Berserk (anime series) - 1997

After I read the first manga, I was trying to figure out if I wanted to keep going down the Berserk manga path. There are 14 deluxe editions, thick books, and they aren't cheap. Watching this series was research for me. How invested am I in Guts and his story?

This 25-episode series showed me the origin of Guts. He's taken in by a band of mercenaries led by Griffon. I'd like to try and describe Griffon, but I can't really find a word that describes him accurately. He's ambitious and has the mojo to attract most of the people around him. I had a "love polygon" diagram at the end showing how different characters were connected.

There's still a lot of blood gushing everywhere (the manga had a ton of people cut in half), but it wasn't terrible. I wouldn't let a child sit down and watch this, it is NOT a cartoon. It's hard to describe the depth I found in it, and I don't think everyone would see everything I saw. This is not a show for everyone. It's also not something to watch if you are wanting to feel better about your day. And for what it's worth, the end credit music sounds like old-school Smashing Pumpkins. It's not...

The last episode was just insane. I'm talking about jaw-dropped, 'what the heck did I just watch?' insane. Not only was it crazy, it was one of the most frustrating cliffhanger adventures I have ever seen. The way it ended made me jump to the internet to try and see if any of the immediate questions I had were answered in the manga...they were.

I still haven't 100% decided. It's a big investment of money and shelf space, but my plan currently is to read through the manga again and make my final decision after that. I found this particular series to be interesting, and even though I was slow to get involved with the story, once I got a few episodes in, I was binging them. The series did its job. I want to see more. It may involve dedicating a large amount of shelf space, but we shall see. Good Show!