Berserk (ベルセルク） is a heroic fantasy manga and anime by mangaka Kentaro Miura(三浦 建太郎).
Berserk mixes horror, fantasy and medieval warfare, with tons of violence and gore (even for the rather high manga standard): this and the occasional sex scenes and nudity make the manga most definitely not appropriate for young readers.
Despite this, the plot and the drawing style (at least past the first few volumes) are excellent, and involve very interesting characters with well drawn personalities. In fact it is astonishing how, although many events in the story are prophetized early, they still manage to surprise the reader. One gets a sense that even though the story is already incredibly long and drawn out, Miura is following a well-drafted plan approaching some final resolution. At present, however, with 27 full volumes of manga released on the Japanese market, the story shows no signs of slowing down, or concluding any time soon.
The main character is an almost unbeatable mercenary named Guts. Almost his equal on the battlefield is his love interest, Casca. She is the only female member of the White Hawks, a mercenary band led by the mysterious Griffith. These two are either good or evil at various points in the story (and often both at once, or not expressly one or the other).
The first episode of the manga was released in 1989. A new episode is released every other week in Young Animal. It is still running, and about half of the story is told. The anime series covers only a small portion of the manga (about 10 volumes out of currently 27, shortened). Only the first four volumes of manga have been released in the United States so far, with a relatively well-done translation and overall transition done by Dark Horse Comics. In addition to the manga and anime, the story was brought to the Sega Dreamcast. Another game is scheduled for the PlayStation 2 in Japan this October.
Story
The series opens with an epilogue. In a dark time, a pack of the king's guards are harassing a young lady in distress when all of a sudden, they are attacked and slaughtered. The Black Swordsman has returned. He swings a humongous sword large enough to cut people and horses in two.
The remainder of the series is a flash back, where the Black Swordsman, (later introduced as Guts), looks back into his past. He sees years of trials and tribulations in the Band of the Hawk, a successful band of mercenaries under the charismatic leadership of Griffith, a man driven by the ambition to become king. The series covers all these years and shows the rise and fall of the Hawks through Guts' eyes. Griffith's impressive rise to power and fame through the Hawks is soon cut short by the bane of uncontrolled ambition, and the man follows his twisted fate at the cost of his loyal troops, including Guts and Casca, leaving the story off where it began, near the first episode.
There are numerous plot twists and superb character development that keep the series fresh and exciting for the viewer, but there is some nudity and a lot of blood that would make this series inappropriate for younger viewers.
The anime covers the first third or so of the first volume in the first episode of the anime. It opens in an epilogue, showing the present-day Guts, a man fighting a losing battle against his own fate, and a world infested by devils and demons, before moving on to a 25-episode flashback to what made Guts the man he is, and why he hates the man called Griffith with every fiber of his being.
In the manga, this segment begins at the end of the third volume, and ends in the 13th with the Eclipse. Besides being only a fraction of the full story, the anime also has a number of cuts related to characters such as Puck or the Skull Knight, who play very little if any role at the point in the story where the anime ends. One problem with this approach is that it leaves the possibility of a direct sequel season almost impossible, unless the writers further alter Miura's story, or some sort of retconning is done.
Characters
Note: All subsequent names come from the American translation, and Miura's statements about the official transliteration of the characters names in the beginning of Volume 27.
Main Characters
- Guts (ガッツ lit. Gattsu)
Guts always had a hard life. He was born from the corpse of his hanging dead mother. He was found and taken in by the wife of a mercenary named Gambino. When she died of the plague a few years later, the ill omen of Guts' birth from a corpse circulated as the reason for her demise, and the arrogant Gambino continued to blame the boy for his wife's death. Under Gambino's "care," Guts prospered as a fighter, learning to survive in battle. Eventually, the mercenary showed his digust and hate for the boy, trying to kill him, and Guts, having killed Gambino in self-defense, was forced to flee once more. Fighting is all he had ever learned, and he quickly become one of the best soldiers around. Eventually Guts was forced into joining a rising band of mercenaries after losing a duel to their leader, the charismatic Griffith. The young leader becomes his closest friend, and throughout most of the series he serves under Griffith's leadership as the commander of the Hawk's Raiders (or Band of the Hawk). He fought for three years alongside them until he could leave by defeating him. After the eclipse he has been fighting demons and other nightmarish creatures in his quest for revenge on Griffith/Femto and protection for Casca.
