New Berserk Anime for 2016

Walter said:
Guts will... be struggling with .... his ... concept of evil... :idea:

I feel a little bad for the guy though. I mean, what a ridiculous question. "Oh yeah, that part that was cut from the manga, we're definitely including that!" Were these guys just like, bone dry on ideas?

I'd like to think the idiocy and disrespect on display wasn't necessarily representative of Berserk fans in particular, but just anime fans when they're given a microphone in front of an audience.

I seemed like he was having a hard time coming up with these answers the whole time. And yeah, that was a stupid question. I think the part she was referring to was actually from episode 82 anyway...
 
Walter said:
That idolmaster moment. Welp, we've reached rock bottom, people. Ker-Plunk.

These byproducts, like certain video reviews and that shameful moment being recorded and uploaded, are already worse than the show itself and we're only on episode 2.
 
Even the attempts to promote the series are on a shoestring budget. Public speaking is clearly another field Kurosu has no experience with. I mean, seriously, someone asks him why they decided to start at the Black Swordsman arc instead of the Fantasia arc, and he talks about how the series is a hybrid of 2D and 3D animation. I mean, it's a moronic question and all, but that answer had nothing to do with it! I can understand trying to evade a question. I can understand trying to look like you know more than you really do. I can understand misinterpreting what people are asking you (as he did when he was asked about the Idea of Evil). But to go off on a completely unrelated subject just boggles my mind.

It was very awkward panel when it wasn't being annoying. Seems like everywhere we go, all anyone will ever say about Berserk is fucking boats and Idolmaster. :schierke:
 
That idea of evil question and response was weird. I think a pretty telling question is the one that follows, speaking about the series writer dictating the direction of the series - what to include and what to omit, focus being solely on Guts. Cringeworthy stupid as hell last question.
 
It's definitely more clearer to hear the Q & A panel in that video than where I was sitting at. Either the mics were faulty or the people asking the questions were too low at times.

Cyrus Jong said:
It was very awkward panel when it wasn't being annoying. Seems like everywhere we go, all anyone will ever say about Berserk is fucking boats and Idolmaster. :schierke:
If I had a dime every time someone mentioned those "jokes", I'd be a rich man by now.

And yes, I did actually facepalmed over there when I heard that stupid "joke" question at the end. :mozgus:
 
Aazealh said:
Anyway, I'm stricken by how completely ungenuine he sounds throughout the whole thing. It sounds like he's making up all his answers as he goes while the woman tries to sell the project as hard as she can. Also, he's the one responsible for quality control? Well thanks for fucking nothing. :ganishka: I guess his sole claim to fame will have been the partnership with Crunchyroll (which is pretty cool). The best segment is when she asks about his favorite part of the series and he replies the music and sound effects (you know, the one thing we can all agree is absolutely terrible). And when she presses him on about the story he visibly struggles to remember what he's been told: "oh yeah the uhhh... Black Swordsman arc... and uhhhh another one after that." The guy clearly has no idea what Berserk is about.

I had to watch this whole interview to believe it. And boy, does this Reo Kurosu guy not disappoint. Besides tripping up on Berserk-related questions, he even struggles to describe his own fucking job. He is so full of shit, his eyes have turned brown :ganishka:
 
horrible Q&A, bad questions and scary answers. please stay away, don't touch the millennium falcon, the idea of these guys potentially renewing for multiple new series is scary. and the last question...wow just wow, what makes it even worse is that the crunchyroll chick repeated it and laughed about it :rickert:
 
This is why I'm kind of glad I don't attend conventions in a way. If all of the fans are really like this and just disrespectful I feel like I'm not missing much. I don't know if it's because I'm older now, but it seems rare to have an adult conversation about manga/anime, and it just comes down to internet memes and superficial things that interest most.
 

Aazealh

Administrator
Staff member
Alright so I figured if I had to subject myself to the pain of this Q&A I might as well do something with it, so I wrote a recap for whoever's interested. Spoiler: it is not really worth reading.

