anime review: berserk
Feb. 10th, 2010 10:22 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
wingblossomBerserk
Summary: (from IMDB) Guts was brought up by a mercenary group since birth. After killing his guardian in self-defense, he runs away. Years later, he encounters Griffith and The Band of the Hawk. The Hawks fight for the King of Midland, and after winning the 100-year war against the neighbouring Chuder, they become the King's personal guard. However, once they reach the top, things take a turn for the worse.
First impressions just do Berserk no favors.
If you look up "violent" in a thesaurus, you'll see that "berserk" is one of the first words listed there. And make no mistake, Berserk IS violent. Like a lot of people not in favor of gory seinen anime, I stayed away from this series for a long time. The trailer I saw some years ago -- which featured a ton of horseback soldiers getting their heads lopped off in battle -- did nothing to help matters. Despite the good things I heard, I figured it was a mediocre anime aimed at a niche demographic (aka: hormonal teenage guys) with little to appeal to me.
Then a couple of weeks ago, I came across one review that compared its plot to a classical Greek narrative. With pathos! And hubris! And tragedy! And...yeah. This was purely by chance, but the reviewer's description left me intrigued enough to check out Berserk for myself. As a result, I ended up giving the show a chance.
So, am I glad I did?
The best comparison I can think of wrt Berserk is A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin. Both series are dark, gritty fantasies that take place in a vaguely medieval period; long, plotty, and with more disturbing elements than you can shake a stick at. More than that, narrative complexity exists alongside unimaginable brutality, both physical and psychological.
Yes, psychological. I should mention that Berserk is one of the best examples of a world half empty that I can think of. Uneasy implications abound, and more often than not, things like child prostitution and rape are spelled right out. I have no problem with dark stories, but the anime almost pushes events past my comfort level. The manga goes way beyond that.
The animation itself is undeniably dated. This is Berserk's biggest technical failing -- when it aired, it was low-budget and barely acceptable. Now it looks more like a storybook with moving pictures. I'm serious. Like others have said, anime is short for animation, people, not slideshows!
The dark palette is also muddy, making it incredibly hard to see what the heck is going on sometimes. Nonetheless, there is some great design work that shines through. What's noticeable is that all characters have distinct features (unlike anime that use the same cookie-cutter mold) and mesh well with the heavily detailed surroundings. I just wish that the show looked better overall.
Technical failure #2: the opening and ending themes. Both are in horrible, painful Engrish. Neither come close to being catchy or even fitting the show's tone, leading to a ton of dissonance. In contrast, the background music is great. I've always liked Hirasawa Susumu's music, and his contributions here make up most of the soundtrack. There's one insert song by him called Forces, and it's easily the standout track here.
Despite my gripes, Berserk's mixed technical bag never weighed down my enjoyment as it should have. And why is that? Because the continuity, character development, and pacing in this series is top-notch. Far from being vicious for no reason, Berserk's core story is told with an intensity that never lets up once it starts going. In other words, it's good. Enough to impress me quite a bit, in fact, since each event in Berserk unfolds with clear purpose and direction.
On the surface, it mixes political intrigue with battlefield maneuvers; beyond that, it tells a story of one man who fights only to survive, and another man who'll stop at nothing to achieve his dream. It has some interesting commentary on classism and war, with a distinctly 'epic' tone to it, in the traditional sense of the word -- there are forces that control man's fate, and nothing comes easily to those who try to escape it.
The characterization is also integral to this kind of story, and it doesn't disappoint. There are several characters in the anime, but only three of them are important: Guts, Griffith, and Caska. Everyone else is window dressing. Which is a shame, 'cos I really liked a couple of them, and...
Oops, spoilers. :D
Anyway, Guts, Griffith, and Caska are an atypical, compelling bunch. Like with all good characters, there's more than one reason why. All three initially look like stereotypes -- Guts the brash alpha male right out of 300, Griffith the charismatic white-haired pretty boy, and Caska the tough token female fighter. But the relationships between the three are messy, honest, and drawn with surprising clarity. They're nuanced individuals, revealing depth I never would have expected at first.
As far as the anime goes, I think Griffith is the standout: brave, thoughtful, and clever, but also ruthless and overwhelmingly ambitious. The viewer is compelled to sympathize with him, but not surprised when he commits complete atrocities. Accordingly, the price he -- and everyone else -- has to pay for this ambition ends up being more than what anyone expected. In contrast, Guts, the hero, has a troubled past with innumerable physical and emotional scars. He may fight with a sword twice his size, but he's a lot more human than a typical action hero; honest and steadfast, even though he's been bred into combat since the day he was born. Caska, the only female character of note, also has a distinct purpose. She's fiercely loyal to Griffith and a leader within his mercenary band, with an awful past that mirrors Guts's own.
