I didn't plan to make this video until a few days ago, so it may look a tad rushed in editing (plus mistakes ended up happening when I was making edits to avoid copyright claims). Still, I knew I had to get it out today because A) my birthday B) Berserk's 25th anniversary. Still, I hope you enjoy it! Another video-the one I was working on before this-will be coming sooner than usual.
Hey man. I just wanted to explain the reason why people meme tell me why. It's not because people only listen to anime music, it's because they don't think it fits Berserks slow, sombre, dark and depressing tone. To me personally I think it's way too upbeat and catchy as you said. It's like thealmightyloli said. "It just clashes so hard with this dark fantasy series about war and death. If the song showed up in a romantic comedy I wouldn't even mention it. But with berserk things don't really come together right." So yeah, that's why people meme tell me why, because they think it's hilarious that one of the darkest stories ever created has one of the goofiest intros ever and it's hilarious. Personally I think tell me why is a bop but I don't think a bop fits Berserk at all.
@@izukumidoriyaisssss3049 I dunno, difference of opinion I guess. Never really saw Tell Me Why as upbeat at all, it's just an angst-filled rock song with a hint of punk. Like is the song happy only because it isn't dreary? Not particularly. I think a lot of people who aren't typical listening to a lot of rock music are going to conflate its energy with it being upbeat, kinda akin to plenty of Nirvana songs. Then again, I'm someone that thinks Jane Doe is the saddest album I've heard while most people are just going to hear angry noise. Again, sonically Tell Me Why may not fit Berserk but neither does Hirasawa's electronic music and no one's gonna complain there. In terms of emotion, I think Tell Me Why absolutely fits and if we're going to complain about it sonically then we also have to criticize the OST for not fitting too. to quote another comment I made "it's an emotional catharsis of youthful angst which I think is pretty fitting for Golden Age. Gotta remember, the story is all about Guts trying to find who he is and what he wants to do in life. Frankly, Tell Me Why mirrors that pretty well imo."
I'll be honest, I fucking love Tell Me Why. I think it fits the rough, ragged, simple nature of Guts' character during the Golden Age very well. If you want a deeply dark and sombre song, the ending Waiting So Long provided that as well, so it's not like we're missing out.
@@NINJAMUSHI I actually do agree that hirasawa's electronic tone doesn't fit berserk as well as it could though. Especially when it comes to forces. I much prefer this English cover with a gentle, piano instrumental czcams.com/video/ggx2yb_iwSc/video.html But I just listened to tell me why again and you're right in the youthful angst thing actually. But I just wanted explain why people meme it because you didn't seem to understand why. But thank you for explaining why you love it because it helped me find a new appreciation for it.
and remember that these things are crafted, so the ending made sure to show Griffith's picture first, followed by Casca's, and Guts' last - making sure to only show his left eye, the one remaining. The ED is an actual reflection of the ending of the show, making sure the emotional gutpunch hits you incredibly hard. Griffith's human form picture alone would have been haunting.
I skipped the ending song every single episode to get to the next one. As the final episode finished I sat there mouth agape as to what had just happened, then that song plays perfectly encapsulating my feelings of dread
While I have yet to read the manga I still really love the 97 Berserk anime and the fact OLM aka the studio who animates Pokemon also did Berserk 97 still gives me a bit of a chuckle. Also while the Golden Age films aren't as good as the 97 anime I really loved The Advent since it does give more of a expansion on how Guts got out of the eclipse and starting his journey.
Berserk 1997 is an example of an anime series which had a limited budget and timescale, yet chose perfectly what to cut from the manga and what to keep. You'll get more from the manga, but if you start with Berserk 1997, you'll still get a wonderfully enjoyable experience.
For me my biggest problem with this adaptation is the fact that they had an entire filler episode with freaking Adon. You’re telling me they had time for a filler episode with adon yet they didn’t have time to add skull night? I think what they should’ve done was use the budget from the first episode and that filler episode to add in skull night and for a better ending than what we got. if they could’ve done that then we could’ve have a even better adaptation. The last problem I’ll say what it is I don’t know why the series try to air on television. The movie trilogies understood that and actually added gore in it and the eclipse was way more graphic and disgusting them in the 90s anime.
