BERSERK 2016 IS AN ADAPTATION OF A LATER ARC OF THE MANGA. WATCHING EITHER THE 1997 SERIES, THE 2012 MOVIES, OR JUST READING THE MANGA IS STRONGLY RECOMMENDED BEFORE JUMPING INTO BERSERK 2016 (IF YOU DECIDE TO AT ALL). ADDITIONALLY, THIS REVIEW MAY CONTAIN VARYING SPOILERS FOR THE EVENTS THAT LEAD UP TO BERSERK 2016.
~~actually what am I even saying, Berserk 2016's opening itself spoils the entire Golden Age right out of the gate~~
#Introduction#
"I-I-It's better than nothing...?"
So, before we get the ceremonial beating of the dead horse underway (assuming you've seen any other reviews or conversations about this anime), let's have a little bit of background on the Berserk series itself.
Berserk by Kentaro Miura has received several adaptations before this new one. There was the 1997 anime which was done by the Oriental Light and Magic studio who that year had also begun the original Pokémon anime. Berserk 1997 was entirely 2D of course (several but not all of the action scenes went the still image route) and left out a couple of story elements, and focused mostly on the manga's "Golden Age" arc while still including a sliver to hint of things that would come after that arc. No second season directly followed Berserk 1997. Though, there were two video games made in 1999 and then in 2004. Then, there were the 2012 movies done by Studio 4°C. The movies, unlike the 1997 series, were a mixture of 2D and CG. Prior to Berserk 2016, the movies actually regularly received a lot of flak as some of the CG scenes just looked... off, or subpar to say the least. In addition, while the movies, which focused entirely on the Golden Age arc, included a couple of things the original 1997 anime excluded but ended up excluding an entire subplot and other scenes that the 1997 anime DID cover.Finally, we arrive to Berserk 2016 by the studio Millepensee, who has done several Teekyuu (tennis gag series) seasons and two spin-offs. They're the ones doing Berserk 2016 and Berserk 2017. Whatever, it's fine (I actually like Teekyuu). Point is nineteen years later, we receive a new Berserk anime with Guts, the protagonist of Berserk, but finally in his "Black Swordsman" years (the period that chronologically follows the events of the Golden Age). They included a confirmation of Berserk 2017 with the final episode of this. So... is Berserk 2016 good then? Or is it at the very least, watchable?
Let's just dive in, shall we?
Our protagonist is Guts, a man missing an arm (an iron prosthetic which also serves as a cannon replacing it) and an eye, with an enormous slab of iron resembling a sword on his back. With a bloodied and dark past, he wanders the land slaughtering inhuman monsters referred to most commonly as Apostles. On a dark night, he steps into a dingy tavern in which some bandits are tormenting a little tied up elf named ~~annoying bug~~ Puck. He brutally kills all of them in the matter of seconds, indirectly saving Puck.
That is both the start of the manga as well as Berserk 2016 (actually, rewatching it, Guts doesn't kill any of them in the tavern unlike in the manga and the 1997 series' version). However, once the tavern scene ends in Berserk 2016, things sort of go off the rails for a little bit. I don't wish to continuously compare this to the manga, but at least this much has to be addressed as it's one of the largest issues I have with this anime as a whole. As this was the first Berserk anime actually about what happened after the Golden Age, there were certain expectations. A new Berserk anime featuring Guts the Black Swordsman, out for revenge slaying the Apostles who are servants of the beings that wronged him, the God Hand. One of the promo art images even was from a scene from the particularly dark sub-arc of Conviction (the arc Berserk 2016 completely focuses on) called Lost Children.
While it turned out that Lost Children wasn't included, they did include a tree monster from it thrown clumsily into the first episode of Berserk 2016 because Guts needed something other than humans and skeletons to fight. The Black Swordsman arc (the very first part of the Berserk manga before even the Golden Age), was slimmed down to the tavern scene and the chariot scene. The three fleshed out full Apostles that Guts had near death battles that were more like struggles and an outright face to face encounter with the God Hand, the antagonists of the series who outright ruined Guts' life, from these two arcs was replaced with a later filler episode where Guts fights a CG Pig Apostle (to be fair, Miura himself wrote that episode and the Pig Apostle is actually elsewhere from the manga) instead.
