Is Berserk 2016 Worth Watching? Fan Thoughts and Review

Not long ago I wrote about the Berserk movies, having heard about the new Berserk 2016 adaptation and how it’d not be the same bit done thrice. I thought it’d be cool to cover the newer retellings. But once Berserk 2016 began airing, seeing a few articles stating such things as “another strong episode” and “this is some damn good anime”, alongside a deluge of YouTube and Twitter comments from fans saying the exact opposite, it ultimately begged the question: Is it worth watching Berserk 2016? Hint: Probably not.

The Adaptation

For this, it’s important to ask “Who is this show for?” Considering it’s aware of the ’97 and the 2013 adaptations, it’s easy to assume it’s for those who are already familiar with Berserk through the previous anime — who know who Guts is, what Casca means to him, and why he profoundly hates the apostles and anything related to them. Hell, why not say this is Berserk season 2 that oddly came out 20 years after the first one (and made by entirely different people)? Well, no, because Skull Knight makes an appearance and Guts reacts as if he’s met him before (and he has, in the manga), but that dude is a no show in the ’97 anime. Alright, then how about the movies? This is a sequel to them, it even has the same voice actors! Well no, because Minister Foss makes a (super brief) appearance and mentions the Hawk of Light dream everyone had and he’s not around in the movies.

Alright…so it’s a new thing then, for the newcomers, for “the next generation of fans”. Okay, who’s Guts? Why should I care about him and what he wants? He has a giant sword and according to the opening it bursts into flames (it never does in the story, btw), but that’s not enough to make me care. Why is he infatuated with Casca? Other than getting raped by monsters, I know next to nothing about her. To a newcomer, Farnese and her companions might be the ones I should be caring about the most, those are the ones that I’ve followed and seen do (pretty heinous) stuff. “But wait, there’s more! We have episode 3, it will clarify everything!” No it doesn’t. But we have the flashbacks! We get to see Corkus be a dick, Judeau urging Guts to take Casca away with him this time, that helps, right? Wait, who are they?! I’m a new guy and I don’t know things. Take Casca away from where? Why? And why is the King dying? Griffith seems to be a pretty important guy, but all I see is Guts being pissed at monsters, not at a strangely attractive cartoon man!

So, episode three. That could be the worst mess in the show, even considering the first episode’s shenanigans of “this is Koka Castle but not really.” Those that have paid some attention to the fans’ outcry surely have heard about the Lost Children Arc. That arc, and I’d include Theresia and The Count (from the Black Swordsman Arc), serve the purpose of painting what the apostles are, what made them change from a common human into something else, who made that possible, and — most importantly — it explains the behelit’s purpose along with the price of using it (something that Berserk 2016 has barely touched upon). But this show, in an attempt to make it accessible, wanted to rush through all that about the apostles, and the God Hand and the behelit (kind of); and rush it did, and the result was that disaster with the dog apostle and its hounds.

Then, is this show for the Old Guard? No, it doesn’t connect with the previous adaptations properly. But neither does it do a proper job of presenting it to a newer audience. You could go out on a limb and say this is for those that have read the manga and want to see the Conviction Arc animated (which is a really big stretch), but then why make an attempt at making it accessible? And even worse, if this were supposed to be pure eye candy, it’s just not very pleasant to look at. And this brings me to the next point: “What’s wrong with everyone’s face?!”

Visuals and Animation

From the three review sites I’ve checked for stuff related to Berserk 2016, I think only one has said that the visuals are unequivocally good, even going as far as saying that it looks better than the ’97 adaptation; the others say something akin to “it’s got its ups and downs;” the fans more often than not having pretty negative things to say about it. The usual criticism is about having computer generated graphics, which is not the correct thing to be getting mad at, I say.

Anime-styled CGI that looks good is not impossible anymore, with the prime example being the beautiful visuals of the Guilty Gear series, that made the transition from spectacular 2D to equally astonishing 3D — its animation looks and feels excellent. In the realm of anime, we’ve had Knights of Sidonia and Ajin these past few years, and they generally look good enough, albeit stiff and kinda choppy. One could argue that all those examples are of highly stylized art, but that’s not Miura’s art! His art being super detail-oriented and of godly origin and blah, blah, blah… Yes, Miura’s art is awesome; yes, getting it into 3D and making it look good enough is maybe harder than for other styles; but it’s not impossible.

