Reviews

I finished watching this anime within about a week. I had taken my time. I was prepared. I didn't want to watch it too fast or too slow. And I already sensed it back then when I was watching the first episodes that it saddened me to know that this art peace would come to an end. In one equation: !!!BERSERK = BEAUTIFUL!!!!

I came to know about the anime/manga Berserk accidentally about a year ago. I was searching for some sites which listed a top xx off best anime/manga. That's when it cached my eye that in most top xx manga, the manga Berserk was always mentioned. But I never heard of it before. So I went to IMDb typed in 'Berserk' and....BINGO! There exists an anime-derivative of the manga. So I read some reviews and brief introduction to the story and characters and I became obsessed. I had to watch this anime sooner or later.

Thankfully that day has come to be. Before watching this anime, I really didn't know what to call my personal favorite in the genre. Was it Akira, Ghost in The Shell, Ninja Scroll, Wolf's Rain, Jin Roh, etc. But Berserk surpasses those great titles BY FAR!!! The mean character in the story has to be Guts a very big and powerful swordfighter, who at some point in the story joins up with the mercenary band: Band of the Hawk lead by the charismatic Griffith. Who is also one of the mean characters. The other one is Caska a female member of the band. Although this is certainly a rough anime with loads of blood and death body's, that what really makes this anime/manga superior to all other anime I've ever seen, is the character development of the leading characters. And the triangular relationship between the main characters.

It is that what from time to time made me shiver. I had hard times trying to tear myself away from the desire to watch the next episode. It is seldom seen that you develop such a great affection towards the characters in the story.

What a great series this was. That what most people resented about this anime was its abrupt ending. I was already warned about it before watching. So the ending landed a little softer on me. But for sure the end can be called a cliffhanger. You're dying to know what will happen to Guts and the others. But to be honest about it, I think it was a great ending to the anime. Because I think the makers of the anime really wanted to shock you and to hunger you for the rest of the story. It is almost if the author of the story, Kentaro Miyura made the first part of the manga or to say the biggest part of the anime to be something which serves the power of the dramatic ending of the anime. I find this to be a genius way off story telling and making viewers/readers interested in reading the manga where the story definitely will be continued. Which is also what I'm doing at the moment: I'm reading the manga and it's great! For sure Kentaro Miyura has made a grand, beautiful and intriguing Fantasy world with great characters included. But then again I also have to stress out the achievements of the makers of the anime for bringing this world and its people so vividly alive. But be warned I can understand that the anime is somewhat heavy, because of its grim and bloody content but it is still not that heavy when compared to the manga. Things that happen to Guts in the manga where probably too much to show on a late-night TV-series but it does give more dept to the characters.

It's true, especially in 2006, don't expect great animated graphics, that's not what makes Berserk memorable. But for sure it's not bad. It's just not that great either. I've you want to watch this anime do it because of the story and the characters and nothing else. There are about 4 to 5 themes in the anime and it fits the anime, according to my taste, very well even though it's being repeated over and over again.

Anyway I'm glad that I watched this anime. Ladies and gentleman it's a 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10

P.S. PLEASE, PRETTY PLEASE, IF YOUR READING THIS, YOU POWERFUL Japanese ANIME PRODUCER YOU, CREATE A SECOND ANIME SEESON FOR BERSERK!!!!!

It's not that I did not want to reward this movie with a straight forward 10. It's just out of a principle of mine that I don't give away '10-s' because I believe that a movie or series which you thought of being the best, can be surpassed by something which you just didn't happen to know yet. Or a movie which simply has not yet been made. But Wolf's Rain really gave me the feeling to release my self of that believe.

Honestly, Wolf's Rain is one of the greatest tales ever been told. In all of the 30 episodes in which it is contained, it proofed to be an overwhelming experience. This begins at the very first episode and brings the viewer to a dramatic and beautiful climactic end.

One other absolutely great anime-series has to be Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex. This anime is able to bring you to the point of thinking about: intelligence, the questions: what is a human and what's not and where are the boundaries? And what's the near future like and will science-fiction turn to every-day technology. (They already have a professor in cybernetics at the University of Reading, you know.) Wolf's Rain however is all about the goals that we have to set in our lives to keep us going and all the feelings and emotions which lie on this road towards these goals. The human and emotional approach of Wolf's Rain is easier to understand for most people then the far more rational approach of the Ghost in the Shell-series. But in my point of view these two are part of the same amazing coin because these anime-series truly know how to amaze the viewer.

Anyway Wolf's Rain is a perfect example of the grand potential of the anime-genre. I'm not a person who likes to cry a lot, but I'm not ashamed to say that I had to shed a tear while watching the last parts of the series. This series will make it very clear that the power of animation is to be able to maximize the expression of every element of the story. After seeing this anime, it became one of the reasons why I am an anime-fan. Try it out let it be a great expansion of your anime-collection or let it be a superb way to get acquainted with the anime-genre.