Berserk(2016 TV series)

Berserk(Japanese:ベルセルク,Hepburn:Beruseruku)is a 2016 Japaneseanimetelevision series based onKentaro Miura'smangaseries of the same nameand an acting sequel to theGolden Age Arcfilm trilogy. This is the second television series adaptation of the manga after the 1997 animeof the same name,covering the Conviction arc from the manga. A second season, covering the first half of the Hawk of the Millennium Empire arc, aired in 2017.

Berserk
Key visual for the second season, featuring characters from theHawk of the Millennium Empirearc
ベルセルク (Beruseruku)
Genre	Dark fantasy
Anime television series
Directed by	Shin Itagaki
Written by	Makoto Fukami
Music by	Shirō Sagisu
Studio	GEMBA(animation) Millepensee(animation) Liden Films(production)
Licensed by	Crunchyroll(streaming) AUS: Universal/Sony(licensing) Crunchyroll (home video) UK:Universal Pictures UK
Original network	Wowow,MBS,TBS,CBC,BS-TBS
English network	SEA:Aniplus Asia
Original run	1 July 2016–23 June 2017
Episodes	24

Plot

The story followsGutsas the "Black Swordsman", an appearance which was briefly seen in the first episode of the1997 television seriesas well as in the final scene of theGolden Age Arcfilms.

Guts was once a wandering mercenary taken in by the mercenary group known as the Band of the Hawk(Ưng の đoàn,Taka no Dan)and he fought alongside them before their mutilated leader,Griffith,sacrificed his followers to become one of the God Hand and continue his dream of ruling a kingdom of his own. Only Guts and his lover Casca, who lost her sanity and memory from the horrors she saw and endured, escaped the "Eclipse" ritual. However, they were branded with marks that attract evil, restless spirits and other similar entities. With Casca in the care of blacksmith Godo and his adopted daughter Erica as well as Rickert, the only member of the Hawks absent during the Eclipse, Guts set off to hunt down the God Hand's Apostles to find and kill Griffith in a quest for vengeance. Years have passed, and Guts is joined in his hunt by an elf named Puck as events the God Hand has long waited for are beginning to unfold.

Episodes

Main article:List ofBerserk(2016 TV series) episodes

Series	Episodes		Originally released
			First released	Last released
1	12		1 July 2016(2016-07-01)	16 September 2016(2016-09-16)
2	12		7 April 2017(2017-04-07)	23 June 2017(2017-06-23)

Voice cast

See also:List ofBerserkcharacters

Character	Japanese	English
Guts	Hiroaki Iwanaga	Kaiji Tang
Griffith/Femto	Takahiro Sakurai	Steve Cannon
Casca	Toa Yukinari	Karen Strassman
Puck	Kaoru Mizuhara	Sarah Anne Williams
Farnese	Yoko Hikasa	Erica Lindbeck
Serpico	Kazuyuki Okitsu	Max Mittelman
Isidro	Hiro Shimono	Erik Scott Kimerer
Schierke	Chiwa Saito	Mela Lee
Ivalera	Satomi Arai	Tara Sands
Nosferatu Zodd	Kenta Miyake	Imari Williams
Skull Knight	Akio Otsuka	Taylor Henry
Grunbeld	Kiyoyuki Yanada	Paul St. Peter
Locus	Shougo Nakamura	D. C. Douglas
Rakshas	Masashi Nogawa	Frank Todaro
Sonia	Yoshino Nanjo	Skyler Davenport
Mule Wolflame	Mitsuki Saiga	Griffin Burns
Narrator	Unsho Ishizuka	Jake Eberle
Slan	Miyuki Sawashiro	Allegra Clark
Charlotte	Aki Toyosaki	Gina Bowes
Silat	Yuichi Nakamura	Lex Lang
Tapasa	Kōji Ishii	Taylor Henry
Azan	Hiroki Yasumoto	Richard Epcar
Luca	Miyuki Sawashiro	Wendee Lee
Nina	Natsumi Takamori	Ryan Bartley
Jerome	Daisuke Hirakawa	Todd Haberkorn
Erica	Ayana Taketatsu	Brianna Knickerbocker
Rickert	Minako Kotobuki	Erica Mendez
Godo	Takashi Inagaki	Abbot Kefford
Mozgus	Rikiya Koyama	Ray Chase
Flora	Sumi Shimamoto	Philece Sampler
Emperor Ganishka	Tessho Genda

Production

A newBerserkanime was announced in December 2015 inHakusensha'sYoung Animalmagazine,with a short preview trailer released atComiketlater the same month.The anime's website announced in February 2016 that the project would be a television series.A second trailer was streamed in March 2016.A teaser video was streamed on the series' website in early June 2016.At the conclusion of the first season's final episode, a teaser confirmed a second season for April 2017. The brief clip showed off the character Schierke and the Berserker armor, indicating the second season would adapt the next arc, "Hawk of the Millennium Empire".