Tbf, I don't think they wanted to add things like puck or skull knight to keep it a little more self contained, which makes sense considering OLM never made another season. Though, skull knight would've been cool
I really need to watch this someday. From what I've seen, the direction, design, and music are amazing. If it just had a few more episodes, enough to fully adapt volumes 1-14, that would've been even better (or at least adapt most of the The Guardians of Desire and the end of the Golden Age). If Berserk ever gets another adaptation, I'd be worried. I'm not sure if any modern anime directors could pull it off, and I'm not sure how good it would look with digital drawing and colouring. Additionally, it would probably need to be adapted via a long-term, expensive OVA like Hellsing Ultimate, since I'm not sure how much you could do with TV censorship and a TV budget. Although, maybe there's a way to adapt the action scenes decently without breaking the bank, like what the '97 anime did, though I imagine some parts being pretty hard to pull off (the battle at the Port of Vritannis and the battle against Rosine come to mind, though I can imagine them looking good with minimal animation as well). If Berserk was to get another adaptation, what studio would you pick? (Yes I know that the team is more important than the studio but I don't know many anime creators). A unique studio created for the sole purpose of adapting Berserk (like what happened with Mushoku Tensei and Studio Bind) would probably be best, but assuming that's not an option, I'd probably go with Wit or MAPPA. I'm not sure if I'd like ufotable's style in a Berserk adaptation (same with other prominent studios like A-1 pictures).
Yeah, I totally get that. It seems pretty difficult for any studio to adapt, especially with digital animation imo. If I could, I'd love to see what Powerhouse Animation could do if only because I adored season 2 of Castlevania (haven't seen past half of season 3). But who knows how that would even turn out lmao
personally I find the adaptation to be apt before I would probably have a more unfavorable scrutinizing perspective on Berserk 97 due to seeing the work as symbolic of why not everything is applicable to adaptation to anime and I admit I was a bit peeved with a fanbase that seemed to want for such an adaptation despite my personal line of thinking seeing that Berserk is in some cases is almost antithetical to what makes animation good and is a pinnacle piece of manga work in it's portrait-like framing and an absurd amount of hatch lines and detail it might sound capitalistic but Berserk is more affordable and cost-effective to be a manga and it was more profitable for Kentaro Miura to draw a panel of Berserk than a bunch of animators trying to replicate that with less of an effect and trying to do it within multiple frames to a limited effect what I call 97 is a jarring clash of a medium trying to fit something that is not only opposed to it but outright to the point where the studio opts for single frame impact shots and holds granted the holding frame shots aren't held for long enough that it withers away engagement with the show but it's hard not to feel a bitter aftertaste personally sometimes when watching 97 since it seems so contrary to Berserk I honestly don't blame 2017 for using CGI the problem was with that project was that the director was inexperienced, the 2d and 3d animators didn't have good synergy, and to be frank I don't think the anime industry has had good enough drive to curate good 3D animators and artists besides the top shelf studio's like Kyoani but even then the CGI is more supplementary in terms of being used for inorganic objects which is a choice of good insight of what the strengths of CGI but when it comes to human models there are a lot more factors that go into making good models of 3D characters in terms of textures of the skin and creating rig models anyway good video
I finished the 97' anime just a few weeks ago, so this video is good timing. I definitely think there are some sections in the middle that can be a bit of a slog - most of the content covering the war against Tuder isn't great, it's here in these fight scenes where the lack of animation budget is at its most prominent, and a huge amount of time is dedicated to the Blue Whale Knight dude (who is so uninteresting that despite all his screen time, I've still forgotten his name). Amazing sequences in the manga like the fight against 100 men aren't really done justice and while I understand this content I'd necessary to chart the progress of the Band of the Hawk's rising through the ranks, they are by a huge margin my least favourite parts of the show. With this big criticism out of the way though... the 97' anime, for the most part, absolutely excels in terms of atmosphere and mood. The opening few episodes, while admittedly hindered by their animation are still quite strong, with the Zodd fight in episode 6 being particularly really well done. The sense of dread is palpable in the grim, bloody backgrounds and the design of Zodd himself. In fact, the background artwork throughout the whole series has a