I actually don't think the questions were that bad overall, although clearly the staff at hands was grossly incompetent. This incompetence is evident from the beginning, as the session starts with the Crunchyroll woman asking Reo Kurosu what he felt like hearing the audience scream like idiots whenever anything happened and he struggles, as he's prone to do, to describe what went on in the first episode of the series he's the producer of and is supposed to be promoting. So he says "Guts kills demons, uhh not even demons, uhh... humans and uhh little girls and uhhh... and the woman laughs, saying that "Berserk is very complicated". Ironically I guess? Or is this what passes for complex to them? Ugh.

Then on to the questions. Starts with a German kid on vacations who's skipped his AHDH medicine and spends 5 minutes giving shoutouts to his friends after saying he couldn't read the subtitles, then has the mic ripped away from him as he tries to advertise something. Great. Then we get a softballed (but decent) question about the CG style that the producer just bullshits his way through in an almost professional manner. After that a cretin comes up to ask how quickly they'll adapt the sea trip because "we spent too long on the boat lol", not realizing that the sea journey only took up 30 episodes in total, and that only 10 of those were actually spent on the ship itself (17 were spent on the Solitary Island, 3 were a flashback to Guts' childhood). Reo Kurosu doesn't get the boat reference at all obviously, saying he's "on the boat as well". His second and I guess real question is a useful one about Miura's involvement. Another good question is asked about the CG and how fast it is to create that the producer just straight up dodges. A question about the Berserk's armor that is also just not answered. Then an excited fan (cosplaying as Guts) who wants to know how far they'll adapt, which is "as far as we can" says the producer, not hiding that financial success is the only criterion for continuation.

Another guy bravely asking how many episodes are planned and actually pressing the dude until he spits out that so far 12 are in the works. Well done. Then a guy asks about the challenges of bringing back the franchise into the light after a long period without an adaptation. Reo Kurosu says they aim for a fresh start, but his answer is mostly interesting in that he clearly separates the movies from this new series. We already knew they were different because none of the same companies are involved, but still. The next guy sounds super nervous but has a great question about how they plan on handling Guts' character development in light of the early introductions of characters like Isidro, Schierke, Farnese, Serpico and Azan and the fact they skipped his "lone wolf" period with only Puck as a companion. A valiant (if inarticulate) effort but also clearly a futile one here, as the producer just says "this is Guts as the Black Swordsman and we'll introduce his friends later".

Then comes the girl who asks about the Idea of Evil (she mispronounces "Idea" too, it's 'ih-deh-ah', not the English word 'idea') and yeah it sounds to me like she's confused about what was removed from the manga. A part of her question is inintelligible but basically because the anime's intro shows a shot from episode 82 she asks whether the Idea of Evil will be shown in the series, which is a pretty strange question because they're obviously not going to retread on the Eclipse. Needless to say Reo Kurosu and the Crunchyroll chick are absolutely baffled by what she's asking. He answers as best he can and to be fair he gives a decent answer. Then the girl from the audience asks if it'll focus more on Guts than Griffith and he basically says yes, it'll focus on who Guts is, where he wants to go and what he wants to do.

The next question is also a good one, about what the thought process is to decide what to include or exclude from the adaptation. The answer is that the writer they have (Makoto Fukami) decided what parts they'd focus on and what parts they'd omit. The producer reiterates that they wanted to focus on Guts (which makes no sense or they'd have done the Black Swordsman arc). The question after that is whether anything left Reo Kurosu dissatisfied during production, and he says the time schedule, because "you never have enough time". Next one is how the director was chosen and why the decision was made to start when they did and not during the Fantasia arc. Reo Kurosu says the director was originally a 2D animator (makes sense for a show that 85% CG!) and then boasts about the 2D in the show, like the intro. So they're using the hybrid of 3D and 2D to depict what the director wants, which is 2D. "The blueprint for the whole thing is 2D." I guess that explains why the 3D isn't even properly used. Also, knowing that, I wonder how happy the director actually is with the result... The other part of the question is ignored.

