2016 Berserk TV series: Episode 3

[Tabris]

If there has to be a train I think we can all agree it's the Train of Sorrow, traveling on the Rails of Betrayal and taking us to Depression Station, last stop of Line D for Disappointment.

Utter truth and actually made me laugh. This quote will be be what I use to describe how I feel about the series to anyone I know that's a fan. A perfect description sadly.

Perhaps someday in a beautiful far off future, long after the world is done blowing itself up we may have the antithesis of this. Doubtful though.

[PENumber2]

Last episode I joked and feared we might get to see if the animators can draw the reproductive parts of a horse... That whole episode .... and in such vivid detail!

This was the worst kind of filler episode. Did we need two minutes of that pig-man apostle saying the word "meat" "meat" "meat" over and over again. It would have been better if they just played the credits during that scene instead of during the first brief encounter Guts and Serpico.

[Tama]

This is really sad to hear. I know that the 1997 anime series has it's flaws, but one thing that I will always give it credit for is that for me, it did capture the essence of Berserk. I felt like a lot of subtle character expressions, dialogue and pivotal scenes are there, and while the animation isn't very fancy or the filler being questionable, it made me want to become a Berserk fan and purchase the manga and read the original story. If I was first introduced to the series with these episodes I feel like it wouldn't have half the impact the original 25 episodes had. I feel at this point that the movies did a better job in quality, scope and even music which is saying something; at least we don't have to hear the frying pan sound with those.

[Hanma_Baki]

^Yeah compared to this thing the movies are actually quite enjoyable and it makes the 97 Anime look like a fuckin masterpiece. It's weird, I kinda feel like going back to both of them right now, but I guess that's just the survivalist part of the mind desperately trying to cling to ANYTHING positive at this point.

[Rhombaad]

After reading this and the Episode 2 thread, I'm even more glad that I gave up after the first episode.

[residentgrigo]

My opinion stands but i just saw the 4,8 IGN review. I have NO time in my life for their awfully anime coverage (their anime podcast is the one i am not subscribed too) but you know that you are in deep trouble of the "yay anime" fan-girl, who previously liked the show, is starting to doubt it. This is shocking, as the only thing i ask of the anime by now is to advertise the manga .
http://www.ign.com/articles/2016/07/15/berserk-episode-3-night-of-miracles-review

[DANGERDOOOOM]

It would have been better if they just played the credits during that scene instead of during the first brief encounter Guts and Serpico.

You can see where they were struggling to keep all this information crammed in a single 20min episode. The credits rolling over that whole scene with Guts and Serpico? Very distracting, though the scene in general was close to a panel-by-panel shot from the manga, which is nice I guess.

One of the few redeeming feature I saw in this episode was at the very end with King's death and their introduction to the Kushan invasion. But holy crap it was so fast paced. This show is definitely not for people new to the series.

My two main concerns for the next episode is if we will get to see Zodd's vision of the White Hawk, and if we will be introduced to the Beast of Darkness when Guts is resting in the cave by Godo's. I don't have any high hopes, but I'm crossing my fingers .

[TripleJMaster3]

Wow what tortue this whole process has been. Ill keep watching just to see if the train wreck can get any worse. Even knowing it would suck before hand could not prepare us for this. What bugs me the most is thay you literally cant see any fighting. There is no impact. Everytime they get ready to show impact the angle changes and we get a loud clang as many have already described. Farnese always has the same stupid look on her face. Guts has expression but it seems rebotic at times. Thank god Ive read the story or I would be clueless. One postive? The dings in guts sword. And not that it was impressively animated just like that detail. Also farnese rage at the end when she commands  to kill guts is strange because earlier it seems like she is beginning to understand him. My only hope is that the fight scenes become more visible so the next eps can be slightly entertaining.

[Eluvei]

The only time in this episode where they at least tried to actually create 2D animation with character movement is in the scene where Farnese is running from the horse. In the manga it appears that she only falls on her back and it immediately hops on top of her, but of course in this show we get a full (nearly incomprehensible and choppy) sequence of her bouncy 2D tits running away from it. Guess they figured if one scene deserved more frames of animation, it was the one where they turn attempted rape into fanservice.