really beautiful and unique aesthetic that fits the tone of Berserk perfectly. Plenty of wallpaper material. The quiet, character driven moments in the series are its strong point. The voice acting, particularly for the main three, is so fitting that I cant envision anyone else playing their roles. Scenes like Guts joining the Band, Griffith's speech to Charlotte and the famous Bonfire of Dreams sequence are done phenomenally well, aided by the astounding soundtrack and artwork. The art throughout 97' is very good considering the budget they had to work with. But I think 97' really comes into it's own from episode 17 onwards to the end. With the war against Tuder ending in episode 16, the rest of the series is able to dedicate itself to the more interesting parts of the plot and dive deeper into the characters. Episode 19, when Guts leaves the Band of the Hawk, is one of my favourite anime episodes ever. His duel with Griffith on the snowy hill is one of the best scenes in all of anime. Later, when he reunites with Casca, their love feels genuine and emotional rather than forced. There are a lot of quieter moments throughout this last stretch of the series and this made it much more engaging to me. And all this is without mentioning the Eclipse. Despite knowing exactly what's coming, the end of episode 23 when it begins still feels shocking and fills you with dread. The artwork of the eclipse is so oppressively hellish and really hammers home the feeling that these characters have no escape moreso than I think the manha could, just through the use of harsh red colours and that ever-haunting soundtrack. The sequences in Griffith's mind are done very well too, some really experimental imagery coming through, and episode 25, dear lord... one of the most hopeless and terrifying endings to any series ever. Luckily we have the manga to know what happens after, because if I didnt know the story continued from where the anime ends I'd never be okay again. For all this praise, 97' has lots of issues. The animation is undeniably rough - this doesn't matter so much in a lot of the best scenes which focus on dialogue or atmosphere, but it is still notable, most action sequences containing extensive use of still frames to save money and time. The pacing isn't always great, manga content has to be cut and rearranged (like the removal of Skull Knight or the Wylad arc), some episodes are just characters sitting around talking without a massive amount happening and this means some episodes are a fair bit weaker than others. But the good parts of 97' are really damn good, especially the final third. While I wouldht recommend it for people experiencing Berserk for the first time, I think already loving the story from the manga makes you forgive a lot of the anime's flaws, and I would suggest it is a damn good way of refreshing yourself on the story if its been a little while since you read it. A classic anime for a reason.
I'm glad they understood postcard memories and BACKGROUNDS, the background art in Berserk was like paintings, this was during the final days of hand-drawn animation cels. Everything is stark and pops, the color design is completely on point. Using actual manga panels for many parts of the anime was the best way to respect the superior art of Miura, they had to get the quality in there, and knew how to do it where it mattered. The final two episodes had a noticeable jump in animation quality, so they also knew where to invest their limited budget! Unlike something like N.G.E.
I agree with all that wholehearted, except for the part about Neon Genesis, which ran into time and scheduling related production issues more so than budget problems.
I really like the gritty vintage aesthetic, soundtrack and sound design to the 90’s series, but the massive amount of cut content from the manga unfortunately leaves a bad taste in my mouth :(
that's fair. I guess I don't really mind what was cut (though of course I am speaking as someone who can apply my knowledge of the manga to the anime), mostly because I felt that the core story is just that strong.
Berserk 1997 is the best adaptation of berserk, and most likely will hold that position forever. looking how memorial edition somehow makes things even worse than the movies, ive lost all hopes in perfect adaptation
@@NINJAMUSHI well..theres literally an edit of the entire trilogy (eclipse included) in the first 5 minutes of EPISODE TWO using Forces 2016 (at least still a great song huh), so a new viewer will get spoilers for the entire show right in the beginning for no reason. then they casually continue the normal story from the first movie. i honestly dont know what they were thinking, never set my expectations high but i was hoping that they will at least improve the movies, not what happened in the second episode more to that, zero changes for cgi and all choppy scenes are the same. pacing is still rushed and no important scenes like first fight of guts in the band were added
@@roberth2833 nope, the old berserk anime has had a very elusive presence in this country, no blu ray, never aired on any tv station (that we know of) and never released on streaming.