Next question is when they'll animate the Lost Children chapter (the guy says "arc" of course). The producer answers that for this series they're depicting Guts' travels and his friends and that hopefully if they get enough support (translation: money) they'll do the Lost Children chapter along the line. I get tired of repeating it but it's obvious he doesn't actually know what they guy was referring to. A second question from the same guy is about what they'll do if they were to catch up to the manga. The answer: "I don't know" and some dumb shit like "who knows where this manga's going!". Then a guy asks whether someone needs a previous reference like the movies or manga to watch this series or whether it can stand by itself. Coming as no surprise, the answer is that it's intended to be watchable as a standalone series. Then comes the retard who asks whether the production will stop if a new Idolmaster game comes out, and he's actually from the Crunchyroll staff and seemingly barged in at the last moment to ask that question, so you can tell he really wanted to have his moment of glory with this hilarious "joke". The producer laughs along with the Crunchyroll woman, but then asks her "when a new what?" because he –of course– doesn't get it. Miss Piggy actually has to laboriously explain it to him after repeating the question for the audience and even then he's like "uhhh yeah sure haha, yep I'm sure uhhh yeah". A complete fiasco and in a perfect world the idiot who did that should be fired (and then a shotgun should be fired in his face).
 

Oburi

All praise Grail
Walter said:
That idolmaster moment. Welp, we've reached rock bottom, people. Ker-Plunk.

It's actually strange when you think about how the manga is at such a high and pivotal point that we've been waiting over a decade to witness ... while at the same time some of the absolute worst and most embarrassing byproducts of a successful manga are being shoved in our faces.

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...
 
Walter said:
Interview with producer of the anime Reo Kurosu, who repeats stuff we originally heard thanks to Hitoshura:

<iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/GlRS0NGJKJ0?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Did that girl just say "Kento miura"? Fuck crunchyroll.
 

Walter

Administrator
Staff member
Gamehowitzer said:
Did that girl just say "Kento miura"? Fuck crunchyroll.

I don't blame Crunchyroll as a service for her poor behavior, or the douchebag who mentioned idolmaster. I blame the individuals.
 
Aazealh said:
Reo Kurosu says they aim for a fresh start, but his answer is mostly interesting in that he clearly separates the movies from this new series. We already knew they were different because none of the same companies are involved, but still.

I'd be interested to know how and why did the Berserk anime adaptation rights changed hands. When the Berserk Project was announced 6 years ago, it was claimed that Studio 4°C was planning to animate the entire series. Did Studio 4°C really acquire the complete rights to Berserk, or was it only for the Golden Age arc? Or perhaps Studio 4°C did have the rights to do the whole series, but after their botched movie trilogy flopped, they gave up any further attempts at Berserk anime, and the rights reverted to Hakusensha. And Hakusensha in turn decided to keep the Berserk anime momentum going and passed on the rights to Millepensee and GEMBA. I wish someone at the Q&A asked serious questions about behind the scenes goings on.


Aazealh said:
The next question is also a good one, about what the thought process is to decide what to include or exclude from the adaptation. The answer is that the writer they have (Makoto Fukami) decided what parts they'd focus on and what parts they'd omit.

Yet another bullshit answer from the bullshit artist. Reo Kurosu is basically diffusing the responsibility and shifting the blame on to someone else other than himself. Everyone knows that screenwriters generally don't have the creative control to decide what gets kept and what gets dropped. It's the producers and execs who get that choice. Nothing in the Berserk's TV script would have gone past the developmental stage and made it to the screen without Reo Kurosu's permission. He's the one with power, not Makoto Fukami. This is not to let Makoto Fukami off the hook either, however. The "powers that be" aren't the sole reason for clumsy dialog and horrendous pacing in the new Berserk anime. A quick glance at Fukami's IMDB resume reveals his pre-Berserk screenwriting experience that goes back less than 5 years, and a number of projects he worked on prior to 2016 Berserk series can be counted on one hand.

