very dark and fascinating, the characters are well written and their behaviour is changing throught the story (Guts is the primary exam of the psychological changes).The art is jaw droping in a lot of cases and Miura deserves praise for that.The only problem is the delaying of every chapter.

Alrightee alrightee alrightee, here is my berserk review this will be my first review really going at a manga in detail as i am feeling really pumped up, so to get right into it, this is a really edgy manga written and drawn by Miura Kentarou, its a dark twisted action packed story set in a very dreary world likening to the middle ages,
a young boy named gattsu is a parentless war orphan who gets raised by a mercenary who he deemed to be his pseudo parent but later on gattsu learns a hard lesson about the harshness and selfishness of human nature especially on the battlefield when he gets betrayed by the one he held with the most admiration. This leads to gattsu going down a dark cold path not trusting anyone and only doing things to survive, he then meets another mercenary who he initially didnt trust but wondered why so many people looked at him in admiration and how he could lead all these mercenaries into battle and still keep in control, later on he eventually looks up to the mercenary in admiration and regards him as his rival, then everything falls apart once again as guts whole world comes crashing down and the introduction of monsters,beasts and gods take place,Gattsu now marked for sacrifice because of the betrayal by yet another person he held close has to live a dreadful life killing monsters as they hunt him anywhere he goes.
Think i've done enough to cover the general theme of the manga without revealing too much, time to get to the unique aspects of the series and why i like it and why its rated so highly, for one the lore of this manga is so rich that i wouldnt be able to cover it all by just speaking from things i remember but i'll try my best to paint a good picture, basically there are two worlds in which exist in in the berserk world, the astral world where ethereal beings reside and the physical realm where mortals reside, the astral world has many layers in which to be explored while the human realm is divided into territories on a long stretch of land which they normally refer to as ''the continent''.The thing i love the most about the lore is its blend of real human themes and different themes from olden day folklore while never losing its genuinity to the original theme of the manga even after so many changes in the world building of the manga, the reason why this manga is so highly rated is mainly because of the art,combat and the consistency in the story even though the release isn't consistent.
When speaking in terms of art its always in the conversation for best manga art and rightfully so its truly glorious,the scenery and background are beautiful and the beasts and monsters look menacing fitting of the theme,seeing the mangaka draw up different looking beasts is always refreshing because they just look so good while speaking about the art this leads me to the characterization while the art is of top tier the characterization hasnt been anything too special, but the character development has been great for individual characters you could clearly tell that they are growing and learning from their mistakes especially the mc of this story gattsu. Ending this off i've tried my best to cover all the things i like about this manga but theres just so much more to it, i enjoyed it very much and can see why its targeted audience(young adults) really enjoy it, solid manga all round only qualms i have is the inconsistent release and characterization not being up to the standard as the other aspects of the manga.

-This review contains no spoiler.-

Introduction :
Tells the journey of a young swordsman named Guts who always attended wars as a mercenary, until he met with the leader of the Band of the Hawk, Griffith, who was interested in getting Guts to join his group after being impressed by Guts' sword skills. Band of the Hawk itself is a group of mercenaries who have an unbeatable reputation and are quite well known in the Midland area.

I deliberately wrote so briefly in the synopsis above so that I did not make blunder touching the spoiler realm, because I must admit, it is very difficult to tell Berserk without touching the spoiler at all, and believe me, the more you are blind about Berserk, the greater your potential to feel extraordinary satisfaction when Following his story. If you don't know Berserk, don't worry, I won't mock you outdated, not cool or so, because indeed the age of Berserk which is the work of Kentaro Miura is quite old. The manga was released in 1988 and still continues today(!). And the anime adaptation itself was first aired 9 years later. Although the animation picture itself is indeed unsatisfactory and has many shortcomings, but who would have thought that the low quality of the animation would actually increase the
atmosphere of the Berserk world horror so that the anime deserves a classic status. So don't be surprised if many Berserk fans recommend watching the original anime rather than the trilogy of the actual anime film which has satisfying animation and 3D quality and Berserk anime which was just released last year and continues its journey this year too. I, who have watched all versions of Berserk anime, might agree with those fans' opinions. No need to ask again how disappointing the 2016 version of the anime that the level of badness fell to an alarming level so it is not a wise step for those of you who want to get acquainted with Berserk through this version. The trilogy movie itself has above-average anime quality, but of course three films which are approximately 2 hours long in each film are not able to move all the important scenes in the manga into the film so there must be important scenes that are not aired. If you want to get acquainted with the Berserk anime version, watch the original version.
Seriously, you will not mess around with old school pictures when you have drowned with the fascinating Berserk story.

What makes Berserk great?

