What if you, Berserk fans, could help making an adaptation?

MommySlan

My birthday matches Berserk 1997 first airing.
Hello, SkullKnight.net community.

Since this community has a long dedication to Berserk I've decided to create a thread here regarding what hardcore fans would expect from a good adaptation.

Let's say a certain producer was in touch with Miura Kentarou's publisher to develop a live action adaptation. (not saying it is) What suggestions would this community make to adapt the original work properly? What would be crucial to portray and what could be discarded? Should every single character, location and event depicted in the manga be included? The Band of the Falcon should have more iconic members on screen? Where would be the ideal location for setting? Should it stick with CGI only or include some analogical features like animatronics?

Even considering the disposition of a big budget, a production may face financial adversities which could cause a series of divergences from its source material.
From a huge fan perspective, what could be "sacrificed" without compromising the adaptation solidity? Please, let me know your feelings on this matter.
 

jackson_hurley

even the horses are cut in half!
Hello MommySlan, welcome to Skullknight.

From a huge fan perspective, what could be "sacrificed" without compromising the adaptation solidity? Please, let me know your feelings on this matter.

To be honest, in my opinion, nothing in the story deserves to be cut for an adaptation since every cut would most likely impact the story at some point later on. Further more, I don't think Berserk would be adaptable on a big screen. It is too complex for that kind of project. So I'd say that said producer would most likely be turned down for that. Also, since the story is not over yet, it would be very hard to decide how to end it if it was a movie.

I would rather have a faithfull anime adaptation of the series and from what we saw with all the adaptations that we got so far, changes were made and it always compromised the quality of the story.
 

Walter

Administrator
Staff member
I don't have any personal interest in seeing another Berserk adaptation. I think their highest and best use are as commercials for the manga. And while that's great for people who've never heard of Berserk, seeing Guts in motion doesn't do anything for me anymore. It's just a sideshow, and the past two adaptations have soured my feelings for the whole endeavor.

If we HAD to have one, I would want it traditionally animated. The brightest spots of the shitty 2016-17 adaptation were when they used traditional (cel) animation. I understand that's expensive, and most anime these days comes from CG. But if you're asking me to shoot for the moon, I'd prefer traditional.

As for faithfulness, I think it's most important that it FEELS authentic. Not that it includes every little scene. Capture the big, important scenes, and reflect the characters in a way that feels like they are genuine counterparts. A good/bad example is Bonfire of Dreams. That's a KEY scene for all three leads, Guts, Casca, and thematically Griffith. It's cut in the Golden Age movies, likely because of time constraints. That's a huge blow, and a terrible decision when it comes to budgeting the right screen time for the right moments.
 

Aazealh

Administrator
Staff member
Let's say a certain producer was in touch with Miura Kentarou's publisher to develop a live action adaptation. (not saying it is) What suggestions would this community make to adapt the original work properly?

Berserk isn't suited for a live action adaptation. It would end up being a disaster, and the series certainly doesn't need that after the last two adaptations.
There are only two viable ways to adapt Berserk: traditional 2D animation or high budget 3D animation (using a modern, state-of-the-art 3D engine).
 

Grail

Feel the funk blast
Hi MommySlan, welcome to the forum!

The Berserk fan community has had a rough decade as far as adaptations go, so it's kind of a sore subject for many of us, myself included. :judo: I'm so done with adaptations. Can we have an artbook now?

Just for the sake of playing ball here, a satisfying live-action Berserk adaptation would need the following to at least approach success, in my mind:

It would need to be about a contained part of the story that can be easily adapted for a short format, let's say a 5-episode miniseries or something like that. I think that the Black Swordsman Arc would be a natural choice here. This would help it as an advertisement for the rest of the story, and could introduce the viewer to the world of Berserk and its themes in ways that were originally put forth by Miura. Plus, I just love the Black Swordsman Arc! :slan:

The actor for Guts would have to be a guy who probably doesn't exist. He'd have to have it all - raw charisma, acting ability, physicality, and a bit of a funny bone. He'd need to be able to turn on a heartbreaking vulnerability to hint at his tragic past, while keeping the viewers engaged and rooting for him, even with his rough exterior. I think that the casting for Guts would be the biggest hurdle in the case of a live action adaptation.

And speaking of funny bone... a live action adaptation would need to be funny! One of Berserk's secrets is its well-timed moments of levity and humor. Can't be one of those blue-tinted shows that's doom and gloom all day! This is a big point, because I think a lot of casual Berserk fans tend to undervalue and even dislike its humorous elements.

Aside from all of the above, things like big budgets for CGI and animatronics are a little less important to me, because so much can be done with a little ingenuity and technical/artistic ability these days. I think that if the creators really understand the series and have a healthy level of respect for what Miura is communicating in Berserk, they can make something worthwhile and watchable. :daiba:
 

MommySlan

My birthday matches Berserk 1997 first airing.
Hi, thanks for welcoming me.

