Berserk

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

A 10. One of the several few mangas that deserve two numbers. Berserk tells the tale of a swordsman haunted by woe and bad luck."Out of the frying pan into the fire" seems to be the only way to describe this manga, for the protagonist, Gutts, always seems to find himself in worse situations than those of his preceding situations.

The storyline line is superb - one of money, love, betrayal, and death. Each of these themes seem to be ubiquitous yet vacant throughout the story. Albeit a bit slow in the beginning, the plot rockets off, forming a most complex and elaborate tale that is sure to suck you in like a vacuum.

The art is amazing as well, though a tad bit confusing at times (as is the case for most action manga). The decapitation and maiming seem to look somewhat authentic relative to the weapon swings and cleaves - a huge plus in my book.

The characters are all fascinating in their own respect. Some big, some young, yet all adventurous and brave enough to fit in such an epic story. Each character is introduced and then reintroduced at a later time with even more background information on them.

Lastly, the mangaka seems to do things differently in this manga then in others. This thing seems to be the "pragmatist POV," the POV any sensible person would take. This made me elated. If you don't know what I'm talking about, read and find out.

I don't consider myself to be much of a contrarian, so it is with little pleasure that I add this score to one of the highest rated series on this website.

I think Berserk is GROTESQUELY overrated, pointless misery porn with some very nice illustrations. The violence is hideously over the top, the worst of which is reserved specifically for its female characters, the sheer darkness of the setting mutes any of the story's supposed triumphs, and as far as I'm concerned you lose any potential allegorical worth to the brutality of the real world when you have demon rapist horses and giant rape machines to breed demon armies. I cannot see this work appealing to anyone other than voyeurs who delightf in gratuitous, inhuman suffering. Perhaps it takes a turn for the less depraved further on, but at this point I've lost interest, and at the rate Miura puts out chapters, frankly, it's not worth sticking around for.

Oh, but the art is impressive. There's that.

Here's my take after reading 352 chapters of the phenomenon known as Berserk Kentarou Miura.

Nowadays, when we look at the different media of Anime, Manga, Movie, Gaming etc. we can say that it had come a long way to this point. A lot of innovations had been done, but there are more recycled ideas and concepts that are reused over and over again.

When I ask most people around me what do they think of when I say a Man wielding a gigantic sword they quickly refer to Cloud from final fantasy VII, the monster hunter's great sword, Kisame's Samehada from Naruto etc. However, most of the are not family of the origin of who started it all an made it popular: Guts!

Most innovations in terms of story telling and character development had been done first by Berserk, if not, Berserk created the most memorable and most amazing plot twist of all with Guts and Griffith which I will not spoil here. They are two of the most well developed and fleshed out characters that you would see and read out there.

Speaking of the characters, I would also mention that in every story, the supporting cast is vital to lift the main characters up to their zenith, and Berserk does not lack in this part from the likes of Casca, Farneze, Serpico, Zodd, Schierke, and the Skull Knight.

Every arc of Berserk can stand out on its own as they are masterfully written and no page of serves as a filler; every panel of every page of every chapter of every volume is a great read. It is action packed to the very essence of the word "Action".

The art of Berserk is like fine wine, it just get better with age especially now that it is serialized monthly. Kentarou Miura produces some of the greatest manga panel in all of manga and it just grow more with age.

If there is one downside to Berserk for most readers it is the fact that Kentarou Miura have a sickness called the Togashi Syndrome which is the sickness of taking frequent haitus. Although this is a great thing for me since it keeps the quality of the manga which is worth the wait in the end.

All in all,. if you want a great action manga full of blood, gore and pure unadulterated batttles I would suggest you give Berserk a read.

I'm giving Berserk 10 perfect Schierke Spells out of 10.