Everything I want is all in Berserk. Starting from the protagonist characters who are different from usual, the storyline that does not necessarily talk about the dream of the main character, the characters are filled with anti-heroes, the point of what is in Berserk managed to eliminate my thirst and thought "THIS IS WHAT I'VE BEEN LOOKING FOR". Life in the Berserk world makes the world of Shingeki No Kyojin nothing. Not only filled with blood-thirsty evil demons, the world of Berserk is also exacerbated by the characters in it who seem to be without morals and truly adhere to the legal system "The strong is he who survives." What Miura wants to convey with the brutality of life in the simple Berserk animanga, which shows that humans are actually only creatures driven by desires born of lust itself. The easiest example is just Griffith. Nearly 100% of Berserk fans hated Griffith's decision at the close of the Golden Age Arc, but I am sure, when asked if you could
make a decision contrary to Griffith, almost all of them would be silent because we inevitably have to admit that the decision taken by Griffith was very reasoned, seen from his characterization and what he had experienced before. This one is one of the many reasons why the Golden Age Arc is the best arc I have ever read in the animanga world. Do not miss the levels of gore, blood rain, severed head, body split, not a strange sight that you will find in the Berserk series that automatically makes Berserk not the right meal for those who are not familiar with these things.

To deal with such a cruel world, it is necessary to have the main character who is able to make connoisseurs of animanga like I believe can survive in such a messy condition, and that character is none other than Guts, where when I have completed the Golden Age Arc, I considered Guts is the best badass character in the world of comics, hell, he's the role model that I've been searching for long time. Character writing is the biggest aspect why Berserk deserves to be named the best manga at the moment. Both the main characters and their supporters get a portion of the character development for each arc. Take for example the three main characters in the Golden Age Arc namely Guts, Griffith and Casca who experienced significant changes when the Golden Age Arc closed its curtain. Griffith experienced suffering that he might never have imagined before, Casca who opened his heart to Guts who was previously the man he hated the most and Guts began to return to believe in a comrade in arms that he could trust and he considered friends. Everything flows as it is without the slightest impression of being rushed or forced. Miura did not stop there, because after the Golden Age Arc the characters involved in each arc continued to develop, such as Farnese and Serpico who were able to cover the void left by Casca before (if you know what I mean). But there will always be a special treatment from the author for the main character and that's what Miura did in Berserk by making Guts, the main character, a tragic hero.

Not without reason why I made Guts as a role model in my life. If you have read Berserk at least spent the Golden Age Arc, surely realize how hard the life that Guts has lived. A little backstory about Guts, he was born from a woman who had become a corpse, adopted by mercenaries who taught nothing but fighting or swinging a sword. Guts' childhood was filled with the rigors of the world of war, and when he found the figure of a father in Gambino, the army who adopted him, Guts was even betrayed in a heinous way, which made Guts have problems in trusting the existence of friends. And when he found his place in the Band of the Hawk, Guts again accepted the bitter reality (well, just watch / read closing of the Golden Age Arc). Guts is a perfect example of defining the tragic hero himself. What makes Guts's character awesome is, no matter the pain, bitterness, loss, betrayal he has experienced, Guts refuses to surrender, and continues to move forward, so I really hope Miura will end the Berserk story with Guts getting the end he deserves.

Artwork : 10/10

There may be certain reasons why the anime version, especially the most recent version, is not able to describe the true atmosphere of Berserk, yes because the material that must be raised to the anime version has the kind of god art quality.

Just, holy shit. Notice how Kentaro Miura pays close attention to the slightest detail, and not only excellence in its artistic scratches, Miura successfully builds an atmosphere of horror in the Berserk world. Seeing this picture of the god Miura I can understand why Miura often took hiatus in publishing his manga. This may be a decision that results in disappointment from some fans who can't wait to see Guts get what he deserves, but I personally don't mind, as long as the quality of the Berserk remains stable and does not experience a decline in the quality of both the telling and the art. It is precisely the minor complaint from me that Miura often places various monsters or characters that have supernatural powers which for me are excessive. Also supporting characters who often take the Guts spotlight as the main protagonist, where not infrequently Guts are only used as characters who fight great enemies without any strong motive behind them. Though the battles that took place at the Golden Age Arc or at the Conviction Arc were personal battles for Guts so that the fans felt enthusiastic about watching the battle.

Well, nevertheless, Berserk is a work that deserves to be crowned as a classic that will always be interesting to follow. For those of you who want to try Berserk, maybe it's better to start first with the anime version in 1997. Don't think too much about the anime graphics that look stiff or old, pay attention to the storyline and the characters that can make us feel
attached.

Thanks for reading.

I graded this with a 9, because it is still on-going and I don't know what to expect of the ending. Plus, I had very mixed feelings about this manga and it made me think a lot. I don't usually write reviews, but I felt this would clarify my thoughts on it.

