Berserk Lost Children Arc Anime Coming

Besides the Kushan alligators and one very bad scene with Zodd I find the animation to be just fine.

I would like the current series to coopt the OST from the 97 anime. A lot of the songs from back then are so iconic and moving; yet the current series music underwhelms in many instances.

Actually, listening to the recent OST, i like it a lot. The problem is that the show producers aren't using the material well.

I feel like the current show's OST is very uneven. A good percentage of it is lifted from Shiro Sagisu's 2012 movie trilogy OST and I really like that soundtrack trilogy quite a bit. Egg of the King and The Battle for Doldrey more than The Advent, as I feel that Sagisu's true strength is in more majestic musical composition than horror themed arrangements.

The new series remixes a lot of Sagisu's 2012 battle themes into an epic opera-metal-electronic fusion that I thinks works very well, given the rough textures, dynamic angles and abrupt violence of the action scenes. Especially when Guts is battling authoritarian entities like the Iron Chain Holy Knights or Mozgus. I feel like that music is enlivened by a rebellious expression of anarchy.

But then, when the characters are sitting around and reflecting on situations or talking with one another, the sound bed is almost too understated and uneventful and the director doesn't feel as inspired to demand tracks that have a complementary tone. It adds very little to the mood because it has no real identity to it.

As it regards the '97 anime's OST, done entirely by the master of Berserk music Susumu Hirasawa, I think the problem with using it here is that this new series doesn't pace itself or frame the scenes in such a way where it would mesh very well. The dark fantasy events of post Eclipse Berserk don't really harmonize with much of Hirasawa's '97 score, which emphasizes Guts' maturation in a world of personal and political intrigues. I think Hirasawa's interpretation of the Eclipse is better than what Sagisu gave us in The Advent, both of which I think are good musical interpretations of the event, but I also feel that the movie version has the better pacing and presentation. Weird.

I like Ash Crow and The Establishment.

Also, Hai-yo! Is a great song. It's hilarious and totally fits the atmosphere of a no holds barred rumble.

Yeah, I like all of those songs too. As I said, 'Hai Yo' is my ring tone, so that should tell you what I think of it

My favorite Susumu Hirasawa Berserk song is a toss up between 'Forces II' from the Dreamcast game or 'Sign' from the PS2 game, honestly. I think 'Aria' from the movie trilogy is pretty great, too. That's probably my favorite intro in terms of visuals + music in any of the Berserk animes, truth be told.,

Two things I want to also briefly mention that I think the show is perfectly adapting:

1.) The general 'business' of Miura's panels-this series never fails to amuse me despite its dark premise. Whenever characters are talking, there is always some silly activity going on off to the side. Usually it's something with Puck, Isidro and Casca and it's always funny. Whenever I read the manga, one of the first things I look for in any panel during an exposition sequence is Puck, just to see what sort of dumb thing he's doing and it's always funny and the anime duplicates it wonderfully.

2.) Isidro-I didn't know how this character would play in the anime. I am relieved that he comes off so well. In my opinion, Isidro has been the real star of Berserk 2016-2017. The episode where he is throwing rocks at the cultist monsters established him as not only a funny character but as a reliable ally, and I was afraid that they were going to either play him too serious or too comical up to that point. But when the scene played out, it was the perfect balance of drama and comedy and it just worked for me. Now, I pretty much look forward to watching how the show portrays Isidro in every episode. I think my favorite so far has been when he was practicing combat rolls all over the place during a dialogue sequence a few episodes back. I wonder if that was a tribute to Dark Souls, which that series' creator Hidetaka Miyazaki has been on record as confirming was inspired by Berserk more than anything else.

Taiso said:

Two things I want to also briefly mention that I think the show is perfectly adapting:

1.) The general 'business' of Miura's panels-this series never fails to amuse me despite its dark premise. Whenever characters are talking, there is always some silly activity going on off to the side. Usually it's something with Puck, Isidro and Casca and it's always funny. Whenever I read the manga, one of the first things I look for in any panel during an exposition sequence is Puck, just to see what sort of dumb thing he's doing and it's always funny and the anime duplicates it wonderfully.

