[2022] Berserk: The Golden Age MEMORIAL EDITION

I really wouldn't say it's a pity. Given how terrible their adaptation of the Golden Age was, there's no reason to think they would have handled the rest of the story any better.
I think adapting Black Swordsman (especially) and Lost Children would be fairly straightforward, as long as they stick to the source material. Overall I think I'd find something to appreciate even if it hadn't been that good, be it some 2D animations or new music.

And contrary to what you're implying, the Black Swordsman arc and Lost Children chapter are the two parts of the story that are best suited for the movie format. They're short, relatively self-contained and the Lost Children chapter could be produced as a "sequel" to the Black Swordsman arc without being disorienting for people unfamiliar with the manga.
I can definitely see the Count segment being perfect for a movie, I don't remember how long exactly Lost Children is and I fear a movie would need to trim some stuff again. I can imagine the first two self-contained episodes of Black Swordsman being adapted as OVA episodes though, or even just have the whole BS / LC arcs adapted into an OVA series a-là Hellsing Ultimate. That would be my preferred format.
As for my comment on "cinematic" and "kinetic" I was mainly referring to how they adapted the art and trimmed some dialogues in favor of random eye-candy moments as that's one aspect that I felt in particular, of course that's not all of it as you pointed out. It needs a special kind of talent to actively destroy the source material the way the trilogy did.
 

Aazealh

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I think adapting Black Swordsman (especially) and Lost Children would be fairly straightforward, as long as they stick to the source material. Overall I think I'd find something to appreciate even if it hadn't been that good, be it some 2D animations or new music.

I guess it depends on your outlook. A botched project is just a botched project to me, even if there's 15 seconds of decent animation here and there and a few minutes of passable music. I'd prefer nothing over something that doesn't do Berserk justice.

I can definitely see the Count segment being perfect for a movie, I don't remember how long exactly Lost Children is and I fear a movie would need to trim some stuff again.

I think the entire Black Swordsman arc could be made into a single 2h movie with the standard three acts and a great ending. The introduction with the cobra apostle is short and sets up a lot of things narratively so it'd be hard to skip. If needed some scenes could always be abbreviated for the theatrical version, but as a whole I believe it'd be easy to adapt with minimal changes. The Lost Children chapter is also relatively short (around two volumes), and if produced as a sequel, would again be pretty straightforward to adapt. No need to change anything (outside of censorship concerns).

I can imagine the first two self-contained episodes of Black Swordsman being adapted as OVA episodes though, or even just have the whole BS / LC arcs adapted into an OVA series a-là Hellsing Ultimate. That would be my preferred format.

Well don't get me wrong, I'd take well produced OVAs too! That's actually what I envisioned for the series back in the day. I was only talking about a movie because it's what the Golden Age project was focused on. Given the level of violence in the series, OVAs are clearly the best option.
 
In my humble opinion a bad adaptation is preferable than no adaptation at all, even the god awful 2016 provided us with some really nice animation bits (obviously the 2D ones) and some AMAZING tracks for the berserk-verse OST (Susumu Hirasawa and Shirō Sagisu were born to create Berserk music - and any reason they get to make more if is a plus in my book haha)

It might be true that a terrible adaptation will make some newcomers shy away from the manga, but most peole won't get into the manga without anime version in the first place, simply because the medium is a lot less accessible than anime. That was the case for me at least.

I think the entire Black Swordsman arc could be made into a single 2h movie with the standard three acts and a great ending.
Is that so? I think they can make two full length movies out of this arc easly, its super dense and have a lot of room for original content to make the flow more cinematic (maybe extend the encounter with the female apostle? or Guts' journey between the snake baron and the count etc)
 
That mindset is the reason why they keep giving us bad adaptations.
This was the case even when the first adaptaion in recent time, the movie trilogy falied. Those adaptaions always end up in the wrong people's hands, fans that take what they can get have nothing to do with it.
 