This is the story of a man named Guts, who from the very moment of his birth knew death, because his mother was hanged shortly before giving birth. Shortly after he is picked up by a group of mercenaries attending to the demand of the wife of the head of the band, Guts from a young age will always train with bigger swords than he should, thus warning us of what is to come in the future.
story: 9.5
the story is simply spectacular, which literally tells the life of the protagonist from the beginning, thus appreciating all the obstacles that he will have to overcome to continue living. I will not dwell too much on this because the history must be known to everyone, simply to say that it reaches its peak in the golden age, but the level is always there, obviously some sagas are better than others but normally all of them help us to understand history and they are just spectacular.
art: 10
the art of kentaro miura is spectacular, it is progressively improving as expected but the change and improvement that occurs is simply spectacular, at first it is style is good, above average, with shades of rawness and good character design more than As it progresses, the level of detail and effort increases until it reaches the perfect.
characters: 9.25
There are extremely complex characters such as guts, casca and griffith who go through an impeccable evolution and that honestly not everyone can understand especially if you are a teenager or at least you may not fully understand it. in the case of csaca we can see how her heart divides in two and she plans to stay with the man who admires her and once saved her from a cruel fate or on the contrary choose a life with guts, but both are for her the man who ever saved her which raises if she really loves guts. Regarding guts, we see him go through multiple stages from innocence, the love that he processed from boy to gambino and his adoptive mother, the period of adaptation when arriving at the band of the falcon to end up considering them as a family and as a child who has already grown up. He ends up abandoning her, although that would be the decision that would condemn him and the rest of the band, later we see how he almost becomes a monster, on several occasions being more of a monster than the apostles up to the current arches where thanks to his new Comrades, the true new band of the falcon is gradually growing and maturing as a person and character. on the other hand we have characters like isidro who wants to be guts, being the opposite of guts ... guts was involved in war from his childhood without being able to escape while isidro escaped the war guts is the greatest living warrior as a result of his goals while isidro's goal is precisely to be the best warrior. from serpico and farnese to say that they are well built, their past is good and the author gave himself the time and the necessary pages to develop it correctly. Schierke also undergoes an improvement although he is not very noticeable and perhaps he is the weaker character narratively speaking of the group.
enjoyment: 10
regarding enjoyment the only downside is the eternal hiatus of the work otherwise a 10/10

If you take one look at either my anime or manga list I am pretty sure you will see I am a big fan of Berserk. To put it simply all I have to say is that I love this series. It is beautifully illustrated, written, and told to us. From the humble or ~edgy~ beginnings of the Black Swords Man Arc to the warmth of the Golden Age Arc. Berserk tells us a beautiful story with characters that feel real, Guts, especially in this case. He is probably one of the most fleshed-out characters to this date. I can ramble and ramble on about Berserk for hours but for the sake of time and for your sanity, if you haven't read it yet, please do. If you have read it message me I am always happy to talk about it.

Berserk, a very impressive manga. Great art work, story not too bad, lot of nudity and gore. I like, I like. If you ever read Shin Angyo Onshi,( i think that's how it's spelled) it's pretty much like that. The main protagonist has a glorious past but later was betrayed by his comrade, who eventually attained godly strength and the protagonist wants to extract revenge on the near-impossible-to-defeat villain.

Forgot the main character's name, but basically he can wield a big ass sword. Has like 60 gallons of blood inside him. Can get strike by lightning, burn by fire, hit by cannons and sh*t, and he'll still be alive. In my opinion, this guy might as well be an undead.

The villain of the story, aka the boss, started out as a near homosexual pretty boy who's charisma is great enough to have any men/women be drawn to him. He eventually attained god-hood and is the main protagonist's final goal.

Good read.

Berserk is an extravagant work by the mangaka, Miura Kentaro. The storyline of berserk was excelletly paced. The first chapter draws the viewer in perfectly hardcore action scenes as well as creates mystery through many of its unanswered questions, It was started as seinen (men's) manga approximately 23 years back in 1989and has never dropped from the top 5 on the seinen's list. The flow of the story never bored the viewers. In most cases, stories get boring and not seem to be ultimately going anywhere.One of my grip is that the manga is still going even with Miura releasing just one every two months or three, and it is totally moving towards an eventual end. The only prolem that caught my attention is that it is updated like once in a blue moon. Current ratings says berserk is the #1 in Top 10 best rated (bayesian estimate), and #2 in the Top 10 best rated (weighted average), and #9 on top 10 most popular, kick ass.Berserk also got some public recognition in USA, althourh it'd still be the greatest even if it got last place in the poll. Other than the flow of the story and it action what struck me was the artwork. The shades, strokes and the clearity in the design of the characters was a breathtaking work by Miura.

Guts, known as the black swordsman, wandered out of vengeabce through an era which one can recognize as the medieval period. He was in search of the man named Griffith who branded him as an unholy sacrifice. His path was devoid from the rest of the humanity. He had to slay demons attracted towards his neck because of the branded mark. Berserk is a dark and brooding about outrageous swordsplay, fate and dreams.

The goldem age arc details the life of Guts prior to him becoming "The Black Swordsman". In this arc he travels through a variety of locations throughout the Chuder Empire and the Midland Empire. He fights over 30 Apostles during this arc, mainly encountered during the Eclipse...of the three major Apostles he battles, one of which he kills...another he grievously wounds and the third he barely manages to survive against. Guts meets Gambino, Griffith, Casca and the Band of the Hawk in addition to various other characters, friend and foe alike.Guts also loses only a handful of these fights, being the first against Griffith, then against Zodd, then against Adon Coborlwitz and ultimately is beaten down by Apostles during the Eclipse. This shows that berserka was not based on one sided probabilty.

