Berserk Golden Age Arc I: Egg of the Supreme Ruler [Review]

[Death May Die]

Its hard waiting for this anime to come out in the states, and read so much bad stuff about it. It really is a shame. I'm not surprised that its bombing with fans, many of which called foul on it months ago with simply nothing to go on but screen shots. By the time I see it won't be necessary or relevant to give it a review. I hope that the sequels altogether accomplish something more than stripping Berserk's fantastic story down to bare bone.

So far anime I only have one question:

Will Griffith be doing a recut?

 

[Bekul]

Can we at least agree it's the best Berserk movie of the last dozen years?

 

[Aazealh]

Wow, there is some vehement hate for this movie around here. Yet the poll shows otherwise. Are the people that liked the movie too shy to speak up? C'mon now, join in on the coversation!

The poll doesn't really show otherwise; it doesn't display unilateral appreciation, and the way you worded the categories entices people to choose the option that received most votes anyway. Beyond that, there's just a category of people who wouldn't have anything to say regardless, no argument to back up the mindless appreciation they formed before they'd even seen a trailer and won't let go off no matter what. The same people who've been saying for months that no change or omission really matters as long as it's "BERSERK ANIMATED".

To all those that have said that the story doesn't make sense, don't you think you're prejudging that aspect just a bit

No? And that goes the other way. Except you don't even need to know the dialogue to realize how the changes they wrought damage the story (e.g. scenes removed/altered).

I just feel like when you watch this movie, while reading subtitles and understanding the direction that studio 4c was geared towards in each scene, it will change your perspective.

Are you joking? The direction they were geared towards in each scene? Sounds to me like you're trying to plaster some sort of depth on something that doesn't have any. Whenever the dialogue was altered it was made less powerful than the original. I don't see how knowing the particulars could possibly change someone's perspective favorably.

I mean, it might not change your perspective enough to matter, but honestly... you can't judge the story of a movie if you don't understand the language that the movie is in.

Maybe Truder would change his mind if he saw the movie with subtitles.

My point is... those that are stoning the movie and already saying that any stranger to Berserk will think this movie is garbage, I believe you need to rethink that.

Your friends who know you absolutely love Berserk and who were brought in for a private screening aren't exactly a perfectly neutral nor representative panel. We'll see soon enough how it will fare with strangers to the series, but I for one think it'd be wishful thinking on your part to believe this movie is going to bring in new fans by the hundreds of thousands.

Right? So why is it that these movies need to be a perfect 1:1 in every way for them to be enjoyable as a whole?

Why do you care exactly? You didn't participate in creating this movie in any way, did you? It objectively sucks in ways you will never be able to rationalize, so I think you should try not to be personally saddened by the truth: any discerning fan is bound to be disappointed by this adaptation. Asking the simpletons to come out of the woodwork to defend it with one-line posts lacking punctuation will not change that.

People have the right to be disappointed, even though they knew it wasn't going to be perfect. Because it's pretty bad, honestly. You have your opinion, now please let others have theirs.

There is no use stoning Studio 4c.

We let people praise Studio 4°C, so we let them bash them too. And no one's "stoning" anything here, I don't see why you exaggerate like that. What did you think, that the big bad admins had their "elitist" opinion that wouldn't be shared by anyone else? Turns out we do know what we're talking about! Who would've thought.

That's ENOUGH to pull people in.

As shown by the box office numbers.

I don't think he was involved in even half of the modifications but maybe Miura pushed exactly the Stonehenge idea. Just saying... you can never know XD

One would have to be pretty stupid to think the location was the main problem with that scene, so I guess it's just dishonesty. And I don't think Miura requested that dolmens be the backdrop.

the movie really isn't all that bad..

That's your opinion. I can't say I regard it very highly.

I also feel that a couple people's opinion might have been swayed by the admins disgust for the movie.

And I think a couple people's opinion might have been swayed by their lack of taste/standards.

I know I had a big goofy grin when I saw that they changed Zodd's sluggish flight through the roof of the castle: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJvuLi3kC4M

Yeah, they actually fixed it compared to that gross version from the CM. It's still not as good as it could be though, as his exit is exaggerated (like many other things throughout the movie): he just zips out the castle like a cannon ball, faster than the eye can see.

and I thought they had removed this guy entirely from the movie after seeing the 10 minute preview awhile ago:

and was surprised that he was in fact in the movie. (although he doesn't really do anything other than pay Guts)

You mean this guy?

