Alrightee alrightee alrightee, here is my berserk review this will be my first review really going at a manga in detail as i am feeling really pumped up, so to get right into it, this is a really edgy manga written and drawn by Miura Kentarou, its a dark twisted action packed story set in a very dreary world likening to the middle ages,
a young boy named gattsu is a parentless war orphan who gets raised by a mercenary who he deemed to be his pseudo parent but later on gattsu learns a hard lesson about the harshness and selfishness of human nature especially on the battlefield when he gets betrayed by the one he held with the most admiration. This leads to gattsu going down a dark cold path not trusting anyone and only doing things to survive, he then meets another mercenary who he initially didnt trust but wondered why so many people looked at him in admiration and how he could lead all these mercenaries into battle and still keep in control, later on he eventually looks up to the mercenary in admiration and regards him as his rival, then everything falls apart once again as guts whole world comes crashing down and the introduction of monsters,beasts and gods take place,Gattsu now marked for sacrifice because of the betrayal by yet another person he held close has to live a dreadful life killing monsters as they hunt him anywhere he goes.
Think i've done enough to cover the general theme of the manga without revealing too much, time to get to the unique aspects of the series and why i like it and why its rated so highly, for one the lore of this manga is so rich that i wouldnt be able to cover it all by just speaking from things i remember but i'll try my best to paint a good picture, basically there are two worlds in which exist in in the berserk world, the astral world where ethereal beings reside and the physical realm where mortals reside, the astral world has many layers in which to be explored while the human realm is divided into territories on a long stretch of land which they normally refer to as ''the continent''.The thing i love the most about the lore is its blend of real human themes and different themes from olden day folklore while never losing its genuinity to the original theme of the manga even after so many changes in the world building of the manga, the reason why this manga is so highly rated is mainly because of the art,combat and the consistency in the story even though the release isn't consistent.
When speaking in terms of art its always in the conversation for best manga art and rightfully so its truly a glorious mix of surrealism and realism the scenery and background are beautiful and the beasts and monsters look menacing fitting of the theme,seeing the mangaka draw up different looking beasts is always refreshing because they just look so good while speaking about the art this leads me to the characterization while the art is of top tier the characterization hasnt been anything too special, but the character development has been great for individual characters you could clearly tell that they are growing and learning from their mistakes especially the mc of this story gattsu. Ending this off i've tried my best to cover all the things i like about this manga but theres just so much more to it, i enjoyed it very much and can see why its targeted audience(young adults) really enjoy it, solid manga all round only qualms i have is the inconsistent release and characterization not being up to the standard as the other aspects of the manga.