Over all i haven't found much of flaws in the story, the art is detailed. Maybe i daresay you find a better seinen manga than berserk. All thanks to Kentarou Miura who is a pure genius when it comes to character development.

No wonder the 3 part OVA and the Musou game solely focused on the Golden Age Arc, cause any arc outside Golden Age is straight up trash, and most likely the Japanese manga readers know that well.

The art is quite well detailed, but that doesn't always mean it's eye-candy, and Berserk is no different. The art was best done on Guts' initial design, being the only uniqueness I've seen in Japanese art so far, for a supposed giant sword wielder.

Guts is the only standout character throughout the whole series, due to his character development and realistic emotional changes; also the fact he's a walking tank. Griffith becomes completely disappointing from the Millenium Falcon arc onward. I would've even appreciated him as a complete Faggith, if he wasn't dumbed down, especially when he orders those weird ass tasks to Zodd in that same arc. I liked Casca in the Golden Age arc too, but a certain curse afflicting her yearns me to be cured, but Miura had to smoke blunts and write the story off the top of his head for him to illustrate one chapter per month.

Speaking of the arcs, like I said, only Golden Age was good, allowing me to score the 1997 anime adaptation a 9. It started very horribly, especially with Puck going like "ooh the emotions (talking about Guts)... they pain my heart". Not even shounen such as fucking One Piece would try to directly convey in-manga what the mangaka tries to show on one specific part. After Golden Age, the story becomes a Kill Bill clone with repetitive hacking and slashing in towns every arc, yes, especially inside towns, with guards and trolls. This travesty for a story will never get any better.

I could've slapped Berserk with a 1 but due to Golden Age and certain quotes, I decided to add three extra mercy points

La casella sotto i vostri occhi, che ha l'onore di essere modificata da una persona che ha perso la verginità, compiendo quindi un atto utile al progresso umano e che quindi ha aiutato il mondo a progredire più dei falliti che la leggono, ci tiene ad informare gli ultimi citati, che il rispettabile Domenillo, presterà il suo prezioso tempo all'opera di Kentaro Miura, ad una sola ed unica condizione, vincolata alla decisione di un incrocio di razze di specie umana dalla natura non specificata che per qualche motivo si trova a fare il boss con l'Italia, e che dagli abitanti di questa stupenda slice di mondo viene chiamato Giuseppe Conte.
Ringrazio per l'attenzione tutti i mongoloidi che hanno avuto le palle di leggere.
Vi auguro un buon proseguimento di giornata.
Il vostro Domenillo.

“In this world, is the destiny of mankind controlled by some transcendental entity or law? Is it like the hand of God hovering above? At least it is true that man has no control; even over his own will.”

William Tecumseh Sherman once said, amongst many other things, that war is hell. And Hell, when regarded in a biblical sense — which, when concerning Berserk, chock full of biblical allusions as is, seems a fine thing to do — is supposed to be eternal. Does that mean war is eternal? Does it mean war is an eternal hell?

Berserk is, at its core, a two-pronged fantasy epic. The prongs are made up of these subjects: revenge, redemption. Our protagonist, Guts, is constantly forced into sharp corners to make a choice between the two, all the while having otherworldly creatures tell him over and over that what he so pugnaciously fights against is merely predetermined. And yet, that foreseen future is clouded and indeterminable, for both Guts and the reader. Perhaps one of the most brilliant things Kentaro Miura has done with this story is that, with whichever path Guts chooses throughout — and he vacillates every now and then, particularly for the first half or so of the manga — us, the readers, can both agree and disagree with his decisions. As he flies into blind furies, killing the monsters he loathes with all his being and destroying his own body in the process, we dislike him for not following the path of righteousness, but are able to agree that his indignant disposition is entirely justified, particularly upon the revealing of his terrible past and the reason he so hates the Apostles and the God Hand. Similarly, when he see him choose the righteous, ofttimes just as difficult path, we can accept that this decision is most likely the more morally correct one, but secretly we wish that he would tear apart whatever beast stands before him, one of a legion of things which took everything he loved and cared about from him.

This manga is lengthy — at 340 chapters as of writing this — and shows no signs of stopping soon, what with the incomplete story itself, the long waits between chapters, and frequent, protracted hiatuses. It moves in arcs, typically with the primary villain being slain by Guts at its end, and every arc grants an important addition to the overall story (as an arc should). While critics of Berserk complain of the way in which information is introduced, often saying that it could be shown in a more compressed or concise manner, the subtle way in which major plot devices are foreshadowed combined with the explosive nature of their formal presentation is cause for no complaints from myself. The story has an obvious current direction with a mysterious and far-off end; while the current place the manga is at has been treated as the worst part of the story thus far, it has been clear what it means for the Berserk universe on the whole, and where the story will go from there.