Great 3D/2D mixing there, I can't even see the difference! Oh, that's right, they made him into two different characters for no reason!

I will be buying these movies on Blueray when they come to the U.S.

Good to know. Wonder how many of those whose review is "positive" will do the same.

 

[nomad]

To all those that have said that the story doesn't make sense, don't you think you're prejudging that aspect just a bit, since you have only seen it raw (and I assume the majority of you aren't native japanese speakers)? I just feel like when you watch this movie, while reading subtitles and understanding the direction that studio 4c was geared towards in each scene, it will change your perspective.

I'm sure that most people who "stoned" this film, really tried not to DirectDK. Hell, I had my expectations in low through out the entire time and that didn't even save it from being taken as an insult. I'm not one to bring out page by page in what was taken out and what wasn't. But this film made no sense. When character emotions clearly play a big role in things to come specially during the "Band of the Falcon" days, you can't just cut it onto seconds and move on to the next scene. Personally myself and dare I even say most of us were worried onto how this film would do a decent cover under a short amount of time. But it just feels as if our worst nightmare regarding an adaptation for Berserk just came to life. I wanted this film to be good and interesting for the new comers. But I just don't see any way to grasp the plot. I much rather they would've picked something other than Berserk.

 

[DirectDK]

The poll doesn't really show otherwise; it doesn't display unilateral appreciation, and the way you worded the categories entices people to choose the option that received most votes anyway. Beyond that, there's just a category of people who wouldn't have anything to say regardless, no argument to back up the mindless appreciation they formed before they'd even seen a trailer and won't let go off no matter what. The same people who've been saying for months that no change or omission really matters as long as it's "BERSERK ANIMATED".

I constructed the poll in that format because I felt a number rating system wouldn't shed much a light on anything. Anyways, I'm not viewing the poll as the ultimate tell-all to see what people thought, but I think it's a fun way to see what this board generally thinks. And seeing that some people loved it according to the poll, I'd just like to hear from them. I'm sure some might be mindless appreciation, but I'm sure some won't. When I read some people's negative reviews, sometimes I think they are pretty mindless, but other's negative reviews I can fully appreciate. All I'm asking for is more conversation.

Are you joking? The direction they were geared towards in each scene? Sounds to me like you're trying to plaster some sort of depth on something that doesn't have any. Whenever the dialogue was altered it was made less powerful than the original. I don't see how knowing the particulars could possibly change someone's perspective favorably.

I'm not trying to plaster anything. But I think my statement is very fair when I say that to know the language and dialogue is a key ingredient to fully digest what we are watching. Knowing "the particulars" as you say, yes, I believe it can change someone's enjoyment of the movie.

Maybe Truder would change his mind if he saw the movie with subtitles.

I know you said this in jest, but yes, I do think it's possible.

Your friends who know you absolutely love Berserk and who were brought in for a private screening aren't exactly a perfectly neutral nor representative panel. We'll see soon enough how it will fare with strangers to the series, but I for one think it'd be wishful thinking on your part to believe this movie is going to bring in new fans by the hundreds of thousands.

Of the 2 that have never seen Berserk, that told me they genuinely liked it, I can tell you they aren't ones to mince words or give a damn to say something they don't believe just to please me. One of them, watched Battlestar Galactica upon my recommendation (my all-time favorite tv show), and after finishing it completely went off on how he hated my favorite character and how the show ended (etc etc). We argued about it for days. The other one is probably one of the most blunt people I know. I introduced her to a friend of mine from out of town and within the first 2 minutes of getting to know her, my friend told the out-of-towner how ugly her shoes are, to her face, in front of all our friends. Ahhh, New Yorkers. =P

Why do you care exactly? You didn't participate in creating this movie in any way, did you? It objectively sucks in ways you will never be able to rationalize, so I think you should try not to be personally saddened by the truth: any discerning fan is bound to be disappointed by this adaptation. Asking the simpletons to come out of the woodwork to defend it with one-line posts lacking punctuation will not change that.

I care because I believe that if some people watch the movie with a different perspective, they might see some good in it and find a way to appreciate it. I'm not trying to sway everyone's opinions or rally the troops, but instead I'm just offering to them how I see things, and maybe some of them will give the movie a second chance.

People have the right to be disappointed, even though they knew it wasn't going to be perfect. Because it's pretty bad, honestly. You have your opinion, now please let others have theirs.