If you only watch the golden age arch, your not getting what berserker really is. To its core its a dark and twisted story with a single glimmer of hope constantly being snuffed out and re ignited. The golden age is not even a 1/10th of the full manga, it becomes so, so much more after the eclipse
@@NINJAMUSHI the mystery child turned out to be Griffith. The mage to help them seal the mark, passed away. The home for casca and Guts to escape the mark, it now has vanished. Several of the isolated monster stories (mainly the moth girl) the people are hopeful to find something to help or save them only to be eaten. His sword fails him. Every glimmer of hope gets taken away from guts.
I just hate the fact I have so many friends who will never read berserk cause they don’t like reading manga. Like they love anime but would never read the manga on said anime ..
The reason I've heard for why people hate Tell me why is because of how tonally different it is to Golden Age's story. It was jarring the first time I watched the anime to go from the hopelessness of the ending to the upbeat guitar, as if everything was okay. I still love it though, I think it's a fun song, and I find "put your grasses on" to be hilarious.
I mean, I get what you and other are saying, but I feel like the same type of people that say it doesn't fit are the same type of people that don't actively listen to punk/rock music. I guess because I listen to a ton of music outside of anime/OSTs and my favorite genres tend to be extreme music, I don't see high energy =/= being happy or uplifting. The song is pretty fitting, at least in terms of tone (in the same way Hirasawa's electronic music isn't fitting in genre but is in tone). It has energy but it isn't exactly a happy song, rather it's an emotional catharsis of youthful angst which I think is pretty fitting for Golden Age. Gotta remember, the story is all about Guts trying to find who he is and what he wants to do in life. Frankly, Tell Me Why mirrors that pretty well imo. Glad you love it all the same tho lmao
Not to be contrary for its own sake but to merely offer a counterpoint: I don't think the anime Berserk holds up. The 3 main characters were compelling enough and the story was interesting but every episode felt light to me (maybe excluding the final episode). It was hard for me to finish Berserk but I've watched slow-burners before like Monster and that kept me going. I just don't feel like there's enough there to recommend this series to anyone I know over let's say Death Note, Code: Geass, or Stein's Gate. I don't think it's bad by any means but it leaves something to be desired aside from it's obvious short-changed ending. Maybe if it continued I'd feel different but I'd say it's a pass imho.
Guess we just got different tastes because I don't think any of those 3 are anywhere near as good. Generally think Code Geass is alright, but R2 is kinda just bad, and the Death Note anime isn't great (manga is, though). Steins;Gate was pretty good from my memory, but a lot of the first half was kinda just alright. Nearly every episode of Berserk had incredible moments to me in comparison.
@@NINJAMUSHI Fair enough. As you pointed out in your other video the Death Note anime did not deal with the 2nd half well (and that 2nd half of the manga may have been pressured to even exist by the publisher which is its own issue). Steins; Gate to me worked so well b/c early I found it interesting and funny on its own before the heart of the story really kicks off and then it becomes awesome. The 2nd season has some issues though. I respect your opinion regardless though.
I didn't plan to make this video until a few days ago, so it may look a tad rushed in editing (plus mistakes ended up happening when I was making edits to avoid copyright claims). Still, I knew I had to get it out today because A) my birthday B) Berserk's 25th anniversary. Still, I hope you enjoy it! Another video-the one I was working on before this-will be coming sooner than usual.
Hey man. I just wanted to explain the reason why people meme tell me why. It's not because people only listen to anime music, it's because they don't think it fits Berserks slow, sombre, dark and depressing tone. To me personally I think it's way too upbeat and catchy as you said. It's like thealmightyloli said. "It just clashes so hard with this dark fantasy series about war and death. If the song showed up in a romantic comedy I wouldn't even mention it. But with berserk things don't really come together right." So yeah, that's why people meme tell me why, because they think it's hilarious that one of the darkest stories ever created has one of the goofiest intros ever and it's hilarious.
Personally I think tell me why is a bop but I don't think a bop fits Berserk at all.
