by Although there have been several anime adaptations of Berserk, none of them have done the manga justice or adapted every chapter of the original work.
A well-known dark fantasy manga series, Berserk is as vicious as it is adored. This hasn’t stopped it from gaining a sizable fan base while appearing unfair to no one. Unfortunately, this has prevented an anime adaptation from accurately capturing all of the manga’s positive aspects. There have been several anime adaptations of it, but none of them have shown the whole tale from the start.
Berserk, a gloomy seinen series by Kentaro Miura, started publishing in 1989 and fit in nicely with other “grimdark” anime and comics from the same era. Since its debut, the series has been adored for its unique blend of magnificent artwork, vast fantasy elements, compelling characters, and, for many of the cast members, downright brutal endings. The protagonist of Berserk, Guts, has an especially depressing life; tragedy and grief are a part of his everyday existence. The manga distinguished itself from many of its peers despite being unmistakably a fantasy narrative with a hint of brutal realism. Because of this, it has continued to be successful over the years, winning over new generations of manga fans with Miura’s gloomy manga style.
Since its launch, Berserk has sold over 60 million copies of its manga, breaking records and winning honors. Because of its widespread popularity, seinen manga has managed to endure after the passing of its creator, Kentaro Miura. Fans can’t get enough of Berserk, even if the series outsells other manga worldwide. Three animated versions of the series have been produced thanks to its continuous success; the first one was released less than 10 years after the manga’s debut. Though all of these have significant flaws that prevent them from being regarded as genuine adaptations of the Miura manga, two of them are adored in their own right.
There has never been a full anime adaptation of Berserk
Only 13 volumes were covered in the 1997 anime adaptation.
The 1997 Berserk anime, which essentially adapted the first 13 volumes of the manga, was the first to adapt Berserk. It is still regarded as possibly the best manga adaptation in spite of its age. However, there were still modifications made, primarily because of how graphic the original content is. This was the number of manga volumes that had been published at the time the anime was produced, which is why it ended around the thirteenth volume. Regretfully, it never returned to carry on Berserk’s plot. Hence, one of the best interpretations of the series was left, in a sense, unfinished.
In essence, Berserk: The Golden Age Arc addressed the same material as the 1997 television series because it was an anime film trilogy adaption of the matching manga storyline. They both omitted the Black Swordsman arc, therefore part of the narrative is lost. Finally, the plot was expanded upon from its prior big and small screen adaptations in the 2016 anime Berserk. Since the series began somewhere other than where the manga ended, several pieces were obviously still lacking. This was just one of the problems with the 2016 series, which fell short of the caliber of its forerunners.
The 2016 Berserk Was a Significant Letdown
Heavily criticized for handling the Berserk manga improperly and being haphazard
Unfortunately, the discussion surrounding Berserk has become somewhat sullied as a result of the anime adaptation’s 2016 reception. The series, which was produced by GEMBA, Millepensee, and Liden Films, was the second anime television program to adapt a manga. It was also a follow-up to the critically acclaimed trilogy of anime films. But that wasn’t the case with the 2016 anime, which rose to notoriety fast for a variety of reasons.
The animation of the program, which combined CGI with conventional 2D animation, was first among these. The outcome combined the best elements of both styles, but instead gave the manga’s famous artwork a lifeless, static appearance. Because of the stiff and blocky animation, fight scenes lacked any real feeling of motion or fluidity and instead came across as silly rather than exciting. If the remainder of the series had lived up to the standard set by the franchise, it might have been feasible to overlook these problems. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case in any other area either, with Berserk 2016’s plot and character development suffering as a result.
Many of the events in the program felt haphazard and random because important story beats from the manga were completely skipped. Berserk doesn’t stick to one section of the manga’s plot; instead, it wanders around between several areas of the plot without much coherence or purpose. The shortcomings of the earlier adaptations paled in contrast to this, making it an overall failure in terms of bringing the manga to life. It’s unfortunate that, considering the series’ immense potential, the current remake performed so poorly. However, there is still hope for providing fans with the Berserk anime they have been demanding.
“Remake” of Berserk should be the next anime project.
Remakes of anime and fresh takes on classic manga have grown in popularity, even for shows that debuted more than twenty years ago. Bringing the events of the manga to the small screen more faithfully is, in many cases, the very purpose of these shows—especially when a prior series failed to succeed in doing so. An anime may have deviated from the manga for a variety of reasons, such as a hurried, less expensive production or trying to keep up with the manga too soon.
At other times, the first anime was a jumble of filler material that wasn’t really good or based on the manga. With Dragon Ball Z, that was undoubtedly the case, which is why the anime Dragon Ball Z Kai was so important. The latest iteration of Urusei Yatsura is an anime that was first produced several decades ago. A climate where anime are continuously remade—that is, by a studio that wishes to truly adapt to the tale envisioned by the manga—has been developed by this and other shows. The popularity of Berserk has only grown, so it would be simple to sell an anime series that faithfully adapts the manga.
It’s gotten to the point that fans are starting to make their own fan projects. One such example is Berserk: The Black Swordsman, which aims to offer a more accurate portrayal of the plot after the 2016 television series. A big studio has previously established the precedent of giving fans what they desire through a remake. The gore and artwork must, above all, be faithful to Miura’s manga as these aspects are what first drew fans to the series. With time, the 2016 Berserk anime may fade into the past and be replaced by an even better one that both aficionados and newcomers will grow to adore.