-- Overall Impression --

First of all, this is a very gory piece of work. And I mean it. Men get slaughtered, guts everywhere, monsters, blood, torture, death, decay and all its companions**. The art is so good, that it sends chills down your spine, or at least you feel a bit sick after seeing all that. And then you get used to it, because in Berserk, the world seems like a vast ocean of despair. That is all the more reason for the human side of things (courage, love, sacrifice) to shine through.

What I really enjoyed in this manga is that the depiction of human feelings and thoughts is very real and very cruel. This manga makes you ponder and question humanity (and yourself while you're at it). It isn't just about a hero or a man seeking revenge (or at least I enjoyed the side characters more). I would recommend it only for those brave enough to endure the gore (I also avoided it for long because of the horror part), it certainly is one of the best I've read so far and it leaved a very deep impression on me.

**And also, I don't get why everytime you see women attacked, there's a rape. I mean, this is really a theme in this. Rape comes hand in hand with torture and death. Very troubling.

-- Characters and Story --

Characters: They really do seem to fit into the setting of the story: a time of war, of cruelty, of survival. Sometimes they surprise me, because when I expect them to be monsters, after committing crimes beyond imagination, they actually seem human or at least have feelings that a person could understand. For example, I liked the arc with the Count and also Luka, who almost seems out of place.

Main Characters: I am looking forward to see what happens. I really hope this doesn't turn out to be something like every female character has something for Guts which would be really annoying. Griffith is a really interesting character, because of his impatience to create a new world and his mistake, his fall. The twists of the story and quite thrilling. Speaking of twists, Caska's reaction after Griffith's transformation was a sort of a let-down but also a way for the story to keep rolling. I hope to see a come-back of some sort or an insight on her thoughts/feelings.

Story: On first sight, the plot may seem kind of boring (the betrayal and the revenge cliche), but it gets better because in my opinion, the characters are complex and Guts's view isn't always single-minded. But I don't know where or how the story will end, so I wouldn't bet on the story yet. So far, it was quite enjoyable, especially the time skip in the past.

O que dizer desta obra prima,meu mangá favorito,possui um enredo extremamente bem trabalho q não apenas se passa em um dos períodos mais fascinantes da história como possui varias referÊncias incríveis aos eventos e a influentes personalidades q viveram nesse período,personagens incrivelmente fascinantes com um destaque especial para os protagonistas guts e griffith,q possuem dois dos melhores arcos de personagem q eu já vi,o traço é o segundo mais lindo e detalhado q eu conheço e ainda com toda essa complexidade q envolve filosofia,política e reflexões maravilhosas sobre a vida este mangá ainda consegue ser simplesmente perfeito no quesito ação e violência tendo lutas e massacres q ironicamente são um maravilha para os olhos

No entiendo como Miura pudo hacer algo así.
un arte hermoso, una historia interesante, unos personajes increíbles y en general una obra de esta calidad, pensaba que era imposible llegar a este nivel.

que grande Miura, tomate todo el tiempo que necesites para publicar los capítulos bebe, te lo mereces.

Guts es un protagonista tan buenooo, de los mejores (sino el mejor) que he visto enuna obra de estas.
lo mismo puedo decir con Griffith, es sencillamente espectacular el trabajo que hizo con estos 2 personajes. la manera de actuar, de relacionarse, las desiciones que cada uno toma a lo largo de la historia siempre estan respaldadas por algo que les da peso, les da logica.

no tengo nada mas que decir, serian puros alagos, aunque un plus de algo que me gustomucho fue la manera de representar a Dios o la causalidad, sublime Miura, sublime.

The only reason I regret reading Berserk is because now no manga or anime even comes close to how good it is. It might act as a turn off to some younger viewers because of the violence, complex story line, sex (probably not), and tragedy.

Everything in this anime is perfect and might take a little difficulty to be appreciated because of its age.

It's original
The artwork is amazing
The story line is tragic and superb
It's the coolest and saddest thing you will ever read

This is my first review so i am sorry if its bad.

I started reading berserk because of the cliffhanger ending that the anime left with, who couldn't resist!

story: 9
i gave the story 9 because it's an interesting, original story line that makes you want to read on. usually fantasy story lines go over the top, but in this case berserk was just the right amount of gore, supernatural and war but it wasn't completely overrun by it. i don't want to give any spoilers, but if you have seen the anime the chapters where the anime leaves off, the story line starts getting more interesting. the only flaw in the story that i think it only deserves a 9 because some parts drag on a bit, the parts where the story has to develop and nothing much is happening.There is a lot of nudity and sex scenes in this manga but don't let this put you off if you're not a fan of that sort of stuff because it's not there for the fun it helps develop the story and characters.

art: 10
i gave the art 10 because every page in this manga is a piece of art work, Kentaro Miura's art is outstanding and if you are lucky enough to own a volume of this manga you will treasure it forever. The art is so detailed and very unique no others compare.

