New Berserk Anime for 2016

[Menosgade]

This new anime is like a sword. A broken sword.

Nevertheless, it's core is made of a quality, supreme metal, wich will always when put on the fire, and we all call it Berserk.

[ApostleBob]

Maybe I've been desensitized but it looks a lot better than I was expecting. That walk is bad, but the rest is acceptable. The curved DS just seems like the animation style to me. I'm excited that we might be getting the Black Swordsman in here as well.

[MrFlibble]

Official HD version of the teaser :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIA9xg2oIew

 

That looks horrifying, it reminds me of that hell sequence from the South Park movie, but even that was animated better. I hold hope that somewhere in a parallel universe Madhouse created a decent series of Black Swordsman movies.

[Azhcrove]

Is his mouth okay?

[Saephon]

I'm sorry but I just had to link this reaction video edited with JonTron:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDeWPp4-2lY

Only thing to make me smile regarding the trailer all day   

[Rodericus]

I have a bad feeling about this...

I share your sentiments here as well, man. The fact that it's gonna be a jarring hodgepodge of CGI/2-D animation is already a given. And the original scenes from the manga being cut out is safe bet as well. But to what extent will the damage be? That's what I'm wondering...

Is his mouth okay?

Right before his fight scene in the new movie, Guts ate some cherries and washed them down with beet juice? That's why his mouth is so red all around 

But on a serious note, seeing poorly animated screenshots like these and many others begs a question - to what extent are the Berserk films actually animated by Studio 4°C themselves and to what extend they get outsourced to third-party companies? How much of the key animation is done in-house by Studio 4°C's own long-time veteran animators in Japan, and how much of it gets done by unpaid interns in some offshore studio in Philippines or Taiwan (some of favored outsourcing destinations for Japanese anime companies looking to slash their production costs)? 

[Gummyskull]

 I watched this last night when it was just released. I'm disappointed but not surprised about the quality.  I started cringing once the music started, it's so unfitting. It's amusing how the character design is so inconsistent between the 2d and 3d animation.

At least the first promo image is nice to look at.

Anyway, I'm gonna sit back and watch the progress of this train wreck.

[asic]

How much of the key animation is done in-house by Studio 4°C's own long-time veteran animators in Japan, and how much of it gets done by unpaid interns in some offshore studio in Philippines or Taiwan (some of favored outsourcing destinations for Japanese anime companies looking to slash production costs)? 

It certainly looks that way. If that 3d animation is Studios 4°C's own they really hit an all time low in terms of quality (and it was pretty damn low already). The rendering is what is making it look absolutely shit during the CGI shots, looks like almost none of the more advanced rendering/lighting methods were used even though those software's used are capable of doing so. Does this mean Studio 4°C chose this style, worked on it in-house and think it looks good? Or are they outsourcing from dirt cheap companies which is exactly what Johnny Apples suggested. Outsourced or not it just shows how little respect is given to the brilliant artwork and story of the source material.

Hopefully they just created a quick teaser themselves or hired the outsourcing company to do the teaser while Studios 4°C are working on the episodes. I doubt this to be true though  So not only will the story be horribly inaccurate it will also look like crap. Sadly I will still follow this closely and continue to have some sliver of false hope.

 

[Halcian]

All we can do is wait for either our hopes and dreams to be crushed or be pleasantly surprised once we get to see something more substantial. I'm just happy to see something new that's Berserk but at the same time we all know how much we adore this series and hold high expectations for new and future projects like this.

[Sammoniac]

It sure looks a little stiff, but overall I think its way better than the previous style. It has a really gritty feel, I like that.

As for the music, I always thought that it was a bit ridiculous to associate Berserk with heavy metal, but for this trailer the industrial sound fits strangely well. I'm glad we were shown images from this scene. It seems like they might merge the Black Swordsman arc with the Lost Children arc.

[Skullgrin140]

I'm sorry but I just had to link this reaction video edited with JonTron:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDeWPp4-2lY

Only thing to make me smile regarding the trailer all day   

Pretty much this, despite me willingly to give it a go this is my reaction right here.

[ShiffuFirestorm]

I'm hyped guys.