I think the entire Black Swordsman arc could be made into a single 2h movie with the standard three acts and a great ending.
Honestly I feel that the first 2 episodes are way too self-contained to be part of the idea of a Black Swordsman movie. I'd rather have that begin with the decapitation scene where Guts shows up instead of having two other stories preceeding it before getting into the real plot involving the Count, it would really destroy the pacing.
 

Aazealh

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In my humble opinion a bad adaptation is preferable than no adaptation at all

Well we're going to have to disagree on that. I don't see the logic in it.

I think they can make two full length movies out of this arc easly

I don't think so. It doesn't support two full length movies.

its super dense and have a lot of room for original content to make the flow more cinematic (maybe extend the encounter with the female apostle? or Guts' journey between the snake baron and the count etc)

It's cinematic enough as it is. Trying to add more stuff randomly is how you end up with garbage. Believe me, these aren't good ideas.

Honestly I feel that the first 2 episodes are way too self-contained to be part of the idea of a Black Swordsman movie. I'd rather have that begin with the decapitation scene where Guts shows up instead of having two other stories preceeding it before getting into the real plot involving the Count, it would really destroy the pacing.

They're not that self-contained, there's just clean cuts between each. I agree it's a hurdle if one wants to make them flow as a movie, but the reason they're needed is because they literally introduce the character of the Black Swordsman, his weapons and what he stands for, along with Puck, the Brand, apostles, the God Hand, the Demon Child, evil spirits and so on. The story with the Count isn't possible without introducing these elements first, as it then introduces other elements on top of them (like the beherit) and develops the characters further, so trying to insert them in there would create a mess and destroy the pacing.

If I were tasked with making such a movie, I'd create a shorter theatrical version that skips the female apostle, skips the jail scene and slims the traveling segment down so that Guts encounters the Count around the 35 minute mark. Him finding the beherit would signal the beginning of the second act, as the viewer learns more about the God Hand and the stakes are raised. The skipped scenes would be available on the Blu-ray as a director's cut, and that footage could also be used to turn the movie into OVA episodes if such a project were to be made afterwards.
 
Fans that take what they can get have nothing to do with it.
As I said, people with that mindset are why these bad adaptations keep happening. They are the people that watch these anime through streaming services again and again, and possibly even buying them physically, so it's like they're telling the higher-ups "More of that please".

But yes, the incompetence of the higher-ups is definitely why every Berserk anime sucks. They just don't seem to understand what they're doing wrong. And fans that take what they can get who keep supporting every new adaptation, definitely don't help.
 
Black Swordsman Arc, coupled with the Lost Children arc deserve good adaptations. Both are tonally distinct from the rest of the series, and they really show off Guts as a determined one-man army, who still struggles against his powerful inhuman prey. It sets up the rules of the world, and shows how the rest of society reacts to him and the supernatural around him. It has incredible fights, as well as great character work.

I think a single movie to deal with Volumes 1-3 could pull it off, with some adaptation liberties taken for pacing and connecting things. Guts's pattern of hunting apostles and leaving ruin in his wake could be set up in the first 30 minutes with the Snake Baron. The finale with the God Hand appearing and the revelation that Guts is actually not as heartless as he puts on would be fantastic. The Count is still one of the toughest fights in the series. He is huge, and he wrecks Guts a few times until he's able to outsmart him.

Lost Children would be a great opening to lead into the conviction Arc. It could center on themes of faith with the HICKs pursuing him, as well as the reality of fairy tales come to monstrous life with the 'Elves' and the Pikaf story. The natural ending would be Guts leaving Farnese with her faith broken and Serpico and Guts having a brief duel. There might need to be a larger climax than Mr. Horse, but I think it could be pulled off.

For me, it's always been a shame that Berserk anime adaptations are piecemeal, with large gaps in the narrative. A single, consistent adaptation would be great to have. It would introduce a wider audience and would prevent more confusion.
 