character: 9
the characters in berserk are portrayed perfectly, guts/gatts the swordsman goes through many hardships and his personality shown in the manga show realistically how he would be after these struggles. You can see the relationship between guts and griffith change and warp throughout the manga. Also you see the relationship between guts and casca develop, the emotions are portrayed perfectly.

enjoyment: 9
i don't give tens easily so i am only giving it a 9 for enjoyment. the art, the characters and the story line overall made it a very enjoyable manga and i can't wait for a new chapter.

overall: 9
as i said i don't give tens easily plus also the fact earlier about the story being boring in a few (very few) parts. the story is one of a kind and anyone even considering reading this manga should just go for it, it has everything gore, war, huge swords, battles,nudity, witches, trolls, demons, gods and touching relationships.

berserk is one of my all time favorite manga.

When looking at the 5 sub-categories above, I noticed myself giving every one a 10 (expect for enjoyment, which I gave a 9. I'll get to why I gave it that in a second). While I'm not particularly the strictest reviewer ever, I generally don't go throwing 10's all over the place. So, needless to say, Berserk is something unique.

If one were to simply look at the series briefly, the average person would probably only see it as just another over-the-top action manga with a lot of nudity and sex. But that's where they would be mistaken; while violence in Berserk tends to be very extreme and sex IS prevalent, it is done like that on purpose.

Berserk, at its core, is a horror manga for mature audiences...and I'm not talking a generic spooky, ghost-filled haunted mansion story. I'm talking nightmare-like horror. Monsters exist less for the purpose of being something for Guts (the main protagonist) to kill, but are there to represent opposition for him and his "group". Sex almost always involves rape of a horrific nature (except for one instance, which is there to give character development).

Characters are generally very believable and are not perfect Mary Sue's; every single character has at least one major flaw, which can often times play against them heavily. Guts has been a mercenary since a kid and knows very little outside of battle, making it hard for him to get along with others often and coming off as psychopathic at times. Griffith (the main antagonist) tries to do everything perfectly, which leads to him, more or less, going insane at one point in the series when he "messes up". Casca (Gut's romantic interest) is a female solider who tries to throw away her femininity in order to become an excellent solider. These are just three examples of why characters in Berserk are interesting: they have flaws that make them more believable and (sometimes) relateable.

The art style is great, using heavy amounts of black to express the bleak tone of the series. If there was ever one manga that has a haunting-like nature to it's world, it would be Berserk (post Golden Age, one of the plot arcs of the series).

The plot is almost always excellent. If there was one manga that could be compared to epics such as The Epic of Gilgamesh or The Odyssey, it would probably be Berserk. The only two complaint I have with the story (and the reason why I gave enjoyment a 9) are due to pacing problems (in my opinion). There are two instances where I feel the pace of the story feels off.

The first is the very first 2 and a half volumes, which are very hit or miss in my opinion. When I went back and re-read these chapters, I found myself thinking 'you know, they probably could have cut that part out' or 'that chapter could have had these parts trimmed down'. While the Golden Age arc gives great insight to what the heck is happening and is great payoff for sticking with it, it may put off some readers who may find the beginning too confusing.

The other part is probably the part that I feel is the bigger of the two problems. After the Golden Age arc, we head into the Retribution arc. This arc starts off with a huge nosedive in quality from the previous arc. While this arc eventually becomes good, the very first sub-plot of this arc is almost completely irrelevant and comes off as very dull and bland when compared to the exciting and well-written nature of the entirety of the Golden Age arc.

However, these two issues are not even close to enough to bring down this great series in my eyes. Berserk truly does deserve to be the highest rated manga on MAL.

Bottom line: if you want a manga with memorable characters, interesting themes, great art, and a captivating plot and are not afraid of graphic violence and sex, definitely check out Berserk.

Overall: 9.75

Everyone has good things to say about Berserk, but no one really recommends it for what it is. Berserk is an amazing epic fantasy series, just like a A Song of Ice and Fire (Game of Thrones) or Lord of the Rings. Yes the world building is that expansive and the story is that good, and it also has insanely amazing art. If that doesn’t sound like a good series to you, I don’t know what would. The only reason why some people shouldn’t read Berserk is that it is very graphic. There is sex, violence, and sexual violence. There is a lot of sexual violence, particularly in the first half or so. Reader discretion is strongly advised. Also, if you prefer to read completed series, you may want to wait a while to read Berserk. It has been going on for about 20 years now and I suspect it could go on for another 15-20 more. This is in part because of the frequent, long hiatuses, and because when it’s not on hiatus it is a monthly, if not an irregular series. However, if you let this deter you, you are missing out on one amazing story.

Story:
I don’t even want to go any further than this MAL summary. It’s best if you just let the story surprise you. (trust me!)