There's supposed to be a two year gap (Guts spent these two years basically doing nothing but fighting monsters every day) between the end of the Golden Age arc and where Berserk 2016 starts. The Black Swordsman arc first establishes Guts as this Black Swordsman character, this haunted brooding and violent individual whose entire day to day life is basically a struggle to just remain alive due to the spirits and Apostles that are haunting and chasing him as they're literally out for every single drop of his blood. Then the Golden Age arc happens explaining Guts' past and how he became this way, and Lost Children serves as a sort of transition back to "Guts the Black Swordsman.".
Removing Lost Children and gutting most of the Black Swordsman arc is equivalent to outright removing like a key jenga piece. It just all crumbles, and instead, you basically have: Guts fights bandits, Guts fights skeletons, Guts fights tree monster, and that's the first episode done. To be honest, I honestly contemplated stopping with the first episode... but I didn't. The second episode just outright goes to right after Lost Children ends aka, the main part of the Conviction arc. Thankfully, they did... the rest of Conviction about as well as they could have (as far as the story/writing goes) in, you know, ten episodes excluding the first and the Pig Apostle episode which is mostly filler.
#2D vs CG#
"There'll never be a 2D Berserk anime ever again let every snippet of 2D we give you be SALT IN THE WOUNDS"
Have to get this one out of the way, as it's the "low hanging fruit" of Berserk 2016's several flaws. The movies mixed 2D and CG. But it wasn't as if their CG was completely terrible (Berserk 2016's is, hooray!), or as if a majority of all three movies were entirely CG. The opening of Berserk 2016 is essentially a reversed reflection of the show itself. 90% of the opening is of course 2D, but then there's the last couple of seconds where it switches to CG Guts swinging his sword, the Dragonslayer around. Those couple of seconds of CG Guts swinging his sword? That's the show. The 2D opening might look nice but if you pause it... a lot of it just looks... either silly or wrong. Also, there are flashbacks sprinkled throughout the entire twelve episodes and it's basically the same 2D animation as the opening.
Also, I'm not even going to go any further into it than this, but as can be seen in the image on the right, Casca (Berserk's female lead character) is white in both the opening as well as any 2D flashback scene that has her in it. Casca of course is not white in the manga/97 anime/2012 movies/games, but that's not my issue with it. Not the main one, anyways. She's white in the 2D portions of the show (they did actually fix her in the opening like around episode 10 or 11 I believe), but then ISN'T white in the CG portion of the show. If the constant switching back from 2D to CG wasn't jarring or irritating enough as it was...
But it of course gets worse. As well as the 2D flashback scenes, or the scenes when Guts pictures something in his head like the God Hand, there are further sprinklings of 2D here and there. All action scenes are of course CG. Guts is CG 80% of the time (even if he's just walking, running, or talking) but when he makes an angry face or chops up a rabbit, cooks it, and eats it, he's 2D. Some of the minor supporting characters or background characters, they're usually consistently 2D (although some are still just CG) as long as they don't appear a lot/aren't in any action scenes. Mozgus, one of the antagonists of the Conviction arc, a couple of his more notable moments are in 2D. Oh, did I mention sometimes 2D and CG characters are on the screen at the same time right next to each other?
"I want to be 2D."
"I want to be CG."
"I want to be 2D AND CG."
Well okay, but what about the action sequences? I'll tell you about the action sequences. Guts punches people with his iron hand. Guts swings the Dragonslayer slowly and decimates his enemies. Guts shoots his crossbow on his iron hand. Also, almost every single really gruesome scene in the action scenes are either toned down or just wrong in the CG.
Additionally, maybe this is just me on this one but, I don't really care for how they made blood look either. Overall, I think there's like two action scenes I still actually liked despite the CG that I can also still remember after watching, but they're the two major fights of the entire arc (technically, they're both just different parts of the same fight).
Also (it may seem like I'm now just purposely looking for things to complain about but this is just how Berserk 2016 to me is), I couldn't really stand how Casca looked in CG throughout the entire thing. I don't know why I got used to CG Guts but not CG Casca, she just doesn't look right to me even now (which is bad considering one of the major points of this entire arc is Guts going to try and save Casca).
I will admit, however, I actually did like how the Dragonslayer looked. Though, I think that's really the only positive thing I can think of as far as the CG goes.