Perhaps my post came out wrong, but by no means am I saying people shouldn't have the right to be disappointed. I think everyone on this board who has conversed with me before, or has read my posts, know that I'm not one to dissuade people and their right of an opinion. In fact, I feel that this board tends to be a very tough climate for many Berserk fans, so to the contrary, my post was really to support more discussion and to hear more of the Berserk community that browse these forums.

We let people praise Studio 4°C, so we let them bash them too. And no one's "stoning" anything here, I don't see why you exaggerate like that. What did you think, that the big bad admins had their "elitist" opinion that wouldn't be shared by anyone else? Turns out we do know what we're talking about! Who would've thought.

I don't feel like I'm exaggerating that there is some serious hate going on right now. Some valid hate and some mindless hate. And please don't make this about you.

As shown by the box office numbers.

Please don't take what I wrote and put it out of context. I said when people watch this movie, the Berserk setting, characters, and overall story may intrigue people enough to pull them in and want to learn more. Whether the movie was a box office hit is besides the point.

I'm sure that most people who "stoned" this film, really tried not to DirectDK. Hell, I had my expectations in low through out the entire time and that didn't even save it from being taken as an insult. I'm not one to bring out page by page in what was taken out and what wasn't. But this film made no sense. When character emotions clearly play a big role in things to come specially during the "Band of the Falcon" days, you can't just cut it onto seconds and move on to the next scene. Personally myself and dare I even say most of us were worried onto how this film would do a decent cover under a short amount of time. But it just feels as if our worst nightmare regarding an adaptation for Berserk just came to life. I wanted this film to be good and interesting for the new comers. But I just don't see any way to grasp the plot. I much rather they would've picked something other than Berserk.

I appreciate your response, Nomad. I agree with you (and it certainly seems the most universal opinion) that the pacing was really fast. In various scenes, emotions didn't hit as good as they could have if given the proper development. It's a shame, and I truly hope that movie 2 will offer more development for the other characters, especially Casca.

 

[Aazealh]

Anyways, I'm not viewing the poll as the ultimate tell-all to see what people thought, but I think it's a fun way to see what this board generally thinks.

It's a good enough indicator, but like you said, not a tell-all, which is why I don't think you should expect it to be a perfect representation of what people's posts are going to be like. Especially since half the "negative" reviews in the thread could fit under the "enjoyable but disappointing in certain aspects" option. It's just a matter of emphasizing one's disappointment or not.

And seeing that some people loved it according to the poll, I'd just like to hear from them.

It's interesting to note that those were input very early on in the poll, right at the beginning, while the bulk of the less positive reviews came slowly as time went by and more people watched it. In that regard I share some of your curiosity.

But I think my statement is very fair when I say that to know the language and dialogue is a key ingredient to fully digest what we are watching. Knowing "the particulars" as you say, yes, I believe it can change someone's enjoyment of the movie.

I agree, but in this case I don't see in any way how knowing the details of the dialogue will change a fan's negative review. The dialogue mostly follows what's in the manga and when it was changed it was arguably not in a good way. What I found puzzling in your statement was the claim that Studio 4°C had some sort of vision that would come clear when having the full experience, when the dialogue didn't help anything as far as I'm concerned. For example, they depict the battle against the Black Ram as if it was incredibly desperate on Midland's side, not just risking the loss of a key position in the war, but having the king himself killed. And Julius is there in the battle, not doing much except being ineffective. Then later on you have characters babbling about how Julius had to be ransomed after being captured in another battle. What does this achieve except making Julius, Midland's best general before Griffith came around, look like a loser? And since they removed Foss and all of the more political aspects of the story, Julius is left looking like even more of a sore loser. I don't think this sort of simplification benefits the story, nor that it will help make the rest of what bothered people more palatable. Lessening the other characters also makes the achievements of the protagonists look less awesome by comparison.

I know you said this in jest, but yes, I do think it's possible.

I was only half-joking, I do hope he sees the error of his ways.

I care because I believe that if some people watch the movie with a different perspective, they might see some good in it and find a way to appreciate it.

I still wonder why it matters to you whether they've appreciated it or not. To each his own, and unfortunately, just because it's based on Berserk doesn't mean it is necessarily good or should be enjoyed by all.

