Berserk - Das goldene Zeitalter

After several months of anticipation I just got to watch Berserk - The Golden Age Arc Chapter I - The Egg of the King, and as a fan of both the Manga Comic and the animated TV series, I was not the least disappointed. This movie kicks ass! I was perhaps most amazed of the battles, which come off as extremely vivid and original.

Many will compare this movie to the animated series, and yes, some things have changed, as this format is much more time-limited. The exclusion of some scenes and moments to the benefit of other, might make the movie feel as a summary of the series. The much loved musical themes of the series have also been changed, something I expected, yet hoped would stay the same as I really liked them. On the other hand, we get to see Guts and Griffith swinging their swords in a much more vivid graphical universe, which I think the story deserves!

As the above mentioned mainly comes down to a matter of taste, the main problem with this movie is that it doesn't focus as much on character development as the original comic and animated series did. This will create some moments which new viewers couldn't possibly make full sense of. However, for any passionate Berserk-fan, this should not be a deal-breaker, as it is still a great movie, true to the original story.

Few stories can capture your mind and soul in a visceral way from the beginning, and never leave you. Berserk is one of them.

Written and illustrated by the legendary manga artist Kentaro Miura, Berserk (ベルセルク) is an epic fantasy saga that knows no time, no boundaries, and no has end. It tells the story of a Guts (ガッツ, Gattsu), a boy born from the corpse of a woman hung on a battlefield, who struggles to fight his unfortunate destiny. Set in a fictional version of medieval Europe, Gatsu is a young mercenary who travels with no direction nor purpose, swinging his huge sword in merciless fights in order to survive. He buries his blade deep into the flesh of his opponents, fighting like a madmen in battle, reminiscent of the nordic berserks, coming closer and closer to death, maybe to finally feel alive. His life is meaningless, his actions have no honor nor reason, except survival. He strives to escape his nature, that of a man born from a dead body, already between this world and the other, with nothing to lose except his miserable life.

That is, until he meets Griffith, the impossibly beautiful and charismatic leader of the undefeated mercenary band called "the Band of the Hawk" (鷹の団 Taka no Dan). This encounter will forever change his life, and that of everyone else.

Beware, Berserk is not an ordinary series. It is hard, violent, and not easy to follow. There are no flashbacks constantly reminding you of what happened before, no fill-in episodes, no sweetening of the pill. It is a solid punch of crude reality hitting you in the stomach, and you have no way of guarding yourself. Miura's genius permeates in each page, down to every minute detail. The themes treated are difficult, and never simplified for the sake of the reader. Reality has no shortcuts, no easy way, and that is reflected in the story. The characters in Berserk are genuine, real, endlessly complicated, troubled. They hold secrets, they cheat, murder, conspire, but they are also capable of great kindness. Friendship, ambition, causality, the supernatural, our ambivalent nature, the struggle for power, love and hate. Twenty-two years in, still going strong, in what is possibly one of the greatest stories ever told.

With that premise, you would think that the task of turning such a story into a series of animated feature films would be arduous. And you would be right. Only an animation studio capable of immense greatness could be up to the task. STUDIO4°C is one such group.

From the opening scene we know what kind of film we are dealing with. A clear, peaceful blue sky is contrasted by the presence of ominous birds flying in circles, while balls of fire fly over them. Guts looks up at the sky with sad eyes, a scar in the middle of his nose and a helmet on his head immediately tell us what he is. A heartless mercenary. The deaden sound of the blasting gives us a hint of where we are. Everything moves slowly, as if underwater, or inside a womb. How appropriate for someone who was born in a battlefield, who is neither truly alive nor dead, until he begins to fight. Gatsu's heart starts pounding, as he watches a black hawk fall down, the sound increases, until the bird drops dead in the middle of the fight, crushed beneath the boots of armed mercenaries, assaulting a castle. That is the time when the sound rises up at full blast, and we are catapulted into the battle.

The fight is cruel and violent, unlike anything I have even seen. The Lord of the Rings, Braveheart, Game of Thrones, list what you want, nothing compares to the level of horrifying realism that Berserk has to offer. The animation is top notch, the colours vivid and stunning, you could take any frame from the film, hang it on the wall, and it would work as a painting on itself.

The soundtrack by Shiro Sagisu is perfectly calibrated to match the already spectacular animation sequence, the epic chorus elevates the scenes to a sense of greatness, without ever overdoing it. The first eight minutes are a masterpiece of action down to the last second, flawlessly directed by the talented Toshiyuki Kubooka.

In every moment we can see something in motion, be it the clouds in the background or the hair on someone's face, the level of maniacal details is lessened only by the overuse of 3D animation (which is a bit irritating at times). But action sequences of crude violence, great animation, and impeccable sound effects are just a spec of dust in the whole opera. The real value lies in the moments of silence, when the characters quietly ponder about their lives, or study each other, looking into their souls. We can see through their fears, their dreams and aspirations, their hate, without them needing to utter many words. And the few words that are spoken weight a million tons.

Berserk Golden Age Arc I: The Egg of the King covers volumes 4,5 and half of 6, each of which requires a few hours to read, all delivered in 70 minutes. As you can imagine, they had to make some choices and not everything was included. When this happens, the story usually loses value, the characters are simplified, and everything becomes dull. Surprisingly, this is not the case here. The first part of the Berserk Saga Project, which should cover the Golden Age Arc of Berserk does not disappoint. In fact, it excels, in both execution and presentation. The climatic drama and the anticipated tragedy yet to come reach the peak at the end of the film, accompanied by an epic final score by Susumu Hirasawa.

STUDIO4°C has delivered a compelling and engaging story, masterfully animated and directed, which breathed life to Miura's pencil, and gave it voice.

Full review: http://goo.gl/8HNpB

Berserk is a story that captures your mind & never lets you go. A dark fantasy admits no boundaries. It follows story of Guts born in battle, struggling to defy misfortunity. Setting in ancient Europe. A mercenary kills only to survive, digs his sword in enemy hearts going closer to death only to feel alive in his miserable life or has nothing to lose. Until he meets Griffith, beautiful & charming leader of mercenary Hawk that will change his life forever. It features horrific action, darker violence, grittier fights which exciting to see raw nature of humanity. Within first 10 mins you will to sink into it. Tension & gravity of actions didn't felt unnecessary terms of scenes. Literally anything goes from murder,love, hate to bare sex. Also, characters has friendship, causality, & admiration towards one another. You can just by looking into the faces & see their fear, dreams, aspirations without much to say. But animation is plain casual, colour frames are dull & poor, some theme felt show or overpaced that loses key values & makes it boring, As per counting it's not disappointing. In fact, excels in both execution and presentation. Some moments elevates the film climax & soundtrack.

Guts is a great fighter. Who, of course, gets into fights. His sword cleaves and kills, the bodies fall in front of his wreath, till he meets Griffith, who becomes his leader. From now on, Guts will work under Griffith's orders.

The first film of the The Golden Age Arc for "Berserk" is an entertaining, and not very long, affair, full of well developed fights, nice action, and great depiction of the fights, but a plot basically non-existent: Guts fights, Guts meets Griffith, Guts fights. However, the atmosphere is quite good, and it is easy to connect with the characters and enjoy the world they live in.

With two more movies after this first one, "The Egg of the King" just feels as an appetizer. But one that will fill the viewer.

Positive:

• no previous knowledge of the manga necessary
• well created characters & story
• medieval atmosphere
• animation at a high level (especially the battle scenes)
• realistic fights with uncompromising hardness
• brilliant soundtrack

Negative:

• violence (splitting heads and other horrors)
• sudden end