I agree it's a hurdle if one wants to make them flow as a movie, but the reason they're needed is because they literally introduce the character of the Black Swordsman, his weapons and what he stands for, along with Puck, the Brand, apostles, the God Hand, the Demon Child, evil spirits and so on. The story with the Count isn't possible without introducing these elements first, as it then introduces other elements on top of them (like the beherit) and develops the characters further, so trying to insert them in there would create a mess and destroy the pacing.
In recent times it's been somewhat a trend to make movies out of segments from mangas without necessarily having to cover again the basis and introduct the story and characters (see the Kimetsu no Yaiba movie), just going 1:1 with the manga like a season would do. That was the type of adaptation I had in mind when referring to a movie about the Count. The first two episodes of the manga are quite long as they are, I like them a lot so I'd rather have them adapted properly instead of abridging / rushing through them just to get to the count within 35 minutes. I have the impression that doing them decently would take around 1 hour, but I could be wrong (I'm not very good at these calculations). I feel like they belong into their own episodes, and doing a movie where the story restarts twice with a different villain every 30 minutes or so doesn't sound like the best course of action for me.
 

Aazealh

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Lost Children would be a great opening to lead into the conviction Arc. It could center on themes of faith with the HICKs pursuing him, as well as the reality of fairy tales come to monstrous life with the 'Elves' and the Pikaf story. The natural ending would be Guts leaving Farnese with her faith broken and Serpico and Guts having a brief duel. There might need to be a larger climax than Mr. Horse, but I think it could be pulled off.

Just to be specific, the Lost Children chapter is actually the first part of the Condemnation arc. Anyway, if it were to be adapted as a movie, I think the logical end point would be the fight with Rochine. You can also go slightly past it and end on the confrontation with the specters and first appearance of the Beast of Darkness, since it touches on Guts' hopelessness in confronting Femto, and finishes with a positive note with Puck. Cut right before the shot of Farnese seeing him in the woods.

The first two episodes of the manga are quite long as they are, I like them a lot so I'd rather have them adapted properly instead of abridging / rushing through them just to get to the count within 35 minutes. I have the impression that doing them decently would take around 1 hour, but I could be wrong (I'm not very good at these calculations). I feel like they belong into their own episodes, and doing a movie where the story restarts twice with a different villain every 30 minutes or so doesn't sound like the best course of action for me.

They're 160 pages in total. 90 pages for the confrontation with the snake apostle. Not that long. And it would establish Guts' pattern of hunting apostles while having his eye on a bigger prize. But that's just a hypothetical scenario anyway, an alternate universe take on how I'd have handled the old movie project that became the trilogy. Like I said I'd be totally fine with having these be adapted individually as OVAs. Really, at this point I'd take any format as long as the adaptation is actually good. :sweatdrop:
 
It looks like Studio 4°C and Memorial Edition director Yuta Sano picked up a new original anime film project which will keep them busy for a couple of years, aiming for a 2025 release. I think this settles that for any hypothetical continuation (assuming they'd like to stick with the Memorial Edition staff and not change studio or team) it'll take a long time.
 
Here's my thoughts on this whole thing:
I liked the scene they added with Guts and Casca romance. They did that pretty well. The rest is just uncalled for, the blu ray pricing is extreme, the countdown is a disappointing cash grab. Youd think the japanese would be more respectful to Miura than this...I am looking forward to the interview but it really has nothing to do with this re-release of the mostly passion-less project. Berserk is so used and abused by so many people. It makes me distrustful of any new berserk content whatsoever.
 

Aazealh

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A quick post because I have to acknowledge the balls on these guys. They're using Miura's artwork for their Blu-Ray box, which is rather deceptive, and the outer box is specifically adorned with an illustration from a segment of the story that isn't even included in the anime. It's literally false advertising.
 