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm5320150/

Including such gems as The Torture Club, a horseshit exploitation "comedy" movie based on his own horseshit 4-koma manga
gutsbarf.gif

Sample it for yourself to get an idea of the brilliant mind of the man who's writing the Berserk anime series

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRtdQMtF2ik
 

Walter

Administrator
Staff member
Johnny Apples said:
I'd be interested to know how and why did the Berserk anime adaptation rights changed hands. When the Berserk Project was announced 6 years ago, it was claimed that Studio 4°C was planning to animate the entire series. Did Studio 4°C really acquire the complete rights to Berserk, or was it only for the Golden Age arc? Or perhaps Studio 4°C did have the rights to do the whole series, but after their botched movie trilogy flopped, they gave up any further attempts at Berserk anime, and the rights reverted to Hakusensha. And Hakusensha in turn decided to keep the Berserk anime momentum going and passed on the rights to Millepensee and GEMBA. I wish someone at the Q&A asked serious questions about behind the scenes goings on.

Berserk Film Partners, a group that includes Hakusensha representatives, were the ones organizing the whole thing. They'd have contracted with Studio 4°C for the movies. It seems that after the reception from those, or for another internal reason, that partnership evolved into a new group who decided on a new direction for the next adaptation. I doubt we'll get more info than that.

Yet another bullshit answer from the bullshit artist. Reo Kurosu is basically diffusing the responsibility and shifting the blame to someone else other than himself.

He was in charge of quality control for this thing. 'Nuff said.
 

Aazealh

Administrator
Staff member
Johnny Apples said:
I'd be interested to know how and why did the Berserk anime adaptation rights changed hands. When the Berserk Project was announced 6 years ago, it was claimed that Studio 4°C was planning to animate the entire series. Did Studio 4°C really acquire the complete rights to Berserk, or was it only for the Golden Age arc? Or perhaps Studio 4°C did have the rights to do the whole series, but after their botched movie trilogy flopped, they gave up any further attempts at Berserk anime, and the rights reverted to Hakusensha. And Hakusensha in turn decided to keep the Berserk anime momentum going and passed on the rights to Millepensee and GEMBA.

The movies were produced by the "Berserk Film Partners" consortium and that included a whole bunch of companies. I'm not sure it was ever stated that Studio 4°C specifically had acquired the rights to the entire series or planned to animate it themselves (and I don't care enough to check). Either way, the partnership was dissolved and I'm not sure it was necessarily Studio 4°C's doing as opposed to some other key partners. For example Hakusensha could have frowned upon the result, or Warner Bros could have deemed it unprofitable.

Johnny Apples said:
I wish someone at the Q&A asked serious questions about behind the scenes goings on.

I seriously doubt this guy could have answered such a question. In fact I'm sure he couldn't have.

Johnny Apples said:
Yet another bullshit answer from the bullshit artist. Reo Kurosu is basically diffusing the responsibility and shifting the blame to someone else other than himself. Everyone knows that screenwriters generally don't have the creative control to decide what gets kept and what gets dropped. It's the producers and execs who get that choice. Nothing in the Berserk's TV script would have gone past the developmental stage and made it to the screen without Reo Kurosu's permission and that of other producers. They're the ones with power, not Makoto Fukami.

You know, this guy is a producer at NBC Universal, one of many partners in the new group working on that series. Given his lack of familiarity with literally everything, I'm not sure he had that big of a role outside of finding commercial partners like Crunchyroll. For info, below are the companies listed under "production" in ANN's entry for this adaptation:

Docomo Anime Store
Hakusensha
Koei Tecmo Games Co., Ltd.
LIDEN FILMS
Mainichi Broadcasting System
NBCUniversal Entertainment Japan
Ultra Super Pictures
WOWOW
 
Walter said:
Berserk Film Partners, a group that includes Hakusensha representatives, were the ones organizing the whole thing. They'd have contracted with Studio 4°C for the movies. It seems that after the reception from those, or for another internal reason, the partners decided on a new direction for the next adaptation. I doubt we'll get more info than that.