Perhaps my post came out wrong, but by no means am I saying people shouldn't have the right to be disappointed. I think everyone on this board who has conversed with me before, or has read my posts, know that I'm not one to dissuade people and their right of an opinion. In fact, I feel that this board tends to be a very tough climate for many Berserk fans, so to the contrary, my post was really to support more discussion and to hear more of the Berserk community that browse these forums.

I didn't find conversation to be lacking in the thread before your intervention where you asked people to "stop hating" and "rethink" before posting their honest opinion. I guess it did come out wrong, then. As for the "tough climate", most of the posts in this particular thread are from non-veteran members, so I'm not sure where that comes from (except the fact you don't agree with what these members say).

I don't feel like I'm exaggerating that there is some serious hate going on right now. Some valid hate and some mindless hate. And please don't make this about you.

You are exaggerating as I don't think too many people care enough to "hate" this movie, rather they're just very disappointed. Furthermore I haven't seen "mindless" hate in the thread, and I think you'd be hard-pressed to show me otherwise. Lastly, seeing as how I'm square in the middle of the people you're antagonizing here and how Truder actually namedropped me, I feel I'm pretty justified in calling out the underlying tone of your post.

Please don't take what I wrote and put it out of context. I said when people watch this movie, the Berserk setting, characters, and overall story may intrigue people enough to pull them in and want to learn more. Whether the movie was a box office hit is besides the point.

Well then we'll see how the manga sales go in a few months. I certainly hope it will have the desired effect.

 

[Irvine]

You mean this guy?

Great 3D/2D mixing there, I can't even see the difference! Oh, that's right, they made him into two different characters for no reason!

Holy shit! WHY????? I looks like it's from a new Berserk video game.

 

[Rhombaad]

It's interesting to note that those were input very early on in the poll, right at the beginning, while the bulk of the less positive reviews came slowly as time went by and more people watched it. In that regard I share some of your curiosity.

I chose the "Enjoyable, but disappointing in certain aspects" option the day after I watched it. I should have given it a couple days, because I'd like to change it to another option, but none of them really describe how I feel about it. "Meh. I'll only keep watching cuz it's Berserk, but I'm not happy with it at all" doesn't reflect my honest opinion, because I'm not going to keep watching it. I also didn't find it horrible and an abomination to Berserk and Miura, so my opinion falls somewhere between those two choices.

Something along the lines of "Disappointing, but enjoyable in certain aspects" more accurately reflects my opinion.

 

[SuperVegetto]

I chose the "Enjoyable, but disappointing in certain aspects" option the day after I watched it. I should have given it a couple days, because I'd like to change it to another option, but none of them really describe how I feel about it. "Meh. I'll only keep watching cuz it's Berserk, but I'm not happy with it at all" doesn't reflect my honest opinion, because I'm not going to keep watching it. I also didn't find it horrible and an abomination to Berserk and Miura, so my opinion falls somewhere between those two choices.

Something along the lines of "Disappointing, but enjoyable in certain aspects" more accurately reflects my opinion.

Lol same

 

[JezzaX]

I'm among those who found it mostly disappointing but enjoyable in some aspects. The enjoyable aspects mainly being the battle sequences, which is likely because they differ a fair amount from the 97 series by giving us full scale animation and not single frame shots with people shouting over the top.

Despite my disliking for the film, I'm still likely to buy the English Blu Ray just to have a subbed version to hand, to support Berserk and make it part of my collection.

 

[Aazealh]

I chose the "Enjoyable, but disappointing in certain aspects" option the day after I watched it. I should have given it a couple days, because I'd like to change it to another option, but none of them really describe how I feel about it. "Meh. I'll only keep watching cuz it's Berserk, but I'm not happy with it at all" doesn't reflect my honest opinion, because I'm not going to keep watching it. I also didn't find it horrible and an abomination to Berserk and Miura, so my opinion falls somewhere between those two choices.

I'm among those who found it mostly disappointing but enjoyable in some aspects. The enjoyable aspects mainly being the battle sequences, which is likely because they differ a fair amount from the 97 series by giving us full scale animation and not single frame shots with people shouting over the top.

I know guys, that's why I mentioned that quite a few of the people perceived by some as "hating" on the movie might have chosen that option. Wording can do wonders when it comes to polls.

 

[Walter]

I'm among those who found it mostly disappointing but enjoyable in some aspects. The enjoyable aspects mainly being the battle sequences, which is likely because they differ a fair amount from the 97 series by giving us full scale animation and not single frame shots with people shouting over the top.