@@izukumidoriyaisssss3049 I dunno, difference of opinion I guess. Never really saw Tell Me Why as upbeat at all, it's just an angst-filled rock song with a hint of punk. Like is the song happy only because it isn't dreary? Not particularly. I think a lot of people who aren't typical listening to a lot of rock music are going to conflate its energy with it being upbeat, kinda akin to plenty of Nirvana songs. Then again, I'm someone that thinks Jane Doe is the saddest album I've heard while most people are just going to hear angry noise. Again, sonically Tell Me Why may not fit Berserk but neither does Hirasawa's electronic music and no one's gonna complain there. In terms of emotion, I think Tell Me Why absolutely fits and if we're going to complain about it sonically then we also have to criticize the OST for not fitting too.
to quote another comment I made "it's an emotional catharsis of youthful angst which I think is pretty fitting for Golden Age. Gotta remember, the story is all about Guts trying to find who he is and what he wants to do in life. Frankly, Tell Me Why mirrors that pretty well imo."
I'll be honest, I fucking love Tell Me Why. I think it fits the rough, ragged, simple nature of Guts' character during the Golden Age very well. If you want a deeply dark and sombre song, the ending Waiting So Long provided that as well, so it's not like we're missing out.
@@NINJAMUSHI I actually do agree that hirasawa's electronic tone doesn't fit berserk as well as it could though. Especially when it comes to forces. I much prefer this English cover with a gentle, piano instrumental czcams.com/video/ggx2yb_iwSc/video.html
But I just listened to tell me why again and you're right in the youthful angst thing actually. But I just wanted explain why people meme it because you didn't seem to understand why. But thank you for explaining why you love it because it helped me find a new appreciation for it.
Berserk 1997 final episode has one of the most terrifying cliffhangers I've ever seen. Especially with the 'Waiting so long' ending music.
and remember that these things are crafted, so the ending made sure to show Griffith's picture first, followed by Casca's, and Guts' last - making sure to only show his left eye, the one remaining. The ED is an actual reflection of the ending of the show, making sure the emotional gutpunch hits you incredibly hard. Griffith's human form picture alone would have been haunting.
I skipped the ending song every single episode to get to the next one. As the final episode finished I sat there mouth agape as to what had just happened, then that song plays perfectly encapsulating my feelings of dread
While I have yet to read the manga I still really love the 97 Berserk anime and the fact OLM aka the studio who animates Pokemon also did Berserk 97 still gives me a bit of a chuckle. Also while the Golden Age films aren't as good as the 97 anime I really loved The Advent since it does give more of a expansion on how Guts got out of the eclipse and starting his journey.
You gotta read it man omg
97 anime is good, but the manga is beyond goated
Please. Read. The. Manga.
Every day I’m reminded why I should read berserk
Haha, I'm sure
Only reason not to is because you will get super invested. Only to realize it won't end the way it was supposed to
Berserk 1997 is an example of an anime series which had a limited budget and timescale, yet chose perfectly what to cut from the manga and what to keep. You'll get more from the manga, but if you start with Berserk 1997, you'll still get a wonderfully enjoyable experience.
For me my biggest problem with this adaptation is the fact that they had an entire filler episode with freaking Adon. You’re telling me they had time for a filler episode with adon yet they didn’t have time to add skull night? I think what they should’ve done was use the budget from the first episode and that filler episode to add in skull night and for a better ending than what we got. if they could’ve done that then we could’ve have a even better adaptation. The last problem I’ll say what it is I don’t know why the series try to air on television. The movie trilogies understood that and actually added gore in it and the eclipse was way more graphic and disgusting them in the 90s anime.
Tbf, I don't think they wanted to add things like puck or skull knight to keep it a little more self contained, which makes sense considering OLM never made another season. Though, skull knight would've been cool
2:46 I think it’s better to have golden age as the first story, and then, for the second season, you have Black swordsman
RIP Kentaro Miura
Dude I love this anime because it introduced me to this beautiful world of Berserk ♥️.
same here! I watched it for the first time on my 16th birthday a bunch of years back lol. Was probably too young to be watching it admittedly haha
@@NINJAMUSHI Most of us as teenagers watched more explicit stuff (if you know what I mean 😏😂)
I really need to watch this someday. From what I've seen, the direction, design, and music are amazing. If it just had a few more episodes, enough to fully adapt volumes 1-14, that would've been even better (or at least adapt most of the The Guardians of Desire and the end of the Golden Age).
