First medium of exposure to Berserk

What was your first medium of exposure to the Berserk universe?

  • Manga

    Votes: 22 18.5%
  • Anime

    Votes: 73 61.3%
  • Dreamcast game

    Votes: 19 16.0%
  • PS2 game

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Other

    Votes: 5 4.2%

  • Total voters
    119
My best friend showed me the Berserk manga and at first I didn't think much of it. Just seemed like a story about a guy with a massive sword who would have one liners spewing forth from his mouth like a raging faucet. I decided to read a bit at where my friend was reading and was amazed at the details and accuracy of the art work and settings. I then scanned through a ways and saw some the apostles and whatnot and was amazed by how well they were designed.

I only just recently checked out the anime, bought the 6 disk set. It seems most people don't care for it and I can see why, however I enjoyed it despite it's flaws. I was hoping to see the Skull Knight but remembered after finishing the last episode that he was one of the omitted characters.
 

Walter

Administrator
Staff member
Cujo the cat said:
It seems most people don't care for it and I can see why, however I enjoyed it despite it's flaws. I was hoping to see the Skull Knight but remembered after finishing the last episode that he was one of the omitted characters.
I don't think "most people" don't like the anime. I'd say most people that see it do. And actually, despite being one of the anime's biggest detractors, I enjoyed it immensely -- until I discovered the manga. After that, it's very hard to go back to the bare-bones animation, especially with its omitted story details and tacked on useless shit (extra Adon adventures).

For me the point of no return was reached while reading volume 10, one of the first japanese volumes I picked up. And despite not even having translations, I could see there was a whole other world that the anime didn't even touch upon -- namely, :SK:
 

Rhombaad

Video Game Time Traveler
Walter said:
I don't think "most people" don't like the anime. I'd say most people that see it do. And actually, despite being one of the anime's biggest detractors, I enjoyed it immensely -- until I discovered the manga. After that, it's very hard to go back to the bare-bones animation, especially with its omitted story details and tacked on useless shit (extra Adon adventures).

This pretty much sums up my feelings of the anime. I loved it when I first watched it back in '02-'03, but once I started reading the manga, I just couldn't enjoy watching it anymore.
 

yesmilord

千年王国
I fell in love with the Berserk anime at second sight (meaning after the atrocious first episode). When the anime ended, I thought I had been cheated or that I was missing the ending. I quadruple checked numerous episode listings just to make sure I was right. Though infuriated, I was eventually led the manga, which of course became the love of my nerd life.

Nowadays I fervently recommend the manga to friends of the same vein, although I have to tell them to stomach the first few volumes if you know what I mean.
 

Gobolatula

praise be to grail!
yesmilord said:
I fell in love with the Berserk anime at second sight (meaning after the atrocious first episode). When the anime ended, I thought I had been cheated or that I was missing the ending. I quadruple checked numerous episode listings just to make sure I was right. Though infuriated, I was eventually led the manga, which of course became the love of my nerd life.

Nowadays I fervently recommend the manga to friends of the same vein, although I have to tell them to stomach the first few volumes if you know what I mean.
I get what you mean about the 1st episode of the anime, but no, sir, I don't understand what you mean about the first few volumes of the manga. And I don't think I ever will. I can stomach plenty of awesome. If you're talking about the art style and how it differs from the anime, I was a little surprised at first with how different the character designs were. Though, it didn't look "off," it looked oldschool and at the same time more detailed and amazing looking than anything being released nowadays.

When I first started the anime (also my first exposure to the world of Berserk), I was also a little put off. I liked that it was about some dude with a big sword, I liked that it was about fighting demons, but I wasn't emotionally connected until that FWOOSH at the end of episode one. Adult Guts turns around, FWOOSH, we see a younger version of the same man, living in a more ... humanly relatable setting, about to fight some goofy knight. Intriguing.....
 

Aazealh

Administrator
Staff member
yesmilord said:
I fell in love with the Berserk anime at second sight (meaning after the atrocious first episode).

What's so atrocious about the first episode compared to the rest? I ask because it's got what is probably my favorite scene out of the whole anime: Guts killing the Snake Baron.

yesmilord said:
although I have to tell them to stomach the first few volumes if you know what I mean.

Much like Gobolatula I don't think I know what you mean here. :miura:
 

HeavyWeather

Heavy Rainfall Activated
I don't remember why, but when browsing the manga section of a book store during my weeaboo years, I found the first volume, said to myself, "huh" and bought it.