You know, I've seen this line a few times in response to the movie. How the fact that the pictures are moving, as opposed to not moving, is a big plus for the movie. And I can't help but be reminded of the initial reaction of crowds at Nickelodeons in the early 1900s.

"The pictures are moving?! Simply A M A Z I N G! That train was coming right for me!!"

The fact that the movie was about Berserk and had moving pictures is a pretty low bar to set for quality.

 

[Skull Knight]

The movie is not perfect, I don't think anyone expected it to be. It has its shortcomings....but what JezzaX was trying to say seems valid to me. The battle sequences WERE better at certain points, not always....but you can't say that they're worse than the still frames of the original anime. To me, both the still frames from the original and the 3d in the new movie seem lazy. The difference is that the 3d still took more effort than drawing a single picture and showing it for and extended amount of time. I felt the initial battle where Guts is attacked by the Band of the Falcon was much more cinematic and worked. Sometimes the 3d in the film looked out of place and very bad....but sometimes it was not that noticeable. I get your complaints that a lot of integral story elements were left out...and they were. It is what it is....personally I don't enjoy animations that rely on 3d software, unfortunately that is what most companies want now because it's cheaper to produce. I'm actually a student in the field of Media Arts and Animation, and the amount of 3d in use now makes me sick. In fact, by my last 2 years I will be working with nothing BUT 3d....which is a bit depressing... By the way....I'm back it's been a while....

 

[smogass]

It was rushed, many things were omitted so in result some other scenes felt out of place, for example I felt like Zodd didn't belong into this movie at all. Still I enjoyed to some extent this animated, cropped story of Berserk.

 

[Walter]

The enjoyable aspects mainly being the battle sequences, which is likely because they differ a fair amount from the 97 series by giving us full scale animation and not single frame shots with people shouting over the top.

what JezzaX was trying to say seems valid to me. The battle sequences WERE better at certain points, not always....but you can't say that they're worse than the still frames of the original anime.

So, a film created for theaters ends up with better animation than a TV series, and that's worthy of praise? Thats a plus for the review? That's the one thing that made you appreciate the movie? It was better than shit, so hooray?

By this reasoning, as long as it was Berserk and it was moving slightly better than the TV series, then itd be A-OK for some people. I just fail to see how relatively better animation than a TV series is a legitimate "positive" in a movie review. Shouldn't that be merely par for the course? If we were talking about animation quality that rivaled Disney or Studio Ghibli, I'd understand the argument. But that's not what we're given in this movie ... at all.

 

[Death May Die]

Like Aaz mentioned in the podcast, this was anime for Berserk fans. It doesn't matter if your just a fan of the original anime or the manga. From what it sounds like is this new anime failed for both fans. It does sound pretty sad thinking that fans of original anime can point out mistakes/holes even without ever having read the manga. I remember it was in fact the Zodd battle in the original anime that really got me hooked and focused into the story. Sad hearing it hardly made the cut into the film.

I know some would think not to buy the anime, so that the developers could know that they botched the project big. But I love all things Berserk. I haven't seen it, I have been waiting patiently for it to come out. Probably will indeed end up buying it to complete my collection. Will also indeed hope that some aspect of it breaks my now low expectations.

What gets me is the although the animation does look better, it was obvious from the get go that there was jarring aspects to it. I had the 3D animation in question since I heard about it. I thought to myself "Wow the animation is quite awkward... oh well.... as long as the great story is there I can get through it..." But now hearing the story is so diced and chopped it doesn't leave much but the awkward animation that works only more than half of the time.

Here's hoping the inevitable sequels hit A LOT closer to the bulls-eye.... but I am not counting on it.

 

[Darken Rahl]

I'm not against 3D animation. I actually believe that if done well that it would draw in a huge audience that knows nothing about the series or have no interest in anime. The 3D animation in this movie doesn't even compare to the first Toy Story. Sometimes it was good and other times it looked so damn rushed. For it to be 2012 and for something like this to hit the cinemas with the quality of animation it had was kind of embarrassing. It's definitely not the kind of thing that would drawn in more people to the series. The movie only being 70 minutes long doesn't help with the substance of the story. Character development was left out and the build up to Zodd just felt rushed.

People can sit there and defend this movie all they want, but as a business man this movie would not sell to the masses and it's not going to.