There's also an odd not-quite!triangle here that starts looking like some bisexual pointy love-shape as time goes on. For the most part, it's subtextual, leaving you to wonder if you saw what you think you saw (at first, I read Caska's feelings for Griffith as platonic admiration that went beyond sex, and the decidedly hoyay-riffic* interaction between Griffith and Guts can be read a number of ways). However, these relationships never overwhelm the rest of the story.
By the end of the show, I was so invested in the characters that I kept rushing through each episode. Then everything goes to hell in the last couple of episodes (both figuratively and literally) and suddenly...ends. With a highly disturbing** ending on top of an absolutely mortifying cliffhanger. Just like that.
Since I read spoilers, I was prepared for an inconclusive ending. But I never expected it to be quite that bad. And it does wreck enjoyment of the series, especially if you're unwilling to read the continuing manga. Along with the animation, this is Berserk's biggest flaw. The series' shift from fantasy action to horror does leave an impact on the viewer, but whether it's positive or negative is difficult to say.
I should mention that a problematic treatment of gender crops up on a semi-frequent basis. However, the brunt of this occurs at the very end. Caska's role, in particular, suffers from misogynistic writing. Part of this could be attributed to the period setting, but not all of it can. From what I've heard, the manga pushes my discomfort with her treatment past my threshold, but the anime is guilty of this too. She's a rounded character with psychological complexity and a rough past; this makes it worse when the wham event comes around and she loses most of her agency. It's pretty damn heinous. In fact, I've heard that the manga is downright infuriating when it comes to sexism in general, which is another reason why I won't be reading the source material.
As you can tell, I think Berserk has its fair share of flaws. Despite that, I really enjoyed the show up until the trainwreck ending. Even with its bad points, it has a lot more to offer than other shows of its ilk. The characters are memorable, it has a distinct set of themes, and it rarely pulls its punches. I recommend it if you're looking for a series where the journey is the payoff, rather than the other way around.
Also, the dub bloopers here pretty much killed me of LOL. XD Maybe it takes a serious show to produce such awesome outtakes?
*See: naked homoerotic waterfight.
**Possibly the most disturbing ending I've seen in any anime. Yeeeeeah.
In other words, tl;dr.
Well. XD Now I can go back to finishing more reviews, or -- more likely -- prepare for my JET interview next Tuesday. Knowing me and my rambling tendencies, the former might have to wait or I'll never get anything else done.
Summary: (from IMDB) Guts was brought up by a mercenary group since birth. After killing his guardian in self-defense, he runs away. Years later, he encounters Griffith and The Band of the Hawk. The Hawks fight for the King of Midland, and after winning the 100-year war against the neighbouring Chuder, they become the King's personal guard. However, once they reach the top, things take a turn for the worse.
First impressions just do Berserk no favors.
If you look up "violent" in a thesaurus, you'll see that "berserk" is one of the first words listed there. And make no mistake, Berserk IS violent. Like a lot of people not in favor of gory seinen anime, I stayed away from this series for a long time. The trailer I saw some years ago -- which featured a ton of horseback soldiers getting their heads lopped off in battle -- did nothing to help matters. Despite the good things I heard, I figured it was a mediocre anime aimed at a niche demographic (aka: hormonal teenage guys) with little to appeal to me.
Then a couple of weeks ago, I came across one review that compared its plot to a classical Greek narrative. With pathos! And hubris! And tragedy! And...yeah. This was purely by chance, but the reviewer's description left me intrigued enough to check out Berserk for myself. As a result, I ended up giving the show a chance.
So, am I glad I did?
The best comparison I can think of wrt Berserk is A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin. Both series are dark, gritty fantasies that take place in a vaguely medieval period; long, plotty, and with more disturbing elements than you can shake a stick at. More than that, narrative complexity exists alongside unimaginable brutality, both physical and psychological.
Yes, psychological. I should mention that Berserk is one of the best examples of a world half empty that I can think of. Uneasy implications abound, and more often than not, things like child prostitution and rape are spelled right out. I have no problem with dark stories, but the anime almost pushes events past my comfort level. The manga goes way beyond that.
The animation itself is undeniably dated. This is Berserk's biggest technical failing -- when it aired, it was low-budget and barely acceptable. Now it looks more like a storybook with moving pictures. I'm serious. Like others have said, anime is short for animation, people, not slideshows!
The dark palette is also muddy, making it incredibly hard to see what the heck is going on sometimes. Nonetheless, there is some great design work that shines through. What's noticeable is that all characters have distinct features (unlike anime that use the same cookie-cutter mold) and mesh well with the heavily detailed surroundings. I just wish that the show looked better overall.