2.) Isidro-I didn't know how this character would play in the anime. I am relieved that he comes off so well. In my opinion, Isidro has been the real star of Berserk 2016-2017. The episode where he is throwing rocks at the cultist monsters established him as not only a funny character but as a reliable ally, and I was afraid that they were going to either play him too serious or too comical up to that point. But when the scene played out, it was the perfect balance of drama and comedy and it just worked for me. Now, I pretty much look forward to watching how the show portrays Isidro in every episode. I think my favorite so far has been when he was practicing combat rolls all over the place during a dialogue sequence a few episodes back. I wonder if that was a tribute to Dark Souls, which that series' creator Hidetaka Miyazaki has been on record as confirming was inspired by Berserk more than anything else.

Click to expand...

I don't think the anime has betrayed any of the major characters. Isidro has been good, even though he can be annoying in the manga. I think we don't get enough of Silat, and the true horror that Ganishka is involved in. The anime should consider exploring that for the next season, or else the battle with Guts and Zodd against Ganishka will have no weight.

The OST for this is terrific, even the choices for opening and closing songs. 9mm Parabellum Bullet is super rad.

Let us never forget the original 1997 series' theme.

Evil Wasabi said:

I don't think the anime has betrayed any of the major characters. Isidro has been good, even though he can be annoying in the manga. I think we don't get enough of Silat, and the true horror that Ganishka is involved in. The anime should consider exploring that for the next season, or else the battle with Guts and Zodd against Ganishka will have no weight.

Click to expand...

They're definitely going to have to spend some time focusing on Ganishka not only because of the reasons you cite but also because of the larger role he plays in Griffith's future ambitions.

ookitarepanda said:

The OST for this is terrific, even the choices for opening and closing songs. 9mm Parabellum Bullet is super rad.

Let us never forget the original 1997 series' theme.

Click to expand...

Fuck yes.

Ep. 24 was nowhere near the climactic ravaging that happened in season 1. They even skipped the opening credits and went straight through the closing credits to cram more showtime in, but I think Guts was on screen for a total of 15 seconds :\

Also, what was up with the animation in the last segment in the bar? Suddenly Schierke is like 2 feet tall and everyone's lookin' all goofy.

At this point in the story, Guts doesn't really do much more than go crazy in the Berserk armor, kill stuff and rely on Schierke to pull him back to the realm of reason.

This was the point in the story where I began to question Miura's endgame with Guts. Of course, in the manga they've reached the elf homeland and you're seeing Guts' story and development come back to the forefront but the story was definitely becoming more about Griffith, Rickert, Schierke and Isidoro for a while at this point.

It was, I think, Miura's way of giving the spotlight to other characters for a while because he had to put Guts in a holding pattern to build up other aspects of the story that were necessary to set up the next parts. It would be a narratively awkward time for Guts' story to receive advancement, given that they're sailing and there isn't anywhere you can go with him in that situation that hasn't been established already. For a while, Guts does little more than lay injured or wear the Berserker armor and give in to the Beast in a series of monster of the week battles.

This is also the part in the manga where Miura's hiatuses became frustratingly frequent and long. It's no joke that in the manga, they were on this damn boat for a long, long time in 'reader' years.

As for the 'finale', it appears to have ended in the same way as the '97 anime; with the intention to continue, although I can't confirm that as I haven't heard anything.

This second coeur of Berserk was obviously intended to be the second half of the first season, but the networks decided to split it up into two seasons. I don't believe it was ever originally designed as two seasons separated by a year's time. Again, just putting on my tin hat and speculating without knowing, it would not surprise me if they chose to cut it up like this because it wasn't drawing numbers during the first season so they didn't want to devote 24 consecutive half hour slots to it. Better to cut it off half way and introduce another series to finish off the half season in the hopes it draws better numbers for the remainder of that season. It's a fairly standard practice in American television; they have to justify the ad space costs, after all. It's probably a similar concern in Japanese TV.

I hope we get more animated Berserk, but I also hope that we get a traditional 2D interpretation. At the very least, I'd like to see something with the production values of Attack on Titan, which is stunning to look at but creatively vacant. Production IG would do Berserk justice everyone could agree on, I'd think.

Taiso said:

At the very least, I'd like to see something with the production values of One Punch Man

Click to expand...

Yes.

UPDATE:

The BD rips of the first 12 episodes are out there.

Basically, some scenes are touched up very nicely and the nudity is 'fixed' so that the women have nipples and such. Broadcasting rules prevented them from showing that kind of stuff on television but now it's, more or less, corrected.

I've watched all of these 'remastered' episodes and I enjoyed them quite a bit. I'm looking forward to the second season remasters. Some of those later episodes really need a LOT of work. But if they take their time, they'll look pretty good.