Berserk is hailed by many as the greatest manga to date. While I certainly would not agree with that statement at the moment (though if it ever ends, I may have to reconsider it), the reasons beyond a solid story for that communal thought are easy to agree with. Berserk, undoubtedly, has the best art of any manga. Trust me and the community when we say that Berserk and Kentaro Miura are the current pinnacle of manga when it comes to visuals alone. If you do not believe me, simply Google “Berserk best panels” or something of the like. Truly, Miura’s dedication to extreme detail turns out stunning and beautiful on a consistent basis. This alone may justify the irregular release schedule: anyone who knows anything about mangaka knows that the job has horrid work hours, with many authors working from deadline to deadline on little to no sleep. Many have the resolve to become a mangaka, but none so far have come close to putting as much exhaustive detail into their works as Kentaro Miura.

Perhaps one of the greatest things Miura has done, though, is the battle of, and battle for the distinction of, good and evil.

Several characters throughout Berserk can be considered, without a doubt, evil. Those of you who have read it or have watched the anime or have simply seen tidbits of various characters here and there will know exactly of whom I could be speaking of. However, many characters embody desires or ideological points of view that are somewhat more ambiguous in nature. Guts, our protagonist, is obviously one of these, for reasons outlined previously. Others, though, are abound. Some do their questionable actions based entirely off of selfishness, while others see what they do as . . . just. Or, at the least, justified. Many of these characters die, but the ones that live on undergo some of the greatest character development I have seen in probably any work of literature, alongside a raging of philosophical ideals akin to that of Watchmen.

Berserk is not without its problems, though these problems may be few and far between. Ones that I occasionally agree with are a vagueness of story and unnecessary plot elements. These, however, are often overridden later on when the point of a certain action or development is revealed in full -- something I look forward to as the current arc recedes in the rearview mirror. One that I definitely agree with, and often point out myself, is the rise of terrible humor. Chibi comedy. I can stand it in spurts, but some characters are growing far too chibi far too often for it to not be annoying. Not to mention that it does nothing to further the story or the art. These moments are stains on what is otherwise a masterpiece.

Now, to get this out of the way: Berserk is a seinen that deals with very mature themes rather . . . unabashedly. Rape, murder, theft, all those evils of the world are brought to the forefront of the manga with Miura’s relentless penmanship. That means, yes, gore, sex, rape, loss, insanity, all that is shown in graphic detail. If you are queasy or conservative about those sorts of things, do not even bother picking up the first volume of the manga. I myself have no complaints about Miura’s depictions of violence, but many people do, and those people need to understand that it is simply what you will experience in the brutal world of Berserk.

Overall, Berserk is one of my favorite manga of all time (although I have not read too much manga to begin with), though is by no means my favorite, mostly due to its incomplete story and inconsistent release schedule, as well as, in more recent chapters, a rise in dumb chibi comedy that I find distasteful for the type of manga it is.


Do I recommend Berserk? Hell yes. The art is absurdly good, the story thus far is compelling, the characters are diverse, interesting, and non-stagnant, and it produces excellent philosophical conundrums, questions, and systems. Just know what you’re getting into: graphic imagery and a long wait for the finish line.

MY GOD where to begin with this review of this awesome piece of work by Kentaro Mura all I have to say that the golden age arc is one of best story arc in manga that I ever ENCOUNTERED to the to the point the golden age arc can really be it's own series. And it SURPASSES the western kindergarten tale of Game of Thrones (sorry game of throne fans). Also it doesnt end at the golden egg arc but instead takes place before the story begins and how the main character develops overtime. Also explains how is best friend is now his greatest enemy (not getting into spoiler territory). The art IS GORGEOUS to the point it can be considered actual art. Everytime I turn a page I want to read more and more and why this series can't get out of hiatus faster cuz I want to read it. and why it's on my on hold section of manga. I highly recommend people to read this AWESOME SERIES AND SKIP GAME OF THRONES!!!!

One of the first manga I've read and possibly one of my if not the best looking art style I've seen in manga. I believe the art in quality and style it's the best the manga has to offer, absolutely breathtaking and the author has also done an incredible job with his characters, some really nice development. The golden age arc is also one of my favourite arcs in all of fiction (not only in manga) period but after that it really starts to drop in quality which eventually made me drop it around conviction arc, didn't really liked it that much after the golden age arc...

Being the top rated manga on MAL, inevitably, I began Berserk with high expectations. Ultimately, Miura makes fantastic use of the medium to bring us a compelling story with well fleshed out characters. Despite this, the manga begins to suffer from a few overarching issues, at certain points.

Story- 8/10:

The first thing to note is that Berserk has a relatively slow start. I personally think that the story would have been more interesting and suspenseful if it had started from Guts' childhood.

