Berserk

This is a story about struggle. The background of the story is similar to that of the European medieval world. Countries fight against each other and raise large armies. The lives of ordinary people are poor and mercenaries have become a fashionable industry. In this world of flames, there are not only human wars, but also monsters called "Apostles". These apostles were originally human beings. Because of certain stimuli (such as the betrayal of beloved ones), they sacrificed their most cherished people to the "Hand of God" through a tool called Behlet, and turned into monsters beyond the reach of ordinary people. And at the beginning of the story, a man named Gus, carrying a one-man-tall sword, looked for and hunted the apostles everywhere, even if he was covered with scars. The reason behind it is a fascinating golden age.

Being a medieval-style lover, I started looking for a manga with this type of setting ever since I was introduced to manga and anime. Many people suggested Berserk and praised it as a masterpiece. It wasn't long before I saw why.

First of all, it's one of the few manga, if not the only one, where the secondary characters' past, relationships and stories are introduced to you in a way that the plot won't get sidetracked and the focus of the story will still be on the main characters. This adds to the drama and makes the cast more interesting and realistic. And we are talking about a ton of information, but it won't tire you one bit. To be honest, I have never before seen an anime or manga achieving such detail with so little effort and protects the readers from boredom.

The main characters are Guts and Griffith. One is the direct opposite of the other, both in philosophy and style. They start of as good friends that trust each other and develop a strong bond. But in the end, one will betray and another will be betrayed. Besides the "good guys", the villains are not your typical run-of-the-mill bad guy that wants to destroy the world etc etc. Each and any one of them has his own motive and his own story to tell. They are something more than just figures that serve to stop the protagonists' way and eventually, get destroyed by them.

The story walks the border between complicated but easy to understand and chaotic. However, it never slips to either side. The characters might sidetrack from their original goal a couple of times in every arc, but you will never forget what they wanted to do. Berserk's magic will definitely capture you, as you will find yourself enraged and angry in several parts of the story. Also, you will have the impression that Guts and Griffith are locked in a struggle between morality, following your dreams and duty many times as the story progresses.

When it comes to the art, one word would not be enough to describe it. The battle scenes are fluent, realistic, full of energy and it's easy to understand what is happening during a duel. Castle sieges, battlefields they are all depicted with hundreds of soldiers in few frames, but they never become too chaotic for you to understand. A notable element is the expressions in the characters' faces. You will always know a character's emotions by looking at him and even if you have doubts about someone's motives, a look on his face will confirm or not your suspicions.

Keep in mind though, that Berserk is not your average warrior-style manga. Gore is in very high levels while violence is something common. Add sex, rape, and nudity and you got a mature manga. However, isn't that how medieval times where in the first place? There's no need to glorify these things, but there's also no need to create illusions that knights in shining armor were kind, good and rescued damsels in distress out of duty. And Berserk definitely achieves that.

To date, Berserk remains my favorite medieval manga. And I am certain that no other manga any time soon will manage to surpass it. I strongly reccomend it and be certain that you will enjoy it thoroughly.

Berserk feels like two different series.

The first, the "Golden Age" arc, is where its acclaim rightly comes from- it easily stands alone as the single best Manga arc I've ever read. Deserves 10s across the board. Reading Berserk is *absolutely* worthwhile for that experience alone- superb, mature characters, fiendishly inventive plot twists, and some beautiful worldbuilding. The way it ends is absolutely heartbreaking.

Then, after the first ~110 chapters? There's, ah, the rest.

The post-Golden Age arc's still enjoyable- and the magnificent art style, if anything, has got even better. The problem's with the setting and pacing- it scarcely feels like the storyline has any idea where it wants to go anymore. The serious, heartfelt tone of the Golden Age arc's faded away, and been replaced with something much closer to a standard shōnen plotline. Guts and Griffith are still about, and the relationship between the two is still fantastic- but just about everything that made the Golden Age arc so distinctive's vastly reduced. The worldbuilding's still spectacularly creative, the sparse moments of actual plot development are interesting, and the characters from the original arc are still around, and develop in unexpected ways- but the feeling of close camraderie that made the Band of the Hawk's stories so wonderful to read about is just gone. What's in its place is a pretty, formulaic string of sequences- roughly summed up as "Guts et al wander into new setting, mysterious phenomenon transforms into eldritch abomination, the party thwack it with magical weapons for a few chapters, then Guts screams and gravely injures himself destroying the monster of the week". That's it- the overarching, beautifully written story of the Golden Age arc's been replaced by something that feels distinctly less... human? Berserk's become a story dominated by the spectacle, rather than the characters- which, unfortunately, has entailed jettisoning a huge part of what made it so wonderful in the first place.

The plot's meandered along at a glacial pace for almost two hundred chapters now. Given the slow rate of chapter releases (three hundred chapters over twenty years?), it's hard to imagine the plot getting anywhere soon.

Scored a "7" with a heavy heart. The Golden Age arc on its own deserves "10"s across the board- but the latter two thirds of the story drag the score down. The soul just isn't there anymore.

Read it, absolutely. Just expect to find the magic trailing off after a certain point.