Between the return of the ‘Berserk’ manga with the disciples of Kentaro Miura and the television reissue of the films’Berserk: The Golden Age Arc’, The last few months have been a rollercoaster ride for fans of the series. This same weekend this reissue has already been released in Japan and we can see it in streaming through Crunchyrolland so far the series is off to a very good start.
The beginning of the Golden Age
The first chapter of the anime does not give much of itself in terms of plot but it is a perfect introduction to guts from the first moment the character appears. The point is quickly grasped and we also fully enter into the dynamics of the Band of the Falconand it’s also a great introduction to CAska and Griffiththe other two characters who are going to be key in the story.
The first chapter starts in the middle of a siege where Guts participates as a mercenary to earn a living. His abilities quickly catch the attention of Griffith, who decides to recruit him into his own group of warriors even though Guts isn’t much for the job at first.
Around here there have not been too many changes and the first episode of ‘Berserk: The Golden Age Arc – Memorial Edition’ stays pretty true to the start of the movie trilogy, although some changes can be seen.
As the source material is anime movies for cinema, the animation quality of Studio 4ºC is very, very good, with a mix between traditional animation and CGI very well managed. In the first sequences they abuse the CGI a bit, but bearing in mind that we start in the middle of a siege with multitudes of soldiers, catapults, and castles that are collapsing… Well, the result is more than drinkable and the scenarios are really impressive.
Even so, This CGI has been polished a bit when it comes to detailing the models and giving more expressiveness to the background characters, which earn a lot compared to how the movies were at the time. Even in the CGI moments, the movements are very fluid and much of the episode is already traditionally animated.
The remaster of the trilogy is also quite noticeable when it comes to the brightness and sharpness of the image, with ‘Berserk: The Golden Age Arc – Memorial Edition’ having a very beautiful finish to see in many of his shots, especially in the open field landscapes.
No censorship in sight (for now)
And if what worried you about the return of ‘Berserk’ to television was the possible censorship, if finally there has been, has been very little and on Crunchyroll, in fact, they have put up a very large poster at the beginning of the episode, making it clear that there will be violence, gore, nudity, and everything.
The combats of the first episode have made it clear that the ‘Berserk: The Golden Age Arc – Memorial Edition‘ not going to cut a hair in terms of violence and bloodwith the right doses and where they need to be.
The new opening for the series has yet to be revealed, but the ending has already been seen with illustrations by Guts, Casca and Griffith and a tone that suits the story very well, although a complete animation sequence is also missing. . In theory, we already have to see the opening with the next chapter, and the truth is that here there is quite a desire to see it.
For now, this has been a very good start for the return of ‘Berserk’, especially to lay the foundations of the plot and with an introduction of characters that, although very fast, has gone with the right pace so that we quickly enter the game and want to follow Guts in the rest of his adventure.
In principle we are before a remaster of the movies, but there will also be a lot of new scenes that didn’t make the cut at the time.
To all this, on the official website of ‘Berserk’ a countdown has already started that ends on December 11 and several rumors suggest that in the end a new anime series of ‘Berserk’ could come to continue the plot beyond the movies, or even a continuation for the 2016 anime, but for now what we have to do is wait… At least until the next episode of ‘Berserk: The Golden Age Arc – Memorial Edition’.