With that said, as a fan of the series I did find some things enjoyable... The battles were well done and certain scenes looked gorgeous. (Like Griffith chasing down the run away horse). The assassination scene was well done. And the preview for the next film has my hopes up. It looks like they spent more time with the next movie than they did with this one. It's also has a run-time of a full length feature film. Once I possess all three parts of this series I feel like I'd be able to show my wife this movie without her being lost in the story or disinterested in something I love so much. But until then then I really don't see your non-anime watchers really giving this film a chance.

I know people will try to defend the movie saying they didn't have the budget... well it is what it is... If they didn't have the budget they should have waited for more partners. With a $30,000,000 dollar budget this story has the potential to easily make over $100,000,000 if they did it with semi high quality rendering, proper film promotion, and good direction.

Definitely looking forward to the next film though. Like I said, it looks like the spent more time with it.

 

[hellrasinbrasin]

When I gave my point of view for the Berserk Film <In this thread and the podcast discussions> I did so from the perspective of someone whose read the books and as someone who loves watching movies. All of what I said applied truly so to this iteration as it would if it had been anything else.

I'll take this one step further ...

Why is it that while the Tv-Series not a complete iteration of The Golden Age Arc as many can attest to it did what the film project did not.

- We were invested in the characters, their motivations, their triumphs and tragedies. And were horrified when they died.
- We were invested in the story from start to finish. And when it ended we cursed aloud for this being all we would have.
- The score reflected perfectly the themes, story, and characters across the show.
- It was Directed and scripted perfectly

 

[SuperVegetto]

When I gave my point of view for the Berserk Film <In this thread and the podcast discussions> I did so from the perspective of someone whose read the books and as someone who loves watching movies. All of what I said applied truly so to this iteration as it would if it had been anything else.

I'll take this one step further ...

Why is it that while the Tv-Series not a complete iteration of The Golden Age Arc as many can attest to it did what the film project did not.

- We were invested in the characters, their motivations, their triumphs and tragedies. And were horrified when they died.
- We were invested in the story from start to finish. And when it ended we cursed aloud for this being all we would have.
- The score reflected perfectly the themes, story, and characters across the show.
- It was Directed and scripted perfectly

That's because the master interfered

 

[Saephon]

Just got home from out of town and watched it. I'm going to chime in with "Disappointing, but enjoyable in some aspects." I can't give my opinion as to what a non-Berserk fan would think, though I'll be watching it again with some friends who don't know anything about Berserk, so I guess that'll give me some insight. As someone who's been reading Berserk for 13 years (Jesus, half my life?), it's a a huge let down. And I went into this with low expectations too, yet they still managed to dance the limbo under the bar I set. And to anyone who's thinking "Hey, maybe movie 2 will be better!", there was never any time for the studio to receive critical feedback, so no, it won't be better. At least not by much.


On the bright side, if we complain about this enough, they might release an Extended Cut DLC. I am just an overly entitled Berserk fan though.

 

[Skull Knight]

So, a film created for theaters ends up with better animation than a TV series, and that's worthy of praise? Thats a plus for the review?

It looks nicer so I would say that's a positive...give credit where it's due....you act like just because the film didn't live up to your expectations and was a monstrosity in your opinion that ANY aspect that was done nicely deserves no praise.

That's the one thing that made you appreciate the movie?

I've already read the books so if things are left out I'm capable of filling in the blanks. Enjoy it for what it is.

It was better than shit, so hooray?

I didn't give it a glowing review but I can appreciate what they did accomplish successfully.

By this reasoning, as long as it was Berserk and it was moving slightly better than the TV series, then itd be A-OK for some people.

Don't put words in my mouth I've already stated it was not perfect.

I just fail to see how relatively better animation than a TV series is a legitimate "positive" in a movie review. Shouldn't that be merely par for the course?

So it's a negative? I do agree it should be par for the course, but expect to see this more and more as companies begin to rely even further on the "wonders" of 3d Animation.....

If we were talking about animation quality that rivaled Disney or Studio Ghibli, I'd understand the argument. But that's not what we're given in this movie ... at all.

Disney? Disney 2d animation has been dead for years....they don't produce anything of quality anymore....they have moved on to 3d as have most animation companies. Even when 2d is produced now, nothing is done by hand anymore it's all done digitally and you can tell. Studio Ghibli is one of the few that has shied away from 3d...sadly this is not common these days.

It's a disgusting fact that 3d animation has been gradually killing 2d for years....