I haven't regretted it at all since. I've been hooked on the gorgeous artwork. I did have a dry period where I got kind of out of it, and got tired of re-reading the whole Guts Joined The Hawks arc. When I finally dived more into it, I certainly remembered why it was worth of being on the top of my list.
 

Oburi

All praise Grail
Aazealh said:
Much like Gobolatula I don't think I know what you mean here. :miura:

The way I took it is that he meant that the first few books are really graphic. Of course the Conviction arc has some of the most graphic content IMO (the whole series really), but I know that when I've given the first few books to people so that they can read it, sometimes they give it back and simply say that its too graphic, or its "not my thing". Before the fight with the Snake Baron he's drinking the blood of a young boy that's been impaled. I know that turns some people off to the series and they aren't willing to look past that or keep reading.

...pussies...
 

Rhombaad

Video Game Time Traveler
Oburi said:
I know that turns some people off to the series and they aren't willing to look past that or keep reading.

...pussies...

Haha, yeah a friend of mine heard that Guts gets raped as a child and now he refused to read the series. Unbelievable. :schierke:
 

Oburi

All praise Grail
Rhombaad said:
Haha, yeah a friend of mine heard that Guts gets raped as a child and now he refused to read the series. Unbelievable. :schierke:

Yea its sad. But whatever, their loss. :guts:
 

yesmilord

千年王国
@Aaz

I really didn't like the first episode of the anime. Everyone told me: "hey it's an awesome epic story with a lot of depth!" Watching the first episode felt like a cheap, cheesy fantasy medieval anime, filled with mindless hack and slash ... which leads me directly into my second statement:

@Gob

Multiple friends have told me that they didn't like the first few volumes. I personally don't mind them as they mean so much more after you've read the rest of the story, but I can totally understand where they are coming from. I tell them the same thing - Berserk is an emotional and epic tale! And they skeptically respond with: "all he's doing is running around killing demons". It's not so much the graphicness of the first few volumes (though it contributes), but the perception of nothing beyond demon slaying that will come from reading further. I just don't think they felt truly attached to any of the characters till I ushered them into the Golden Age. And don't get me wrong, I'm not slandering Miura, nor do I dislike the first few volumes, just stating what responses I have received from my peers.
 

HeavyWeather

Heavy Rainfall Activated
Rhombaad said:
Haha, yeah a friend of mine heard that Guts gets raped as a child and now he refused to read the series. Unbelievable.

Unless it touches on something personally, I can't quite understand why. But you know, to each his own. Obviously all of us tend to like dark stories. :guts:
 
S

Saintly pants

Guest
Some people just have nerves that are easy to overload. If i had read Berserk in the time before i played Doom i might have literally vomited.
Tough i don't mind all the blood/tits/gore and EYESCREAM!!!! one bit right now because it adds a lot of neural electricity to the story, you could argue that Miura depends too much on cheap shock effects to keep people interested. But the first three volumes are indeed a perfect way to test the audience: If you can stomach the gore you are rewarded with an incredible plot later on. I could also add that central Africa is an even worse place to live then Midland. Maniacal warlords, kid soldiers, shoot anything that moves-mercenaries, born female = set up for rape. And it happens right now for real.
 

handsome rakshas

Thanks Grail!
yesmilord said:
@Aaz

I really didn't like the first episode of the anime. Everyone told me: "hey it's an awesome epic story with a lot of depth!" Watching the first episode felt like a cheap, cheesy fantasy medieval anime, filled with mindless hack and slash ... which leads me directly into my second statement:

That's because it's starting a different arc in the story!
And as many times as I told Aaz in the chat room, I also LOVE the first episode. The DS scraping the ground and striking the Snake Baron is what I think of when I think of the anime, everytime!
 

Aazealh

Administrator
Staff member
yesmilord said:
I really didn't like the first episode of the anime. Everyone told me: "hey it's an awesome epic story with a lot of depth!" Watching the first episode felt like a cheap, cheesy fantasy medieval anime, filled with mindless hack and slash ...

That still doesn't tell me what's so atrocious about it compared to the rest. Not that I think it was a masterpiece but "cheap, cheesy, mindless" sounds unjustified to me, especially in retrospect.

yesmilord said:
I tell them the same thing - Berserk is an emotional and epic tale! And they skeptically respond with: "all he's doing is running around killing demons". It's not so much the graphicness of the first few volumes (though it contributes), but the perception of nothing beyond demon slaying that will come from reading further.