The 3D CGI looks... well not that good. But regardless, it's going to be The Black Swordsman Arc/Lost Children saga!!! (I assume) I have been waiting for over a decade! It's a teaser so I wouldn't take the animation so seriously. Keep in mind that the movies drastically improved from 1 > 2 > 3. The CGI in Descent was great IMO, and it was well paced. The first movie was crappy, because so much material was skipped.

You guys don't dig this?

[Menosgade]

I'm hyped guys.

The 3D CGI looks... well not that good. But regardless, it's going to be The Black Swordsman Arc/Lost Children saga!!! (I assume) I have been waiting for over a decade! It's a teaser so I wouldn't take the animation so seriously. Keep in mind that the movies drastically improved from 1 > 2 > 3. The CGI in Descent was great IMO, and it was well paced. The first movie was crappy, because so much material was skipped.

You guys don't dig this?

 One of the few things good in the teaser. The initial walking animation, close up on the face and curved Dragon Slayer are heart breaking.

[Theozilla]

  The wobbly DS, though, is a completely normal animation technique like your old fashioned squash and stretch.  It's done so that a quick one two or three frame glimpse doesn't just strobe.  It's basically an alternative to a motion blur. 

Yeah, people can rightly complain about quality of the CGI animation all they want, but the frame of the curved Dragonslayer is just a standard analogous squash and stretch technique that almost all animation has used for creating flowing animated motion.

[Aazealh]

it's going to be The Black Swordsman Arc/Lost Children saga!!!

Is it really? Or will it be a travesty, like the movies were for the Golden Age arc?

[SuperVegetto]

I'm hyped guys.

The 3D CGI looks... well not that good. But regardless, it's going to be The Black Swordsman Arc/Lost Children saga!!! (I assume) I have been waiting for over a decade! It's a teaser so I wouldn't take the animation so seriously. Keep in mind that the movies drastically improved from 1 > 2 > 3. The CGI in Descent was great IMO, and it was well paced. The first movie was crappy, because so much material was skipped.

You guys don't dig this?

I do really dig it. Too bad it will probably be 15% this and 85% of early PS2 game graphics.
Though when I saw this particular face I did think that it was a studio different from 4*C. The movies had Guts with a face that seemed fatter and not rough enough like in the manga or the old anime series for that matter.

[Tripas]

I'm still skeptical about this. And not because the poor animation or some artistic choices, but because the story. If they keep focusing on making cool battles, fantastic environments and unnecessary cameos... Well, after all, Berserk isn't more than monsters and blood, is it? What can spectators search besides fanservice?

On the other hand, I don't get how Miura could give the rights to make an anime so easily. Given the amount of effort he has put in his work, I can imagine him very strict with these things. Maybe little to none studios were interested in this? Maybe Hakusensha has very influence over it?

[SuperVegetto]

I'm still skeptical about this. And not because the poor animation or some artistic choices, but because the story. If they keep focusing on making cool battles, fantastic environments and unnecessary cameos... Well, after all, Berserk isn't more than monsters and blood, is it? What can spectators search besides fanservice?

On the other hand, I don't get how Miura could give the rights to make an anime so easily. Given the amount of effort he has put in his work, I can imagine him very strict with these things. Maybe little to none studios were interested in this? Maybe Hakusensha has very influence over it?

I agree. I got a JoJo feeling watching the teaser, but I guess it's just a teaser and it's too early to say anything. I just hope they prioritize substance over style.

[Gummyskull]

I agree. I got a JoJo feeling watching the teaser...

What do you mean? Because the most recent jjba pv was significantly better than this.

[Aazealh]

On the other hand, I don't get how Miura could give the rights to make an anime so easily. Given the amount of effort he has put in his work, I can imagine him very strict with these things. Maybe little to none studios were interested in this? Maybe Hakusensha has very influence over it?

Reading how it went down for the movies, he was basically cheated into thinking they'd do a good job by a demo featuring great footage (of which screenshots were leaked, if you remember) before the project was turned into shit. They even specified at the time that he had refused many propositions in the past because he felt they weren't good enough before accepting that one. Imagine the disappointment, the betrayal he must have felt. So anyway I'm not sure how much of a say he has in all this now.

[mazinken]

I have strong feeling that even if it's not the same studio the team behind the shitty movies is still involved the teaser have their signature all over it. My guess this will be a direct continuation of the movie and they will just slam the black swordsman arc just to please Mr. Miura.