Art: Did I mention the art was insanely good? Because it is. Like I said before, Berserk has been going on now for around 20 years. The art goes from pretty solid -> very good -> 11/10 as the artist improves.

Characters: The protagonist, Guts, is an amazingly well-written character. One of the best in any fiction I’ve ever read. Also, some of the other main characters are also brilliantly written. That being said, later in the series, some side characters get introduced and most of them are pretty one dimensional. This is why some people say Berserk loses some of its luster after the Golden Age arc. In my opinion, it is still just as good but in a different way. You will have to judge that for yourself.

Excuse the the rave review in advance but in this reviewer's humble opinion, Berserk deserves all the praise in the world. It's the Sistine Chapel, the Beethoven's 9th, the Iliad of the manga world. It's a masterpiece of dark fantasy that explores themes ranging from betrayal to destiny and muses upon the human nature.

Story: 10
The epic story of Berserk unravels over multiple arcs which progressively build its world. In fact, three different worlds/eras are effectively made so far, with an earth-shattering tragedy serving as the transition between each. Most arcs have a satisfying climax in term of action as well as advancing the plot and character development. The setting is inspired by the legends and the daily horrors of European dark ages. The reader is exposed to nauseating violence that eventually becomes numbing and the absolute worst of humanity (after all, apostles are but humans who took the easy way out). Ultimately however, it is a story about perseverance and the heroic spirit, perhaps showcasing the best of humanity.

Art: 10
The art gets better and better as the series progresses. The latest chapters are pure beauty. The early volumes fade a bit in comparison when you go back and has that distinct "old school" feel.

Character: 9
At first glance, the characters seem somewhat flat but most, especially the main character, have considerable depth to them. Trauma is explored quite effectively unlike most action manga but not to the point of consuming the entire work unlike most psychological manga. Berserk strikes the right balance of making its protagonist vulnerable but undeniably badass. The rest of the cast range from being very interesting to simple stock characters. They do serve their roles as support well since, after all, this story is about our protagonist's unending quest for revenge against arguably the most detestable character across all fiction.

Enjoyment: 10
It's the perfect formula of non-stop high octane action + just enough depth and philosophy without becoming heavy and pretentious.

However, it must be said, Berserk crosses "the line" multiple times with its extremity, so much that it's hard to define said line in this work anymore. It's edgy beyond edgy, with a lot of crazy moments that can each serve as the controversy magnet of a whole series. Therefore, it's difficult to recommend it in polite conversation. That being said, if you're here, then you must be somewhat interested already. So if you haven't yet, jump right in the twisted universe of the best dark fantasy manga around.

((There is a spoiler in this review. If you saw the 90's anime, go ahead and read.))

Berserk is of course extremely popular. You probably live under a rock if you haven't heard of it. Many fans see this as a landmark not only for manga but for storytelling as a whole, and I'd say they were probably right at some point, but I'm not sure if it still holds up. I personally loved what I read, however following a number of convoluted plot developments it could no longer captivate me any more past a certain point. Thus I dropped it. Unless the author overworks themselves to an unhealthy degree, most long running manga suffer the curse of frequent lengthy hiatuses with intervals strewn by drops in quality, and Berserk is definitely one of them up there with Hunter x Hunter.

What are the strengths and weaknesses of Berserk? The artwork is definitely its biggest strength. From a visual standpoint, Miura knows what he's doing and he knows how to do it well. From the gory, bloody details of the inhuman Apostles and footsoldiers being chopped in half, to the fluently articulate armor, and to the detail in each and every brick of castle walls, Berserk simply looks beautiful.

Now, where does it falter most? I'd say it's equally with the story and characters. The characters... Initially we have Guts, Griffith, and the notable Band of the Hawk members, like Casca, Corkus, Judau, Pippin, Gaston, Rickert so on and so forth. These characters are all very enriched to a degree and show potential for very deep development, but the problem comes after the Eclipse when Griffith kills off every Band of the Hawk member to ascend to a member of the God Hand except a now one-armed Guts, a retarded Casca and an absent Rickert. What does Guts get as a replacement for his now dead friends? Two dumb kids, two fairies who exist only for comic relief and some defective church missionary chick that idolizes him. None of them do anything interesting.

Despite Guts retaining his objective to cling to life and enact revenge on Griffith, the story goes all over the place and there are point where it's even a little bit tricky to follow. I believe it reaches its peak around the Tower of Conviction arc, which encompasses every one of the good things in Berserk. Everything from there is downhill.

Unfortunately author and illustrator Kentarou Miura has grown incompetent to the point where it's not certain if this work will conclude properly, and therefore the merits of taking the time to actually read hundreds of Berserk chapters becomes obscure. Is it good? Yes. Is good enough that it's worth your time? It might not be. I can't tell you to read Berserk or tell you to stay away from it either.