However, the Golden Age Arc quickly makes up for any issues with the opening. As many people have already observed, this arc is where Berserk truly shines. It includes a bunch of meaningful fights, character interactions, and fantastic world building. All of this is combined with a bunch of overarching philosophical messages.

Miura conveys the themes of the arc wonderfully, through imagery, such as the ''Campfire of Dreams'', or through the character's monologues. The use of a narrator made the series play out as a novel at times too, making it an absolute pleasure to read and experience.

I do not think that it is necessary to divulge any of the themes in Berserk, as that itself is part of the reading experience.

The main factor detracting from my score here was consistency. Especially later on, some encounters drag on and don't add much to the overall plot. Having said that, the overall story and world-building of Berserk are excellent.

Art- 9/10:

The art gets better as the manga progresses. Miura does a wonderful job of juxtaposing light and dark shades throughout the manga. Especially through his character designs. The imagery of light surrounding Griffith's character was nicely contrasted with the dark imagery that characterises Guts. This magnificent use of imagery reflects how morality is not as black and white as it may seem. Furthermore, it could be interpreted as a comment on the hypocrisy of religion and idolatry. There are many ways to interpret things in Berserk. That is what makes it wonderful to analyse.

There is definitely not much to complain about here. The overall style fits the morbid tone of the series too.

Character- 8/10:

Although the two main characters are well-developed and intriguing characters, a few of the side characters were far too archetypal and one-dimensional. Puck and Isidro are the largest culprits here. They provide unnecessary comedic relief and really ruin the tone of the manga.

Berserk's plethora of side characters mirrors the vastness of its world. As a result of this, some characters are inevitably more likeable than others. My personal favourite side character was Serpico. His backstory is wonderfully written, and his character growth is lovely to witness.

In my opinion, Griffith is the most interesting character in Berserk. It is fascinating to see the polarising views on Griffith from Berserk fans. He is an extremely enigmatic and complex character. Griffith is everything an antagonist should be-- he has genuine depth, and no cliché sob story behind his motives.

Enjoyment- 8/10:

Berserk is a highly enjoyable series. The only thing detracting from my enjoyment was the shallow humour and some of the elongated encounters I alluded to earlier.

I would most certainly reread my favourite segments of the manga. I'm sure I would pick up on more minute symbolic details upon reading it a second time, too.


Overall, I would not hesitate to recommend Berserk. Although it has a few flaws, at its peak, Berserk is unrivalled.

Ah Berserk, infamous for its dark story, Rated M for Manly story, and its badass main protagonist. Sure the manga is full of awesome moments, and Guts IS the definition of a badass, but those three things hardly do the manga justice.

I will attempt to remain as fair and balance in my review of this epic manga.

--Story--

The story of Berserk is actually the best thing about this manga, in my opinion. The first three volumes, collectively known as the Black Swordsman Arc, start off as a simple revenge story. Guts, our main protagonist has been wronged, and he aims to rectify that by brutally killing any demon/apostle and asshole humans in his way.

However, that type of story is averted, as we're shown Guts's backstory, and this quickly changes from a revenge story to a story of betrayal, romance, politics, building friendships, enduring hell, adventure, protecting the ones you hold dear, and the psyche of the main character.

As one progresses through the story, the more the characters are built up, the more relatable they become, and the more you start caring for them and root for them.

Until the infamous Eclipse happens. I won't spoil ANYTHING on this event, but suffice to say that after it, you relate with the protagonist's Jerk-Ass facade even more, and you even relate to the main antagonist. I won't say their name for sake of spoilers.

The setting overall, is a crapsack world. And the reasons why Midland is such a brutal and dark place to live is shown in DETAIL.

Overall the story is deep, thoughtful, and thrilling, and it maintains this level of quality throughout the 320 or so chapters, which is impressive seeing as the manga was first serialized in the early 90's.

Speaking of detail, on to the art.

--Art--

Artwork in a manga plays just as important a role as the story, arguably even moreso.

The artwork in Berserk is outright fantastic, and remains a level of quality throughout, which is just as impressive as the quality of the story.

The first three volumes or so show detail and skill, but the quality is not up to the later chapters. And that's what makes Berserk even more of a joy to read, as Miura aims to show that he wants Berserk to not only be remembered by its epic story, but he wants it to be regarded as a work of art.

As the art style improves, we see the quality of the art get better and better. It's very detailed, and small things like soft hand shading, character expressions, use of ink artistically to imitate spurting, gushing blood, and such make the artwork a masterpiece of pen and ink style.

--Characters--

Bar none, every single character is deep and realized, relatable, and likable. Hell, even the villains are deep and relatable, even though they do deplorable acts. No doubt deep characters are aided by the quality of the plot, but every character you can relate to, and root for.