Kentaro Miura,the author of the original manga, served as executive supervisor for the anime.The series is directed by Shin Itagaki, and written byMakoto Fukamiand Takashi Yamashita, with character designs provided by Hisashi Abe. Animation studioLiden Filmsis producing the series withGEMBAandMillepenseehelming on the animation production.Shirō Sagisureturns from theBerserk: The Golden Age Arcfilms to compose the music for the series, whileSusumu Hirasawa,composer for the1997 seriesand theGolden Age Arcfilms, returns to produce two songs for the series, titled "Ashes"(Hôi よ,Hai yo)and "Ash Crow".For first season, the opening theme song, "Inferno", is performed by9mm Parabellum Bullet,while the ending theme, "Meimoku no Kanata"(Nhắm mắt の bỉ phương,lit."Beyond Closed Eyes" ),is performed byNagi Yanagi.For second season, the opening theme song, "Sacrifice", performed by 9mm Parabellum Bullet, while the ending theme, "Issai wa Monogatari"(Hết thảy は vật ngữ,lit."Everything is the Story" ),performed byYoshino Nanjōfeaturing Nagi Yanagi.

The primary voice cast is reprising their roles from theGolden Age Arcfilm trilogy, while voice actorUnshō Ishizukais reprising his role as the Narrator from the original anime.

Producer Reo Kurosu has described the show's animation style as "a hybrid between 2D and 3D",elaborating that "For this series, we’re trying to do something new. The director is a 2D animator so what goes on in his mind and what he puts on the storyboard is all in 2D. From there it’s all about choosing which tool to use between full CG animation, traditional 2D, or a hybrid of the two. The director and the 2D and 3D studios would meet and discuss what to use depending on what we’re trying to accomplish with each scene."The 3D characters and objects are rendered withCel shadingto make them look more like 2D animation. A particular feature is that the shadows on 3D objects contain a linearhatchingeffect that simulates shading with a pen or pencil, and the same hatching effect is applied to the shadows that appear on any 2D models to create a more uniform look.

Broadcast and release

The first 12-episode seasonpremiered on 1 July 2016 onWowow,and later onMBS'sAnimeismprogramming block,TBS,CBC,andBS-TBS.The second season of the series began airing on April 7, 2017, with an hour-long two episode premiere.

The series is beingsimulcastonCrunchyroll.Crunchyroll announced at the annualAnime Expoon 1 July 2016 that the company would be releasing the series with an English dub on Blu-ray and DVD.

On March 17, 2017,IGNreleased a clip of theBerserkEnglish dub and was announced that the series would be distributed byFunimation,but the series was dubbed byBang Zoom! Entertainment.This marks the first timeNYAV Posthad no involvement in dubbingBerserkmedia sinceSword of the Berserk.The first season was available on March 20 by Funimation.

Reception

IGN contributor Meghan Sullivan gave the opening episode a score of 8.5 out of a possible 10. In the review Sullivan praised the episodes' direction, stating "despite the somewhat distracting visuals, 'The Branded Swordsman' gets Guts' quest for vengeance off to a strong start".

Writer Cecilia D'Anastasio applauded the opening episode in a review published byKotaku,going so far as to state that it "already outshines the 90's original". Though, noting the series' sub-par animation quality, D'Anastasio concluded, "Berserkis not for the faint-hearted. But 'The Branded Swordsman' proved to me that directors of fighting-heavy anime are making more of an effort to beautify and civilize the genre, doing justice to manga that showcases writing and ingenuity. "

Anime News Network contributor Jacob Hope Chapman was critical of the show's production quality in his review of episodes 1–3, stating that "Berserk 2016is an abominably ugly and almost forcefully unpleasant realization of our dreams, with cut-rate CGI, questionable music choices, and disorienting camera work ". However, to him, the strength of the source work helps to carry the show, and Itagaki's frenetic directing style at least keeps the action interesting:" Once you manage to unclench your teeth at all those garish cel-shaded puppet bodies smacking against each other, Miura's compelling story and the captivating world still shine as one-of-a-kind flights of dark images with poignant characterization, even as they struggle under such a lackluster production. "

External links

• Official website(in Japanese)
• Berserk(anime) atAnime News Network's encyclopedia