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By Jonathan Klotz
| Updated
30 years ago anime wasn’t mainstream. Malls weren’t filled with stores selling wall scrolls and figurines, and if it wasn’t for Cartoon Network’s Toonami, most people wouldn’t know a Gundam from a Zord. In 1997, no one importing tapes from Japan knew that the greatest dark fantasy anime of all time was found on those tapes. The 25-episode run of Berserkadapting only one arc from the long-running blockbuster manga, holds up to this day as the pinnacle of the genre, even if we have to rely on physical media to watch it. The 1997 version of Berserk isn’t streaming anywhere after it was replaced by the Golden Age arc films in 2013.
In The Grim Darkness Of Midland There Is Only War
Berserk (1997) starts off with Guts the Black Swordsman taking down a corrupt, very demonic Baron with his impossibly large sword and a cannon hidden in his arm. It’s a very grimdark episode that we learn is set in the present, and the rest of the series is a flashback to Guts time alongside the Band of the Hawk, and its charismatic leader, Griffith. Unlike the first episode, there’s bright colors, traditional fantasy music over scenes of swordsmen, and it’s enough to make you forget that first episode. Until the necklace that Guts ripped off the Baron makes a reappearance, and you realize, this isn’t going to end well.
And it doesn’t. In fact, the series ends on a cliffhanger that wasn’t resolved, in anime anyways, for over 20 years. The Berserk 2016 series picks up where the 1997 series ended with the end of the “Golden Age” arc, but even with all of the advances in animation, it’s inferior to the original run and even the 2013 Golden Age movies. Taking one of the most detailed manga ever and reducing it to a 3D CGI experience that leaves out as much detail as possible was an insult to long-time fans of Guts the Black Swordsman.
The Best Version Of The Blockbuster Manga Epic
Kentaro Miura was the talented creator of the original Berserk manga which started back in 1989. Tragically, he passed away in 2021, leaving his epic story unfinished, and while his childhood friend and talented manga artist Koji Mori has promised to finish the tale according to Miura’s original plans, it’s not the same. Between the modern Berserk series failing to reach the heights of the original, and Miura’s passing, the original 1997 anime will remain the best adaptation of his life’s work.
Which is why it’s especially tragic that Berserk (1997) isn’t available for easy streaming anywhere. Crunchyroll has both the Golden Age films and the 2016 series, but not the 1997 series. The best option to watch one of the 90s greatest anime series remains purchasing the Blu-Ray collection. While the 2013 Golden Age films tell the same story as the 1997 anime, it’s condensed, leaves out both character beats and narrative moments, and there’s something about the grimy animation of the original that perfectly captures the spirit of Guts, Casca, and Griffith none of the modern versions can match.
The Berserk manga has sold over 60 million copies, but it’s a tragedy no one can easily watch the best adaptation of the megaselling blockbuster fantasy epic.
