The Addicts give the run down and voices and interviews from the floor from Florida Supercon 2010 in Miami. Following that they talk about the Summer 2010 anime season, what they’re looking forward to, and what they already can’t wait to end.
Reviews: Berserk and Wolf’s Rain
Alternate Titles: None
Original Japanese Release Date: October 7th, 1997
Episode Length/Run-time: 25
Summary:
A man named Guts finds himself joining a band of mercenaries called the Band of the Hawk. Led by the charismatic Griffith, they climb their way through the ranks of the royal count. Little does Guts know that his involvement with Griffith will lead both their fates down a path neither of them could have forseen.
Review:
Berserk is nearly the perfect anime. Filled with gripping action, engaging politics, betrayal, love, and everything in between, it helped define the 1990’s as a great decade for anime. Berserk’s plotline, up until the end, is one of its strongest assets. Watching Griffith execute his masterful military strategy, as the Band of the Hawk wins battle after battle, is truly a treat. The masterfully crafted military battles are supported by a dark animation style that creates the perfect atmosphere for an anime that couldn’t be less “moe”. Outside of the battlefield, the other primary setting for the show falls within the falls of the king’s court. This show contains a lot of politics, which amongst other things, includes a lot of plotting against Griffith by the current members of the court.
Despite all the praise you can heap on Berserk for it’s engaging pacing it is the relationships between the characters that make it truly great. The three main characters Gutts, Griffith and Casca, are as interconnected as a set of characters can possibly be. Throughout the course of the show you’ll see Griffith, a genius leader and strategist, grow very dependent upon Guts’s talent as a military general and warrior. In much the same way, Casca is dependent upon Griffith as her source of strength. Rescued as a young girl by Griffith, Casca is completely loyal to Griffith and would do anything to see him fulfill his ambitions. The most interesting aspect of the relationships is to see what happens when certain characters are removed from the equation.
In spite of all the positive aspects of the show, Berserk is a love it or hate it anime. It has one of the worst endings in the history of anime, that very much requires the viewer to continue the story on into the manga. I fully recommend this show to anybody that can handle a healthy degree of violence and assuming that they are able to stomache the knowledge that they will be disappointed by the series conclusion.
[starrater]