Decide for yourself, but take my thoughts into account.

This series is a masterpiece to say the least , it is so underrated and gets no hype from the community despite the quality it provides in its volumes , which truly displays the lack of intellectual capacity with the community

Berserk trumps One Piss , HxH , Dragon Ball and others

Berserk is a big boy series , which is targeted to individuals on a higher intellect such as myself.

The plot in Berserk is very complex , it's about man named Guts who was born out of his mother's corpse hanging out of a tree , he was later found by a woman who is the wife of a warrior and that warrior trains Guts , however everyone that has come into Gut's life either dies or eventually betrays him , which leads to Guts questioning his own existence and finding his purpose , which really ties into the themes of this series. The plot is way more intriguing than "I WANNA BE THE PIRATE KING".

It goes without saying that the Berserk manga has the best Art Style and that the series was made in 1990 is shocking but the art style is better than any manga made up until this day , You can never really feel as immersed in any other manga than you do in Berserk.

The main villain Griffith has to be the best villain , his character is so complex and I'm not in the mood to type it all down , so just read it

Overall : This series is really enjoyable and underrated , You are just so
immersed in it and it is a privilege to be able to read this manga

look i tried very hard and forced my to like it. but boy oh boy, it does loves to prove me wrong.
i'm not gonna talk about the characters or art. because those are something you should experience while reading. but i'll say this , the art looks fantastic.
it's not a bad manga by any means, i have seen worse than this.
the first arc (golden age arc) was really good and has enormous potential to hook the readers. it's also the reason the series right now feels like shit. the first arc was soo powerful that even the mangaka doesn't know to maintain the momentum.
it really became a major problem during its other arcs. Now the series not more than a stupid gory mess which needs a lot of effort from the mangaka to put it back on track.
new comers don't be fooled by Mal's rating and

PLEASE , STOP THE SUPPORTING CHARACTERS FROM PRAISING GUTS ALL THE TIME , IT SERIOUSLY STUPID

I've made this review when I was on chapter 361, so please take it in your consideration.

-- This review may contain a little bit of spoilers.

Many people are bashing on Berserk lately. That it's boring after the Golden Age Arc, that the story was off ー well.. It's your opinion, not mine, and I don't agree on that, AND I will concentrate this review around the opinion of mine. Just mine.

-- Story (10/10) --

Berserk is an ultimate story. It presents us a cruel, but rather fascinating story of the main character - Guts, and keeps it pace around him while presenting us the chronicles of his journey.

The story is beautiful. Everything around it is fascinating. Characters and their development through it, their stories, why have they joined Griffith's group in the first place, how did they manage to survive many struggles on their path. Everything is just top notch. The story literally sucks you in, and it's because every chapter is just fascinating at it's own. Every chapter makes you read more, and more. Once you're into the story, you're just curious what will happen next. The story hides many mysteries in it, it makes the newly met characters mysterious, and that's why you just keep reading it. To reveal the new secrets. You want to know who's that that the band just met. You want to know more about the enemy that they are currently facing. You want to know why some part of a story has been just introduced to you. You literally feel like you would be inside the story. I would say - you're becoming an ultimate form of the spectator. It's just golden. And the emotions around this story and it's progression - it makes you depressed, it makes you happy, it makes you sigh in a relief, it makes you cry. It has everything.

-- Art (10/10) --

I don't think I will write a lot about this manga's art here. It's just immaculate. It's beautiful. Miura made this story gory, but at the same time he has proven, that gory can be beautiful. Some of the apostles that Guts is meeting at his path are scary, they look disturbing. But at the same time you can't stop looking at them. You're interested in their powers, you're interested how will they act and what kind of terror will they seed. Due to their earlier depiction and scariness.

The gore reaches it's absurdity level out of the scale, but it doesn't matter. Because Miura knows how to picture it to look great, to look huge compared to the viewer. Whenever you meet the absurd, not only the character is moved by it - you're moved by it too. You can't take your eyes off the absurd, of the horror that the character is facing. That's why the art in this manga is just, simply put - immaculate.

-- Character (9/10) --

Characters through the series are just awesome. They lack some parts, and you can see that Miura keeps adding them while he can't really explain their stories through the main story at all, or sometimes even introducing them and then leaving some part mysterious for a longer period of time. I mean, that's my only problem with this manga, that Miura has made so many plot twists with the new characters, that I will take a lot of time to explain their stories at least partly. There is just so much to explain, that it'd take another 100-200 chapters to just try to explain the other, side characters' stories.

But let's move to the point.

Not including what I've said previously - the characters of this manga are awesome too. You can see their development through the series, you can see how they progress. You are just hooked to them. You are curious how they'll develop a certain skill, how will they path end. You feel bad (or not) when something happens to them. You just see them in the story. They develop, they change. Just like humans do. They are scared, they will brave. The emotions are on point too. Miura brilliantly shows how their emotions develop too. Not only by art, but by their point of view and experience too.

