BERSERK 1 War Cry (M) 

DETAILS: 1: War Cry Episodes: 01 The Black Swordsman 02 The Band of the Hawk 03 First Battle 04 The Hand of God 05 The Black Swordsman DVDs AUS $34.95 each (Multilingual - English/Japanese) Region 4. Running time 125 mins Available in Australia from Madman.

SYNOPSIS: In the castle town of Midland, a new king has come to power through treachery and violence. His demonic agents victimize the citizens unchecked, until the night when a battle weary soldier approaches the city. Covered in a slew of weapons and countless jagged scars, he calls himself the Black Swordsman. The sword he carries is the size of his grudge against the king, and he hunts the servants of evil with unrelenting fury.

REVIEW: Berserk is not anime for the faint hearted, in more ways than one. Yes, it's violent, and probably you will have expected that, anticipated eagerly even. After all, what is one supposed to think about a series whose main character is called Guts? One look at that cleaver that passes for a sword he carries is enough to tip off anyone; that is if his scarred, torn and inherently violent demeanour wasn't already setting off all the alarms within a ten-mile radius.
Huge, impossibly broad shouldered, dark and brooding, this is not a man who is a hero because he likes the warm feeling that a good deed brings. Guts is a driven man with a tortured past to avenge that reaches far beyond current events. This much is evident in his torn, bedraggled appearance in the first five minutes of episode one. However, in order to understand how this story ends, it is necessary to first return to the place where it starts.
It's an age-old narrative device. Give the audience a taste of the present, encumbered with its dark secrets and violent realities, and then throw them into the past. The pull of mystery, of piecing the puzzle together as events unravel towards the inevitable, is just too strong to resist. To see the contrast between the seemingly doomed Guts and his younger, less world-weary self is hook enough - it almost becomes an imperative to discover what makes him become as he is. But that is not the strongest current in this remarkably sophisticated series. When Guts meets Griffith, is defeated with an equal measure of grace, beauty and steel, and agrees to join the mercenary group, the famed Band of the Hawk there's only one thing to think.
I have a very, very bad feeling about this.
Why? Well, if I have to tell you the narrative isn't doing as good a job as I thought. History is populated with individuals whose passions, ambitions change the world, on whom events hinge, whose charisma generates a certain sense of unavoidable gravity. The character of Griffith has been drawn from such a page. His angelic appearance, almost in direct opposition to Guts' rough edged earthiness, seems to anticipate a fall. He is magnetic in the extreme, reaching even beyond the bounds of the screen and it impossible to ignore the ease with which he seduces those around him. But does his purity of purpose hide something darker, something ominous? It seems so. Yet even sensing this it is still entirely understandable how and why Guts, with his bull-headed, traumatised, narrowly focused personality, falls under Griffith's spell.
And the deeper Guts falls, the closer it brings him to a fate where only the two of them will stand.
That's my guess at any rate, not that this series could be labelled predictable of course. Purely by virtue of the questions it raises and the levels at which they are asked there is something unique about this particular sword and sorcery anime epic that will keep you thinking. Guts is not some brainless war-monger but an intelligent, feeling character at odds with his own heart, isolated in his quest not for revenge but self awareness and personal freedom. And neither are the surrounding characters completely stereotyped support. They are, in their own brief way as realistic individuals as Guts and Griffith themselves, from the Princess of Blade Caska and her blind devotion to her leader to the charming innocence of the company assassin Judeau. With such a cast, and with what looks to be an increasingly complex knot of relationships this is a series that involves, that demands a measure of emotional investment. You might find, as you work your way through this first volume of Berserk, that it's a measure in generous portion. Don't say you weren't warned.
Rating: 8 Grim, Cleaver-wielding Heroes out of 10
About the Series The manga was created by Miura Kentaro and first serialised in Young Animal. The anime ran for 25 episodes which began screening (in a very late night time slot!) in October 1997. The music, because you'll want to know, after you've watched this first volume, is by Hirazawa Susumu and direction is by Takahashi Naohito (Steel Angel Kurumi). About the DVD War Cry, like Guts himself, is pretty much direct and to the point. There is barely an intro to the navigation screen (refreshing), which features artwork by Berserk manga creator Miura Kentaro, whose style is beautifully evocative of Yoshitaka Amano (of Vampire Hunter D and Final Fantasy fame). As the episodes are quite short, there is no chapter feature but the Extras are liberal and the interface is elegant, simple and easy to use. The Japanese and ADR English audio are equally good, both expressive and well characterised, and the subtitles are wonderfully clear. Features: Production Sketches - 36 character sketches from anime Character Designer Yoshihiko Umakoshi. Art Gallery - Miura Kentaro's original artwork Outtakes - outtakes from the ADR, which are very, very funny in places. Recommend you watch the series first, to get the full effect. Textless Opening - I swear to god, that opening song will grow on you! Berserk Trailer - Nothing to indicate the level of psychological complexity of this series, but it looks damned impressive and that song is addictive to say the least. Madman Propaganda - You know you want it. Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust, Noir, Rurouni Kenshin, Hellsing, GTO and Burn Up Excess. Places of Interest I'm not giving you any this time, because I don't want you to stumble onto any spoilers! Oh look alright, if you absolutely have to try Black Sun Over Midland.
Reviewed by Deni Stoner 2002

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