2016 Berserk TV series: Episode 9

What did you think of the ninth episode of the 2016 TV series?

  • It was great.

    Votes: 6 12.0%
  • Some problems, but enjoyable.

    Votes: 23 46.0%
  • It was bad, but had some redeeming features.

    Votes: 15 30.0%
  • I hated it.

    Votes: 6 12.0%

  • Total voters
    50
  • Poll closed .

Aazealh

Administrator
Staff member
This is the official discussion thread for the ninth episode of the 2016 TV series. Post your thoughts, impressions and reviews as you see fit.
 
I've never thought I'd say something like that. But, it was (for me) the best episode so far. :ubik:

Of course, keeping in mind its explicit (and obvious) limitations. :schnoz:

P.S.: This episode we had a 'sample' of how cool 3DCG could be (if it was applied on the right things). :azan:

:badbone:
 

jackson_hurley

even the horses are cut in half!
"Hurry up. I'm about to snap" but lets walk to get there okay? ....


Other then that it was enjoyable at some point. The fights are not as intense as what I expected.

Forgot to add that the goo monster did not look that scary compared to the manga. I wish it looked less goofy.
 

residentgrigo

Excitement and Enjoyment!
I´ll join the club, this is indeed the "best" ep of the show. Some problems, but enjoyable. They bit off a small, straightforward and lastly manageable bite and then adapted it in a workmanlike fashion. Nothing was "good" in itself, but i take what i can get. The VA´s for Luca, Nina and Farnese also bother to act their parts. The real MVPs of this show, if you ask me. Serpico is the worst though, nothing about him works. My takeaway is that the anime just works better if "this" Guts doesn´t driving the narrative and that was the reason for my basic toleration of the "other episode".
The soundtrack was lastly boring but it´s again un-broken (!) and Hai Yo was used well for the first time! The episode thus managed to achieve a proper cliff hanger, another first. 6/10
Edit: My PC crashed just after the episode ended (as i typed this). Oh boy, don´t be a sign :magni: .
 
N7Paladin said:
One of the better episodes, I feel like they are abusing Hai Yo though.
Yeah, they are using it too often, but its better than the trash they had in the 1st ep. At least theyre using it at points where it somewhat makes sense.
My only complaint is that there isnt enough action in any of these episodes. Like in the manga it would be setting up everything for the good action scene and streamline it, here theyre just cutting the action parts in pieces it seems.
Pretty good episode if you ask me. What was the blondies name again... whatever. The way they portray her character just makes me hate her, but in the manga it wasnt like that.
 
What was the blondies name again... whatever. The way they portray her character just makes me hate her, but in the manga it wasnt like that.

Nina? I didn't like her in the manga, but I think that was the point as she is a selfish inconsiderate woman.
 
One of the better episodes, but I really feel like newcomers are going to be incredibly confused as to why there are blobs everywhere. They've done a real poor job emphasizing how the brand is attracting these spirits and that having both Guts and Casca in such a death filled place is a catalyst. I hope they fix this, otherwise it's just weird.

Another gripe in this is a problem they've had at least a dozen times now. When they have an important piece of visual information to reveal, they pan the camera over it super quick and cut away before it even really registers what you's looking at. In this case it was the Beherit Apostle descending from the domed roof of the cathedral while Mozgus and pals were barring the door. It does this twice in pretty quick succession, it just quick pans past these details and doesn't give them any emphasis. This is sure to lead to some confusion for people that miss that the Apostle stung each of these guys like he did the Goat Heretic. Kind of an important point that Mozgus didn't have wings all along.
 

Aazealh

Administrator
Staff member
I'll have to agree that this episode was above par compared to the rest of the series. I don't know about best though. Either way, the problems at the core of the series remain.

Some thoughts I wrote down while watching: The way Serpico calls Farnese at the beginning is insufferable. His voice actor leaves much to be desired. And their exchange is as lifeless and devoid of any subtlety as everything else in this adaptation. The inaccuracy of the facial expressions compared to the manga is perhaps the most damning element of this TV series to me. I know I've been harping on this in like every thread but it's impossible to overlook. It also goes for Mozgus' face, or Nina's when Luka releases her grip and falls... Oh and boy, Jérôme's model is straight-up terrible. That aside, the sound effects (metallic sounds when the mass of specters approaches the group in the jail area) and music (endlessly repeating the same stuff) are really pretty bad.

