Berserk - Season One (The Complete Collection) (DVD)

Based on a popular manga by Kentaro Muira, Berserk (1997) presents a dark, gritty vision of medieval warfare that sets it apart from run-of-the-mill chivalric tales. Guts is a brooding warrior, haunted by internal and external demons, who fights with an enormous two-handed sword. When he's defeated in hand-to-hand combat by the elegant Griffith, Guts joins The Band of the Hawk, his elite mercenary corps. Although he presents himself as a pure idealist, Griffith uses kidnapping, prostitution, and murder to advance his standing in the Kingdom of Midland during its protracted war with Chuder. But when Griffith rashly seduces Princess Charlotte of Midland, the King imprisons him and decimates the Hawks. After spending a year training with a master sword-smith, Guts rejoins the remaining White Hawks to rescue Griffith, but the torture master has mutilated him so horribly, he can no longer command his followers. When he finds the Egg of the King gem, all hell breaks loose--literally. Griffith chose a violent destiny that culminates in his transformation into a demon-prince, and the White Hawks are devoured by misshapen creatures from the nether world. The grisly ending doesn't fit the rest of the story: what began as a violent but powerful tale of loyalty and valor collapses into a bloody gore-fest that recalls Legend of the Overfiend. (Rated 16 and older, but unsuitable for viewers under 17: graphic violence, violence against women, grotesque imagery, profanity, nudity, sexual situations, rape, torture) --Charles Solomon

Have Your Say 

Sign in or Sign up to comment.

More from Anime Works