Special mention goes to Guts. Guts is one of the deepest, most complex protagonists that exist. He has faults, he makes mistakes, he's strong, and of course, a badass, and highly prone to awesome moments. Said awesome moments aren't always battle scenes, sometimes they're conversations with other characters, chapters devoted to his psyche. All of these make Guts an amazing character.

Even the villains are deep and unique, which adds to the overall intrigue of the plot. The main antagonist gets special mention, as they are shown both sides of the coin. You get scenes where they are a good and decent person, then you get scenes like the infamous Eclipse.

The characters just add to the story and makes it more believable.

Suffice to say, I found great enjoyment out of this manga, and I frequently re-read it because each time I do, I find new things to enjoy about it.

Overall, it gets a 10/10. Amazing art, amazing plot, amazing characters all culminate to make a manga that is a must-read, even if you aren't into manga.

A fair bit of warning though, this manga is definitely not for the faint of heart, it's dark, it's brutal, but it's so enjoyable.

Berserk.... What is there to say about Berserk that has not already been said ? This manga ladies and gentlemen, this manga has it all. This is a story of vengence, a story of friendship, a story of love, a story of betrayal, the story of a mere mortal, a man, fighting against fate itself. There are no other manga like Berserk and once you start reading berserk your standart for greatness will become Berserk.

This manga, even though being almost 30 years old, is still regarded as the best manga of all time by many and I personally agree, the story is masterfully crafted and told, the art is absolutely gorgeous and 100% hand drawn, the characters are deep and aren't just some cheesy archetype and that includes the ennemies. Do yourself a favor and read it.

"Have you ever hated someone so much, that this feeling alone would drive you to do horrific and impossible to grasp things?
Have you ever hated someone so much, that your whole life was focused on finding that person and ripping him apart?
Have you ever hated someone so much, that you would forget about your humanity, purge it all just to find enough power, for one, single fraction of a moment, one chance to get your revenge...

What would your eyes look like in that very moment...? Insane? Terrified? Passionate? Happy? Or maybe... satisfied...

Look into his eyes, and find nothing there..."

When I first learned that there is something like Berserk manga, I was a bit surprised. That was some 7 years ago and little did I know about relations between anime and manga. Either way, I took my chances and downloaded several first volumes.
You can imagine my surprise when I noticed that the manga is a far cry from the anime which really made my day some time ago. Having struggled through the first chapters I moved on to the next volumes. You know, the anime itself is, in all its ingenuity, only a small fraction of the whole manga... As small as several volumes with some deleted scenes and a bit redone ending at that. However, by the moment I reached 'the anime plotline' in manga (which is volume 3) I got already interested in the manga itself.

I think that there's no point in summarising the plot. You can read it above, and for the sake of not spoiling anything, I think you should. You have to, however know this: Berserk manga, in terms of plotline and characters development - is by far the best manga I have ever read, the most complete one, the most multi-dimensional one, the most memorable one... Nowhere else will you be told the stories of sub characters so bluntly and yet discreet that you won't even notice. Nowhere else will you receive such a huge dose of information, and yet still be able to comprehend it effortlessly. This is something uncanny, and frankly, I doubt that anyone ever will be able to reach the level.

The characters are just great. On one hand we have Gutts and Griffith, shades of black and white, fire and water. Being so different, neither can live without the other one. They're like Yin and Yang, two halves of the same coin - even in his darkest moments Griffith still finds himself as Gutts' friend, although few minutes later this friendship changes into hatred and horrific envy. Their whole story is like that, they start off as great friends who would die for each other with smiling face, but only one of them is really committed here.
Characters shine even more when we consider other protagonists and antagonists. No person is left shallow and without a story to tell. Miura-sempai explains everything in a given time and briefly enough to keep you interested. Unlike in other titles where antagonists exist only to serve as a powerup training bag for the protagonist, here all demons have their motives. Even the smallest monster is explained, by which you get attached, even to such scumbags.

The story itself is brutal, broody and hectic sometimes. But you never really lose the track if it. You can have two mini-arcs in one mayor arc, but you'll always remember what the team's real destination is. In this way, Miura-sempai makes it clear to you, that Gutts, although a little less passionately, follows his path and even if he was to be destroyed, he would neither falter nor go back. And the same goes for Griffith, who despite his appearance (nowhere else will you notice that appearance is deceitful so much as in Berserk) is a very strong-willed and straight-forward character. And in all this, having seen all the atrocities that happen in Midland, you never ever think of Griffith as the wrong one. He's not wrong, he's just following his dream, a dream that was clouded with Gutts appearance in his life.