If Berserk ever gets another adaptation, I'd be worried. I'm not sure if any modern anime directors could pull it off, and I'm not sure how good it would look with digital drawing and colouring. Additionally, it would probably need to be adapted via a long-term, expensive OVA like Hellsing Ultimate, since I'm not sure how much you could do with TV censorship and a TV budget. Although, maybe there's a way to adapt the action scenes decently without breaking the bank, like what the '97 anime did, though I imagine some parts being pretty hard to pull off (the battle at the Port of Vritannis and the battle against Rosine come to mind, though I can imagine them looking good with minimal animation as well).
If Berserk was to get another adaptation, what studio would you pick? (Yes I know that the team is more important than the studio but I don't know many anime creators). A unique studio created for the sole purpose of adapting Berserk (like what happened with Mushoku Tensei and Studio Bind) would probably be best, but assuming that's not an option, I'd probably go with Wit or MAPPA. I'm not sure if I'd like ufotable's style in a Berserk adaptation (same with other prominent studios like A-1 pictures).
Yeah, I totally get that. It seems pretty difficult for any studio to adapt, especially with digital animation imo. If I could, I'd love to see what Powerhouse Animation could do if only because I adored season 2 of Castlevania (haven't seen past half of season 3). But who knows how that would even turn out lmao
I recently found second hand copy’s of 1-7 of the Berserk Deluxe edition for $100. Im really excited to read them
personally I find the adaptation to be apt
before I would probably have a more unfavorable scrutinizing perspective on Berserk 97 due to seeing the work as symbolic of why not everything is applicable to adaptation to anime and I admit I was a bit peeved with a fanbase that seemed to want for such an adaptation despite my personal line of thinking seeing that Berserk is in some cases is almost antithetical to what makes animation good and is a pinnacle piece of manga work in it's portrait-like framing and an absurd amount of hatch lines and detail
it might sound capitalistic but Berserk is more affordable and cost-effective to be a manga and it was more profitable for Kentaro Miura to draw a panel of Berserk than a bunch of animators trying to replicate that with less of an effect and trying to do it within multiple frames to a limited effect
what I call 97 is a jarring clash of a medium trying to fit something that is not only opposed to it but outright to the point where the studio opts for single frame impact shots and holds granted the holding frame shots aren't held for long enough that it withers away engagement with the show but it's hard not to feel a bitter aftertaste personally sometimes when watching 97 since it seems so contrary to Berserk
I honestly don't blame 2017 for using CGI the problem was with that project was that the director was inexperienced, the 2d and 3d animators didn't have good synergy, and to be frank I don't think the anime industry has had good enough drive to curate good 3D animators and artists besides the top shelf studio's like Kyoani but even then the CGI is more supplementary in terms of being used for inorganic objects which is a choice of good insight of what the strengths of CGI but when it comes to human models there are a lot more factors that go into making good models of 3D characters in terms of textures of the skin and creating rig models
anyway good video
I finished the 97' anime just a few weeks ago, so this video is good timing. I definitely think there are some sections in the middle that can be a bit of a slog - most of the content covering the war against Tuder isn't great, it's here in these fight scenes where the lack of animation budget is at its most prominent, and a huge amount of time is dedicated to the Blue Whale Knight dude (who is so uninteresting that despite all his screen time, I've still forgotten his name). Amazing sequences in the manga like the fight against 100 men aren't really done justice and while I understand this content I'd necessary to chart the progress of the Band of the Hawk's rising through the ranks, they are by a huge margin my least favourite parts of the show.
With this big criticism out of the way though... the 97' anime, for the most part, absolutely excels in terms of atmosphere and mood. The opening few episodes, while admittedly hindered by their animation are still quite strong, with the Zodd fight in episode 6 being particularly really well done. The sense of dread is palpable in the grim, bloody backgrounds and the design of Zodd himself. In fact, the background artwork throughout the whole series has a really beautiful and unique aesthetic that fits the tone of Berserk perfectly. Plenty of wallpaper material.