-- Enjoyment (10/10) --

What to add here? It was (and at this point of time - still is) a beautiful story. No wonder people say that once you read berserk you just read it by volumes (well, at least if you start it now, not back then when there were ship chapters), not by chapters. And that's true. The first time I've read it, it was a few chapters, then after a while I've come back to it and in a single night a few chapters became a few volumes. Then they've became arcs, and in no matter of time I was at the latest chapter released.

OVERALL (10/10)

I mean, I think that this mark would be a no surprise to anyone. That's the mean from the previous scores, and it's just so obvious. My only problem with it is that, that Miura is not releasing many chapters every day. As far as I've read facts about him - he wants it to be so perfect, and it's so hard to meet his, and his viewers expectations. I hope one day the full story will be finished and we will know everything that we wanted to know about characters in this manga. That all of these secrets will be revealed. Anyways - this manga deserves 10/10. The story was awesome, the art was immaculate, and characters were making me sit and read in tears many times. Whether these were tears of sadness or joy. Their cruel past, their development. It's a story where you're in it. I mean, there are many stories like that, but I can promise you. This one is something different. This is a story where you really feel, like you were a friend of Guts and Griffith. This is a story where you often don't know what to feel according to what happened with their friendship. This is a story where you admire even the smallest things that appear in the manga. This is the story of Berserk.

Welcome to Berserk!

Story: The story is one of the main factors of Berserk and its very good. Some arcs worth pointing out are the Golden Age, Falcon of the Millennium Empire, and the Conviction arcs. The story revolves around imagery and the characters.

Art: The beginning chapters during the black swords man arc and the first half of the Golden Age arc isn't as good as the rest, its above average don't get me wrong but compared to the god like art work and details that come in later chapters its no where near the same. Once you get into the Conviction arc than later into the Falcon of the Millennium Empire arc you'll see a huge jump in quality and details.

Characters: The main focus is the relationship between Guts and Griffith, their relationship on why its so good isn't easily explain and is best experienced. Other than that we see the character development of Guts and how he changes in his life and some interesting and good side characters even though one might not be to your liking.

Enjoyment: For the most part Berserk is the best Dark Fantasy manga that you can read right now and I love it, its one of those edgy stories that actually works and is edgy because of the plot and not because its edgy just to be edgy.

Overall: If you like dark and gritty stories or just like good character development with some of the best art styles in Manga I suggest reading this.

The Tragedy of a Badass

Like many seemed to lately, after seeing the atrocious CGI of the new anime series, I was drawn to revisit this timeless manga once again and was especially ecstatic to do so with the newly released volume. Berserk is a series that can not possibly be praised enough in terms of writing, visuals, character design, world building, plot structure, themes conveyed, I could go on for days. This is a story so far beyond almost anything else in the medium, or any medium for that matter, it single-handedly, in my eyes, has the ability to raise what has been a somewhat scoffed at art form, such as manga, by the ill-informed to the status of high art on the level of any great fantasy novel or virtuoso's painting.

The pages of these stories could fill entire museums many times over, the meticulous attention to detail and expanse of the work is absolutely awe-inspiring. If looks weren't enough, the story could best be summarized by saying that this is an epic at a scale that would give Middle Earth a Napoleon complex, a maturity of theme and brutality that would make George R. Martin squeamish and a wealth of complex, compellingly dramatic and devastatingly tragic characters that would force the likes of William freaking Shakespeare tip his ridiculous feathered hat out of respect. This is a story that may be off-putting to those averse to violence and overwhelming nihilism at times, but to make it through along with the classic characters is an experience you'll never find anywhere else. It's as close to flawless as art can get in my eyes, 10 out of 10 baby!

Story - 9.38

The first three volumes may discourage some of the readers because it's starts off kind of slow and the initial artwork is not quite up to today's standards. However, after the reader begins the Golden Age arc it is nearly impossible to not be pulled in and become addicted to the series. It is chock-full of action, drama, character development, twists and turns, and just a dash of romance. It defies generalization and is just damn good storytelling.

After the Gold Age arc wraps up the story come back full circle to where it left us at the end of volume 3. But by then the rhythm of the manga has changed completely. The reader has established a deep connection with Guts, Casca, and Griffith and that only grows more as the story continues. You'll be confronted with conflicting emotions and think things like "I really want to see Guts put Griffith in the ground" and at the same time "Griffith is just so damn cool". These conflicting thoughts and emotions just go to show how invested the reader becomes with the characters.