To end on a positive note, I liked the static shot of Casca at the very end, just before the credits.
 

Kompozinaut

Sylph Sword
jackson_hurley said:
Forgot to add that the goo monster did not look that scary compared to the manga. I wish it looked less goofy.

It looks like Jello, and not nearly as cool as the black mass in the manga.

ApostleBob said:
Another gripe in this is a problem they've had at least a dozen times now. When they have an important piece of visual information to reveal, they pan the camera over it super quick and cut away before it even really registers what you's looking at. In this case it was the Beherit Apostle descending from the domed roof of the cathedral while Mozgus and pals were barring the door. It does this twice in pretty quick succession, it just quick pans past these details and doesn't give them any emphasis. This is sure to lead to some confusion for people that miss that the Apostle stung each of these guys like he did the Goat Heretic. Kind of an important point that Mozgus didn't have wings all along.

Yeah, I didn't think the stings were very clear, and the wings seemed confusing. I could see people thinking Mozgus was right all along, or that God really is granting him powers. It was easy enough to miss, though hopefully seeing the baphomet in the last episode will clue people in to what happened. I felt that the Demon Child deflecting Mozgus' fire breath happened way too quickly also. You see the kid for a fraction of a second before he disappears. I actually think that's a really cool moment in the manga, and here it lasts long enough you could miss it if you blink.
 

DANGERDOOOOM

Rest In Peace, Kentaro Miura. We will miss you.
I felt like Mozgus' :mozgus: crazy facial expressions could have used a lot more work. These animators didn't really seem to hit the mark.

Other than that, I did thoroughly enjoy this episode. This is also the one episode where I felt the CLANG was acceptable: hitting a column of stone and being slammed with the giant shield.
 

Aazealh

Administrator
Staff member
Delta Phi said:
Yeah, I didn't think the stings were very clear, and the wings seemed confusing. I could see people thinking Mozgus was right all along, or that God really is granting him powers. It was easy enough to miss, though hopefully seeing the baphomet in the last episode will clue people in to what happened. I felt that the Demon Child deflecting Mozgus' fire breath happened way too quickly also. You see the kid for a fraction of a second before he disappears. I actually think that's a really cool moment in the manga, and here it lasts long enough you could miss it if you blink.

The stings are totally confusing (like everything else), and I'm sure half the viewers won't understand what's going on. They'll just think Mozgus had super powers granted by god or whatever. And yeah, the way they handled Mozgus' fire is (surprise) super misleading. The boy just disappears instead of holding the fire back to protect his mom, and being hurt in the process. Terrible depiction.
 
Aazealh said:
And yeah, the way they handled Mozgus' fire is (surprise) super misleading. The boy just disappears instead of holding the fire back to protect his mom, and being hurt in the process. Terrible depiction.

Ah, thank you for the explanation, it wasn't my eyes then. I had the hardest time understanding whether they had gotten this scene wrong or not.

And average episode, like the rest of them for me, not worse but not better. I can't really get used to the way the animation is done, especially not when this arc in the manga is just... well, probably my favorite.
Also, not to defend the voice actors, but since the animation doesn't make the characters that expressive, maybe it's why the exchanges between characters feel lifeless. I have to admit, in the scene they're escaping from the torture chambers when Azan asks what's going on (before Guts seizes Farnese) felt like they were going on a picnic...

Ah and I can't remember for sure, but did they actually do a flashback in the past episodes explaining who the demon infant was? I seem to recall that it wasn't the case, but I'm not 100% certain...
 
favole said:
Ah and I can't remember for sure, but did they actually do a flashback in the past episodes explaining who the demon infant was? I seem to recall that it wasn't the case, but I'm not 100% certain...
Nope, there's still no explanation over what the hell it's supposed to be. I have no idea what they're trying to accomplish by trying to draw it out...assuming they ever intend on explaining just what it is and why it's so fixated on Casca.
 
Cyrus Jong said:
Nope, there's still no explanation over what the hell it's supposed to be. I have no idea what they're trying to accomplish by trying to draw it out...assuming they ever intend on explaining just what it is and why it's so fixated on Casca.

Thank you! Yes, this is bugging me to be honest and I'm not sure either they'll explain before the cour is over. A dumb decision to leave out that part in particular even if there are numerous things to criticize besides this point... The demon child is beyond important in this arc after all.
Oh well, not that I expected a lot from this anime after I saw the first two episodes.
 