#Missing Pieces/Who Was This Made For#
"mfw making another section about comparisons to the manga"
The overall reception to Berserk 2016 from fans of the manga (this includes myself!) has been... lukewarm at best to say the very least. The most positive thing I've seen is basically "It's better than nothing" or "a bad anime is better than no anime!" and I do get that to an extent but. I don't think this was the Berserk season 2 they imagined getting after 19 years! But you know, there's another crowd to consider here. Those poor Berserk fans who perhaps just really don't like manga who really liked the 97 series/2012 movies.
How does Berserk 2016 hold up for them? Well, I'd imagine not well. I don't see how they'd even know what was going on without at least a general knowledge of the parts they skipped (Black Swordsman/Lost Children). Because it's not as if those arcs never happened in Berserk 2016 world. They just didn't do them.
They gutted the section of Black Swordsman when Guts got that Behelit, but in the Conviction chapters they were adapting, Farnese makes a comment on it (and also they had to include it because it'll no doubt be a important plot device later on in the manga). It's never shown or brought up again through the rest of the show, but I'm sure strictly anime/movies only fans were confused as to why Guts had it considering they know what that other Behelit did...
I already talked a decent amount about how much they axed Guts' character development and you know, him turning into the Black Swordsman. From I think episode four and on, it's already at the point where Guts is realizing his mistakes and trying to turn back from the destructive path he had wholly chosen to walk down. Resulting in a talking dog made of darkness taking permanent residence within his head/mind. The Beast of Darkness' actual introduction was of course in Lost Children. Skipped!
Godo (the blacksmith character who created Guts' giant sword, the Dragonslayer) is a tricky one. I know for sure he appeared and his parts were there in the 97 anime. But he didn't appear in the movies though his house and daughter and etc did. That being said, I'm including him in this anyways because Berserk 2016 actually had a chance and could have totally shown Godo's explanation for why he even created the Dragonslayer (which is seen as this insane and crazy impractical weapon by every other human in the entire series because no other human would be able to use it as Guts does), but opted to only show Guts' first Apostle kill with it and only very briefly. So yeah I guess Guts just got a really big sword for no reason other than big sword once the Golden Age ended!
Puck. Oh, Puck. Black Swordsman Guts is supposed to be in this spiral of madness and violence and not want to be around anyone other than the Apostles he brutally kills. Yet, in Berserk 2016, Guts' relationship with this elf is essentially slimmed down to finding him slightly annoying and then just choosing not to care when he continues to follow him. In the manga, Guts was openly hostile towards him and probably wouldn't have put up with his presence long enough for him to get used to it if it wasn't for the fact elf dust basically very quickly restores wounds (another detail mostly brushed over in Berserk 2016.)
Nosferatu Zodd. Obviously, neither the 97 anime or the 2012 movies cut him as after all, he's sort of an important character. However, there's a certain scene in Conviction that Berserk 2016 could have included (but didn't) to explain why all of a sudden he just appears literally out of nowhere in episode 11. It would also have explained why his face is scarred/his Apostle form is missing a horn. Even in the manga, the only time he speaks in this arc is that scene which they didn't include. Should note that the other Berserk adaptation of 2016, Berserk Musou (Berserk game done with the gameplay o the Dynasty Warriors games) actually included this scene and it was actually good! Maybe they did it on purpose? "Oh cool, now an action scene with a CG Zodd! I guess...?"
All of these so far could be argued to be minor or only things that would annoy fans of the manga. But this one... it's a huge, huge flaw. The "misshaped creature" you see above plays a huge role throughout Conviction/Berserk 2016 and Berserk as a whole. Despite being a key piece of Conviction, one that is integral to the arc and repeatedly shows up throughout it (and elsewhere in Berserk), they never show or explain its origin. The 2012 movies, while they covered a bit farther than the 97 anime, did not make it to the part that explains this creature. If you already know at least a bit about the rest of Berserk, you can probably easily infer what it is on your own. I was maybe willing to give them a pass on this one due to the nature of the scene in question, but Berserk Musou (which was only just recently released in Japan), actually includes this sort of important scene as well. (Not linking this one because it's an outright major spoiler).