Another good thing about the Berserk story is that the protagonist (Guts) is not always the focal character in every chapter. In fact, nearly all of the major supporting cast members receive a considerable amount of page space for their own stories to be fleshed out. Each of these side-stories is not only unique and extremely well developed, but also very deep and revealing as it shows the reader why these character are the way they are. One of the side stories that I found most intriguing was Farnese and Serpico's as it was so beautifully orchestrated as part of the manga as a whole.

The only problem with the story, in my humble opinion, is the introduction of magic in the manga. I feel that the magic the group "acquires" in volume 24 is somewhat exaggerated and does not suit the dark atmosphere of the story. In fact, at times it can even make some of the chapters feel a bit shounen-esk. But even still, it's pretty much impossible not to enjoy the ongoing story that is Berserk.



Art - 9.6

The artwork in the first few volumes of Berserk won't do much to impress many of today's manga readers, but at the time when the series was first serialized (1992) it was certainly well above average. Those initial volumes feature many very unique character designs (especially the apostles) and also sport a relatively high focus on detail. However, where Miura really shows off his latent artistic talents early on is through his ability to create crisp, clear, and highly fluid fight scenes.

One of the few negative aspects of the early volumes can be identified as the simple shading techniques that Miura used. Also, sometimes the character faces will look just a bit "off" and it can be a little distracting. However, these minor quality issues were most likely due to the time constraints that were in place at the time and not entirely the fault of the artist.

Then as the series progresses the reader gets to watch the artwork literally evolve. As we learn more and more about the characters and the world in which they live, the characters themselves and their environments become more and more visually detailed. The simple shading from the early volumes is eventually replaced by a hand shading technique which gives the series a more gritty and surreal overall feeling. The character designs become more crisp and facial expressions sometimes are so vivid that one look at a character's face is often enough to tell the reader exactly what the character is thinking. By the time the reader makes it into volumes 20 and beyond Miura has made it very clear that he means for Berserk to be truly regarded as a work of art just as much as it is a masterfully epic piece of storytelling.

In my own experience I have seen very, very few other manga series that can even approach Berserk's later volumes on an artistic level and, unfortunately, I highly doubt that I will ever be able to find its peer.



Characters - 9.5

The very first character you will meet in Berserk is Guts, the "Black Swordsman" with a dark past and a score to settle with his demonic enemies. Certainly not a very revolutionary character at first glance, but even though he may start off as such, his character quickly expands, and ends up as one of the most believable and human characters I have ever witnessed.

As the story unwinds, you follow Guts through his past, allowing you to experience his personality change during his constant battle against fate. You follow Guts through waves of despair and hardships offset only by the flickering fires of friendship and trust. Eventually, Guts becomes like a maelstrom of opposing emotions, and the question arises, will he continue on his path of all-consuming revenge even if it means losing everything he has come to care for?

The other characters that appear throughout the course of the story come in all different shapes and sizes and all play their roles perfectly, just as support characters should. The more important support characters, protagonists and antagonists alike, are all draped in many layers of depth, making their characters both solid pillars and interesting ingredients within the plot as a whole. From Griffith's burning ambition to the skulduggery of the God Hand, from Puck and Isidro's antics to Farnese's troubled past and uncertain future, the characters all appear vivid and alive (Although alive might not fit The Skull Knight...) and all have their own emotions, personalities and ambitions. The supportive cast show their brilliance in how they appear to the reader as actual players in Berserk's grand game, and not just as passive plot devices.

With such a cast of strong personalities and vibrant, living characters, Berserk easily cuts it's way (no pun intended) to the top score in this category.



Enjoyment - 10

The fact that I sat and read through all 295 chapters of this exquisite manga in one sitting should justify the perfect score for enjoyment! The manga has great characters - heroes you root for and empathize with, villains you can't help but admire for their ruthlessness and charisma. The artwork is dark, brooding, and gruesome and complements the story well. And what a riveting story it is... It hooks you from the first chapter and sets the stage for the most intriguing revenge themed manga on the market. Its success is testament to its quality. My only complaint is the excruciating waits between chapters.

Also, I must throw in a cautionary note: this manga is quite definitely not for the faint hearted. There is a considerable amount nudity, sex, gore, violence, and, for the lack of a better word, bad-assery!



OVERALL - 9.69



This review is the final result of a review team composed of members from the "Critics and Connoisseurs" club. The team members were:

8GaugeBrett - Who wrote the Art section and combined the individual review parts together into a whole.
Amaity - Who wrote the Enjoyment section.
Baman - Who wrote the Character section.
Ianmessku - Who wrote the Story section.

Here are their individual scorings for the Manga:
Category - 8GaugeBrett, Amaity, Baman, Ianmessku

Story - 9, 10, 9, 9.5
Art - 10, 9, 10, 9.5
Character - 9, 9 , 10, 10
Enjoyment - 10, 10, 10, 10
Overall - 10, 9, 10, 9.75

In the club wide poll held for Berserk it received an average overall rating of 9.53