The art itself, is a state of art to watch and read. Detailed panels, hundreds of characters on one page during a hectic battle, highly textured monsters and what I love the most - fluid, realistic and clear fighting scenes. You don't need Kubo trolling with ink to see that Gutts has his speed even despite the weight of his sword. You don't need hundreds of straight lines to increase the dynamics of the scene - Miura-sensei manages it all without a loss in quality.
Facial expressions are something completely else. Even if you cannot follow the plot for some weird reason you can always judge whether the character is good or bad by just looking at his or her face. Those are very detailed and so rich in expressions that you never get bored. You can feel the difference between smooth and angelic appearance of Griffith and a brute, yet kind rectangular face of Gutts.

The mangaka puts a lot of effort into shade and light in Berserk. By that we get a very distinctive nights, sunshines and sunsets as well as dynamic shadows (however awkward it sounds) that no anime director can mime. It's simply sensational to look at all that and even be able to read the story of it... It is clear to me, that Miura-sensei is trying to end up with a sort of masterpiece in terms of manga. And you know what? He's pretty close to achieving this.

There are, however, some bad points too. The manga is not for everyone. I would strictly add parental advisory and 18+ to it. Nowhere else will you see so much nudity, sex and violence as in this manga. It's not a hentai-like nudity and sex though. Berserk shows a violent world with all its aspects, hence these parts were as relevant as any other to make the story as believable as possible.

I'm glad I was able to read the manga. It's one of the best titles ever, if not the best so far. I sincerely hope though, that Miura-sensei lives up to the expectations and finishes this story in a fitting way. Judging by his up-to-date work, it's more than possible.

Berserk is a series that has grown in popularity to be one of the most hailed works within the medium of manga, and for good reason. It's medieval setting, complex character writing, ties to several philosophical schools of thought such as the idea of Nietzsche's Ubermensch and it's top tier art are all factors in why many cite it as the greatest manga of all time.

However, that is a very questionable statement when it comes to analysing the series. Indeed, the quality of the Golden Age Arc, featuring some of the best character chemistry and complexity in the medium through it's main trio of Guts, Griffith and Casca that leads to a story that had many twists and turns as we see knights presented as nowhere near virtuous much like in the hit series Game of Thrones or see characters make complex moral decisions. However, even this isn't a perfect arc, since the existence of the Black Swordsman Arc beforehand spoils what the overall outcome for Guts and Griffith would be, not to mention that even with the level of torment Guts went through, the cruel and almost edgy nature of his character in the Black Swordsman Arc is a notable step down in quality.

Unfortunately, the quality of the writing after the Golden Age is a slow decline. The Lost Children and Tower Arcs were still good in helping develop Guts' character and Serpico makes for an excellent character during his introduction due to his parallels to Griffith. However, the returning cast become far less interesting and the new additions to Guts' group are nowhere near as interesting as the original Band of the Hawk. Casca becomes more potato than character for many, many years of publication and Griffith loses all layers and elegance to his actions to become an irredeemable villain. As for the new cast, Farnese is a typical tsundere, Isidro is a typical child prodigy, Schierke is a loli plot device and Puck, whilst starting out as a decent support character, quickly becomes a bland comic relief.
Speaking of comic relief, the overabundance of this in later arcs lead to some areas of tonal whiplash. A series in which the world is a dark, depressing place filled with murderers, rapists and demons isn't one for chibi deformation gags. If you're one of the people who found FMA:B's comedic scenes a bit too inconsistent, then you'll hate the comedic tone within Berserk's later arcs. On the subject of tone, it also doesn't help that a lot of the action and plot choices that happen feel less like the mature arcs that preceded it and more akin to a typical Shonen. This is present primarily in the Berserker armour being a typical double edged sword transformation that never has major repercussions on the friends of it's user and the "Berserker" factor of it is completely removed in the Sea God Arc.
It doesn't help that in the current events of the series, the pace completely slows down in the current arc even when not taking into account publication schedules, with many chapters feeling unessential and several plot points being dragged out to an unsatisfactory conclusion.

Still, the series manages to hold a lot of incredible merits. The characters of Guts and Griffith are some of the most interesting, well developed characters in the medium that make a very effective duo. The dark fantasy elements remain incredibly cool throughout and the explicit content is enough to draw in those who enjoy gore whilst also having enough substance that it isn't edgy. Moreover, the art is some of the most unique and detailed work within any manga as with the exception of the chibi scenes, each panel is filled to the brim with detail and amazing style.

So, saying all that, is Berserk as good as most say it is? Most likely not, since the quality of the series goes on the decline after reaching it's peak. Despite that, it's not in any manner a bad series, as what it accomplished well it did fantastically and even with it's flaws it's still by far the best fantasy manga out there. It isn't the best manga out there since it's a series that has long since passed it's peak and lost the consistency of it's quality, but it's highlights are great enough to make it a decent contender for that position and still a worthy addition to anyone's top 10.