If you're going to cut essentially two entire arcs (you go from volume 1 with episode 1 to the end of volume 16 of the manga with episode 2), you're probably going to end up losing/confusing the fans who really liked either the 97 anime or the movies that just haven't read the manga for whatever reason. The manga fans on the other hand are going to be annoyed that two arcs were cut so they could just rush and get to the Tower of Conviction stuff. Or be annoyed when they see Isidoro in the Black Swordsman tavern, or the Lost Children tree monster without actually getting Lost Children. Or that there's a filler episode when they're watching a Berserk anime period.
Point is, it all adds up after a while!
#The Anime of a Thousand CLANGS and HAI YOs#
"How many easy targets does this anime have???"
Should I even bother (this is probably the most memed thing about Berserk 2016)? Sure, why not. I've come this far (and if you're still reading, so have you for some reason). The "clangs" were actually a problem in Berserk 2016 right from episode one. Not only is it the same exact "clang" over and over again, but there are "clangs" for places where there shouldn't be. Cutting a possessed corpse of a little girl in half should not result in a "clang" noise. Especially when it's supposed to be this dramatic dark moment. It comes off as almost comical (I recall actually laughing when it happened) and this was before the tree monster came out and I almost quit at episode one. The "clangs" never leave after that point, and I believe when Guts is fighting spirits or ghosts (ETHEREAL BEINGS), even then it happens.
I understand that they wanted to make the Dragonslayer's impacts sound "heavy" but it basically sounds like Guts is instead swinging around a gigantic frying pan. It doesn't help that the one and only episode from Berserk 97 that does a portion of the Black Swordsman stuff has a Guts swinging a Dragonslayer that doesn't clang. Actually, most of the sound effects of Berserk 2016 are kind of... like even Guts' arm crossbow is unnecessarily loud. Loud noises, the sound of like iron scraping against something (even when Guts just moves his fake/metal arm), and CLANGS.
You're assaulting my hearing as well? Why?
Moving on, one of the best things about Berserk 1997 was the OST which was done entirely by Susumu Hirasawa. The soundtrack for Berserk 2016 was... bad is a bit too harsh, but forgettable sounds about right. Of what I can recall: there was the opening "Inferno" of course which I was actually a fan of, "Blood and Guts" but that was also in the movies so, "Ash Crow" by Susumu Hirasawa at the very end of the final episode, and also by Hirasawa... "Hai Yo."
If you watch Berserk 2016 all the way through, you're going to be sick of hearing "Hai Yo" by the time you're done. Let me get this out of the way, Hirasawa's music is great. "Hai Yo" is pretty good, it's not my favorite Hirasawa song (it isn't even my favorite Berserk Hirasawa song), that's not the point. Let me preface this with this. If you've heard any track from Berserk 97's OST, it's probably "Forces". I mean, Hirasawa's done three different versions of it for a reasons. It played for the "next episode" previews and partially for one battle in one episode of Berserk 97.
Berserk 2016 uses "Hai Yo" over, and over, and over again. Yes, it's good, but if you use it every other scene in which Guts swings the Dragonslayer... it loses its impact or even worse, becomes annoying. Especially if the rest of the OST save a couple of other tracks is bland...
"Hai Yo is playing again. I guess Guts is doing his thing!"
I didn't feel like making a completely separate section for this alone but, they also really went crazy with the camera/camera angles. To an unneeded extent.
My goal in writing all of this was to go over all of the things that I think made this not work for fans of the manga, fans of the past adaptations, or just in general. It may seem like this review is almost entirely negative (it is!), but I should note I overall was still capable of enjoying at least parts of it. Which is why I have it set at like a 6 out of 10. What of the Conviction arc is still there is reasonably okay (once you get used to the CG...), but I still wouldn't recommend Berserk 2016's version being the first you experience. If you really just don't like reading manga but liked the past adaptations or want to watch them and include this, just proceed and take it with a grain of salt.
~~if you're a gaming person Berserk Musou will be coming to the US for PS4, Vita, and Steam in February 2017~~
Anyways... in closing, I hope Berserk 2017 ends up being better than this. Not terribly optimistic, though. Regardless, I'm not looking forwards to the scores of memes that will compare Berserk 2017 and the 2004 PS2 game side by side (since they're both about the same arc).