When this is all collected, it's a day one buy for me. It won't convert the haters into fans, but I enjoyed it. Keeping my fingers crossed for a third season, either by these guys or by somebody else.

Taiso said:

UPDATE:

The BD rips of the first 12 episodes are out there.

Basically, some scenes are touched up very nicely and the nudity is 'fixed' so that the women have nipples and such. Broadcasting rules prevented them from showing that kind of stuff on television but now it's, more or less, corrected.

I've watched all of these 'remastered' episodes and I enjoyed them quite a bit. I'm looking forward to the second season remasters. Some of those later episodes really need a LOT of work. But if they take their time, they'll look pretty good.

When this is all collected, it's a day one buy for me. It won't convert the haters into fans, but I enjoyed it. Keeping my fingers crossed for a third season, either by these guys or by somebody else.

Click to expand...

Thanks for that update Taiso, I'd definitely be down for a collection of seasons. I'm hoping that a third season finds us soon; this is shaping up to be a very lack luster anime season right now. Other than continuing with Ballroom e Youkoso, the wife and I have only been interested in Garo - Vanishing Line.

Taiso said:

UPDATE:

The BD rips of the first 12 episodes are out there.

Basically, some scenes are touched up very nicely and the nudity is 'fixed' so that the women have nipples and such. Broadcasting rules prevented them from showing that kind of stuff on television but now it's, more or less, corrected.

I've watched all of these 'remastered' episodes and I enjoyed them quite a bit. I'm looking forward to the second season remasters. Some of those later episodes really need a LOT of work. But if they take their time, they'll look pretty good.

When this is all collected, it's a day one buy for me. It won't convert the haters into fans, but I enjoyed it. Keeping my fingers crossed for a third season, either by these guys or by somebody else.

Click to expand...

Fuck the haters. I am happy with whatever I can get when it comes to Berserk.

Taiso said:

UPDATE:

The BD rips of the first 12 episodes are out there.

Basically, some scenes are touched up very nicely and the nudity is 'fixed' so that the women have nipples and such. Broadcasting rules prevented them from showing that kind of stuff on television but now it's, more or less, corrected.

I've watched all of these 'remastered' episodes and I enjoyed them quite a bit. I'm looking forward to the second season remasters. Some of those later episodes really need a LOT of work. But if they take their time, they'll look pretty good.

When this is all collected, it's a day one buy for me. It won't convert the haters into fans, but I enjoyed it. Keeping my fingers crossed for a third season, either by these guys or by somebody else.

Click to expand...

I'm looking forward to this. I had no idea they were changing anything for the BD release. I found the lack of nipples really distracting, so I'm glad they're changing that. It just made all the nudity scenes look odd.

Evil Wasabi said:

Fuck the haters. I am happy with whatever I can get when it comes to Berserk.

Click to expand...

\
I'm always fascinated by the reviews of this series because of how hard everyone seems to be trying to knock it down.

It would be enough to say 'I don't like CGI" or 'it looks low grade' or even 'I don't like some of the voice casting'.

But when the Youtube experts go into thirty minute long in depth analysis of what's wrong with the series, I have to disregard it. They've tried too hard to find things wrong with it. Suddenly, they're all film experts when it comes to intensely shouting down a series for not being the exact thing they want it to be.

Berserk has an intense and dedicated fan base. I completely understand that. But when you consider that most of these same Youtube experts are fans of so much terrible high school anime and they go out of their way to sing the praises of these terrible shows that 'push boundaries' and 'subvert expectations', I think it's our obligation as human beings to just dismiss them.

Taiso said:

\
I'm always fascinated by the reviews of this series because of how hard everyone seems to be trying to knock it down.

It would be enough to say 'I don't like CGI" or 'it looks low grade' or even 'I don't like some of the voice casting'.

But when the Youtube experts go into thirty minute long in depth analysis of what's wrong with the series, I have to disregard it. They've tried too hard to find things wrong with it. Suddenly, they're all film experts when it comes to intensely shouting down a series for not being the exact thing they want it to be.

Berserk has an intense and dedicated fan base. I completely understand that. But when you consider that most of these same Youtube experts are fans of so much terrible high school anime and they go out of their way to sing the praises of these terrible shows that 'push boundaries' and 'subvert expectations', I think it's our obligation as human beings to just dismiss them.

Click to expand...