A quick post because I have to acknowledge the balls on these guys. They're using Miura's artwork for their Blu-Ray box, which is rather deceptive, and the outer box is specifically adorned with an illustration from a segment of the story that isn't even included in the anime. It's literally false advertising.
My disappointment is immessurable and my day is ruined
 
Rather than false advertising my impression is that yet again this shows how low the budget was. They couldn't even make an original 2D artwork for the BD Box, or reuse previous art. It may also be a situation where they wanted to make a tribute or imitate previous Berserk BD releases which has some bonus Miura art, but here it ended up being just Miura's art for the entire design beside disc covers, which imo it's very disappointing. In any case, I can't deny that it looks cool due to Miura's merit.
 

Aazealh

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Rather than false advertising my impression is that yet again this shows how low the budget was.

I mean the intent doesn't even matter here. The end result is that if you buy this box for what's on the cover, you're not getting it. :shrug: Even beyond the art and the scene itself, this is a representation of Guts as the Black Swordsman, which doesn't make sense in the context of this Golden Age adaptation.

They couldn't even make an original 2D artwork for the BD Box, or reuse previous art. It may also be a situation where they wanted to make a tribute or imitate previous Berserk BD releases which has some bonus Miura art, but here it ended up being just Miura's art for the entire design beside disc covers, which imo it's very disappointing.

Well they did produce artwork for the memorial edition and they presumably could have reused artwork previously made for the trilogy. No matter how you cut it, it comes across as a sketchy move to me.
 

Walter

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Even beyond the art and the scene itself, this is a representation of Guts as the Black Swordsman, which doesn't make sense in the context of this Golden Age adaptation.
Studio4C Marketing Guy: "Quick, what do The Fans like about Berserk?"
Stooge: "Uhhh, based on these YouTube comments, they like it when Guts is screaming?"
Marketing Guy: "Computer, give me an image of Guts screaming. There, print it."
 
It's one of those foldout blu rays, it's either a 3d thing with Griffith's eye's cut out and the case and the booklet will fit in each side which would mean there is another case which will probably have the memorial key art, or they'll have the disk holders placed there with no case for them, I think this is most likely just the outer design. This also reminds me of the covers of a certain edition of the manga but I forget which country has them
 
God damnit...when I scrolled and saw the image my heart skipped a beat and was excited until realizing what thread I'm in haha.

Yah, talk about false advertising. If I saw that on a shelf I might actually be tricked into thinking it's something good!
 
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God damnit...when I scrolled and saw the image my heart skipped a beat and was excited until realizing what thread I'm in haha.

Yah, talk about false advertising. If I saw that on a shelf I i might actually be tricked into thinking it's something good!
Try not having any berserk on shelves at all. I wish I had berserk in my local stores...
 
Small updates on the Memorial Edition soundtracks: while originally planned to be released only as bonus CDs with the Blu-Ray box, they have been released digitally as well: https://twitter.com/berserk_mePR/status/1641047554568880128

The new music are tracks 23-27 on Disc 2, even though they are not in chronological order. I guess it's good to finally have the trilogy soundtracks available digitally.

Weirdly enough though there is not a hint of a commercial release for Susumu Hirasawa's "The Expedition" song, despite the official Aniplex video on YouTube indicated March 31st as a deadline for release of some sorts.
And apparently, not even Susumu Hirasawa himself has plans for releasing the song, as of the last mention he did on his very active Twitter page.

UPDATE: The YouTube upload of "The Expedition" has now been made private and no more available... so maybe there still is something pushing for an eventual release.
 
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Aazealh

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Weirdly enough though there is not a hint of a commercial release for Susumu Hirasawa's "The Expedition" song, despite the official Aniplex video on YouTube indicated March 31st as a deadline for release of some sorts. And apparently, not even Susumu Hirasawa himself has plans for releasing the song, as of the last mention he did on his very active Twitter page.

The song "The Expedition" will be available on Susumu Hirasawa's bandcamp page in 8 hours: https://susumuhirasawa.bandcamp.com/

Hirasawa chose this date (May 6 at midnight in Japan) because it's the anniversary of Kentarou Miura's passing. The song is dedicated to him.
 
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