Aazealh said:
The movies were produced by the "Berserk Film Partners" consortium and that included a whole bunch of companies. I'm not sure it was ever stated that Studio 4°C specifically had acquired the rights to the entire series or planned to animate it themselves (and I don't care enough to check). Either way, the partnership was dissolved and I'm not sure it was necessarily Studio 4°C's doing as opposed to some other key partners. For example Hakusensha could have frowned upon the result, or Warner Bros could have deemed it unprofitable.

If Hakusensha was displeased with Studio 4°C's results, why would they turned Berserk over to GEMA/Millepensee, who defied all odds and did an even worse job than Studio 4°C? I mean, Studio 4°C's Golden Age movie trilogy may have scraped the bottom of the barrel. But the 2016 series went way further down and somehow manages to plumb even lower depths of shittiness. I wonder what Hakusensha will think of that.

And you know, in hindsight, this very murkiness and lack of transparency in of itself should have set off alarms within the Berserk fandom back in 2011. Lack of answers and everything being done in secrecy from fans, it's almost always a sign that things are gonna get fucked up and turned into shit.

Aazealh said:
You know, this guy is a producer at NBC Universal, one of many partners in the new group working on that series. Given his lack of familiarity with literally everything, I'm not sure he had that big of a role outside of finding commercial partners like Crunchyroll.

So this Reo Kurosu guy's job is to sell Berserk to potential investors and business partners. Seeing him awkwardly flubbing his way through the Q&A and his embarrassing gaffes throughout, I refuse to believe this man could even sell Lassie in a pet shop. If he can't even hold a casual conversation with fans, I can't imagine how he talks to business people with money and get them to fund Berserk series.

Aazealh said:
For info, below are the companies listed under "production" in ANN's entry for this adaptation:

Docomo Anime Store
Hakusensha
Koei Tecmo Games Co., Ltd.
LIDEN FILMS
Mainichi Broadcasting System
NBCUniversal Entertainment Japan
Ultra Super Pictures
WOWOW

The greatest Roman historian Tacitus once said that success has many fathers. But this 2016 Berserk anime just has many deadbeat dads :ganishka:
 

Aazealh

Administrator
Staff member
Johnny Apples said:
If Hakusensha was displeased with Studio 4°C's results, why would they turned Berserk over to GEMA/Millepensee, who defied all odds and did an even worse job than Studio 4°C? I mean, Studio 4°C's Golden Age movie trilogy may have scraped the bottom of the barrel. But the 2016 series went way further down and somehow manages to plumb even lower depths of shittiness. I wonder what Hakusensha will think of that.

The most obvious answer is likely the correct one: budget limitations. That explains the choice of studios, the low quality of the show, the accelerated pace, etc.

Johnny Apples said:
And you know, in hindsight, this very murkiness and lack of transparency in of itself should have set off alarms within the Berserk fandom back in 2011.

I'm pretty sure it did set alarms off right here on this forum.
 

Squiddot

The Falcon needs you. You don't need him!
Oburi said:
It's actually strange when you think about how the manga is at such a high and pivotal point that we've been waiting over a decade to witness ... while at the same time some of the absolute worst and most embarrassing byproducts of a successful manga are being shoved in our faces.

With as much respect as i can give, the large majority of Berserk's online fanbase is incredibly embarrassing. Especially the ones who parade it around as "the rape manga". That horrible musou trailer brought them out of the woodwork when they were chiding the people calling out the terrible subject matter that the manga would be "too hardcore 4 u". To say nothing of the general response to new episodes. I once saw someone literally call 344 "filler".
 
Aaz, thanks a lot for the notes! I was reading them along while listening to the Q&A.

For me, the definitive moment of the Q&A was when the producer was asked if there's anything in the anime that he's dissatisfied with ( https://youtu.be/eie4yGFUaRE?t=13m25s ), and you see his epic struggle to think of at least *something* that sounds authentic, but failing that, keeps saying unfocused bullshit and then suddenly laughs, embarrassed with himself. And then, for a moment, you see the sadness in his eyes, realizing how badly that went.
 