- Griffith (グリフィス lit. Gurifisu)
Griffith is the founder and leader of the mercenary army Band of the Hawks. He is an extraordinarily charismatic and handsome person, whose tactical skill gave him and his army the reputation of invincibility. His most important characteristic is that he is willing to sacrifice everything for his dream of glory, his belief that he is destined for things greater than the common man can imagine. He offers the Band of the Hawk (including Casca and Guts) as a sacrifice to the four members of the God Hand (the servants of a hellish God); only Guts and Casca survive. In return he becomes a mighty daemon god himself, one of the God Hand, by work of the Behelit, a strange amulet also known as the Egg of the Conqueror, which literally found its way to Griffith, whose fate it was to become the dark god Femto. A common theme of the story is the subject of fate, and man's ability to fight his destiny. Griffith accepts his fate, and sacrifices his friends for dark power, whereas Guts, the branded sacrificial offering, fights his destiny, driven by the lust for bloody vengeance on his former leader. Griffith's transformation is the turning point of the story and sets the foundation of main story arc of the manga, as well as the end of the anime series.
- Casca (キャスカ lit. Kyasuka)
Casca is the only female soldier in the Band of the Hawk and the third strongest fighter (after Griffith and Guts). In the beginning she vehemently admires Griffith, but eventually comes to appreciate, and even love Guts. Her fate is never revealed in the anime, though she continues to play a large part in the story, albeit more passively, after the Eclipse which ends the series. In the aftermath of the Eclipse Caska's mind is reduced to that of a child - in short she becomes mentally retarded. In additional she gives birth to Guts' child - marred by Griffith's demonic heritage. Her subsequent disappearance in the manga kicks off a major story arc that is the catalyst for Guts' character development.
- Puck (パック lit. Pakku)
Puck is an elf that first appeared in Volume 1 of Berserk. Puck was saved by Guts while he was passing through to kill the Snake Baron and ever since then has stuck with him (regardless if Guts likes it or not) throughout the series. Initially Puck was the sole source of light and sometimes comical relief in an otherwise dark and grim world. As the series moved onwards and additional post-Eclipse characters were introduced Puck steadily became simply a means for Miura to insert jokes into the story. Not much is known about Puck except he is of the Wind spirits and is from Elfhelm: an island that lies across the sea, that cannot be reached by ordinary people. In addition to being able to fly Puck has the ability to blind opponents with a dazzling light and produce fairy powder from his wings that have tremendous magical healing properties.
- Skull Knight (髑髏の騎士 lit. Dokuro no kishi)
The Skull Knight is an enigma, very little is known about him. He has the appearance of a human skeleton, wearing a black cape and riding a ghostly horse. He opposes Godhand and seems to have a particular grudge against Void, he is very powerful, able to fight evenly with Zodd in single combat. It is he who saves Gatts and Caska from sure death during the Ecilpse; in the story that follows the SkullKnight aids and saves Gatts multiple times. His actual motives are unknown he is speculated to be King Gaiseric; a long dead conqueror that united the entire continent and ruled until God sent 5 (or 4 it is not known) angels to punish him for his material gluttony and overnight his city and him disappeared. - Farnese (ファルネーゼ; lit. Fuarunēze)
- Serpico (セルピコ lit. Serupiko)
- Isidro (イシドロ lit. Ishidoro)
- Schierke (シールケ lit. Shīruke)
The Hawks
- Judeau (ジュドー lit. Judou)
- Pippin (ピピン lit. Pipin)
- Corcus (コルカス lit. Korukasu)
- Rickert (リッケルト lit. Rikkeruto)
God's Hand and Apostles
The bad guys, messengers of "the god not created by men".
- Femto (フェムト lit. Femuto)
The God Hand Femto, who was once Griffith, is the newest member of the demon lords. In the Reincarnation ceremony, which only takes place once a thousand years, he is reborn with a human body but also with a supernatural charisma to continue chasing his dream of a kingdom. Femto wears a red armor with wings on the back. - Void (ボイド lit. Boido)
A Member of God's Hand with a huge exposed brain and a skeleton-like appearance. - Slan (スラン lit. Suran)
The Female Member of God Hand. - Ubik (ユービック lit. Yuubikku)
God Hand - Conrad (コンラッド lit. Konraddo)
God Hand - Zodd (ゾッド lit. Zoddo)
Apostle, who seeks to meet the strongest opponent. He now serves under the reborn Griffith.
Minor Characters
- Gambino (ガンビーノ lit. Ganbiino)
Anime episode titles
- The Black Swordsman
- Band Of The Hawk
- Baptism of Fire
- Hand Of God
- Sword of Wind
- Zodd the Immortal
- The Sword Master
- Conspiracy
- Assassination
- Nobleman
- Battle Engagement
- Two People
- Suicidal Act
- Campfire of Dreams
- The Decisive Battle
- The Conqueror
- Moment of Glory
- Tombstone of Flames
- Parting
- The Spark
- Confession
- The Infiltration
- Eve of the Feast
- Eclipse
- Perpetual Time
External Links
- An interview with Kentaro Miura about Berserk.
- SkullKnight.net, encyclopedia and community.