So, no adaptation. Fans are really disappointed after 2016/2017 to desire anything aside the manga, right? I haven't seen the movie trilogy nor the latest anime series, but I was aware that fans weren't pleased. I actually have a relative who was interested in developing something related to Berserk and so I've decided to do some kind of opinion research.

Well, thanks for sharing your thoughts and sorry for taking so long to reply. I had some busy weeks since I've learned I'm pregnant.
 

Aazealh

Administrator
Staff member
So, no adaptation. Fans are really disappointed after 2016/2017 to desire anything aside the manga, right?

We were very disappointed with the movies, and the latest adaptation managed to be even worse. But it's not a matter of not wanting anything besides the manga, it's just that if we are to get yet another adaptation, it should be very respectful of the source material in addition to being high quality (which means high budget). As for live action, since that's what you were specifically asking for, if you're familiar with Berserk at all you must know that just wouldn't work for a variety of reasons. Think about the opening of the series. You have Guts wielding the Dragon Slayer with Puck tagging along. You can't make that work in live action, and if that's not possible, then it's not worth doing.

I had some busy weeks since I've learned I'm pregnant.

Parabéns!
 
If anything I'd want an old 2d anime, that'd go super slow, with a long run of 24 episode seasons. I'm just not sure if there is a studio with the talent to do it, from both a story telling perspective or an animation perspective. I'm not sure the talent exists right now. I'm a gigantic anime fan, and there hasn't been anything in the past 10 years thats really done anything for me except for a couple 1 or 2 single season shows, which while good or at least enjoyable, were hardly classics.

Everything that is in vogue now, is fast, over the top, and light hearted or simply weird in tone, with a bombastic rubbery loose animation. Every once and awhile Sunrise will put out something reminiscent of the old days, where draftsmanship and solid fundamentals matter, but its an anomaly, and the stories are usually garbage quite frankly.

You need a studio that WONT cater to modern sensibilities and I just dont see that happening. You'd have to have a superbly talented team like Yoshiaki Kawajiri and his old school crew from Ninja Scroll/Vampire Hunter D Blood Lust recreating Miura's style and some Berserk experts working on the scripts and plotting out coherent seasons that work for modern Japanese broadcasts.

Its just a bridge too far. Its too demanding for any modern studio from an animation or story telling perspective. I just dont think the talent exists
 

MommySlan

My birthday matches Berserk 1997 first airing.
We were very disappointed with the movies, and the latest adaptation managed to be even worse. But it's not a matter of not wanting anything besides the manga, it's just that if we are to get yet another adaptation, it should be very respectful of the source material in addition to being high quality (which means high budget). As for live action, since that's what you were specifically asking for, if you're familiar with Berserk at all you must know that just wouldn't work for a variety of reasons. Think about the opening of the series. You have Guts wielding the Dragon Slayer with Puck tagging along. You can't make that work in live action, and if that's not possible, then it's not worth doing.
Hi, sorry for my more than late reply. I went on a great grief in the lastest months due to the passing of Miura-sensei. It hit me harder than anything, to the point of risking my pregnancy and my own health, so I decided to stay away from anything related to Berserk; episode 364 being the last one I have read. I've been lighting a candle almost everyday since his departure and prayed to whatever Creational Being out there to guide his path on his new journey, if any. (I'm not much of a religious person, but I do believe in a continuity of things, somehow)

Parabéns!
Obrigada! :slan:

If anything I'd want an old 2d anime, that'd go super slow, with a long run of 24 episode seasons. I'm just not sure if there is a studio with the talent to do it, from both a story telling perspective or an animation perspective. I'm not sure the talent exists right now. I'm a gigantic anime fan, and there hasn't been anything in the past 10 years thats really done anything for me except for a couple 1 or 2 single season shows, which while good or at least enjoyable, were hardly classics.

Everything that is in vogue now, is fast, over the top, and light hearted or simply weird in tone, with a bombastic rubbery loose animation. Every once and awhile Sunrise will put out something reminiscent of the old days, where draftsmanship and solid fundamentals matter, but its an anomaly, and the stories are usually garbage quite frankly.

You need a studio that WONT cater to modern sensibilities and I just dont see that happening. You'd have to have a superbly talented team like Yoshiaki Kawajiri and his old school crew from Ninja Scroll/Vampire Hunter D Blood Lust recreating Miura's style and some Berserk experts working on the scripts and plotting out coherent seasons that work for modern Japanese broadcasts.

Its just a bridge too far. Its too demanding for any modern studio from an animation or story telling perspective. I just dont think the talent exists
I started working with animation recently (10 months or so) and I can tell you; that's exhausting work, man! Sketches, clean-ups, inbetweens and such. Whew! Much respect to the studios who do all that stuff using traditional animation methods. They deserve all the praise in the world for such labour.
 
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