I'm not against 3D animation. I actually believe that if done well that it would draw in a huge audience that knows nothing about the series or have no interest in anime.

I don't really think the animation technique, whether it be 2d or 3d, is going to be what draws in "huge audiences"........and I don't believe Berserk will ever be that successful to a mainstream audience....for one thing, it's not a family friendly marvel/dc film with bad lines, predictable storylines and "grown" men running around in latex costumes....

Also, you 3d advocates are why we can't have nice things.....

 

[Walter]

It looks nicer so I would say that's a positive...give credit where it's due....you act like just because the film didn't live up to your expectations and was a monstrosity in your opinion that ANY aspect that was done nicely deserves no praise.

What I said was that many people (JezzaX being the most recent example) have pointed to the animation as one of THE most positive parts of their experience of this movie, and I'm saying that just because the animation was relatively better than the TV series does not make it great, nor praiseworthy. I found the animation at best par, at worst, awkward.

I've already read the books so if things are left out I'm capable of filling in the blanks. Enjoy it for what it is.

So it's a successful montage? Not sure that's really a complement...

I didn't give it a glowing review but I can appreciate what they did accomplish successfully. ... Don't put words in my mouth I've already stated it was not perfect.

Shaking my head here, dude. Among the admins, I actually gave it the most praise (another relative example for you!) on the podcast, saying the visuals didn't bother me, and that I thought the battle scene between Guts and the Hawks was an improvement, so please, don't go putting words in my mouth.

I do agree it should be par for the course,

Thank you.

Disney? Disney 2d animation has been dead for years....they don't produce anything of quality anymore....they have moved on to 3d as have most animation companies. Even when 2d is produced now, nothing is done by hand anymore it's all done digitally and you can tell. Studio Ghibli is one of the few that has shied away from 3d...sadly this is not common these days.

When someone references Disney to you, does your mind immediately go toward 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame'?

 

[Aazealh]

It looks nicer so I would say that's a positive...give credit where it's due...

I believe most people would expect an "animated movie" to feature animated pictures, so what I think Walter is trying to tell you here is that it can hardly factor as a positive point for the movie, given how it's pretty much its defining point. The comparison with the TV series' reliance on still shots due to budget constraints in order to make the use of animation in the movie a "plus" is a ridiculous fallacy.

 

[Kavaron]

Just watched the movie. I think it was amazing. Simply the best animated movie ever IMO. How could you not like it? All the battles were top notch with blood and crazy moves. Guts was simply terrifying! Only scene I thought was worse than the TV series was the Nosferatu Zodd one which felt empty and did not give me the chills. Maybe it was the music, maybe they made it too short, I don't know...

Preview for part 2 looks even better. I can't wait to see the 100 slain in top notch animation...

9.5/10 from me!

 

[Skull Knight]

Among the admins, I actually gave it the most praise (another relative example for you!) on the podcast, saying the visuals didn't bother me, and that I thought the battle scene between Guts and the Hawks was an improvement, so please, don't go putting words in my mouth.

Point taken, I guess we're roughly on the same page then....

So it's a successful montage? Not sure that's really a complement...

In a way...yes I think that's the best description for it.

When someone references Disney to you, does your mind immediately go toward 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame'?

No....I can't say that one is at the top of the list, really the first thing that comes to mind is when I hear Disney is a headless corpse, because that's what it is without the animation styles that made it big to begin with.

I believe most people would expect an "animated movie" to feature animated pictures, so what I think Walter is trying to tell you here is that it can hardly factor as a positive point for the movie, given how it's pretty much its defining point. The comparison with the TV series' reliance on still shots due to budget constraints in order to make the use of animation in the movie a "plus" is a ridiculous fallacy.

I suppose you're both right on that....I consider the stills and quite a bit of the 3d to be equally bad, but I found the movie acceptable enough to own.....just not perfect by any stretch. I think it's biggest strength was the dramatic battles.

Only scene I thought was worse than the TV series was the Nosferatu Zodd one which felt empty and did not give me the chills. Maybe it was the music, maybe they made it too short, I don't know...

It was the lack of build-up to that point. In the original anime, suspense was built by telling the horrors of Zodd before Guts even entered....in the movie this was done during the battle as a voice over so it was kind of difficult to focus on either the battle or what they were saying...in fact because the battle was already going on it was kind of like "shut up voiceover I'm trying to watch the fight!"