Squiddot said:
With as much respect as i can give, the large majority of Berserk's online fanbase is incredibly embarrassing. Especially the ones who parade it around as "the rape manga". That horrible musou trailer brought them out of the woodwork when they were chiding the people calling out the terrible subject matter that the manga would be "too hardcore 4 u". To say nothing of the general response to new episodes. I once saw someone literally call 344 "filler".

That's why ya just stick to Skullknight.net, man. It's the sole stronghold in this world where Berserk fans... can live their lives as Berserk fans.
 
Someone at Crunchyroll did an interview with Reo Kurosu.

http://www.crunchyroll.com/anime-feature/2016/07/15/feature-interview-with-berserk-producer-reo-kurosu
 
Patrick said:
Someone at Crunchyroll did an interview with Reo Kurosu.

http://www.crunchyroll.com/anime-feature/2016/07/15/feature-interview-with-berserk-producer-reo-kurosu

I love how he genuinely identifies with Mozgus:

He adopted this group of deformed individuals and gave meaning to their life. The goals he leads them toward may have been twisted, he honestly believes them and remains true to his beliefs.

It makes perfect sense.
 

Aazealh

Administrator
Staff member
Patrick said:
Someone at Crunchyroll did an interview with Reo Kurosu.

http://www.crunchyroll.com/anime-feature/2016/07/15/feature-interview-with-berserk-producer-reo-kurosu

Hahaha, that interviewer clumsily trying to add some flavor to his piece... Also it's "the Golden Era" now apparently, I guess they really can't be bothered anymore.
 
What a shitty interview. Time to rip it up.

"Reo Kurosu: There is a lot to cover because Berserk such a long series. To adapt it to animation we had to have a concept, so we decided to focus on Guts’s travels. Fitting it into a limited amount of episodes with that concept, we had to make choices about compressing, omitting, and even expanding parts of the story. Some of the material in the series will also be original, such as episode 3 which is completely original, written by Miura-sensei."
Which would have been better accomplished if you started with the Black Swordsman arc. Or the Lost Children chapter. Or...if you picked up where the movies left off and segued into either of those. Because the Birth Ceremony chapter that you (or whatever hack was in charge) are so insistent about animating is most definitely not about "Guts' travels." Also, episode 3 is out now and we can see plain as day that it is not completely original. You just threw in an unnecessary apostle fight and backstory into the middle of the Binding Chains chapter. Reo Kurosu, you're officially full of shit now.

"RK: It will all be within the context of the original series. As far as new content, there will be new action scenes. There are certain things you can do in animation that you can’t do in manga. Although I’m not sure if that’s specifically what Miura-sensei had in mind."
None of which you actually accomplished in this episode. Or any of the others so far. Because it takes more than moving picture to make a good animated story.

RK: We see Berserk as a standalone series but we’re not going to be neglectful of past events. The manga was originally published in 1989 so it’s a classic now. There are a lot of new fans who may not be familiar with the original manga, so we want to be able to introduce them to the story while covering new ground.

We decided to include some imagery in the opening cinematic and plan to bring some of that backstory out with flashbacks like what we included in episode 2. As we follow Guts’s travels, he’ll think back about the past events.
It remains to be seen how standalone this will really be, but your company's efforts to bring those unfamiliar with the manga, or Berserk in general, up to speed leaves a lot to be desired. The manga itself already provided the perfect means to introduce people to Berserk via the Black Swordsman arc, and then your people decided they knew better than Miura.

RK: For this series we’re trying to do something new. The director is a 2D animator so what goes on in his mind and what he puts on storyboard is all in 2D. From there it’s all about choosing which tool to use between full CG animation, traditional 2D, or a hybrid of the two. The director and the 2D and 3D studios will meet and discuss what to use when depending upon what we’re trying to accomplish with each scene.
Ah, a repeat of what you already said in the Q&A panel. Here's the result of your studio's attempt to "do something new": the 3D animation looks like shit. Either get a director who understands 3D animation, since that's what most of this series is animated with, or let your current director focus on his area of expertise. That is, of course, assuming the guy you have wasn't the only director your company was able to afford.
 
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