Better, but I don't think it was their "best."

Big issue with how the mass of demons/spirits looked. Looked way too much like "The Blob" right down to the strawberry jam appearance. I would've hoped for a darker crimson color at least.

Though I think they put a bit more effort in some of the shading. SK didn't look as badly chromed this time around.
 
I know I have been on the fence about this before but now I can say with 100% certainty that this anime was made strictly for people who have read the manga. There is no possible way that the creators could ever have expected any newcomers to have any clue what is going on in this series.
 
TripleJMaster3 said:
I know I have been on the fence about this before but now I can say with 100% certainty that this anime was made strictly for people who have read the manga. There is no possible way that the creators could ever have expected any newcomers to have any clue what is going on in this series.
Sorry nope. In my eyes the animators didn't even think that far ahead. I've said it before and ill say it again. I think they just decided to half-assedly slap together an animation of berserk. "oh we can do a berserk project? okay, lets do it." then doesn't understand what berserk is about. So they skim through the manga and throw together an adaptation. It would explain their horrible lack of attention to important details and horrible facial expressions too. They aren't really using the manga as a reference point as much as they take the storyboard from it.
 

Darkman

Obey the one Law of Tooth & Claw
I've always felt that this section of the manga was among the darkest parts of the story for me, after the eclipse. There is so much death, disease, and horror that I've always enjoyed about berserk. It just feels like something critical is missing here, like what has been mentioned facial expressions, too quick, lack of original music and so forth. I feel like i'm missing the old 2d animation and that great old series anime score from the 1990s. where is that spooky keyboard music and those dark undertones. It certainly pales in comparison to the brilliance of the orginal anime series and the manga. While it does take from the manga it just lacks and i will say that in the context of this anime it was a descent episode, I'm just disapointed in it thats all
 

badcrazy

At last the time has come!
Hello this is my first post after being a lurker for some time, thank you for allowing me to take part in the form :D.

I don't know how many or if any of you have been reading the Anime News Networks episode reviews but the latest one really shows how confusing this poor adaptation is for anyone who hasn't read the manga. I know if this my first time seeing this part of the story I wouldn't know whats going on at all. Here's the review http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/review/berserk/episode-9/.105911
 

Walter

Administrator
Staff member
badcrazy said:
Hello this is my first post after being a lurker for some time, thank you for allowing me to take part in the form :D.

I don't know how many or if any of you have been reading the Anime News Networks episode reviews but the latest one really shows how confusing this poor adaptation is for anyone who hasn't read the manga. I know if this my first time seeing this part of the story I wouldn't know whats going on at all. Here's the review http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/review/berserk/episode-9/.105911

"The vague and dreamlike storytelling that has defined Berserk post-Eclipse can be pretty disorienting sometimes" :ganishka:

He's also clearly not just an anime watcher, because he knows the child is Casca's, and he calls the beherit apostle "Ceiling Behelit." Without external information, he'd never have known that the form of the apostle is that of a beherit. Not yet, anyway.
 

Aazealh

Administrator
Staff member
badcrazy said:
Hello this is my first post after being a lurker for some time, thank you for allowing me to take part in the form :D.

Hello and welcome!

badcrazy said:
I don't know how many or if any of you have been reading the Anime News Networks episode reviews but the latest one really shows how confusing this poor adaptation is for anyone who hasn't read the manga. I know if this my first time seeing this part of the story I wouldn't know whats going on at all. I know if this my first time seeing this part of the story I wouldn't know whats going on at all. Here's the review

This shows a lot of confusion indeed, but it also strikes me as not being much of a review. Not sure why they got a guy who hasn't read the manga to follow this adaptation. It clearly deprives his commentary of most of its value.
 

badcrazy

At last the time has come!
Aazealh said:
This shows a lot of confusion indeed, but it also strikes me as not being much of a review. Not sure why they got a guy who hasn't read the manga to follow this adaptation. It clearly deprives his commentary of most of its value.

I can only assume it was so they could review the series as it's own thing and not on what happened in the manga. Only episode reviews anyway the full review would be done by someone who knows more. I do know for a fact he never read the whole manga, I think he has taken part in a few podcasts where they talk about berserk so that knowledge may come from that.
 
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