Meanwhile, we get what's basically a slideshow at the end of the episode, and Guts looks like Beavis when they try to give his 3D model any expression.

[Cyrus Jong]

My opinion stands but i just saw the 4,8 IGN review. I have NO time in my life for their awfully anime coverage (their anime podcast is the one i am not subscribed too) but you know that you are in deep trouble of the "yay anime" fan-girl, who previously liked the show, is starting to doubt it. This is shocking, as the only thing i ask of the anime by now is to advertise the manga .
http://www.ign.com/articles/2016/07/15/berserk-episode-3-night-of-miracles-review

Methinks that the stellar score they gave the first episode was driven entirely by excitement and anticipation. Now that it's died down and the hype glasses are off, even IGN has to see the show for what it truly is.

[Sikorsky87]

Somebody alert the #freethenipple movement to this travesty. 

[Gamehowitzer]

Personally, I think this episode did a good job of pulling the series together. I was quite pleased they managed to keep rape horse and guts stopping short of killing . Tbh if they cut rape horse idk how they'd make farnese join up with him later. I was pleased with the sword draw with guts and  as well. It introduced the rivalry they have and sets them up for the fight in the underground later on. As for the apostle, i think it did a good job introducing them. It showed that the apostles were twisted individuals who became monsters for one and while i dont think that the fight was that great (guts had his leg caught in his mouth for too long and the way they cut to puck touching the lady and him freaking out didnt sit right with me) none of the fights have been great so far. and i also don't think in the manga guts ever said that his goal was to kill every last apostle (but taking it that this episode is written by miura i guess it is now) and it introduced the godhands (however poorly it may have been) and set up many later plot points. im excited  will show up next episode and really hope they don't make her sound retarded. You know because while her mind may be broken, she does make noises. (and OMG  isnt white) Im excited for the duel on the sword hill.  Personally i wont say shit about the animation. everyone has been beating that dead horse since before the anime even aired. Oh and i cant even listen to the music its so jumbled up. like i legit cant hear it.

[Rupert Sinclair]

I was quite pleased they managed to keep rape horse

Please don't say "rape horse".  That is so fucking stupid.

[Imperator Hanseatic]

A bit late on the forum posting, but I've had a bit of a day, so I'll keep it brief.

As I said earlier in the Discord, my opinion is that so far it's the best of the crap we've been given. However, that's not to say I liked it. I appreciate the intentions behind a lot of the choices, but the execution makes it fall flat for the most part. My biggest complaint (that isn't a redundant carry-over from previous episodes such as visuals or sound) is that the time spent on meat talk could've been better used to expand on the stuff we got at the end. A lot of people were bugged by the credits but I had no trouble with it personally, I guess that's just me. Anyway, next week is the last I'll be contributing to any timely discussion of the anime from the perspective of an active viewer. I'd rather save the subscription fee to instead purchase more volumes of the manga.

EDIT: Also, I hastily voted the second best option on the poll after initial viewing before it had time to be truly processed, and would like to express for the record that I'd downgrade to the third option if I could.

[Hypnos]

It's bad and I hated everything about it except the new scenario. If anything, it showed that they could've changed the story without making it stupid in episode 1 and 2.

I'm not even gonna bother with the lack of details when it comes to EVERYTHING because it seems like this is where the anime is heading, but the problem isn't even in that alone; things happen for the sake of happening a lot in this and thus you often see little to no logic behind them that they become meaningless.

This anime does not represent Berserk at all for me.

[DirectDK]

I was really excited about episode 3 because the producer said Miura wrote it top to bottom... but I'm with most of you here on this one... I cannot believe Miura wrote this.  I just can't.  Maybe the over extended monologue on meat meat meat would work across several panels of a manga, but in anime form it definitely dragged on for too long.  And apart from that, I really felt like this ep didn't leave any moments to take a breath and absorb what was happening.  Or more so, it didn't allow the characters (namely Farnese) to absorb what was happening.  So on the story telling and pacing aspect of this episode, I was disappointed.