Many years ago, when I was still an innocent wee lad with dreams for the future, there was this ancient machine used to play video games, it was called the Dreamcast. Before I knew full well what Berserk is, I heard about this pretty drab and odd-looking game that was apparently so bloody it made your stomach turn — it was Sword of the Berserk: Guts’ Rage. Not getting into details about the story, its graphics were kinda off even for its generation, but there was something to them that made it stand out beyond its oppressive color palette, that gave the weird cardboard faces a humane hint to them, that somehow brought you into that sad and off-putting world. Paired with what I can only describe as a “controlling soundtrack” by Susumu Hirasawa (composer for the ’97 adaptation), and that game sucked you in. Looking back on it after so long, I can say that that game looked, sounded, and felt like Berserk. A generation later, came another Berserk game, this time a Japanese exclusive for the Playstation 2 (that later got fan translated). I’ve only seen videos, still images, and listened to its music, but it too seemed to be in tune with what Berserk is.

From the Youtube channel of TheSw1tcher

From the Youtube channel of EightBitHD

I could talk about how unfit the coloring is in Berserk 2016, with the use of very bright colors instead of more muted, somber ones; how its jerky 2D and stiff 3D animations clash as badly as Zack Snyder and fans of DC comics; how unnatural and rigid every movement looks: from someone raising an arm or walking around, to something smaller like the interaction of fabric with a solid object (or my “favorite,” the Buns of Steel: Whore-on-Whore Spanking Action scene in episode six). But the fact of the matter is that it just does not feel very Berserk-like.

What bothers me the most is, actually, not the stony face everyone wears, or Guts’ newfound wit with words, it’s how almost EVERY scene has the camera panning, and if it’s got some action make it do a pan AND a twist. It’s as if they were so desperate to show off their rad camera directing “skillz”, that they forgot about making it look good, not just flashy.

So Is It Worth Watching?

Don’t misunderstand me, I’m not saying Berserk 2016 is unforgivably terrible. If it was anything but Berserk, it’d look “okay,” be “good enough” and get rated “fine.” But this is Berserk, fans expected more from this, yet the makers either didn’t bring their A-game, or it was too much for Shin Itagaki, a.k.a. the director and scriptwriter of the comedy & slice-of-life anime Teekyu.

The main interest of the studio seems to be captured perfectly in the opening: it’s loud, it’s flashy, it’s cool and it’s badass. “Look at that dude with a huge sword that bursts into flames! He fights monsters and screams a lot!!” I’m not going to lie, I like that opening, it’s dumb and it’s cool, and it scratches that same itch that Kill la Kill scratched years ago. But that is not Berserk. Most fans, I’d say, can tell when something feels genuinely like Berserk or at least close enough. This doesn’t pass the test.

Before anyone says something along the lines of “the fans are entitled pricks that know nothing,” allow me to say that I’d usually agree, at least to some extent, with that premise. But here’s the thing: anyone that has followed Berserk with some degree of seriousness knows about The Boat. You are very, very unlikely to hear somebody say anything positive about The Boat. We stayed during that ride, and we’re still here after the ride ended. The Boat was a bad, bad part to be at — and we were on it for a long, long time. There’s another thing to be said about Master Miura’s Magic Hiatuses acts, but I’m digressing. The point is that stunts like that could kill entire series due to the loss of interest from fans, but Berserk not only did not die, it got the movies, this new show, and an upcoming video game for the PS3, PS4, and Vita (which looks better than this, btw). It’s alive because we still like the brand.

From the Youtube channel of PS360HD2

So, the main question still stands: Is Berserk 2016 worth watching?

Answer: It depends~!

For as dumb as its first episode was, and nonsensical as the third got, the rushed adaptation still follows the Conviction Arc well enough (so far). At the time of this writing, the latest episode to come out is the seventh, and it was a fun one. Knowing what goes after, it’s hard for them to screw it up (though not impossible). If you’ve watched the ’97 anime and the ’13 movies, and you’re adamant on never in your life reading anything of the manga, for whatever reason, it’s fine if you watch this.

In pretty much any other case, it’s better if you do something else with your time. Read a book, go out with someone, take a stroll, play a game, watch another anime that’s better. The ultimate issue with this show is not that it’s horrendous burning trash, because it’s not; it’s that it’s so average at almost everything it does that it can get dull. It’s not bad enough to get constantly angry/amused at it, it’s not The Room of anime; and it sure as hell is not a gem. It’s reasonably fine. In the years to come it will be remembered mostly because of its tie with the brand, but otherwise it’s as memorable as Time Stalkers for the Dreamcast, or The Phantom Menace‘s entire plot… except for that CLANG, maybe.

What Do You Think?

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