Berserk is, to say the least, phenomenal. I love the dark fantasy setting, the artwork is AMAZING, seriously, there are shots of beautiful paintings of medieval architecture, beautiful landscapes, barren wastelands etc. Not to mention the visceral detail (e.g. The plethora of bloodshed and dismemberment) which adds to the violent dark fantasy theme of this show.
The relationships between the characters, particularly the ones between Guts, Griffith, and Casca are interesting and well-developed, as they become closer to each other and also become more open. Guts is a badass main character, going from a young mercenary owned by a highly skilled mercenary leader (Griffith) to a mature and almost undefeatable warrior owned by demons. Berserk actually starts off by showing us how Guts is after all his years in the Band of the Hawk, then transitions to a younger, less experienced Guts, so you see this amazing contrast at the start of the show. You also learn more about Guts' past, as well as Casca's and Griffith's, which helps you understand how they ended up being the way that they are throughout most of the show. Themes of morality and aspiration are also well explored.
This show, despite its pluses, does of course have its negatives. For starters, the animation isn't great. For example, sometimes there are just still frames with the characters' mouths moving up and down to resemble talking, other times when there's combat, you see a still frame of Guts swinging his sword and sometimes afterwards a very brief death animation for the victim but considering the time and budget constraints that the studio had, it makes sense that they'd have to take shortcuts. Another negative I have is that after more than two decades of the final episode, there is no second season. I've heard of a continuation in the story that was made in 2016-2017, but from what I've heard it's disappointing, particularly due to the art and animation, which is a huge shame, since if the same studio had continued the story using the new manga material that had been released for Berserk since the late 90's, using the same art-style but better quality animation to create a continuation of Guts' riveting tale, I would've watched it in a heartbeat and Berserk fans would've loved it. What a missed opportunity, but ah well, I guess 25 episodes will have to do for now, I might read the manga too.
The relationships between the characters, particularly the ones between Guts, Griffith, and Casca are interesting and well-developed, as they become closer to each other and also become more open. Guts is a badass main character, going from a young mercenary owned by a highly skilled mercenary leader (Griffith) to a mature and almost undefeatable warrior owned by demons. Berserk actually starts off by showing us how Guts is after all his years in the Band of the Hawk, then transitions to a younger, less experienced Guts, so you see this amazing contrast at the start of the show. You also learn more about Guts' past, as well as Casca's and Griffith's, which helps you understand how they ended up being the way that they are throughout most of the show. Themes of morality and aspiration are also well explored.
This show, despite its pluses, does of course have its negatives. For starters, the animation isn't great. For example, sometimes there are just still frames with the characters' mouths moving up and down to resemble talking, other times when there's combat, you see a still frame of Guts swinging his sword and sometimes afterwards a very brief death animation for the victim but considering the time and budget constraints that the studio had, it makes sense that they'd have to take shortcuts. Another negative I have is that after more than two decades of the final episode, there is no second season. I've heard of a continuation in the story that was made in 2016-2017, but from what I've heard it's disappointing, particularly due to the art and animation, which is a huge shame, since if the same studio had continued the story using the new manga material that had been released for Berserk since the late 90's, using the same art-style but better quality animation to create a continuation of Guts' riveting tale, I would've watched it in a heartbeat and Berserk fans would've loved it. What a missed opportunity, but ah well, I guess 25 episodes will have to do for now, I might read the manga too.