For me the pain comes when people simply regurgitate the popular reddit opinions. These aren’t original thoughts anymore, and so many people will repeat these opinions without giving it a chance. It is happening throughout geekdom. I heard at a gathering some random dudes complaining about a streamer being salty, which comes up in every reddit thread about the guy by at least one faceless person - the streamer does so mich to show people how to play better, but these two dudes can just repeat the oft memed “salty.” Meme mentality. I think the same thing happened with dark tower, which was a shit movie, but with 18% on RT, no one gave it a chance. It was basically empty theaters everywhere. People rely on others to do their thinking.

The issue of the CGi, poor animation, etc, it’s overwrought. It could totally be better, but it is what it is, and that’s what we have essentially paid for.

Evil Wasabi said:

For me the pain comes when people simply regurgitate the popular reddit opinions. These aren’t original thoughts anymore, and so many people will repeat these opinions without giving it a chance. It is happening throughout geekdom. I heard at a gathering some random dudes complaining about a streamer being salty, which comes up in every reddit thread about the guy by at least one faceless person - the streamer does so mich to show people how to play better, but these two dudes can just repeat the oft memed “salty.” Meme mentality. I think the same thing happened with dark tower, which was a shit movie, but with 18% on RT, no one gave it a chance. It was basically empty theaters everywhere. People rely on others to do their thinking.

The issue of the CGi, poor animation, etc, it’s overwrought. It could totally be better, but it is what it is, and that’s what we have essentially paid for.

Click to expand...

Reddit is another dumpster fire that needs a few more scandals. It has its uses, but it's become such a well known gathering point for keyboard warriors that it's developed a mystique for being an informative location despite its mountain of flaws, just like NeoGAF.

I prefer to come to less trucked places and niche sites with smaller but more dedicated bases. It can't be heaven if everyone's there.

Taiso said:

Reddit is another dumpster fire that needs a few more scandals. It has its uses, but it's become such a well known gathering point for keyboard warriors that it's developed a mystique for being an informative location despite its mountain of flaws, just like NeoGAF.

I prefer to come to less trucked places and niche sites with smaller but more dedicated bases. It can't be heaven if everyone's there.

Click to expand...

Is heaven a possibility for the people of Midland?

Evil Wasabi said:

Is heaven a possibility for the people of Midland?

Click to expand...

Heh. That is a loaded question from Berserk's point of view.

The series basically says that human beings are flawed and imperfect but that they still want to live happy lives that they consider fulfilling. They'll do whatever it takes to get that.

It's why Guts cries at the end of the 'Black Swordsman' arc, in my opinion. He knows he's almost a singularity, living in the interstice, because he doesn't believe (at that part of the story) that he can ever just be a regular person pursuing earthly goals. His vendetta and his existence outside causality bar him from pursuing happiness. He sees Theresa as a mirror to his own origins, which spurs on the 'Golden Age' arc as a flashback. It's why Guts admitting to Serpico and Roderick that he needed them to get as far as he did was such a milestone. He came close with the Band of the Hawk and Griffith betrayed everything he believed. To have one's innocence stripped away not once but twice, and then to have a third chance at it, speaks to Guts' TRUE strength.

Maybe that's what heaven truly is in Berserk. Everyone being happy.

It's certainly not bickering about how shitty you think an anime adaptation is.

Taiso said:

\
I'm always fascinated by the reviews of this series because of how hard everyone seems to be trying to knock it down.

It would be enough to say 'I don't like CGI" or 'it looks low grade' or even 'I don't like some of the voice casting'.

But when the Youtube experts go into thirty minute long in depth analysis of what's wrong with the series, I have to disregard it. They've tried too hard to find things wrong with it. Suddenly, they're all film experts when it comes to intensely shouting down a series for not being the exact thing they want it to be.

Berserk has an intense and dedicated fan base. I completely understand that. But when you consider that most of these same Youtube experts are fans of so much terrible high school anime and they go out of their way to sing the praises of these terrible shows that 'push boundaries' and 'subvert expectations', I think it's our obligation as human beings to just dismiss them.

Click to expand...

It's also not like the original 97 series was some pinnacle of great animation either, that show was animated for dirt cheap and it shows, I'm almost shocked it was made in 97 and not ten years earlier from some of the stuff in it, I mean especially when you compare it to its contemporary shows like Cowboy Bebop which came out a year later. You don't watch Berserk for top of the line animation techniques at this point. Besides neither anime is nearly as deep as the manga, a lot of the deeper deconstructionist themes get muddled in the adaptation process. I'm perfectly happy with the shows we have and think people who complain about the new series have a stick up their butt