Also... I didn't want the sword clang to bother me (I've been able to tolerate it in eps 1 and 2)... but when it cut through the ghosts and still clanged... it pissed me off.  It makes no logical sense.  Yes, it didn't make much logical sense when it cut through Colette in ep 1, but here in ep 3, it's just undeniably ridiculous.

The lack of seeing Guts and Puck relationship build organically is also starting to weigh heavy on me.  It didn't feel right to me this time.

As for any parts that I did like about the episode... I actually liked the scene between Guts, Farnese, and Serpico.  Pretty annoyed it was covered up by the credits (if they were short on running time they should have cut part of the meat monologue), but I just really enjoyed seeing those 3 characters banter with each other.  Also, this episode I didn't think about the music at all, which is a good thing.  Maybe I got used to hearing the music cues, but I felt the music didn't overpower or distract from any scene this time around.  I also enjoyed the hounds.  I thought they looked cool (cgi wise) and were pretty terrifying.

But all in all, this was my least favorite ep so far, while ep 2 was the best.  But ep 4 from the preview looks hopeful, and I'm glad to see that Casca is dark-skinned again.  Really hope things improve~

[Imperator Hanseatic]

Found this on Reddit http://imgur.com/Ocno6Zm

[wriggles]

I called it back in january when the teaser was released... I don't know who's responsible for the youtube poop quality ear rape sound effects, but somehow they keep getting paid to ruin my favorite franchises.

Aw hellll no, they're using the same sound effects as that garbage in Arslan Senki. Everything from sword swinging to horseback riding is going to sound like someone is smashing the microphone against a cement brick. Literally the worst sound effects artist i've ever heard in my life. He single-handedly ruined Arslan Senki for me.

[Aazealh]

I called it back in january when the teaser was released...

You undeniably did and I commend you for that, but I sure as hell wish you had been wrong.

[residentgrigo]

While we are on sound effects: Do we have an audio engineer in the house? What exactly happened here? I watch a LOT of tv and i rarely criticize the audio side of it. 
Having average and appropriate sounding effects and knowing how to use generic + atmosphere appropriate music canīt be a backbreaking endeavor. Even some of the VA decisions are weird, as the podcast noted. I certainly know that all of that wouldnīt be crazy expensive. I even know talented hobby musicians in RL.
PS: Wriggles, stick to the (2nd) Arslan Senki manga, more things are off, but i am fine with that (rushed) adaptations.

[ryOtoha]

Can't wait for a making-of though. I want a glimpse inside this inconsistent and amateurish production.

[hearTes]

I called it back in january when the teaser was released... I don't know who's responsible for the youtube poop quality ear rape sound effects, but somehow they keep getting paid to ruin my favorite franchises.

You undeniably did and I commend you for that, but I sure as hell wish you had been wrong.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PqnkaPQEp5w&feature=youtu.be

[Defengar]

Can't wait for a making-of though. I want a glimpse inside this inconsistent and amateurish production.

I'm sure there will be a lot of vibes similar to the ones in the Star Wars: Episode I making of documentaries.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KseqzmcqQBQ&ab_channel=Paahtis

[Lawliet]

Honestly, this anime seems to me as if it's a fan-made project rather than an adaptation. I had a few points to make, but some of you guys have already beaten me to it.

I haven't put too much thought into the episode (not worth it), but could someone explain to me why they didn't simply adapt the actual scene from the manga instead of this whole haunted house business?

Still awaiting the full version of Susumu Hirasawa's new song. 

[Cyrus Jong]

Honestly, this anime seems to me as if it's a fan-made project rather than an adaptation. I had a few points to make, but some of you guys have already beaten me to it.

I haven't put too much thought into the episode (not worth it), but could someone explain to me why they didn't simply adapt the actual scene from the manga instead of this whole haunted house business?

I think the idea was to introduce the concept of apostles and Beherits to anyone in the audience who was unfamiliar with Berserk. And since they chose to skip the Snake Baron, the Count, and Rosine so they move right along to the Birth Ceremony chapter, they decided that inserting an Apostle fight into the middle of Binding Chains was the most efficient compromise. Emphasis on "I think," because they did a really poor job of it what with how sloppily the apostle's backstory came out.