The quiet, character driven moments in the series are its strong point. The voice acting, particularly for the main three, is so fitting that I cant envision anyone else playing their roles. Scenes like Guts joining the Band, Griffith's speech to Charlotte and the famous Bonfire of Dreams sequence are done phenomenally well, aided by the astounding soundtrack and artwork. The art throughout 97' is very good considering the budget they had to work with.
But I think 97' really comes into it's own from episode 17 onwards to the end. With the war against Tuder ending in episode 16, the rest of the series is able to dedicate itself to the more interesting parts of the plot and dive deeper into the characters. Episode 19, when Guts leaves the Band of the Hawk, is one of my favourite anime episodes ever. His duel with Griffith on the snowy hill is one of the best scenes in all of anime. Later, when he reunites with Casca, their love feels genuine and emotional rather than forced. There are a lot of quieter moments throughout this last stretch of the series and this made it much more engaging to me.
And all this is without mentioning the Eclipse. Despite knowing exactly what's coming, the end of episode 23 when it begins still feels shocking and fills you with dread. The artwork of the eclipse is so oppressively hellish and really hammers home the feeling that these characters have no escape moreso than I think the manha could, just through the use of harsh red colours and that ever-haunting soundtrack. The sequences in Griffith's mind are done very well too, some really experimental imagery coming through, and episode 25, dear lord... one of the most hopeless and terrifying endings to any series ever. Luckily we have the manga to know what happens after, because if I didnt know the story continued from where the anime ends I'd never be okay again.
For all this praise, 97' has lots of issues. The animation is undeniably rough - this doesn't matter so much in a lot of the best scenes which focus on dialogue or atmosphere, but it is still notable, most action sequences containing extensive use of still frames to save money and time. The pacing isn't always great, manga content has to be cut and rearranged (like the removal of Skull Knight or the Wylad arc), some episodes are just characters sitting around talking without a massive amount happening and this means some episodes are a fair bit weaker than others. But the good parts of 97' are really damn good, especially the final third. While I wouldht recommend it for people experiencing Berserk for the first time, I think already loving the story from the manga makes you forgive a lot of the anime's flaws, and I would suggest it is a damn good way of refreshing yourself on the story if its been a little while since you read it. A classic anime for a reason.
I'm glad they understood postcard memories and BACKGROUNDS, the background art in Berserk was like paintings, this was during the final days of hand-drawn animation cels. Everything is stark and pops, the color design is completely on point. Using actual manga panels for many parts of the anime was the best way to respect the superior art of Miura, they had to get the quality in there, and knew how to do it where it mattered. The final two episodes had a noticeable jump in animation quality, so they also knew where to invest their limited budget! Unlike something like N.G.E.
I agree with all that wholehearted, except for the part about Neon Genesis, which ran into time and scheduling related production issues more so than budget problems.
You’ll be happy to watch the new season two
The fan made one? That was very cool, if a bit amateur
@@NINJAMUSHI yes. Archie’s one, it has a potential to rival the likes of Xman
I really like the gritty vintage aesthetic, soundtrack and sound design to the 90’s series, but the massive amount of cut content from the manga unfortunately leaves a bad taste in my mouth :(
that's fair. I guess I don't really mind what was cut (though of course I am speaking as someone who can apply my knowledge of the manga to the anime), mostly because I felt that the core story is just that strong.
Berserk 1997 is the best adaptation of berserk, and most likely will hold that position forever. looking how memorial edition somehow makes things even worse than the movies, ive lost all hopes in perfect adaptation
I don't know much of anything about the Memorial Edition, what did it do?
but yeah, a perfect adaptation is just never going to exist
@@NINJAMUSHI well..theres literally an edit of the entire trilogy (eclipse included) in the first 5 minutes of EPISODE TWO using Forces 2016 (at least still a great song huh), so a new viewer will get spoilers for the entire show right in the beginning for no reason. then they casually continue the normal story from the first movie. i honestly dont know what they were thinking, never set my expectations high but i was hoping that they will at least improve the movies, not what happened in the second episode
more to that, zero changes for cgi and all choppy scenes are the same. pacing is still rushed and no important scenes like first fight of guts in the band were added
huh. well, that sure was a decision. Yeah, for as much as I don't mind the movies (I actually quite like the 3rd one), that sounds pretty bad lol
I really gotta read this manga
Yes sir, it's the goat for a reason
Here it comes to Netflix tomorrow supposedly
Did it?
