If you’re a fan of dark fantasy, the simple fact of the matter is that Berserk is one of the best to do the genre, if not the best. The manga debuted in 1989, kicking off a decades long tale that’s inspired countless tropes and memes and is largely credited with starting the “Protagonist With a Giant Sword” trope that we still see everywhere today.
Berserk is a dark, sprawling tale about revenge, causality, fate, and the bond of a found-family through trauma. It’s gorgeous, and important, but it is also a lot, both tonally and literally, as it’s published nearly 400 chapters as of this writing. If you don’t have the time to commit to reading nearly 40 years worth of manga, then the adaptations are your next best bet. Most have continued to adapt the same iconic story, but they’re still a great entry point into the world of Berserk. If you’re looking to get started, here’s a rundown of every Berserk movie and TV show in order.
Berserk (1997-1998)
The original Berserk anime released just a year after the manga wrapped up the iconic The Golden Age Arc, which this series adapts over 25 episodes. The story follows Guts, a mercenary who joins the Band of the Hawk under the leadership of the charismatic Griffith, who seeks to ascend into nobility. However, the series notoriously ends on a massive cliffhanger as Guts and the Band are betrayed by Griffith, who instead joins the demonic Godhand.
Ultimately, Berserk was meant to be a promotional tool for the manga, which had already returned to its dark fantasy roots as Guts hunted Griffith through the world, rather than a long-running anime akin to Dragon Ball Z. Though concessions are made in the name of adapting the sprawling Golden Age Arc in such a tight timeframe, this anime is the gold-standard for many Berserk devotees and is still hailed as the best entry point for new fans.
Berserk: The Golden Age Arc I - The Egg of the King (2012)
With the Berserk manga only growing more popular over time, 2012 saw the launch of a trilogy of films to update the story told in the 1997 anime. The first installment, Golden Age Arc I - The Egg of the King, follows the manga’s legendary Golden Age Arc through the heights of the Band of the Hawk, as Guts and Griffith form their unbreakable brotherhood, and lays the groundwork for its violent downfall.
Like the anime, these films make some concessions for the abbreviated runtime, but fans found it to be an acceptable update to the classic series and the beloved manga.
Berserk: The Golden Age Arc II - The Battle for Doldrey (2012)
Hitting theaters just a few months after the first film, The Golden Age Arc II - The Battle For Doldrey adapts the middle elements of The Golden Age Arc as the Band of the Hawk finds themselves embedded in the titular raid on the Doldrey fortress. While Arc 1 is somewhat hopeful and Arc III would obviously be the darkest of the three, Battle for Doldrey blends white-knuckle action with the arc’s most heartbreaking moments, seeing Guts split from the Band of the Hawk and Griffith captured and tortured for months after being caught seducing Princess Charlotte.
It’s a great adaptation of an iconic story, though fans unfamiliar with the original manga will definitely be surprised by the sequels, as the almost Two Towers-like tone of Doldrey’s battle doesn’t come close to hinting at the dark tone of the final installment.
Berserk: The Golden Age Arc III - The Advent (2013)
The final entry in The Golden Age Arc trilogy, Golden Age Arc III - The Advent recounts the harrowing moments of the Eclipse and the Band of the Hawk’s demise after Griffith’s betrayal. For fans starving for more, though, The Advent also briefly pushed beyond the story, revealing in animation for the first time how Guts and Casca escaped the Eclipse and setting up Guts' quest for revenge.
Like its predecessors, The Advent is a well-regarded adaptation of the popular manga that made some concessions, and fans were excited to finally see something behind The Golden Age Arc, a story which was, by this point, nearly 20 years old, being adapted. This film was praised for its animation and inspiring hope that there would be more Berserk to come.
Berserk (2016-2017)
Fans may have hoped that The Golden Age Arc would lead to more Berserk, but what they got was perhaps more disappointing than no Berserk at all. The 2016 anime (also titled Berserk) is functionally a sequel to The Golden Age Arc trilogy, adapting most of two further tales from the manga: The Black Swordsman Arc and The Hawk of the Millennium Empire Arc. Unfortunately, the quality of the production just wasn’t what fans wanted.
The series dropped The Golden Age Arc’s animation studio in favor of a CG style, but the character models are clunky and moved awkwardly. The show also made bizarre concessions to move more popular characters from later in the manga to earlier in the anime rather than adapting what fans loved more closely. Berserk ran for two seasons, but even the most seasoned fans lost interest quickly.
Berserk: The Golden Age Arc - Memorial Edition (2022)
If you were hoping for more Berserk, the best you got was 2022’s The Golden Age Arc - Memorial Edition re-release. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the new Berserk that many were hoping for. Instead, this was a 13-episode serialization of The Golden Age Arc film trilogy.
Released in late 2022, Memorial Edition was the first non-manga Berserk offering following creator Kentaro Miura’s sudden death in 2021. While it didn't necessarily offer anything new, it was nice to get something Berserk related while fans mourned Miura’s death. Today, the manga continues under the eye of Miura's students and collaborators, but no further Berserk adaptations beyond the manga have been announced as of this writing.
Where To Watch All Berserk Movies And TV Shows Online
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