Technical failure #2: the opening and ending themes. Both are in horrible, painful Engrish. Neither come close to being catchy or even fitting the show's tone, leading to a ton of dissonance. In contrast, the background music is great. I've always liked Hirasawa Susumu's music, and his contributions here make up most of the soundtrack. There's one insert song by him called Forces, and it's easily the standout track here.
Despite my gripes, Berserk's mixed technical bag never weighed down my enjoyment as it should have. And why is that? Because the continuity, character development, and pacing in this series is top-notch. Far from being vicious for no reason, Berserk's core story is told with an intensity that never lets up once it starts going. In other words, it's good. Enough to impress me quite a bit, in fact, since each event in Berserk unfolds with clear purpose and direction.
On the surface, it mixes political intrigue with battlefield maneuvers; beyond that, it tells a story of one man who fights only to survive, and another man who'll stop at nothing to achieve his dream. It has some interesting commentary on classism and war, with a distinctly 'epic' tone to it, in the traditional sense of the word -- there are forces that control man's fate, and nothing comes easily to those who try to escape it.
The characterization is also integral to this kind of story, and it doesn't disappoint. There are several characters in the anime, but only three of them are important: Guts, Griffith, and Caska. Everyone else is window dressing. Which is a shame, 'cos I really liked a couple of them, and...
Oops, spoilers. :D
Anyway, Guts, Griffith, and Caska are an atypical, compelling bunch. Like with all good characters, there's more than one reason why. All three initially look like stereotypes -- Guts the brash alpha male right out of 300, Griffith the charismatic white-haired pretty boy, and Caska the tough token female fighter. But the relationships between the three are messy, honest, and drawn with surprising clarity. They're nuanced individuals, revealing depth I never would have expected at first.
As far as the anime goes, I think Griffith is the standout: brave, thoughtful, and clever, but also ruthless and overwhelmingly ambitious. The viewer is compelled to sympathize with him, but not surprised when he commits complete atrocities. Accordingly, the price he -- and everyone else -- has to pay for this ambition ends up being more than what anyone expected. In contrast, Guts, the hero, has a troubled past with innumerable physical and emotional scars. He may fight with a sword twice his size, but he's a lot more human than a typical action hero; honest and steadfast, even though he's been bred into combat since the day he was born. Caska, the only female character of note, also has a distinct purpose. She's fiercely loyal to Griffith and a leader within his mercenary band, with an awful past that mirrors Guts's own.
There's also an odd not-quite!triangle here that starts looking like some bisexual pointy love-shape as time goes on. For the most part, it's subtextual, leaving you to wonder if you saw what you think you saw (at first, I read Caska's feelings for Griffith as platonic admiration that went beyond sex, and the decidedly hoyay-riffic* interaction between Griffith and Guts can be read a number of ways). However, these relationships never overwhelm the rest of the story.
By the end of the show, I was so invested in the characters that I kept rushing through each episode. Then everything goes to hell in the last couple of episodes (both figuratively and literally) and suddenly...ends. With a highly disturbing** ending on top of an absolutely mortifying cliffhanger. Just like that.
Since I read spoilers, I was prepared for an inconclusive ending. But I never expected it to be quite that bad. And it does wreck enjoyment of the series, especially if you're unwilling to read the continuing manga. Along with the animation, this is Berserk's biggest flaw. The series' shift from fantasy action to horror does leave an impact on the viewer, but whether it's positive or negative is difficult to say.
I should mention that a problematic treatment of gender crops up on a semi-frequent basis. However, the brunt of this occurs at the very end. Caska's role, in particular, suffers from misogynistic writing. Part of this could be attributed to the period setting, but not all of it can. From what I've heard, the manga pushes my discomfort with her treatment past my threshold, but the anime is guilty of this too. She's a rounded character with psychological complexity and a rough past; this makes it worse when the wham event comes around and she loses most of her agency. It's pretty damn heinous. In fact, I've heard that the manga is downright infuriating when it comes to sexism in general, which is another reason why I won't be reading the source material.
As you can tell, I think Berserk has its fair share of flaws. Despite that, I really enjoyed the show up until the trainwreck ending. Even with its bad points, it has a lot more to offer than other shows of its ilk. The characters are memorable, it has a distinct set of themes, and it rarely pulls its punches. I recommend it if you're looking for a series where the journey is the payoff, rather than the other way around.
Also, the dub bloopers here pretty much killed me of LOL. XD Maybe it takes a serious show to produce such awesome outtakes?
*See: naked homoerotic waterfight.
**Possibly the most disturbing ending I've seen in any anime. Yeeeeeah.
In other words, tl;dr.
Well. XD Now I can go back to finishing more reviews, or -- more likely -- prepare for my JET interview next Tuesday. Knowing me and my rambling tendencies, the former might have to wait or I'll never get anything else done.