Overall ranking - 8/10

Berserk: best manga of all the time or GREATEST manga ever? This isn't up for debate, its written in stone.

The story is incredible in every way imaginable. It starts out with a few small arcs featuring the Black Swordsman named Guts who hunts down demons known as Apostles. We aren't really sure why he does this at the beginning but the mangaka, Miura indicates that there is a lot of history between Guts and these Apostles. The setting is realistic fantasy at first with dashes of supernatural and high-fantasy elements sprinkled here and there. Guts doesn't appear as a very likable protagonist at first. He's rude, cynical, wooden and somewhat insane. The only definite characters are him and his elf sidekick, Puck. There is definitely a strong sense of mystery at first with Guts' motives being hinted at very subtlety as he makes his way through these self-contained arcs. There are no real characters that one can attach themselves to and the tone is extremely bleak. Themes such as existentialism are brought up quite often as the audience wonders why Guts continues at what seems to be a hopeless goal. Its eventually revealed that he has a personal vendetta against one of the God-Hands named Femto, one of the 5 deities of the Berserk universe.

As soon as this is revealed, the manga goes into a very long flashback of Guts' entire life up to the present. It explains how he joined a mercenary group called The Band of the Hawk and became friends with the leader, Griffith. We see that Guts' enjoyed his life with the Band, and was friends with many of the mercenaries. Themes such as comradeship, identity and love are brought up which is stark contrast with the themes in the present. While reading all this, there is a nagging sensation that the audience hears at the back of their heads: this can't last. Miura skillfully throws in elements into the story and brings them up again much later. Its all masterfully weaved together, and as the past starts to catch up with the present, you can't help but dread the outcome of it all. And finally when the Eclipse rolls around, all sorts of emotions surge up such as sorrow and anger. It all comes full circle when the audience realizes that it was foreshadowed since day 1. Ladies and gentlemen, this is what we call masterful storytelling, and the best part is that its only one-third of the story. Truth be told, the manga could have ended after volume 13 and it would still be spectacular but Miura goes the extra several miles and turns Berserk in the stuff of legends.

The characters in Berserk are phenomenal and are expertly written. Many characters undergo vast changes, and it all feels natural and not forced at all. Despite how they all appear at first, you can't help but come to like them all, shortcomings and flaws be damned. Guts becomes one of the best protagonists after a while, a true tragic hero in every meaning of the phrase. It really is a pleasure just to see all the characters interact and to see all their quirks. A chapter can be filled with nothing but dialogue and exposition, and it will be every bit as interesting and compelling as the action-packed chapters. The characters and story go hand in hand, they are all products of their environment and fit so well with the setting. All the fantastical elements fit just as well if not better. Berserk doesn't really require that much suspense of disbelief at first but once you get into it, it doesn't really matter what it pulls, it all seems possible and the sky is limit.

The art is easily some of the best I've ever seen in a manga. The level of detail in the drawings is absolutely insane, everything looks so good. Characters all look great and have their own style and flavor. Faces are never recycled and even background characters all have a distinct look from each other. One of my favorite parts of the drawings are the eyes, their not overtly huge like in most anime and manga, but have a unique design that fits the characters well. Its not ultra realistic like Vagabond or Blade of the Immortal, yet the artstyle it sports is just as good if not better.

Overall, Berserk is easily the best manga I have ever read. From its well developed and written characters to its deep and intricate plot. There's loads of action, blood, gore, nudity, violence, horrific monster designs and I love every bit of it. Truth is all the extreme elements of this manga simply play second fiddle to the characters and story. There is no manga out there that has captivated me like Berserk, it has no equal. I don't even need to read every manga in existence to tell you that. You could take it as fanboy rambling, but I'm not kidding you when I say Berserk is a masterpiece in every sense of the word. If you have the time to read this review, than you sure as hell have enough time to open a new tab and read the first few chapters of Berserk. You won't regret it!

Berserk is a dark and gritty medieval blood bath. The manga starts off with a introduction to the world as it is right this minute and then it pans back to the origin of it all. Now it doesn't give away any huge spoilers just shows you two very different versions of the same character.

It spends a majority of the series telling you how one became the other. You may think this at some point may feel like a cheat or its boring cause it isn't the brief summary you read at the start of scouting this. My opinion is keep reading cause the origin is well done, its interesting and it piles on more interest as you go until you finally reach the present and things are a total apocalypse on the rise.

Berserk is a action manga filled with blood,gore,violence and monsters. This is no typical manga and it really can't be described at how well they made it. The hardest thing to accept while reading Berserk is that there's no ending yet, its still in production for like over 20 years. The depth of character and plots go pretty deep and you really get sucked into this universe and can't help but turn pages faster and faster.

I suggest you view this Boy Mercenary become a Dark Avenger in this epic saga.