Well I'm sorry to say but your friends probably need to pay more attention to what goes on in those volumes, as there's a lot more to them than just Guts "running around killing demons". Puck, the Demon Child, Colette, Vargas, Theresia, Gambino... There are plenty of examples. And Guts himself, of course, who you can already tell isn't the cold monster he's trying to make himself into. I'm not trying to blame people or anything but what you quoted simply isn't true.

Saintly pants said:
you could argue that Miura depends too much on cheap shock effects to keep people interested.

No, actually I don't think you could argue that. :schierke: Anyone reading Berserk for "cheap shock effects" is going to be severely disappointed.
 
S

Saintly pants

Guest
Please do tell how a pure gorehound could possibly be dissapointed by Berserk. It's a vortex of abuse. A hallowed feast of gib on wich the food gets formally welcomed. :void: Whenever another pair of eyes is swiftly and efortlessly removed from it's head, i honestly can't tell Berserk is pitch black humor or meant to be taken seriously. :ganishka:
 

Dar_Klink

Last Guardian when? - CyberKlink 20XX before dying
Saintly pants said:
Please do tell how a pure gorehound could possibly be dissapointed by Berserk.
Actually, I think the people who always complain about where Berserk's story is at are the gorehounds, so I guess they can be disappointed. :zodd:
Saintly pants said:
Whenever another pair of eyes is swiftly and efortlessly removed from it's head, i honestly can't tell Berserk is pitch black humor or meant to be taken seriously. :ganishka:
I think I speak for all of us when I say "What?" :???:
 

Aazealh

Administrator
Staff member
Saintly pants said:
Please do tell how a pure gorehound could possibly be dissapointed by Berserk. It's a vortex of abuse. A hallowed feast of gib on wich the food gets formally welcomed. :void: Whenever another pair of eyes is swiftly and efortlessly removed from it's head, i honestly can't tell Berserk is pitch black humor or meant to be taken seriously. :ganishka:

Ah, so you finally got around to making that parody of a Dark Horse summary! Oh wait... :schierke:

The gore is not glorified in Berserk. It's never the point. And there are thousands of pages throughout the story without anything particularly gory in them. Like I said, if that's what you read Berserk for, you're going to be severely disappointed.
 

yesmilord

千年王国
Aazealh said:
That still doesn't tell me what's so atrocious about it compared to the rest. Not that I think it was a masterpiece but "cheap, cheesy, mindless" sounds unjustified to me, especially in retrospect.

I'm talking about a subjective initial viewing, and my impression of the first episode was that it was a very shallow, medieval action anime. In retrospect, it's not so bad, but I still feel like it was almost a major turnoff for me.

Aazealh said:
Well I'm sorry to say but your friends probably need to pay more attention to what goes on in those volumes, as there's a lot more to them than just Guts "running around killing demons". Puck, the Demon Child, Colette, Vargas, Theresia, Gambino... There are plenty of examples. And Guts himself, of course, who you can already tell isn't the cold monster he's trying to make himself into. I'm not trying to blame people or anything but what you quoted simply isn't true.

Of course what I quoted isn't "true", it's their perception of the introduction to Berserk because they have so far only taken it at face value. It's hard to understand everything and appreciate it all till you've gone through enough of the story.
 
P

Pez

Guest
My boyfriend (then just my crush) mentioned it as being one of his favorite mangas. I read it so that maybe I could have something in common with him, but I ended up loving the story and the characters more than I had expected. I finished reading the manga (up to somewhere around episode 200 or so when Miura went on a break) and finally I decided to watch the anime. We also have a Japanese Ps2 and the Berserk game, as well as a Dreamcast with the Berserk game on that system.

Manga is still by far the best, and I reread it every now and then while I am waiting for new episodes. I catch something I had missed every time and it makes me happy.
 
Dreamcast game. I've always meant to play it, but never got around to renting it and then one day a friend of mine called me up and told me I have to beat this game with him so we beat it in one sitting and I was wondering who was that cool Skeleton looking dude, what's up with this grudge with that Zodd monster and what's a Griffith? One day I found out there was an anime so I watched it and then got into the manga and loved it.
 

Truder

"I frown at Griffith's nipples" -Aazealh
I remember I was telling my friend that I just got finished watching Trigun, and he told me that I should watch Berserk. The main characters couldn't be more opposite. :ganishka:
from sweet and innocent Vash the Stampede :serpico:, to grumpy and mad Guts (the berserk). :mozgus:
 
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