Finished Berserk. Here, listen to this awesome track while reading my review (so that you can really feel the words flowing through you, hohoho).
Well to put it short, Berserk is a lot of things. It is a story about war, conflict, survival, strength and love. What may come across at first glance as your average medieval fantasy story but with more violence in it, is however so much more which hides a lot of aspects beneath the surface. While factors like gore, violence and sex are without a doubt a driving factor in depicting this cruel medieval setting--which more often than not may cross the line of pure grim-dark exaggeration--they are in the end truly beautifully balanced out in their darkness, giving it a certain motif within the story and not used as a means to simply make the show "mature". No, Berserk knows what it is and how to convey what it wants in a profound manner.
Berserk is a journey. With the use of thematic materials and distinctive characters, it helps give size and scope to the world which in turn manages to shape this series into a compelling narrative. Just as the series isn't afraid to portray rape, it isn't afraid to raise thought provoking ideas that are actually used as an auxiliary to the story, and not merely rudimentary in scale. Normative ethics, social influence, magical workings are developed and explored through different ways within the story. One can easily ignore these aspects and simply enjoy the story for its developments--which would be Guts going from one place to another and kill demons. But thanks to Miura knowing how to convey the story and expand upon the world and its characters in a proper fashion, helps give the series a nice pacing and meaning, and is never cluttered with unnecessary exposition or such.
The series features an array of powerful characters. I'm not a fan of the Byronic hero type, since more often than not they tend to be poorly developed antiheroes, who exists to simply break a certain norm from the "saccharine protagonist" types that everyone are all to familiar with. Guts, however, is a great protagonist and easily one of my favorites, not excluded to simply anime / manga. It is hard at first to like him, since he is terse, nihilistic and even self-destructive (physically and mentally), but it is when you gradually start to unravel the story and the journey that himself has gone through that you eventually start to see his POV, and thanks to it being done in such profound manner is what helps make him great. But what truly helps make Guts a great character is that he is surrounded by other well written characters who serves as a great source for dynamic developments for him through different ways. Individuals like Griffith, Puck, Casca, Farnese, Schierka and so many more is certainly a highlight within the series.
And of course, the artwork. My God! This is definitely one of the most artistically engrossing manga I've read. The character models and design are truly impressive without a doubt, forgoing many of the typical anatomical features and stylistic elements that you tend to typically find in manga. The creature and landscape designs can be both incredibly gorgeous and disturbing. I couldn't help but just stare for over a minute for more than a dozen of panels, even some that I would consider to be "minor" ones in a typical manga. There is certainly a lot to appreciate.
It isn't perfect, and there are aspects I would like to be expanded further upon, e.g. regarding (social) geography and magical workings, but considering this series is still going I wouldn't be surprised if aspects I want answers upon will be showcased further down the line.
So in closing, I can't recommend this one further. A strong narrative, rich characters, artistically beautiful, what more could you possibly want? If you don't have this in your "to read list" I suggest you do it and read it somewhere in the close future.
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