[Menosgade]

Reading how it went down for the movies, he was basically cheated into thinking they'd do a good job by a demo featuring great footage (of which screenshots were leaked, if you remember) before the project was turned into shit. They even specified at the time that he had refused many propositions in the past because he felt they weren't good enough before accepting that one. Imagine the disappointment, the betrayal he must have felt. So anyway I'm not sure how much of a say he has in all this now.

 That's so awful  what the heck do these people think? That goes for the new anime as well.

 Such a considerable crowd hoping for quality Berserk animation. They aren't really fooling many people, except those who don't really know what Berserk is. Wrecking up the story won't really make them profit more, original Berserk is certainly a lot better than a washed up story heavy-metal-big-sword-hack n' slash thing, but that's pretty much obvious, and it is what all fans would like to see.

 If they barely can make a proper animation, it's doubtful that they can also give it the Berserk feel in all senses possible. For example, how the characters' behaviours and expressions change organically as the story progresses, sometimes you don't even realize it, looks very natural, yet simple movimentation they don't seem able to make look plausible. Imagine the Beast shown in weird graphics like the skeletons, the crown and the blood pool, or moving in weird animations... seems hopeless to me.

 Walter's post with curved Dragon Slayer represents what I think of this - an awesome sword completely disfigured.

[Rodericus]

Reading how it went down for the movies, he was basically cheated into thinking they'd do a good job by a demo featuring great footage (of which screenshots were leaked, if you remember) before the project was turned into shit. They even specified at the time that he had refused many propositions in the past because he felt they weren't good enough before accepting that one. Imagine the disappointment, the betrayal he must have felt. So anyway I'm not sure how much of a say he has in all this now.

Bait-and-switching the Berserk fans with leaked animation footage, and lying to them on Twitter with the promises of "faithful adaption" is one thing. But lying to the Berserk's original creator? That's a scumbag move on a whole new level. I wonder, how the Studio 4°C managed to pull it off? Merely creating a few minutes of slick-looking animated demo footage could have been done by any major anime studio. Better companies like Bones, Madhouse or Gainax could have done it too, if they wanted. What was it about Studio 4°C that set them apart from other companies and made Kentaro Miura put his trust in them? A mere demo footage alone wouldn't have been enough to get Miura to sign off his story to Studio 4°C and completely relinquish all creative control to them. I believe there must have been some kind of verbal promise from the Studio 4°C that their movies were going to be faithful to their manga source. Because if that promise was made it writing, on a contract, then Studio 4°C would have been legally obligated to make their Berserk films stay true to the original manga. And Miura would have been in power to prevent Studio 4°C from making any more movies, after the hatchet job they did with the Golden Age Arc. But those are just my speculations. I wonder if we'll ever get the true full story behind this...

[Aazealh]

Bait-and-switching the Berserk fans with leaked animation footage, and lying to them on Twitter with the promises of "faithful adaption" is one thing. But lying to the Berserk's original creator? That's a scumbag move on a whole new level. I wonder, how the Studio 4°C managed to pull it off? Merely creating a few minutes of slick-looking animated demo footage could have been done by any major anime studio. Better companies like Bones, Madhouse or Gainax could have done it too, if they wanted. What was it about Studio 4°C that set them apart from other companies and made Kentaro Miura put his trust in them? A mere demo footage alone wouldn't have been enough to get Miura to sign off his story to Studio 4°C and completely relinquish all creative control to them. I believe there must have been some kind of verbal promise from the Studio 4°C that their movies were going to be faithful to their manga source. Because if that promise was made it writing, on a contract, then Studio 4°C would have been legally obligated to make their Berserk films stay true to the original manga. And Miura would have been in power to prevent Studio 4°C from making any more movies, after the hatchet job they did with the Golden Age Arc. But those are just my speculations. I wonder if we'll ever get the true full story behind this...

From what I remember, basically a guy came up to Hakusensha and Miura with a project and a budget and showed them that demo reel. He presented himself as a Berserk fan and said he was serious about doing it right. And they would do the entire series. Among his arguments were the fact the use of 3D computer graphics would allow to dramatically reduce the budget necessary to get the project done, especially during large battle scenes. We all know how that turned out.

[Doc]

Who currently owns the rights to animate Berserk? And if it's no longer Studio 4°C, does that mean Miura would need to personally sign this off or what?