@@roberth2833 nope, the old berserk anime has had a very elusive presence in this country, no blu ray, never aired on any tv station (that we know of) and never released on streaming.
If you only watch the golden age arch, your not getting what berserker really is. To its core its a dark and twisted story with a single glimmer of hope constantly being snuffed out and re ignited. The golden age is not even a 1/10th of the full manga, it becomes so, so much more after the eclipse
I'm caught up to the manga and this is still a bad take.
@@NINJAMUSHI the mystery child turned out to be Griffith. The mage to help them seal the mark, passed away. The home for casca and Guts to escape the mark, it now has vanished. Several of the isolated monster stories (mainly the moth girl) the people are hopeful to find something to help or save them only to be eaten. His sword fails him. Every glimmer of hope gets taken away from guts.
Okay
I just hate the fact I have so many friends who will never read berserk cause they don’t like reading manga.
Like they love anime but would never read the manga on said anime ..
The reason I've heard for why people hate Tell me why is because of how tonally different it is to Golden Age's story. It was jarring the first time I watched the anime to go from the hopelessness of the ending to the upbeat guitar, as if everything was okay. I still love it though, I think it's a fun song, and I find "put your grasses on" to be hilarious.
I mean, I get what you and other are saying, but I feel like the same type of people that say it doesn't fit are the same type of people that don't actively listen to punk/rock music. I guess because I listen to a ton of music outside of anime/OSTs and my favorite genres tend to be extreme music, I don't see high energy =/= being happy or uplifting. The song is pretty fitting, at least in terms of tone (in the same way Hirasawa's electronic music isn't fitting in genre but is in tone). It has energy but it isn't exactly a happy song, rather it's an emotional catharsis of youthful angst which I think is pretty fitting for Golden Age. Gotta remember, the story is all about Guts trying to find who he is and what he wants to do in life. Frankly, Tell Me Why mirrors that pretty well imo. Glad you love it all the same tho lmao
@@NINJAMUSHI wow, didn’t think I’d find someone else that genuinely liked the opening. Pretty cool :)
There are some people who hate wylad
ItS StILL PeRFeCt! -Me, a Berserk elitest
Shit, it could have a billion flaws and I'll still give it a 10 LOL
Not to be contrary for its own sake but to merely offer a counterpoint: I don't think the anime Berserk holds up.
The 3 main characters were compelling enough and the story was interesting but every episode felt light to me (maybe excluding the final episode). It was hard for me to finish Berserk but I've watched slow-burners before like Monster and that kept me going.
I just don't feel like there's enough there to recommend this series to anyone I know over let's say Death Note, Code: Geass, or Stein's Gate.
I don't think it's bad by any means but it leaves something to be desired aside from it's obvious short-changed ending. Maybe if it continued I'd feel different but I'd say it's a pass imho.
Guess we just got different tastes because I don't think any of those 3 are anywhere near as good. Generally think Code Geass is alright, but R2 is kinda just bad, and the Death Note anime isn't great (manga is, though). Steins;Gate was pretty good from my memory, but a lot of the first half was kinda just alright. Nearly every episode of Berserk had incredible moments to me in comparison.
@@NINJAMUSHI Fair enough. As you pointed out in your other video the Death Note anime did not deal with the 2nd half well (and that 2nd half of the manga may have been pressured to even exist by the publisher which is its own issue).
Steins; Gate to me worked so well b/c early I found it interesting and funny on its own before the heart of the story really kicks off and then it becomes awesome. The 2nd season has some issues though.
I respect your opinion regardless though.
Ayyy
Is it just me or are you everywhere
@@statz3697 I’m pretty much everywhere lol
Ayo
@@NINJAMUSHI :)
ρɾσɱσʂɱ 👊